Sport Aviation Out-1975

THE HOMEBUILDERS

Corner byPAUlH.POfffRVNY

M-

.Y LETTER TO Director Harry Zeisloft published in the August issue of SPORT AVIATION, regarding the idea of an EAA Flight Test Research Center has brought numerous suggestions, recommendations and some criticism. By far most think it is needed. Some suggestions and recommendations go far beyond what was intended, though much work and thought is yet to be accomplished. The intent of such an effort is not that of being an aviation Big Brother squelching freedom of expression and design, but to gather factual information on designs that are being sold to the public in sufficient numbers to warrant public interest. It would be our hope that full cooperation by designers would be obtained and that safety, factual information and design improvements would be foremost in mind. This would hold true regarding propellers, powerplants and airframes, as well as performance. It would be hoped that participation by other aviation groups, government, FAA and NASA could be encouraged to provide knowledge and assistance in evaluations. We have, since the days of the Wright Brothers, gained much experience and knowledge. Our challenge is to be able to use what we have already learned. Oftentimes it is loss of life or serious injury that is used as a starting point for new and improved experimentation. Today, there should be no reason for aircraft to be tail heavy, lacking carburetor heat where applicable, or a method of draining water from fuel systems. Aircraft should be designed to use materials that will offer structural integrity and should be designed with crash worthiness in mind. When we fostered today's amateur built movement, we never envisioned that designers would be telling us they have sold 500, 2000 or 6000 sets of plans. Nor did we give thought to how does one go about evaluating, making recommendations or getting the word to those building a particular design that several improvements should be considered or incorporated in his bird. Our professional aircraft designers and aircraft companies have had this problem since the beginning and still are faced with it. Our designer's skills and experience are many and varied, but our amateur built program does not always proceed in the most advantageous sequence. Some designers finance their first designs through the sale of information packets and brochures or partially completed drawings before the aircraft has been flown or after only a minimum of flight time. True testing of performance based on some of our past minimum design experience and criteria is often lacking. It is a challenge that EAA must meet — to help the designer and the builder, to move forward in design improvements and safe operation of our creations. If we don't, we then can expect a helping hand (one you might not like) from Uncle Sam. We would like to hear your ideas and opinions. Drop us a note. It could help develop philosophies, plans and the future of light plane development — not only by or for the amateur but for general aviation as well. Have you ever wondered, in today's world, what is so magic about the airplane 100 hours inspection or the once every 365 day tear-down of your airplane (the annual inspection)? Why, back in the twenties and thirties maybe engines and parts of our aircraft needed attention more frequently. I would like to believe we have made progress in aviation these past twenty-five years and that engine, propeller and airframe reliability has progressed from the early days of aviation. If it has not, then it is a great discredit to all of the talent, designers, maintenance personnel and manufacturers who have brought aviation this far. (Continued on Page 92)

SPORT AVIATION Official Publication of the Experimental Aircraft Association International Inc. An International Non-Profit Organization Dedicated to Aviation Education SPORT AVIATION ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

OCTOBER 1975

V O L . 2 4 NO. 10

Copyright ' 1975 by the Experimental Aircraft Assn.. Inc. All rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Homebuilder's Corner . . . by Paul Poberezny ..........................

2

Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Hot Line From Headquarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 A Hot Time In Oshkosh . . . by Jack Cox............................... 10 VariEze . . . For The Record . . . by Jack Cox .......................... 20 Oshkosh 75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Page 20

3500 Miles To Oshkosh . . . by Jack Cox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Big Red . . . bv James Young ......................................... 63 Awards 1975 ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Sportplane Builder . . . by Antoni Bingelis ........................ Headquarters Comment . . . by Mike Heuer ............................ Fiber-Glass For Aircraft . . . by Larry Schubert .........................

68 73 76 77

Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Washington Report . . . by David Scott ................................ 99

Page 38

Page 58 PUBLISHER

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

PAUL H. POBEREZNY

IACK COX

ASSISTANT EDITORS GOLDA COX, MIKE HEUER, RAY SCHOLLER

ADVERTISING MANAGER

PUBLICATION LAYOUT

BONNIE SOUCY

BERNICE SCHOLLER

ON THE COVER . . . 1975 Grand Champion Custom built, Jim Young's Starduster Too

Photo by Dick Stouffer

EAA AVIATION MUSEUM 11311 W. FOREST HOME AVI. FRANKLIN, WISCONSIN 53132 (A MILWAUKEE SUBURB)

Aviation Museum hours of operation are 8:30 to 5:00 on Monday through Friday — Saturday — 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 — Sundays and Holidays — 11:00 to 5:00. It is closed on New Years, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

EAA AVIATION MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC. PAUL H. POBEREZNY, DIRECTOR GEORGE HARDIE, |R., AIRCRAFT AND DISPLAY RESEARCH

SPORT AVIATION is owned exclusively by the Experimental Aircraft Assn . inc and is published monthly at Hates Corners. Wis Second Class Postage paid at Random Lake. Wis. 53075 and at Hales Corners. Wis. 53130 Membership rates are $2000 per 12 month period of which $1000 is for the subscription to SPORT AVIATION Membership is open to all who are interested in aviation FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES — Please allow at least two months for delivery of SPORT AVIATION to Foreign and APO addresses via surface mail EAA STATEMENT OF POLICY — The Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy of the material presented by the authors opinions and ideas The individual reader must evaluate this material for himself and use it as he sees fit Every effort is made to present material of wide interest that will be of help to the majority. ADVERTISING — EAA does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through our advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken.

Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to Experimental Aircraft Assn., P. O. Box 229, Hales Corners, Wis. 53130 SPORT AVIATION 3

NIZATION THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT VICE-PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT PAUL H POBEREZNY

SECRETARY S H SCHMID 2359 LEFEBER AVE MILWAUKEE. WIS 53213

RAY SCHOLLER 453 FIFTH STREET

9711 W FOREST PARK DRIVE HALES CORNERS. WIS 53130

ASSOCIATION, INC.

RANDOM LAKE. WIS 53075

TREASURER ARTHUR KILPS 10205 KAY PARKWAY

HALES CORNERS. WIS 53130

DIRECTORS HARRY ZEISLOFT 2069 CRESTLINE DRIVE BURTON. MICH 48509 HERB CUNNINGHAM 16 ACRE HEIGHTS CRESCENT SCARBOROUGH. ONTARIO. CANADA

ROBERT J GYLLENSWAN

ROCKFORD. ILL 61107

RONALD G SCOTT

R M PURYEAR

VAN WHITE

DAVE YEOMAN

1005 COPENHILL OR WAUKESHA WIS 53186

291 MARTIN RD SANTA CRUZ. CALIF 95060

BOX 5255

RFD 1

LUBBOCK.TEX 79417

TOODVILLE IOWA 52341

EAA WASHINGTON REPRESENTATIVE DAVID SCOTT 1346 CONNECTICUT AVE . S W

EAA OF CANADA PRESIDENT HERB CUNNINGHAM

16 ACRE HEIGHTS CRESCENT

WASHINGTON. D C 20036

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

TOM POBEREZNY

S J WITTMAN BOX 2672 OSHKOSH WIS 54901

GUSTAVE A LIMBACH 2 EAST PLEASANT LAKE RD ST PAUL. MINN 55110

1606 RONCEVALLES

BUSINESS MANAGER JERRY STRIGEL

SCARBOROUGH. ONTARIO. CANADA

EAA CHAPTER EXECUTIVE SECRETARY GOLDA COX

EAA DIVISIONS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY DOROTHY CHASE

EAA INTERNATIONAL OFFICES ARE LOCATED AT 11311 W. FOREST HOME AVENUE, FRANKLIN, WISCONSIN. A MILWAUKEE SUBURB. THE PHONE NUMBER IS AC 414/425-4860. PLEASE USE EAA'S MAILING ADDRESS FOR ALL MEMBERSHIP, CHAPTER, AND GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE . . . WHICH IS:

EAA, BOX 229, HALES CORNERS, WISCONSIN 53130

EAA AVIATION MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC. OFFICERS PRESIDENT PAUL H POBEREZNY 9711 W FOREST PARK DRIVE HALES CORNERS. WIS 53130

VICE-PRESIDENT DAVE JAMESON 4322 BELLHAVEN LANE

SECRETARY DR LYLE MC CULLOUGH 11222W FOREST HOME AVE FRANKLIN. WIS 53132

OSHKOSH. WIS 54901

TRUSTEES JAMES BARTON. 262 CAYUGA AVE . ELMHURST. ILL 60126 EVANDER M BRITT. BOX 458. LUMBERTON. N C 28358 ROBERT H FERGUS. 3060 OAKRIDGE RD . COLUMBUS. OHIO 43221

TREASURER THOMAS POBEREZNY 4075 S 84TH ST APARTMENT 8

GREENFIELD. WIS 53228

RAY SCHOLLER. 453 FIFTH STREET. RANDOM LAKE. WIS 53075

RAY STITS. P 0. BOX 3084. RIVERSIDE. CALIF 92509 DICK STOUFFER. 65 MILLER ROAD. LAKE ZURICH. ILL. 60047 BILL TURNER. 4110 MARSTEN. BELMONT. CALIF 94002 M C KELLY VIETS. RR 1. BOX 151. STILWELL. KS 66085

JIM C GORMAN. 1885 MILLSBORO ROAD MANSFIELD. OHIO 44906

E. E HILBERT. 8102 LEECH RD . UNION. ILL 60180 MORTON LESTER, P O BOX 3747 MARTINSVILLE. VA 24112

GAR W WILLIAMS. JR.. 9 S 135 AERO DR . RT 1. NAPERVILLE. ILL 60540 HARRY ZEISLOFT. 2069 CRESTLINE DR . BURTON MICH 48509

JOHN PARISH. 209 WEST WARREN. TULLAHOMA. TENN 37388 ROBERT PURYEAR. 291 MARTIN RD . SANTA CRUZ. CALIF 95060

EAA DIVISIONS ADDRESS ALL DIVISION MAIL TO: (NAME OF DIVISION), BOX 229. HALES CORNERS. WISC. 53130

I NT I « NA T I 0 NA L A H O t A T I C CLUI

INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB, INC.

ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC DIVISION

WARBIRDS OF AMERICA, INC.

I.A.C.

-••••»-:_> PRESIDENT VERNE JOBST 1910 NORTH ORCHARD BEACH RD MCHENRY. ILL 60050

PRESIDENT RUDY FRASCA 606 S NEIL

VICE-PRESIDENT W. L GOODMAN P O BOX 444

VICE-PRESIDENT

SECRETARY

SECRETARY

SECRETARY RICHARD WAGNER BOX 181 LYONS. WISC 53148

TREASURER

TREASURER GAR W WILLIAMS. JR. 9 S 135 AERO DR . RT 1 NAPERVILLE. ILL 60540

MCHENRY. ILL sooso

SHARI JOBST

1910 NORTH ORCHARD BEACH RD MCHENRY. ILL 60050

TREASURER BOB DAVIS 910 WOODLAND DR WOODSTOCK. ILL 60098

4 SEPTEMBER 1975

CHAMPAIGN. ILL 61820

RICHARD DIETER

756 PORTAGE AVENUE SOUTH BEND. IND 46614

LEN TANNER 5SDONAHUE RD NO GRANBY. CONN 06060

G L JERRY WALBRUN 485 HUGHES ROAD KING OF PRUSSIA. PA 19406

PRESIDENT E E HILBERT 8102 LEECH RD UNION. ILL 60180 VICE-PRESIDENT J. R. NIELANDER. JR. P O BOX 2464 FT. LAUDERDALE. FLA 33303

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Paul: Please accept my sincere thanks for Oshkosh 1975 We sure did enjoy the Convention The grounds were so very clean and the flowers were lovely I have never been able to see how you can make each Convention out-do tfie last So. you see I am already making plans for Oshkosh 1976 Please pass on to all at Headquarters my gratitude for their work Meanwhile. I intend to contact Mother Nature to see if She will turn down the heat for 1976 With sincere best wishes, Fletcher Johnson (EAA 21097) 5410 Jackson Indianapolis. IN 46241 Dear Paul: One really has to see it to believe it! What a magnificent event, and so beautifully done I am glad that I finally got to Oshkosh this year, and I did enjoy every moment of it I am sorry that you and I did not get a chance to talk. Maybe on your next trip to Washington we can sit down together. Best regards. Ed Stimpson. President General Aviation Manufacturers Assn 1025 Connecticut Av.. N.W. Washington, DC 20036

Dear Paul: Finally, I made it to an EAA convention at Oshkosh, by gosh! Oh. how sweet it is! It is worth flying in just to experience the gypsy controllers They're fantastic! This year turned out to be very special Passed my private pilot check ride on the day the convention opened So with a new license in my pocket and with a couple of friends, we took off Thursday for Oshkosh Two days is not enough time, but it was all we had. I was especially impressed with the huge amount of hard work necessary and how smoothly things went I have been on the working and planning ends of state trade association conventions before. Like I say. I'm impressed! Keep up the fine work. I among many, appreciate it Hope to become a worker someday for the convention As a friend said, 'You know, the finish on some of those show planes would almost make glass look rough! Sincerely. Hugh P Harrison. II (EAA 76504) 10125 N Park Ave

Indianapolis. IN 46280 Dear Mr. Poberezny: Thanks for a great convention! If Walter Cronkite could have been there he might very

well change his entire outlook for America Beautiful people . beautiful convention. Mr. Peter A

Simon, owner of this little

town and also owner of Jean. Nevada, and I flew to the convention and came home full of admiration for you and the entire staff of EAA and even greater esteem for the homebuild-

ers, enthusiasts and

aircraft

preservers

whom EAA has brought together Both Death Valley Junction. California

and Jean, Nevada have airports They're both on the Las Vegas Sectional and are about sixty air miles apart We d like to be able to use these airports to help EAA in any way we can Jean is 25 miles from Las Vegas and Death Valley Junction is the same distance from Death Valley We envision Fly-Ins and

Fly-Betweens How can we help? Best regards. Tom Williams (EAA 95069) Amargosa Opera House. Inc.

Death Valley Junction. CA 92328 Dear Paul:

For nine years I've suffered from the trauma of having to say "no. I couldn't make it to Oshkosh"

Thank goodness I finally got

a job that allows me to go to that most magnificent of all events. WOWEE! I hope I never have to miss that again. I had a wonderful time and can hardly wait for next year.

All the best . . Debbie Gary Box 454 Newton. KS 67114

Dear Paul:

While camping at "Oshkosh '75 I threw my car keys away with some trash one night, but didn't realize it The next day about midmorning. I checked with lost and found and they had the key case I understand Mrs

Dear Paul: Thanks to you and the Experimental Aircraft Association officials and members for the Greats of Aviation honors you bestowed on me at the 1975 International Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-In Convention at Oshkosh. Having been confined to the field of military aviation and aerospace manufacturing for many past years, it was a revelation to see and to feel the tremendous enthusiasm unleashed at this Convention by its members. I congratulate you for envisioning and building such an association: providing its members an opportunity for enjoyment, growth and development in the many areas of private aviation. My being in the charged atmosphere of the Convention brought back many memories of my early work in designing, building,

flying and racing many experimental and production aircraft. It was a real pleasure to meet once more with early colleagues — to re-fly" those races, to renew memories; and to experience the eternal enthusiasm to fly — of young and old alike. For this memorable interlude I am truly grateful to you and your Association. Enclosed is my belated application for membership I hope to catch up with this active group and to perhaps find a niche where I can be helpful My best personal regards to you. Most sincerely.

Jenny Dyke or the Women's Auxiliary found

the keys. Needless to say, my sincere thanks for recovering the keys and saving me time and money by not having to obtain a locksmith. This is one of many fine acts that speak for the dedication of your staff Thomas S. Hook

Acting Chief. Public Info Center FAA. Washington. D. C 20591

Dear Jack First off I would like to say the past eight months to a years issues have been what I call real issues that give the homebuilder or prospective one something that is of value building wise. When I first joined three years ago I was sort a disappointed, but now they are great. I am presently building a BD-5!! — my first project of this type I'm not a tin bender, nor a carpenter, in fact, my profession is far removed from this sort of thing. But flying got to be so expensive I had to do something Despite all the trouble we have had getting parts. I am convinced this is the route first timers should go This gives them a background and foundation in which to build from if they should desire to go on their own which I plan to do

This brings me to the real reason for this letter. Your article on "Don Bates' Starduster Too", the paragraph on page 51 where you suggest a separate trophy for those who follow plans but lack the money and expertise to flash up their bird. I have seen planes "homebuilt" that didn't look all that good, but the workmanship was very good and well done, so far as structural integrity was concerned In my opinion this is more important than the chrome and many hand rubbed coats of paint put on an aircraft I don t expect to have a trophy winner, but I do intend to have a sound, well constructed aircraft. I was asked on one occasion to help judge some aircraft at a fly-in The birds I considered worthy of a trophy didn't make it. but others that looked good did. so I came to the conclusion the judges didn't look for work-

manship, but nice paint jobs However, maybe the two go hand in hand. Whether this goes into the "letters to the editor" column or not doesn't matter to me. but I felt you were reaching out for opinions. Sincerely. William G Cook (EAA 75438) 130 N. Highland Ave. Daytona Beach. FL J2014

Eldon Cessna El Segundo. CA 90245

Dear Paul:

This letter is to express my appreciation for the great privilege of getting to meet you personally and ttie members of the EAA association who are doing so much for private aviation. I thank you for the excellent way you provided for some of us old timers in aviation to get together Some whom I have not seen in thirty years or more. Others I had never met. In all it was most enjoyable to see the old aircraft and the new and to appreciate the progress that has been made over the years. Also to meet and talk with those who are adding to the art and making such great progress towards simplicity and super performance. Personally the only time I think of the past is when others inquire about it I am interested in what is going on now and what can be done to keep flying alive and active Again I wish to express my appreciation for what you and your organization have done and are doing for aviation Sincerely yours. C. G. Taylor

Dear Paul: I'm sure all/most that write to put in their 2 cents worth of opinion would like to make earth shaking pronouncements that would

change policy, etc as for me I've never read "any" aviation magazine that gave me the pure delight that I receive in reading "OUR MAGAZINE

If ever there was a right person at the right time in guiding the destinies of light aviation — you easily have to be that person. My only concern is that you might let some malcontent who couldn't be satisfied by anything or anybody (and who usually has an ulcer and divorce to prove it), cause you con-

cern in doing the fine job that you are and have been doing in managing our fine and wonderful organization Kindest regards. Nick Di Ross Mesa. Arizona (Continued on Page 34) SPORT AVIATION 5

BACK COVER PAINTING

This month's back cover painting is a Woody Pusher by Carl E. McKenny (EAA 52913), 1999 N.E. 183 St.,

North Miami Beach, Florida 33179. A commercial artist for Tropic, the rotogravure magazine of the Miami Herald, Carl is also a member of Chapter 37 in Miami. He served as newsletter editor from 1971 to 1973. Although many Woody Pushers have been modified to spring leaf gears, different choices of wings, etc., Carl chose to depict the Pusher in its original configuration.

OSHKOSH LOST AND FOUND

Harry J. Hanisch, Box 2424, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901 was in charge of Lost and Found items at Oshkosh this past summer. He has already reunited a number of EAAers with their missing possessions, but still has a boxful of unclaimed items . . . such as cameras, binoculars, clothing, a set of car keys with Illinois license plate number JL-5070 on the ring, prescription eye glasses, and many, many other things. One item has us stumped — a brand new pair of crutches. It could be that we had a faith healer at work in the campgrounds this year and the crutches are no longer needed, but we would still like to return them to the owner. Contact

Harry at the address above. PAUL POBEREZNY TO RECEIVE AOPA'S SHARPLES AWARD

PL-1 NOTICE

Paul Poberezny, president and founder of the Experimental Aircraft Association, has been named to receive the Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association's Laurence P. Sharpies Award for 1975. The Award, which carries the name of the founding chairman of AOPA, is given annually to "recognize and inspire unselfish contributions to general aviation." A perpetual trophy is inscribed with the names of each yearly recipient and is on display in the Aviation Hall of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The recipient of the award receives a replica of the trophy and an honorarium of $1000.00. Announcing this year's recipient, J. B. Hartranft, Jr., president of AOPA, said Poberezny "has been and continues to be an individual dedicated to the advancement of general aviation . . . for 17 years (he) served as a volunteer president of the EAA while following an aviation career in the Air Force and Air National Guard. He is an aircraft designer and aerobatic pilot as well as an organizer and administrator of the EAA. Poberezny has

Designer Ladislao Pazmany has asked that the following notice be passed along to all builders of his PL-1: "Recently a PL-1 had a minor accident as a result of failure of the main landing gear attachment to the wing spar. The aircraft suffered minor damage, the pilot was unhurt. After a relatively hard landing, stalled in from approximately 10 feet, the pilot taxied the airplane and while braking, the right main collapsed. At the time of the accident the aircraft had 210 hours. The first 100 hours were flown from a gravel strip with some potholes. The oleos had been bottomed many times. Upon investigating the accident, it was found that the .100 inch thick 2024-T3 plates attaching the gear to the spar had elongated bolt holes and had failed. These plates (top and bottom) should be changed to .125 inches thick 2024-T3. Owners of all operational PL-Is should inspect these plates for elongated bolt holes."

been a major force in the development of an aviation museum and in the advancement of sport flying." President Paul will receive the award at the closing banquet of AOPA's Plantation Party and Industry Exhibit in San Diego, Saturday, October 11.

Paul Poberezny will be honored by the Federation A e r o n a u t i q u e Internationale (FAD d u r i n g its 68th Annual General Conference at Ottawa September 22 through 27, 1975. He will be the recipient of the Paul Tissandier Diploma for his contributions to the advancement of aviation.

1975 OSHKOSH FORUM TAPES

For the 4th consecutive year EAA Director Dave Yeoman has taped most of the forums at Oshkosh and has them available to EAAers in cassette or reel-to-reel form. The tapes can be purchased outright or rented. Dave still has the masters for all the forums taped in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975 and a list is available from which to order. Write: Dave Yeoman, RFD 1, Toddville, Iowa 52341. 6 OCTOBER 1975

PAUL TISSANDIER DIPLOMA

OSHKOSH DEBRIEFING

A two day debriefing session on the 1975 Oshkosh Convention will be held at EAA Headquarters November 22-23. Committee chairmen, volunteer workers and other interested parties will attend. In addition to the suggestions of those present, the letters and chapter newsletters received since Oshkosh '75 pertaining to the Convention will also be given full consideration.

HEADQUARTERS FLY-IN WITH A HEART

In conjunction with the Erie, Pennsylvania Jaycees, EAA Chapter 160 recently held a fly-in picnic for crippled children and their parents. The children were given plane rides and were thrilled to be able to do something so out of the ordinary from their usual activity. The day was such a great success that another is planned for next year. Roy Sweatman is president of Chapter 160 and Secretary Gary Stevens is also president of the Erie Jaycees. TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP . . .

"Boy, I walked my legs off at Oshkosh this year!" If you have ever been to Oshkosh, you have undoubtedly made that statement. Joe Tarafas, vice-president of Chapter 70 (Allentown/Bethehem, Pennsylvania! decided to see just how far he would trudge in pursuit of his favorite airplanes, so he strapped on a pedometer for his entire stay at Oshkosh. After five days he had racked up a total of 75 miles . . . an average of 15 miles per day! ACRO SPORT PROGRESS

Ten EAA Acro Sports have now flown, ranging in power from 100 to 200 horsepower. In order of their test flight dates, they are: NlAC (the prototype), 180 h.p.

Lycoming — EAA Air Museum; N5AC (prototype Super

of the little bird with such a small engine. Intended only as an economical sport plane, N6AS has such a good margin of performance that Bill was able to later put it through quite an aerobatic routine. He believes the 100 h.p. version fully capable of at least Intermediate level competition in IAC contests. A cruise of 115 mph, low rate of sink as compared to the high powered Acros, and easy ground handling were the features most commented upon after the initial flights. One of the original purposes of the 0-200 powered

version of the Acro Sport was to allow a builder to complete his aircraft at minimum cost, fly it for a while at the lower weight until he has mastered the ship and then go to a bigger engine and greater performance. Now, however, with the rising cost of fuel and the good performance of the 0-200 version, many may not want to change a thing. RED CROSS AT OSHKOSH

As in years past it is most appropriate that we acknowledge the help of the Oshkosh Chapter of the American Red Cross and especially Mrs. Gertrude Bowman for their assistance at the EAA Convention. Mrs.

Bowman, assisted by five registered nurses, the Boy Scouts and the C.A.P., manned the Red Cross trailer each day, rendering assistance to scores of EAAers needing medical attention. Our sincere thanks and appreciation for this essential service.

Acrot, 200 h.p. Lycoming — EAA Air Museum; N21WC,

180 Lycoming — Warren Curd and Dick Browne of Raytown, Missouri; N869M, 180 h.p. Lycoming — Jim

I n m a n of Stamford, Connecticut; N5897, 150 h.p. Lycoming — Norm E. Atkins of Lapeer, Michigan; N250R, 150 Lycoming — Wally Roder of Waukesha, Wisconsin;

C-GNKH, 115 Lycoming — Donald Hardick of Sarnia, Ontario; C-GKSS, 150 Lycoming — Central Okanagan Schools, Kelowna, British Columbia; N6AS, 100 h.p. C o n t i n e n t a l — EAA Air Museum and N20KT, 150 Lycoming — Ken Tate of Lamed, Kansas. As new Acro Sports ( a n d Pober Pixies) are completed, builders are encouraged to send pictures and

data to Ben Owen at EAA Headquarters. 0-200 ACRO SPORT

And speaking of Acro Sports, N6AS, the Continental 0-200 powered Acro Sport on static display at Oshkosh, was test flown by P a u l Poberezny on A u g u s t 14. Dorothy "Carrot Top" Aiksnoras of the EAA Air Museum staff, who built the plane, also flew it that day along with Mike Heuer, Bill Barber and Dick Wagner. All were very pleasantly surprised at the performance

DOCUMENTATION NEEDED

In a number of states and in many county and city governmental units around the nation, deliberations and

public hearings are being conducted which will have an impact on general aviation for decades to come. These proceedings involve physical expansion and upgrading of facilities at existing airports, construction of new airports, installation of control towers and instrument landing systems, etc. All involve the allocation and

expenditure of public funds and, in many cases, the condemnation of private property to make way for airport expansion. It is an understatement to merely say these programs are generally unpopular with the local citizenry. Environmental considerations, the state of the economy and the universal opposition people have to

being asked to give up their property for any reason are the principal causes. Making every airport in the land an all-weather, fully IFR facility would be a worthwhile goal . . . if such airports were really needed and if they could be affordSPORT AVIATION 7

ed. FAA acknowledges the existence of just over

EAA/FAA LISTENING SESSION

12,000 registered airports in the United States. There are probably double that number of private strips which

FAA leaders from Washington will come again this year to EAA Headquarters to conduct a Sport/General Aviation Listening Session. To be held Friday, November 21, 1975 in Haedtler Hall in the EAA Air Museum, the session will deal with the special problems of homebuilders, sport and recreational flying and those larger questions that affect all general aviation. Although no date has been set as yet, another meeting is being planned with FAA for the latter part of January, 1976. This one would concern the problems involved with air shows, air racing and other aviation sporting events. Representatives of all sport aviation organizations, U.S. and Canadian military teams and the Department of Defense will be invited to participate.

do not appear on the charts. At the vast majority of

these, recreational flying is the principal activity . . . and the recreational flyer simply does not need towers, ILS and runways much over 3,000 feet in length. He certainly can do without increased users fees to pay for these frills and the expense of equipping his aircraft with required electronic devices for which he has no use. While the initiative for many of these expansion programs comes from the federal level, others start at your local airport. For instance, who actually filed the application for the new control tower at your field? It's amazing how hard coming by this information can be. If you can't find out, contact David Scott in Washington (202/223-5220). He will go over to FAA and look up the application for you. Once you learn the identity of the person, contact him and find out his motives, how he expects the community to pay its share of the costs, whether your hangar rent, tie down fee and/or per gallon gasoline price will be increased, etc. Then after you have done all this, write up a summary and mail EAA Headquarters a copy. It should be perfectly obvious to all in aviation that the average pilot and aircraft owner does not want to be

burdened with additional costs, does not want to be a bad neighbor to those who own property adjacent to airports and certainly does not want to see his airport closed due to lack of local public support. It is time we who are directly involved started finding out just who, besides FAA, is demanding more expensive facilties, it is time these persons are made accountable for their actions and it is past time that we make it clear that we won't pay for what we don't want and don't need.

(Photo by a very proud Grandpa)

Peter Lee Fray, age 7, grandson of EAA photographer Lee Fray, models an "Oshkosh 75" football jersey. A few of these are still left at reduced prices. Small, medium, large and extra large adult sizes are available for $5.60 ppd and small, medium and large children's sizes sell for S3.90 ppd.

(Photo by Ben Owen)

Bob Wischer (EAA 57405) of Delafield, Wisconsin, current International Radio Control Scale Champion, has made the 1976 U.S. Team with this model of the Pober Pixie. Best of luck, Bob, representing the U.S. and EAAers everywhere.

8 OCTOBER 1975

MORE ON THE SWISS MUFFLER In the June 1975 issue of Sport Aviation details were presented for the construction of a unique homemade muffler being used in Europe by the homebuilder set. Francois Lederlin (EAA 15,546) contributed the photos and the following additional comments.

"This type of muffler has just been approved by the Swiss Office Federal de 1' Air,, the equivalent to your FAA. It therefore seems they are satisfied with its expected useful life." The preferred blanket material for wrapping around the muffler's stainless steel mesh core is, apparently, what is called Roving in the U.S. As for the use of

the unwoven mat, Francois observes, "I should not

Photo No. 2 (Photo by Francois Lederlin)

A close-up showing how the long muffler is suspended beneath the fuselage.

Photo No. 1 (Photo by Francois Lederlin)

Louis Ferriere's Jodel 112, F-PSSY displays its new "Swiss Muffler' inconspicuously at an airport in France.

use mat because it will shred away when you pull it on and because vibration might reduce it to dust." Louis Ferriere, an RSA member in Grenoble (France), has just made one of these mufflers for his Jodel. Thanks to Francois Lederlin, we are able to examine his excellent photos of the installation in the Louis Ferriere Jodel 112 (F-PSSY). "Louis rolled himself a tube from flat sheet and riveted it together. His is about 3 feet long and it works nicely (the longer the quieter though). He has added spun cups to each end to conceal the glass build-up. His F-PSSY is a good clean aircraft and, as Jodels go, an exceptional performer. The added hardware has made no difference that can be measured to the speed or rate-of-climb . . . but it has added comfort to the flying." Tony Bingelis

Photo No. 3 (Photo by Francois Lederlin)

Note how the bottom is faired creating something of a tunnel for the muffler.

Photo No. 4 (Photo by Francois Lederlin)

1. Flexible metal ducting is used to reduce the effects of vibration between the shock mounted engine and the stationary fuselage attach points. 2. Notice that the diameter of the muffler is not much larger than the big venturi.

SPORT AVIATION 9

A Hot Time In Oshkosh

(Lee Fray Pho

By Jack Cox

I T IS GENERALLY

believed that the most talked

about thing in the world is the weather. Normally, this wouldn't be the case during Oshkosh week where airplane talk predominates, but this year ol' man weather got equal time. It was hot! It was also uncharacteristically humid for Wisconsin. The result was that only Burt Rutan's VariEze was able to outdraw the crowd around the water fountains. A strange lull seemed to descend on the fly-in each day from about noon until nearly 3 o'clock. Usually, the grounds are reminiscent of an active anthill all day, everyday but this year everything seemed to grind to a halt at mid-day with little groups of people huddled in the shade of buildings, tents and high wing airplanes. We know only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun, but even Harold Best-Devereux sought

refuge in the air conditioned confines of press headquarters on occasion. After a full week of miserable atmospherics, a front came through at dusk on Friday, led by short lived high winds that vacuumed the grounds clean of all the dust that had been stomped out of the parched soil and blew 10 OCTOBER 1975

George Economos, front seat, of Washington, D. C. takes FAA Administrator James Dow for a Breezy ride . . . traditional for all visiting VIP's at Oshkosh.

down a few tents in the campgrounds. PA announcements had forewarned aircraft owners and as far as we know the planes came through thoroughly dusted, but otherwise unscathed. On Saturday, the floodgates of mercy were opened and a soothing rain fell until noon and cool nights and clear, sparkling days returned on

Monday . . . for the remainder of the week, in fact. Naturally, since the fly-in ended on Monday. But weather aside, Oshkosh '75 was the candy store it has always been for those of us with an aeronautical sweet tooth. As always, the big attractions were the new goodies — and as most of you must know by now, the Rutan VariEze was the Big Lollipop of the week, probably the whole year. You will read elsewhere in this issue of the trials, tribulations a n d , ultimately, the

triumph of the VariEze at Oshkosh '75, but a few additional comments seem appropriate here. I have attended every day of every EAA fly-in convention since the 1964 event in Rockford, but never

have I seen public reaction equal to that created by the VariEze. It wasn't just the mobs that surrounded the tiny craft every moment of the day and half the night. . . we've seen that before with the BD-5, the KRs and, as I recall, even the Breezy the first year it showed up at Rockford. Rather, it was the unabashed enthusiasm that surprised me. I had people come running up exclaiming. "That's it! That's what I've been waiting for!" All the more stunning to me personally was who was doing the

exclaiming . . . people who had heretofore been solid devotees of other marques, deserters from the "biplanes

forever" ranks, and a few I never knew had any interest whatever in building an airplane. I tried during the remainder of the week to analyze the symptoms of Ezemania and was able to isolate a few common elements. * Nearly everyone ended the inevitable comparison with the BD-5 with " . . . but the VariEze is TWO place!" There should be a message in that for you designer types. * Without exception, the people with whom I discussed the aircraft felt strongly that the VariEze represented the turning of a corner with regard to its method and materials of construction. Even though Burt Rutan has never told anyone exactly how the plane is built, the fact that it was completed and flown in just over 100 days was not lost on anyone. That the VariEze is a high performance, aerodynamically sophisticated aircraft rather than a clod-hopping crudie just reinforces the notion. * "Efficiency" was a word I heard all week from potential Eze-riders . . . but I soon realized the term meant different things to different people. To some it simply meant speed on low horsepower. Others were keying in on the tremendous range of the little aircraft. There seems to be a kind of mystique surrounding very long range. To take off in, say, Illinois and touch down in California — on $30 worth of gasoline; to span the continent in a single bound in your own little VW powered pair of seven league boots . . . Alaska . . . South America . . . the North Atlantic . . . the freedom that conies from being able to AFFORD to go almost anywhere — all manifested in a faraway gleam in many an eye that reflected the image of a skinny winged little canard parked before them. * And then there was the usual ego trip syndrome. To be the sensation of the airport at every landing, to amaze and confound every person who chances to look skyward as you wing your solitary way across the continent is irrestible to everyone of us with just a little ham in our system. And who doesn't? By coincidence, the aircraft parked next to the VariEze was also a great attraction at Oshkosh '75 — George Pereira's Osprey 2, last month's cover study. It's rakish lines and superb workmanship brought deserved raves, but the little amphibian's speed turned heads to an even greater extent. George flew it often during the week and its fast circuits around the fly-by pattern were closely watched by those who want their cake and eating rights, too. Amphibians have traditionally been slow and it appears at least a portion of the aviation world has been waiting for a fast one. A few rows back was Pete Bowers' new two placer, the Namu II. In case any of you have forgotten, "Namu" was a whale. When Pete started building his long awaited two place bird, it loomed so large in his workshop as compared to the Fly Babies that previously were built there, some wag tagged the new bird "Namu II". It is a whale of a big airplane as homebuilts go — the prop spinner is over six feet off the ground. Of all wood construction, Namu II is in many respects a two place Fly

(Dick Stoutfer Photo)

C. G. Taylor, designer of the Cub and Taylorcraft.

(Photo by Jack Cox)

Woody Edmondson, left, and John McCulloch with the Clipwing Monocoupe, "Little Butch". Woody won the world's aerobatic championship with the aircraft at Miami in 1948. SPORT AVIATION 11

B. J. Schramm, (Photo by Jack Cox) President of RotorWay, Inc.

(Dick Stoutfer Photo)

Baby, but don't look for parts interchangability because it is a totally new design. The real family resemblance is in the planform of the tail surfaces. Otherwise, the big bird has graceful, tapered wings cranked down and up again in an inverted gull configuration and fully cantilever main gear legs . . . quite a departure from the straight axle, wire braced 'Baby. Pete is a tall guy and he wanted plenty of cockpit room for cross country trips — like to Oshkosh — for himself and his wife, Alice, as well as excellent visibility. The Emeraude-style canopy serves both purposes well. I had an opportunity to make a short flight in Namu II just before the Warbirds' flight period one day at Oshkosh and found the plane to fly very well — excellent ground handling and very docile inflight manners. Performance is quite good for the power — a converted Lycoming GPU Pete has been hoarding for years. An interesting side note on Pete and Namu II is so typical of EAA, in general. Not initially flown until July 2, the bird made it to Oshkosh because 18 pilots in the Seattle area pitched in and kept it flying constantly until the restrictions were flown off. Look for the complete story from Pete in SPORT A VIATION soon. On Saturday before the fly-in started on the following Tuesday, a stiff crosswind was blowing on 18 and we vultures were hanging on the fences watching the early arrivals tempting fate and the limits of their landing gear geometry. Suddenly a lot of fingers were pointing out towards the downwind leg at an unmistakable profile . . . a Fw.190. The W.A.R. '/•> scale 190 had made it from Santa Paula — with Jim Kern's Model 35 Bonanza flying a wing. How about this . . . our first glimpse of the tiny tiger in flight, our first chance to see it with an 0-200 installed and with the crosswind, a good look at its landing characteristics, all at the same time. Down the chute it came without the slightest bobble, slicked on in the neatest wheel landing I've ever seen and rolled out, tail high, until it had almost stopped. As it taxied in we could see the pilot was Mira Slovak, who has done most of the test flying to date. The only conclusion one could arrive at was that the W.A.R. 190 is a very well sorted out airplane, or Mira Slovak is some kind of pilot, or both. Slovak had to get back to California the following morning, so Jerry Greenameyer flew it — every day — the rest of the week. He, too, did a superb job. Bringing up the rear was Warren Eberspacher and 12 OCTOBER 1975

Carroll Dietz gets a cockpit check prior to flying the Kraft Super Fli from Paul White, left. Dick Bowers is at right.

Ken Thorns towing in W.A.R.'s second prototype, the Corsair. Placed in the display building in W.A.R.'s booth for the week, this little jewel had to be wiped down several times a day after being molested by drooling, ol' WW II carrier jocks. Was it realistic? Would you believe folding wings, landing gear that pivots 90" as it retracts, retractable tailwheel and arresting hook, big four bladed propeller, moulded-in inspection doors, access panels for the armament, etc., etc.? Yes, it was darn realistic and should be spectacular in flight next year at Oshkosh. If advance mail is a valid indicator, the Corsair will be the most popular of the little W.A.R. replicas. It was powered at Oshkosh with a VW equipped with a Nelson reduction unit, although an 0-200 can also be accommodated, as with the Fw.190. Molt Taylor's single place MiniIMP was not new — it was at Oshkosh '74 in hurry-up form — but now it was complete, had been painted and had about 18 hours flying time in its logs. Unfortunately, this was not enough to permit Molt to fly the aircraft at Oshkosh, so we will have to wait another year to see it zipping around the fly-by pattern with the Sonerais, the KRs, the VariEze and the BD-5s. Molt has had some de-bugging to do since the inception of his test flying, so the project is not on schedule. First, the starter on the Limbach engine was a problem. A hand-pull rig, operable from the cockpit, was built up by Molt and his main man, Jesse Minnock. This initially did not work as well as hoped for, so an electric

starter is again being used — a geared unit developed by Molt (who, incidentally, is responsible for the geared starters on Lycoming engines today). A novel feature on the prototype is the use of an APU plug for starting. Molt rolls out a battery cart, plugs in, fires up the Limbach, removes the plug and is away on another flight — just like the modelers. Saves weight and some complication, but could be a bit of a problem in

cross country flying. Another problem has been the failure of the Gerdes disc brake units originally installed. Al Rosenhan has since built up a special wheel/brake unit for the MiniIMP based on a patented new design and these were on the aircraft at Oshkosh. Molt is very high

on them and will include same in a MiniIMP package at a later time. Molt really begins to beam when the conversation turns to the flight characteristics of the NASA wing and flaperon combination and the inverted V-tail of the MiniIMP. He has done an article on the subject for SPORT AVIATION, so we will defer to the authority until a later date. The fact that the MiniIMP was not flying this year took some edge off its reception as compared to the other new generation homebuilts that were. However, there is a great interest in this aircraft. The MiniIMP is just a shade larger than its contemporaries, has a big, roomy cockpit, and reportedly is very easy to fly. With its long

wing and new, larger Rosenhan wheels, it will be able to use less improved airports than many other homebuilts. Further, it is basically of metal construction, which will continue to appeal to a great number of builders for years to come. The MiniIMP is too widely admired to be called a "sleeper" . . . just don't be fooled into thinking it is not noticed because it has had very low key promotion. Chris Heintz's new single place Mono Z (see July 1975, SPORT A VIA TION), completed by owner, Gerry Boudreau, in time to get a paint job just like the two place Zenith, was one of Oshkosh '75's early arrivals. It is a straightforward, sturdy little bird that would appear to be an excellent choice for a low time pilot with a preference for metal construction looking for a first time project. Chris Heintz, incidentally, was once again the king of the circuit riders with his Zenith. It would be interesting to know how many persons he has taken for rides in the plane and how many he has allowed to fly it. One thing for certain, I have yet to hear anything less than unbridled enthusiasm for the design. We ought to see the first of the plans-built versions at Oshkosh next year. An aerial steed of a different color was Phil Kraft's Super Fli. This low wing, single place machine was designed expressly for aerobatics. It has an all-wood wing with a very thick airfoil — much like the Swiss/German Acrostar in appearance. The fuselage is steel tube with a lot of easy-to-remove metal panels up front and fabric aft of the cockpit. It is powered by a 200 hp Lycoming turning a constant speed propeller, a favored combination in aerobatic circles these days. The Super Fli has been flown with a fixed prop, but because of its speed range as compared to the biplanes, is a more versatile aircraft with the constant speed prop.

X

(Photo by Jack Cox)

KR-2 fuselage under construction in the Woodworking Workshop. Materials and jigs were supplied by Wicks Aircraft.

(Photo by Jack Cox)

The Crater Dart.

The Super Fli was flown to Oshkosh by Paul White, who was asked by owner/designer Phil Kraft to get as many top notch aerobatic pilots as possible to wring it out. One who took advantage of the offer was Carrol 1 Dietz. I questioned him regarding his impressions and

it went like this: best liked features — super roll rate, nearly equal to the four aileron Pitts; excellent visibility (though a pressure cooker in the Oshkosh heat, as were all bubble canopied birds); almost ridiculously easy ground handling — "Aerobatic airplanes aren't supposed to be so nice." Criticism: Carroll thought perhaps the prototype was a mite on the heavy side, which hurt its vertical performance. The Super Fli is built like the proverbial brick outhouse, which perhaps explains why Phil Kraft had no qualms about allowing any and all qualified aerobatic pilots to fly it, but this also explains the weight. Carroll felt that a little lighter version would be a tremendous aerobatic airplane. He sounded like he wouldn't mind having one the way it is now. Kraft, incidentally, is the president of Kraft Systems, Inc.,

"World's Largest Manufacturer of Proportional R/C Equipment", according to the company's ads. Some of

the Super Fli's design features are reported to have evolved from experiences gained from R/C combat and stunt jobs. It's not often that a new design shows up at Oshkosh

(Lee Fray Photo)

Dave Carr demonstrates his Carr Twin. SPORT AVIATION 13

with two examples already flying, but this was the case with the Mini Mac. Designed and built by Charlie E. McCarley of Hueytown, Alabama in the 1968-70 period, the Mini Mac is an all-metal, low wing, tri-gear single placer with VW power. It has a span of 20' 6" and an empty weight of 514 pounds. Cruise is 125 mph true at 3225 rpm and 138 at 3400 rpm. Stall is at 45 mph. A second example was built from Charlie's tooling by his friend George Harrison of Birmingham, with the first flight coming on July 4 of 1974. Charlie's prototype, N152CM, has a bubble canopy but George's N75GH is open cockpit. Several new aircraft were on display in unfinished form — the American Eaglet (July 1975, SPORT AVIATION), the RV-5, the Crater Dart and an anything-butnew aircraft design with a new twist in engines — a Pietenpol Aircamper with a Mercedes diesel engine. The picture in this issue will show how close Larry Haig came to completing the Eaglet before Oshkosh. As it was, EAAers were able to closely inspect the super light structure of this little powered sailplane without the hindrance of outer covering. Larry was closely questioned on how he expected to overcome torsional resonance problems in his driveshaft (he is purposely building the shaft so flexible that he hopes the natural "whip" will take care of the forces on it, thus keeping the shaft from having the usual problems in the first place) and whether his inverted V-tail's fiber-glass spars can handle landing loads (since the tail wheels are attached to their lower ends). Larry thinks so, pointing to fiberglass gear legs on Ron Scott's Ol' Ironsides, BD-5s and the VariEze. The Eaglet is a bundle of interesting innovations and as one EAAer was overheard to say, "If he can pull it off, he'll really have something there." In a similar vein, Emmett Tally's ultra light Birdman (June 1975, SPORT AVIATION) was absent at Oshkosh, but he did have a booth in the display building which featured movies of the plane's wafting, slowmotion flight. The new V-tail version was not ready, so only parts of wing panels, engines, props, etc. were on display. Powered sailplanes, ultra-ultra lights or whatever one wishes to call them are certain to come in for more and more attention as aviation gasoline creeps inexorably toward the $1.00 per gallon level. The RV-5 is Richard VanGrunsven^ latest design. It is an all metal, shoulder wing ultra light designed around the Carr Twin. The entire structure is pop riveted and contains no compound curves or complicated forming of any type. The wing pivots around to nearly a fore-and-aft position for towing and storage. Dave Carr brought the plane to Oshkosh in an enclosed sailplane trailer and spent the week running his little engine. The Carr Twin is a VW literally sawed in half and made into a horizontally opposed twin cranking out approximately half the horsepower of the original engine. The RV-5 prototype is the building project of Chapter 105 in Portland and probably will have flown by the time you are reading this. Designer VanGrunsven, incidentally, was bursting with justifiable pride at Oshkosh '75. This

was to be the year the first plans-built RV-3 showed up — it did, along with three others! All five were out flying together at times and looked great in formation. The RV-3s built to date are somewhat unique in the homebuilding milieu — they all look exactly alike. Usually when a new design is made available to builders, each goes off on his own tangent, adding his own cowl, wheel pants, canopies, etc., and in the end comes up with an aircraft that often is quite different in appearance from the

prototype. Except for color choices, not so the RV-3s. One reason is that Dick offers all the fiber-glass parts for the airplane, but we also suspect the builders recognize that this is an airplane that aesthetically and from the standpoint of performance would be very difficult to 14 OCTOBER 1975

improve upon. What about that missing designation, the RV-4? That is a two place, tandem version of the RV-3 that should be showing up at Oshkosh in the not too distant future. Don Winter of Bay City, Michigan and Chapter 159 had an aircraft on static display he calls the Crater Dart. It is an all metal, single place delta wing job that utilizes a BD-5 fuselage and is powered by a Mazda rotary engine. A new main gear that retracts backward is also employed. A lot of work remains before the bird is ready for flight but the engine was run several times a day at Oshkosh. I am thoroughly convinced that when an inventor finally develops an atomic aircraft engine the size and weight of a baseball that runs for 200 years on a teaspoon of water, the initial flight tests will be run in a Pietenpol Aircamper! Corvairs, Continentals, Lycomings, Franklins, Model A's, Vegas . . . you name it and chances are good someone has flown behind it in a Pietenpol. Now Doug Rhode of Manitowoc, Wisconsin has added to the list by showing up at Oshkosh with a very original (and beautiful) Aircamper powered by a Mercedes-Benz 180D diesel engine. It was running for the delight and amazement of the engine fans at Oshkosh, but had not yet been test flown. We'll have an article on this bird soon . . . but while we're on the subject, I just heard of a good buy in a surplus Fairbanks-Morse submarine engine — do you think . . . ? AVIATION GREATS

We'll come back to the airplanes later, but while we are discussing new things at Oshkosh, it is appropriate to switch over to the Aviation Greats Day. A decision was made earlier in the year to set aside a day, Thursday, July 31, at Oshkosh '75 to honor a number of the men and women who pioneered aviation in the 20's and 30's. These aviation greats would be our guests for a day, would be escorted on tours of the fly-in by EAA Air

Museum Foundation Trustees and would be presented certificates expressing the appreciation of EAAers everywhere for their achievements in aviation that laid the foundations for all that we enjoy today. A list of persons who had accepted EAA's invitation to attend was printed in the July issue of SPORT AVIATION and almost all made it to Oshkosh. Louise Thaden, Waldo Waterman and Dr. Alexander Lippisch were unable to attend due to illness and shortly before the fly-in, we received word that Phoebe Omlie had died at her residence in Indianapolis. This was particularly sad because Mrs. Omlie had been deeply involved with the Monocoupe in her early career — racing, the Ford Tours, etc. — and this story has never really been told. A lot of Monocoupe fans and aviation history buffs were anxiously awaiting her arrival with long lists of questions they finally hoped to have answered. Most arrived on the previous day, Wednesday, and

that evening were the guests of fellow Aviation Great, Steve Wittman, and his wife Dorothy for a party at the Wittman home, just across the airport from the fly-in site. It is doubtful if a gathering of so many important aviation figures of the pre-World War II era has ever been held before . . . and they had much to talk about. The resulting bull sessions went on until the wee hours. It was difficult to determine who was enjoying the occasion more — the Aviation Greats, many of whom had not met, or had not seen each other since the 1930s, or the Air Museum Trustees who were agog just listening to history as it REALLY happened, history from the prime sources. On Thursday, the Greats took their tours, shook hundreds of hands, answered questions, signed autographs, had a picnic lunch courtesy of Oshkosh's Chap-

ter 252 and generally basked in the admiration of the crowd. That afternoon they were honored guests for a special air show, featuring one of their own, Harold Neumann, and in the evening were presented to the audience at the meeting pavilion. Each made a few remarks and all were obviously moved by the warm reception received from EAAers throughout the day. T. Claude Ryan perhaps summed up the feelings of all when he said, "I feel good here, I feel comfortable because I'm among people who share a love of airplanes." Nick Rezich and Bob Hoover MC'ed the presentation of the Aviation Greats and did a fine job.

A number of memorable anecdotes came out of the day. John McCulloch, owner of the Clipwing Monocoupe "Little Butch" (cover, SPORT AVIATION, May 1975) couldn't wait to get Woody Edmondson in the plane for

the first time since the 1950s. Woody had won the 1948 World's Aerobatic Championship in the aircraft at Miami and was a famous air show performer during the late '40s and '50s. John and Woody blasted around the flyby pattern a number of times to the accompaniment of the PA announcer, who had been advised whom was in the plane. A lot of photographers were on hand to record

the audience. He never heard a louder cheering, even in the glory days at Cleveland. And then there was Bernie Pietenpol. He wanted very much to come to Oshkosh to participle in the Aviation

Greats Program, but his health had not been the best. His daughter insisted that he seek his doctor's approval before attempting the trip. He did so and during the check-up a serious arterial blockage near his heart was discovered. Immediate surgery was ordered. During his recovery, the doctor made it clear that coming in for the

physical had saved his life, so for Bernie the Aviation Greats Day had a very special significance, indeed. The Aviation Greats Day may be the best thing EAA has ever done. All the Greats invited to Oshkosh have been honored before — by government, by their communities and others. But there is something very special in being honored by one's peers, by those who love the same things as y o u , by those who understand. A i r planes are the ties that bind, but EAA is really people. What better thing can we do than honor our fellow man? A special expression of thanks is in order for our Air Museum Trustees and Mike Heuer of the EAA staff who made it all happen.

the occasion on film when the two taxied in ... including

the author. C. G. Taylor, designer of the Taylor/Piper Cub and the Taylorcraft, was at Oshkosh for more than just a happy reminiscence of things past. Fact is, Mr. Taylor is not particularly interested in the past because he is so involved with the future. He was especially interested in looking over the current crop of homebuilts because he has designed and is building one, himself. A few years ago he took a tour around the U. S. visiting small airports and questioning pilots on their flying habits and just what they really want and need in an airplane. His design is based on that one man market survey. The next Taylorcraft will be a very attractive little single place pusher powered initially with a VW engine. He has also designed a variation of the Herrmann engine for light aircraft use that would eventually replace the VW in his design. He is not interested in pen pals, what with all the work he has set out for himself, so please do not attempt to contact him for additional information. When the projects are ready for the public eye, we will hear about them. Early on Thursday morning, all the Aviation Greats joined Steve Wittman in a pleasant little grove of trees on the north side of the airport for the dedication of a Wisconsin Historical Society marker in his honor. The handsome bronze plaque was placed on the site of the first hangar at what is now Wittman Field. It recognizes Steve's long career as an air racer, aircraft designer, inventor and manager of the airport since the early '30s. Tony LeVier was the principal speaker for the occasion. The city of Oshkosh and Winnebago County cover themselves with honor each time they recognize Steve for his many accomplishments.

\

(Ted Koston Photo)

President Paul Poberezny every Oshkosh Fly-In.

. . eyes, ears and heart of

When the Aviation Greats were being introduced on Thursday night, each came to the podium to receive his or her certificate and say a few words . . . a l l except for Bill Sweet. Bill has had several strokes in the past few years and probably shouldn't have made the trip to Oshkosh in the first place. But for a man who spent all

Aside from the social aspects, people generally come to Oshkosh for two reasons — to see the airplanes and

his adult life on center stage at the truly great aviation events, Oshkosh is his kind of place, his kind of people.

attend the workshops and forums. Bill Chomo's workshop area was a beehive of activity this year, as always.

He HAD to be there. Bill was presented his certificate

The Woodworking and Synthetics Workshops were standing room only as a result of the Wicks Aircraft participation. They brought materials and jigs to build a KR-2 during the week and came darn close to getting a fuselage and tail surfaces completed. In addition, some real life field repair added to the interest. The Wicks KR-2 (March 1975 SPORT AVIATION cover) had been packed aboard the company's semi for transport to Oshkosh and

at his seat and he made his remarks as best as his speech

allowed. The applause that followed must have been like an electric spark surging through his mind and body. The roar of the crowd was awakening all those old emotions, starting the ol' adrenalin pumping again. To the astonishment of all. Bill somehow struggled to his feet

and stood there in that famous, familiar pose saluting

WORKSHOPS AND FORUMS

SPORT AVIATION 15

(Lee Fray Photo)

Aviation Greats . . . left to right, Ed Granville, Len Povey, Matty Laird, Paul Poberezny, Eldon Cessna, Tony LeVier, Fish Salmon and Steve Wittman.

during a panic stop on the way was jerked loose from its moorings, ripping the tailwheel right out of the fuselage. The KR-2 became the Woodworking Workshop's guinea pig and in a couple of days (and nights) of work,

which included the splicing in of about 3 feet of aft lower longeron, the damage was repaired and the plane was flying again.

Jim Miller again held his very popular canopy forming workshop and Dick Schreder had all the questions he could possibly answer on his bonded rigid foam/metal construction technique. The engine workshop was very active — what with VWs, Continentals and John Monnett's new Corvair conversion available for inspection and tear down/assembly. Late in the week, this area became the focal point of interest when the engine was changed in the VariEze (see story elsewhere) to prepare it for the World's Record. Welding has always been one of the most popular workshops — this year was no different as hundreds of EAAers tried their hand at welding up 4130 scraps and pieces of aluminum. Sheet metal was busy . . . and loud . . . when the rivet guns were going. And most of the big names in aircraft covering — Razorback, Ceconite and Stits — were there instructing any and all in the proper methods of covering various EAA Air Museum projects, 16 OCTOBER 1975

such as a Tiger Moth, Aeronca K and D.H. Rapide. Dorothy "Carrot Top" Aiksnoras of the Museum staff kept the old standard, Grade A, going by helping members cover various components with it. The workshop program was greatly enhanced this year by the participation of EAA designees led by Tony Bingelis and Bob Burbick.

Each year the Forums program put together by EAA Secretary Wes Schmid seems to get better . . . and more frustrating, because, inevitably, just the ones you want to attend are scheduled opposite each other. This can't be avoided, of course, because all the forums are of interest to most people. This year five large tents and the big meeting pavilion were used for forums — 3 for homebuilding and general subjects and one each in the antique/ classic, warbirds and rotary wing areas. Harry Zeisloft's "Design College", a series of design and aerodynamics lectures, was a part of the forums schedule. A rundown of the subjects covered is breathtaking: designers of almost all the popular homebuilts of today held forth on their progeny; ditto for engine converters, accessory manufacturers, propeller manufacturers, etc.; type club presidents or enthusiasts for all the antique and classic aircraft told how to restore and keep the old birds flying. There were also specialized subjects — like

avionics repair, using radio control models for spin testing aircraft designs, aircraft hydraulics, aerodynamics of flexible wing aircraft, aircraft interiors and upholstering, hot air ballooning, crash-worthiness of amateur built aircraft, Bourke engines, ornithoptery, hang gliding, use of the parachute, antique engine overhaul, physiological stress connected with flight, tailless aircraft, stability and control problems of STOL aircraft . . . and on and on. In the very middle of all ihis activity, William Stanberry of AOPA was conducting its very successful Pinch Hitter Course for the women — and men whose wives are the pilots in the family. What can one expect to hear at a forum? The writer, like all the rest of you, was not able to attend all forums. The few I did manage to squeeze in seemed to be chosen more for reasons of the particular time they were scheduled rather than what they concerned or what I might have had preference for (although I would have enjoyed them all). At any rate, just as a sampling of the fare, let me share my notes taken at a couple of forums. First, Ken Rand's KR-1-2 session: * Engines — The bigger VW's (1834cc and up) burn 5 gallons per hour at full throttle on the KR prototypes, 4 gph at cruise. * The firewall of the KR-1 needs a beef-up if the larger engines are used. * Ken Rand prefers single ignition. * Main gear legs — If a KR-2 grosses over 800 pounds, Ken recommends moving the gear legs in one inch

on the spring legs. This is also recommended if rough field operation is contemplated. * Ken does not recommend other types of gear springs — thinks the type shown in the plans is simplest and lightest possible. * New castings (for the gear legs) have been developed. The castings are designed to fail before pitching the aircraft over on its back. Several gear legs have been broken but most have been repaired by the owners. * New Wings — Two KR-2s in California now have wet wings with a total fuel capacity of 70 gallons. The wet wings are actually stronger than the standard units because the sealing of the interior with resin to hold fuel constitutes internal brac-

ing. Fuel vent for wet wings is on the bottom of the panel so as to be in a high pressure area. * A rumored long wing has not yet been built, mainly due to the need for spoilers. * Flight characteristics — Ken feels spoilers would be desirable on both the KR-1 and KR-2. Best location would be on inboard section of wings. Spoilers have not yet been built because of the desire to keep the aircraft light and simple. Ken feels slipping the KRs is just as effective as spoilers on final approach . . . and a lot cheaper.

* In the prototype KR-2 the best glide speed is 70 mph with one aboard, 85 with two. Glide ratio is about 15 to 1. * Miscellaneous — All control surfaces on the KRs should have 30° plus or minus deflection. * 4130 hinges for the rudder and elevator would be a better choice than the aluminum hinges called out in KR plans. Hinges on the prototype KR-1 had to be bushed after about 200 hours. * About 150 KR-ls have flown and 15 KR-2s. There have been several crashes, almost all the result of engine failure. * The aircraft radio project is dead. Too costly — in time and money. Work already done has delayed KR-3. * Air comes in the cabin from the wheel wells on the KR-2, so air vents have not been installed. (*.'

%$Southern Californians! Try that in Wisconsin in winter! — Editor) * Only about 5^ of plans buyers have actually built

an airplane. * A KR newsletter is now being printed. Write Ernest Koppe, 6141 Choctaw, Westminster, California 92683. I also sat in on the W.A.R. forum, conducted by Warren Eberspacher, Ed Hooper and Jerry Greenameyer, who passed on these pearls of wisdom: * The Hawker Sea Fury will be the next design to be replicated (now that the Fw. 190 and Corsair are completed or well along). After that will come the Thunderbolt. * Thus far, the Corsair has been the most popular W.A.R. model by a margin of 10 to 1. * W.A.R. is at least 12 months away from the materials kit phase. $5000 to $6000 is the present estimate on the cost of a complete kit. * 100 sets of plans are now out on the Fw.190. * 125 hp is considered the maximum power for all the W.A.R. designs. 70 hp is the minimum. * Jerry Greenameyer stated that the Fw.190 has very light control pressures — the rudder is more sensitive than the rest. With the Continental 0-200

and the present propeller, it indicates 130 mph at 2500 rpms. Stall is 60 mph. Climbs 1000 fpm. Red line is 200 mph, 85 mph in the traffic pattern, 80 over the fence. The Fw.190 has a rather high rate of sink and, like the real McCoy, is blind to the front in the flared or 3-point attitude. You want realism . . . you get realism!

* Two turn spins have been done to date. * The 0-200 added 27 pounds to the Fw.190. I also sat in on all or parts of Molt Taylor's MiniIMP forum, Jim Bede's BD-7 and BD-5 forums, Burt Rutan's VariEze forum and Al Backstrom's Flying Plank session. Molt will have some definite news soon on materials kits for the MiniIMP — we'll pass on the word when he's ready. The BD-7 is a 2-4 place version of the BD-5. It will handle aircraft engines from 100 to 200 hp with 130 hp considered the lower limit for the four place configuration. We will have additional information on this bird soon. The BD-5 forum was a "I have some good news and some bad news" affair. Jim stated that the new three cylinder Xenoah was finally the answer to all his engine woes . . . but that customers would have to pay an additional sum to get it for their kits. The fact that most BD-5 kits were purchased at 1972-73 prices, while the Xenoah comes at 1975 prices was given as the reason for the additional cost. Burt's standing room only crowd was told to be patient . . . a second VariEze will be built this fall to prove out materials kit parts and some minor changes that will be made in the airframe. Then, and only then will anything be sold to the public. Al Backstrom told us that the powered Plank he designed for EAA Director Van White of Lubbock, Texas is flying now and is showing a lot of promise. We will cover this one soon, also. The foregoing is just a teasing taste of all the interesting things that went on in the forums at Oshkosh '75. If you missed them, you still have a second chance. Most were taped by new EAA Director Dave Yeoman (RFD 1, Toddville, Iowa 52341) and shortly he will be ready to sell you a copy of any or all forums. Write Dave at the address above for a list and price information. A portion

of the price goes to the EAA Air Museum Foundation. HIGHLIGHTS Several plane loads of government officials flew to Oshkosh this year. The FAA contingent was led by Acting Administrator Jimmy Dow. This was his first intensive exposure to sport aviation and the first impression SPORT AVIATION 17

was favorable. EAA Headquarters gets kidded for being straight laced and more or less obsessed with cleanliness and order. Contrast this with popular press stories characterizing private pilots as drunks lurching around the sky in search of a stray 747, or as thrill seeking playboys who have traded in their strings of polo ponies for airplanes . . . or adrenalin freaks out to satisfy death wishes over the homes of innocent moms and pops. Compare the grounds at Oshkosh at weeks end with those of any ball park, stadium, race track, rock concert site, county or state fair after just a few hours of activity. Now, consider this scenario: an FAA staff member walks in and tells his boss that he is scheduled to fly out to ... uh, yes, Oshkosh, Wisconsin to ... uh, attend a fly-in. "We've got a bunch of people out there who build their own airplanes in their garages and thirty or forty thousand of them are massing in a field out in Wisconsin." What would you want the powers that be, who possess go/no go decision making power over your flying, to see? EAA doesn't have to just be "straight" . . . we have to be twice as straight as anyone else. On Saturday a NASA flight brought in three Congressmen, Dale Milford of Texas, Jim Lloyd of California and Gene Snyder of Kentucky. These men hold key positions on Congressional committees and sub-committees that deal with aviation. Since all legislation that involves spending tax money must originate in the U.S. House of Representatives, their committees are where all laws that affect us really begin. All three are pilots and were intently interested in the fly-in, the airplanes and the people there. Representative Milford had a special reason to visit the Classic area — his Temco Buckaroo was there, having been flown up by his friend, Larry Coker of Arlington, Texas. Like the members of the FAA delegation, the Congressmen were favorably impressed with what, they saw . . . intelligent, responsible citizens engaged in a constructive activity, and being totally civilized about the whole affair despite being packed into an area that would send some well publicized groups into a frenzy. Long suffering BD-5 builders had something to see this year besides the company aerobatic team. Two Hirth powered 5s were on hand, N27BC built by Buddy Cottie of Beckley, West Virginia and N746BD built by Walt Liebfried of Acton, Massachusetts. Walt's aircraft did not have the restrictions flown off and thus was unable to participate in the fly-bys, but Buddy Cottle . . . he must have truly warmed the cockles of Jim Bede's heart! He flew his BD-5 to Oshkosh from West Virginia in four hours, burning 3.4 gallons per hour. It is about 650 miles from Beckley to Oshkosh, so that's just better than 162 mph, according to my computer. It is about the same distance from Newton, Kansas to Oshkosh and Les Berven flew N503BD, the 70 hp Xenoah powered factory job, up in 3 hours and 5 minutes. That's 210 mph. He burned 6 gallons per hour. During the week Buddy Cottle and Les were in the fly-by pattern every time their speed category was allowed up. Les and a taper wing Cassutt had some monumental battles, with the BD-5 appearing to have something of an edge. Les also entered N503BD in the Pazmany Efficiency Contest and racked up the fastest time of any entry . . . 216.02 mph. Just prior to Oshkosh, Jim Bede had 38 customers from around the country come U> Newton and check out in the BD-5. Some also flew the BD-5J. Each was given a large button that proclaimed, "I flew the BD-5". The idea, of course, was to have these people answer all the questions at Oshkosh (and later back home) on how the little bomb goes, how it handles, etc. One pilot who has flown the BD-5 deserves particular attention by all Bede customers. Seth Anderson, a well known stability and control authority from NASA's 18 OCTOBER 1975

Ames Research Center, was at Oshkosh and conducted one of the forums. He told me the BD-5 has excellent flight characteristics, is quite stable and a heck of a lot of fun. Maybe that will make some of you '5 builders sleep better. The Bede jet team was spectacular as always and has added Debbie Gary to fly with regulars Corkey Fornof and Bobby Bishop. Debbie was formerly with the Carling Pitts team in Canada. And, finally, on the Bede front . . . Richard Bach has become the first "civilian", as someone put it, to take delivery of a BD-5J. His N177RB was one of the jets being evaluated by the Air Force and was returned to Newton just before Oshkosh. Richard and several Bede employees worked all week getting it painted in a beautiful color scheme and finally rolled it out on Saturday. They arrived at Oshkosh late that evening and enjoyed a couple of days of the fly-in before winging home to Florida. Some will remember Oshkosh '75 as "The Year of the Engines". Several new ones were on display and there were rumors of a lot of others. The advancing price of gasoline has the engine world stirred up as never before. In addition to the well known VW conversions (John Monnett, Ted Barker, Limbach) Gilbert Duty of Sanford, North Carolina was showing a new one. His VW had bolt-on castings a la Monnett and a really neat little starter and alternator similar in size to the units on the Limbach. His engines are being used on Harris Woods' Aerosport prototypes and, as a result of their Oshkosh exposure, will undoubtedly see wider use in the coming year. John Monnett was also showing a Corvair that features his familiar bolt on castings that eliminate the need for a lot of expensive machining. Alternative engines for the BD-5 are beginning to show up, as should be expected in a country where hot rodders modify or re-engine everything from their chain saws on up. Jerry Kibler did not make it to Oshkosh with his turbocharged Honda Civic powered BD-5. Just before the fly-in, he had a 50 cent oil line break in flight and didn't quite make it back to the airport. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured and was at Oshkosh the latter part of the week. Jerry said the accident will not affect the development of the Honda engine for aircraft use. Another California group, TOBS Aero, was displaying a Honda 550 motorcycle engine modified for use in a BD-5. Called the Avtech 550, the engine reportedly produces 60 hp at 8500 rpm on a dyno. It has a built-in reduction unit that contributes to a total unit weight of 138 pounds. A version for homebuilts other than the BD-5 was said to also be in the works. Geschwender Aeromotive had a big display board picturing their 400 cubic Ford V-8 installed in a crop spraying airplane for flight testing. The engine swings a 102.5 inch three blade Hartzell and, according to the Geschwender crew, is really hauling the big clunk of a sprayer around. The engine is developing an estimated 300 hp at 4000 rpm for take-off. Torque at the prop shaft is 800 pound feet at 1100 rpm. Prop shaft reduction is presently 2 to 1. Geschwender is working on conversions of several other engines, one of which they had in a small box under their counter . . . but they aren't ready to talk about it yet. The most interesting new engine was Scorpion's watercooled, four cylinder, four cycle, horizontally opposed unit first brought to your attention in the Hotline section of the August issue of SPORT AVIATION. Mounted in an abbreviated Scorpion helicopter frame, the engine was trundled out a couple of times each day by B. J. Schramm and fired up. It certainly sounded great and was very smooth. Hardly any vibration was evident when touching the fuselage frame. B. J. said it would

be sometime late this year before the design would be frozen and early next year before production plans would be set. It has been a long, long time since a new manufacturer entered the light aircraft engine business. The fact that the people involved are already heavily involved in the homebuilding world and understand its peculiar needs and problems is of incalculable significance. We'll end this talk of engines with a tidbit from the ol' rumor mill. Seen those ads Cal Parker is running in

SPORT AVIATION, Trade-A-Plane, etc. . . . "Is this the

shape of things to come on the Teenie Two?"? Well, our grapevine tells us that long snout on the Teenie Two contains an air cooled Wankel . . . and that it is turning the prop DIRECT! That oughta keep you Engine Charlies guessing until Cal comes through with the full story.

The evening programs, marshalled by EAA Vice President Ray Scholler, were a welcome chance for Convention goers to enjoy an extension of the day's activities . . . from the seated position! In addition to several serious programs such as Phillips Petroleum and Jeppesen/Sanderson's "Charts in the Airspace Structure", David Scott's annual Washington Report, an address by James Dow, Acting FAA Administrator and President Paul Poberezny's "State of the Association" message, there was a pleasing variety of pure entertainment — skits, musical interludes and aviation movies. Near

(Photo by Jack Cox)

Larry Haig's nearly finished American Eaglet.

week's end the awards programs took the greater part of each evening. (The award winners, incidentally, along with antiques, classics and warbirds are not covered in this article because each will be featured in separate articles and issuesof SPORT A VIATION in the com-

ing months.) Harold Best-Devereux lent his usual touch of sophistication to the master of ceremonies duties. Oshkosh '75 was, in retrospect, a super fly-in. There were more aircraft on the field at one time than ever before and more people. They came from everywhere. Dave Jameson's International Tent registered 337 persons from 31 countries. 125 were from Australia alone. Two Russians were there to experience sport aviation, American style. The great thing about Oshkosh, though, is that it doesn't end when everyone packs up and heads for home. That's just the beginning. All you folks fan

out over the world, show your slides and movies to scores of others, tell about everything you saw and heard . . . and for twelve months these seeds germinate, sprout new ideas and grow into all sorts of new developments, many of which will be at Oshkosh next year or the year after to amaze and motivate us all over again. When he reads this, Paul Poberezny will smile and think, "That's exactly what I had in mind 23 years ago." Those of you who worked so long and hard with him to make Oshkosh '75 happen have every reason to share with Paul a warm glow of satisfaction for a job superlatively done.

VARIEZE... FOR THE RECORD

By Jack Cox

(Photo by Jack Cox)

5:55 a.m. . . . take-off run on the record flight.

O:30 IS A brutal hour in the morning for anyone to be up and about after a week of endless tramping up and down the aircraft display lines at Oshkosh. Yet, a score or so

of us have summoned the strength from somewhere and now find ourselves huddled around this pale app a r i t i o n of an a i r p l a n e , i n t e n t l y watching as Bill Turner and Art Froehlich jiggle the weights right and left along the scale slides and call out: "Left main 399.5 pounds." "Right main, 357.25 pounds." "Nose gear, 169.75 pounds." Harold Best-Devereux, the NAA/ F.A.I. Official Observer for all that hopefully will transpire this day, jots down the numbers and after some quick addition, almost solemnly announces: "That comes to 926.5 pounds, Burt. No sweat for the record." After a few slightly puzzled looks and questions about how the weight could vary so much from a similar weigh-in two mornings before, the chatter trails off into a "What th' heck, we're still 'way below 1100 20 OCTOBER 1975

initials to each with a flourish worthy of his station . . . and the occasion. Taking all this in with a slightly

bemused expression on his face is

pounds", m u r m u r . Harold's crisp British accent snaps everyone back to the matter at hand. . . "Now, gentlemen, will you please step back - completely away from the aircraft?" As the rest of us back off a few grudging steps, Harold strides forward, reaches deep into the rear cockpit of the Vari-Eze — behind the h u l k i n g fiber-glass a u x i l i a r y fuel tank — and starts the barograph. Then he proceeds to tape over the filler caps, affixing his

pilot Dick Rutan . . . waiting calmly in the front seat, already strapped in and ready to go. Dick is the only one in the crowd who really looks like he is up to the occasion. Decked out in a powder blue turtle neck pullover, he is downright dapper as compared to the rest of us who have the disheveled appearance of a bunch of sleepy heads who have just been rousted out of bed . . . which, of course, is exactly the case. Draped over each of Dick's shoulders are several stout strings,

each attached to some unseen object behind his seat back — plastic bags containing a couple of Baby Ruth candy bars, a package of cheese and crackers, three pull-top cans cont a i n i n g Beenie-Weenies, chicken gumbo and chocolate pudding, a Chap Stick, Rollaids and some aspirin and a couple of plastic bottles full of water laced with just a dash of lemon juice, % of a gallon in all. One string leads to a large, empty plastic bottle. Not exactly an Apollo life support system, but simple, effective and, most important, lightweight. A short exchange of pleasantries

between Dick and Harold ends with a groping with the canopy support rod and a lowering and locking of the plexiglass bubble through which, if all goes well, Dick's only sensory contact with the rest of us will be possible for the next 12 to 14 hours . . . except for intermittent use of his battery powered Escort 110 radio.

With brother Dick properly and officially encapsulated in the VariEze, Burt Rutan takes charge. "O.K., let's have lots of hands under the canard and the main wing - anyplace except the control surface on the canard - and s-l-o-w-l-y ease forward off the scales and down the ramps." Instantly, every square inch of under surface of the VariEze is cupped in the palm of someone's hand . . . attesting at once to the ol' EAA can-do spirit and the advantages of the "hard" skin of the foam and fiber-glass construction method employed in the radical little canard. All together, now . . . lift!" Effortlessly, the tiny bird, its pilot and 279 pounds of gasoline are palmpowered up, forward and gently down on the taxiway . . . its first "flight" of the day a total success. Now Burt assumes the position at the rear of the craft and addresses the Monnett VW and Ted Hendrick-

"O.K., just as a precaution let's walk him out to the end of the run-

way. Keep the nosewheel light over the bumps and tar strips." The leading edges of the canard and main wing lined with willing EAAers like starlings on a powerline, the rather odd looking entourage marches down the taxiway from EAA's b l u e arch, on to r u n w a y 18/36 and heads north toward the 18 end. It's a funny looking sight . . . for a few strides, all are in step, then one and then another get out of step, then all are in step again. Reminds me of a company of raw recruits at Boot Camp nearly 20 years ago. From the front all that can be seen are two files of shoulderto-shoulder "troops" — no airplane is visible, just a white nose of something protruding between the two halves of the front file, a kind of silly round face with wide red lips but no eyes. When the troops did a

column left on the runway, Burt and John Monnett pulled out and climbed aboard the VariViggen. Now they have fired it up and are taxiing along behind the VariEze, preparing to accompany it on the first lap of this attempt to break Ed Lesher's World's Closed Course Distance Record of 1554.297 miles set back in 1970. As the end of the runway is neared, I turn my car around and race down towards the other end, trying to guess about where the heavily laden little canard will lift off. I guestimate the area just north of where the Florida Chapter's Lockheed Lodestar is parked as a likely spot . . . based on what I had seen on Saturday morning. Screeching to a halt, wife Golda and I bound out and start prefocusing our cameras and wondering whether the red ball that is the sun will lift up out of the low stratus hanging over Lake Winnebago to zap our lens opening settings . . . just as the VariEze comes whistling by us.

son prop. "Make it hot."

Flip . . . flip . . . flip. Come on, you little Wolfsburg prima donna — this is no time for d r a m a t i c pauses! Flip . . . flip . . . b-r-o-o-o-o-m!

(Photo by Lee Fray)

Official certification of the scales by Vernon Erickson of the local Weights and Measures office.

SPORT AVIATION 21

(Photo by Dick Stouffer)

From our vantage point of about 4500 feet down the runway, we can hardly see the VariEze, so razor-like is its head-on profile. We see the "troops" move away from it and we hear the growl of the Vari-Viggen's Lycoming, but we hear nothing from the VW and can detect no movement from either aircraft.

Dick Rutan, Burt Rutan and Harold Best-Devereux check the barograph to be sure the squiggly little line tells all. It did.

More noise . . . and finally it appears the VariViggen is advancing, but the VariEze still appears to be stationary. Then, you can tell — it has moved. The motion

seems lateral from this angle, however . . . and still no VW buzz. This almost head-on angle and the distance are tremendously deceptive. Suddenly, the angle widens to a point where the VariEze seems to wildly accelerate and now we are frantically fumbling with the cameras . . . "My gos/i, /ze's going to /7as/i

right by before I can punch the shutter!" The rest of the take-off is tightly framed in my camera's view finder. Dick is really ripping now — holding 'er down to build up speed. Just as I snap off my first shot, the nose gear is raised and on the second

click I see the mains clear the pavement. Dick's Air Force training makes him a believer in airspeed above all else . . . he levels out just after lift-off and accelerates in ground effect right down to the end 22 OCTOBER 1975

of the runway. Although I don't see it, I hear the VariViggen snarl by in

hot pursuit of the VariEze . . . futile pursuit, it turns out, for as Dick smoothly brings up the VariEze's nose the rate of climb is far in excess of what even the new long winged VariViggen is capable. Turning inside the tiny swept-wing wonder as it arcs around to its northeasterly course gains little or nothing for Burt. I can't believe it ... that little son-ofa-gun is carrying over 126 pounds more than its own empty weight, propelled by a 1700cc VW — and the 150 hp VariViggen can't even

head him off at the pass! Leveling off, Dick throttles back to his programmed rpms and begins cruising up the shore of Lake Winnebago, heading for his turn point at Menominee, Michigan. Only then can the VariViggen catch up and slide in under the VariEze for a look-see to determine if all is well

in the engine compartment. In a matter of moments, the VariEze is just a speck, then nothing. The larger VariViggen appears to be alone. Finally, both have disappeared and those of us on the ground drift back toward the Control Center trailer to sit out the expected hour and twentyfive minute lapping of the Oshkosh/ Menominee course. If that VW continues to purr away, we can expect

to spot that unmistakable VariEze profile overhead at about 7:20 or so. The long waits between laps provided time for reflection upon the events of the past few weeks and, particularly, the last few days leading up to this Monday morning record flight attempt. By all rights that airplane should not be in the air now . . . the engine should be on

another airplane and in another city . . . and, at best, without the unflagging assistance of scores of EAAers, the VariEze would still be sitting in one of the workshops with oil drooling from its belly. The past

48 hours had been incredible . . . and undoubtedly possible only at Oshkosh during Convention week. The plan, as stated by Burt Rutan in the July issue of SPORT AVIATION, was to fly the VariEze nonstop from Mojave to Oshkosh. Then an assault would be made on the Closed Course Distance Record for aircraft in the F.A.I.'s Class C-la Group I. This is the class for the smallest of aircraft, those weighing less than 500 kilograms or 1102 pounds. Most of the records in this class belong to Ed Lesher and his super efficient little homebuilt, the Teal. It would not be an easy task to take any of them away. Strangely enough, however, this saga did not start in Mojave . . . or even in California. It started the Saturday before Oshkosh over Elgin, Illinois, just west of Chicago. John Monnett had just circled over his house in his Sonerai I to let wife Betty know he would be home in a few minutes. In quick succession he experienced an engine stoppage, an easy glide to a nearby street adjacent to a golf course, a successful touch down . . . and a nasty ground loop after hooking the very last sign post in his path. No personal injuries, other than to his pride when he learned he had run out of fuel, but the familiar little green racer was out of it for Oshkosh '75 with crunched wingtips, main gear and aft fuselage. Then the scene shifts to Mojave on the morning of Wednesday, July 30.

tests, etc. had been accomplished. All that was left was for Major (Lt. Colonel by the time you are reading this) Richard Rutan, USAF, Field Maintenance Squadron Commander of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB near Tucson, to get away from his duties, get up to Mojave and blast off on Wednesday. Flying non-stop to Oshkosh would be the grand entrance of all times for a new homebuilt design, Burt and Dick had figured.

In the wee hours of morning, Howard Ginn and other local EAA types strapped Dick in and fired up the 1834cc Barker VW . . . only to have oil come gushing out of the cowling. The start-up had ruptured the oil cooler. A quick decision was made to remove the cooler, plumb the system "straight" and attempt the flight anyway. This wasted a precious hour or so but still left just enough time to make Oshkosh by sundown . . . if winds were favorable.

Taking off with nearly 50 gallons aboard, Dick climbed to 7500 feet and headed east, accompanied the first 100 miles by Howard in his

T-18. The route to be flown was a gentle curve out across the Sierras, southern Nevada, through the heart of Utah, clipping the corners of Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and, finally, a dash across the mid section of Wisconsin to Oshkosh. The course was selected partly because it overflew major Interstate highways and partly because it allowed some pressure system flying that promised tailwinds. Settling back in the semi-supine and super-comfortable seat, Dick could see nothing ahead except clear sailing — visibility was unlimited, all the gauges were in the green and he was indeed picking up a tailwind. There was even time for a little thought of things past . . . how he had entered the Air Force in May of

Burt and Carolyn Rutan had flown

east in the VariViggen a few days before, leaving his brother Dick with the taskl?) of flying the VariEze to the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh, hopefully in one big hop. The little bird had nearly 100 hours of flying time on it when Burt left and all manner of flight testing, fuel consumption

(Photo by Dick Stoutfer)

Harold Best-Devereux points to his seal on the fuselage tank.

SPORT AVIATION 23

(Photo by Dick Stouffer)

David Scott supervises the weigh-in for the first, unsuccessful record attempt.

1958 as a navigator and after 7 years of fingering computers and figuring ETAs had been assigned to flight training at Del Rio, Texas. Even now, high above the Rockies, a little

swell of pride came from recalling he was first in his class of 400

cadets at Del Rio . . . and that this got him the thing he wanted most in the world at the time — assignment as a fighter pilot. Only two F100 slots were awarded his class, and one was his! After g u n n e r y school at Luke, it was off to Phu Cat, South Vietnam and combat in the F-100. E v e n t u a l l y , he would volunteer for a special assignment as a "Super FAC", flying 104 successful, low altitude missions over North Vietnam. Opting for several additional tours, he and his F-100F Commando Sabre would spend more hours over the North than any other combat pilot — no one has challenged his claim to this day. And then there was that 105th mission . . . checking out a new pilot . . . hit by ground fire . . . the race towards the coast with the plane streaming flaming jet fuel . . . punching out at the last moment and the hours on a life raft until the chopper arrived. A ground speed check somewhere over Utah revealed that the tailwind was really picking up. Later checks showed that a full 45 minutes had been picked up — wow! Call a preselected FSS that Hurt will call later in the day to let him know that ETA at Oshkosh will be about 20 minutes before official sunset. What luck! This called for another Life Saver from the package taped to the side of the cockpit. Slipping back into a little rapture of the heights, Dick recalled a pleasant 4 year tour of duty in England following 'Nam . . . spoiled only by that day when he saw his F-100's oil pressure jerking back to zero in, of all spots, the last stages of an instrument approach. Seconds later he was dangling in his chute harness from a substantial English tree. Next came a tour at Wright Pat and the chance to fly almost everything in 24 OCTOBER 1975

the inventory . . . most impressive? The F-Ill. About this time Lady Luck turned her beneficent smile elsewhere. Over Nebraska the tailwinds became headwinds and the oil temperature began to rise. Over southwestern Minnesota the oil temperature and the oil pressure started shooting up. The more he stared at that oil pressure guage, the more

it looked like a twitching F-100 guage that no longer seemed so long ago or very far away . . . and this time there was no ejection seat or English tree. Down there there's only . . . an airport and a Holiday Inn right beside the Interstate??? Not one to question Providence,

Dick took advantage of his "gift" airport and shortly was rolling out on the runway at Worthington, Minnesota . . . after 8 hours and 50 minutes of non-stop, non-refueled flying, some 1500 miles out of Mojave. And

wouldn't you know it, the first persons to run out to greet him were

EAAers — they're everywhere, you know. A check of the engine revealed nothing that could be seen, except that most of the oil had been consumed. This would explain the rise in oil temperature, but what caused the

oil pressure to rise?? After replenishing the oil supply, a run-up showed everything in the green again . . . and left a nagging suspicion that in the rush to remove the oil cooler that morning, maybe the oil

had not been topped off before take off. Better call Burt and give him the

bad news. Burt, meanwhile, had been following the progress of the flight by calling in to the FSS stations along the route t h a t he and Dick had agreed to use as "message drops". Dick was hardly on the ground before Burt knew about it and shortly

the two were talking it all over by phone. After hearing about the puzzling oil pressure reading, Burt agreed Dick had made the wise decision, sparing himself and the VariEze to fly again another day. After a night's rest in that Holiday Inn, Dick flew on to Oshkosh the next morning . . . to the most spectacular reception an aircraft has ever received at an EAA fly-in. Several PA announcements had been made the previous day keeping everyone

informed of the VariEze's progress as it winged its way across the continent, and Burt had talked briefly

at the evening program detailing the problem with the oil pressure. An announcement was made Thursday morning when the tower reported the VariEze entering the pattern at Oshkosh and it appeared t h a t everyone there was standing on

the show line — j u s t like at evening air show time — to witness the landing on runway 18 at 8:40 a.m. There was no way to taxi in through such

a multitude — the tiny craft had to be walked to its already roped off parking spot beside the VariViggen. There it was to be totally surrounded by huge crowds every minute of the daylight hours that it was on the ground.

A thorough check was immediately made of the engine and nothing could be found awry. After removing

the long range fuel tank from the rear cockpit, a test flight was made with this writer serving as an inadequate replacement for the weight

of 35 gallons of fuel. Again, no problems. With no controls in the rear 'pit, my only impressions of the Vari-

Eze were strictly from a passenger's point of view . . . perfectly normal

take-off and landing characteristics — no wild angles of attack or unusal

gyrations of any sort; the absence of propeller noise; no discernible wind noise over the moderate buzz of the VW; the ability of pilot and passenger to converse at almost normal conversation levels; and very comf o r t a b l e s e a t i n g and tremendous visibility. On Friday Dick took the bird out for some more flying and on landing, had to go around to avoid a slow plane rolling out long on the runway. Cranking the nose gear up and

then right back down again for the second landing attempt, he appar-

ently did not get the circulating ball system wound up to the stops — alt h o u g h it had felt to him it was "down and locked." On touchdown,

(Photo by Dick Stoufler)

Pre-dawn roll out of the VariEze for the first record attempt.

the little panel mounted crank started spinning wildly, slowly letting the

nose right down on the pavement. A layer or two of fiber-glass was ground off the nose gear leg and the bottom skin, but that was the extent of the damage. Repairs were made by Gary Morris right at the aircraft's parking spot — with a pair of scissors, a paint brush, a can of epoxy resin and strips of glass cloth. By

evening, 7EZ was pronounced ready for the record attempt the following morning, Saturday, August 2. All that day frantic preparations

were being made elsewhere on the field for the record attempt. Several weeks earlier, Burt had made application to NAA, the U.S. F.A.I, affiliate, for the attempt. David Scott had been designated as the official NAA observer . . . and he had much to "observe" even before the first prop was turned. A barograph had to be smoked and sealed, scales had to be certified, turn point observers on the other end of the closed course had to be lined up, communication with the Oshkosh tower had to be coordinated, etc. Fortunately, Bill Turner also became available at the conclusion of the very successful EAA Aviation Greats Day program and pitched in with the

legwork. Harold Best-Devereux, who was an old hand at this sort of thing, was there whenever he was needed.

Adding to the last minute adrena l i n level was the fact that the closed course was changed at the eleventh hour. All week the weather had been unseasonably hot for Wisconsin. Gulf moisture was being pumped up the back side of a titanic high pressure area stalled in the east, resulting in a really bad haze condition all over the mid-west. The original closed course was to have been from the Oshkosh Omni to the Burlington, Wisconsin Omni — but the rather featureless Wisconsin landscape would make Burlington awfully hard to find groping through the atmospheric goop. The use of omni could not be depended upon because the VariEze's radio was powered only by a primary system consisting of an 8 amp gell cell and a secondary system consisting of a 2 amp motorcycle battery. Only

intermittent use would be possible because the electronic instruments were also d r a w i n g off the power supply. The Barker engine was devoid of all but mags and a carb to keep it at a spare 138 pounds. Starters and generators s i m p l y SPORT AVIATION 25

meant less fuel, reasoned Burt. Being the Original Interstate/Railroad /Coastline Chicken Flyer, I suggested a course I have often flown: up the west shoreline of Lake Winnebago, over the freeway to the city of Green Bay and up the west shore of Green Bay to Menominee, Michigan and return — a 182 mile, nosweat navigation run, even in marginal visibility. This met with everyone's approval . . . except now how do we find a turn point observer willing to be on duty for about 13 or 14 consecutive hours? Ah, but this is EAA, fellows! It just happens that a new Chapter, number 535, has been formed in that area, and its president, Jim LaMalfa, is one of our fly-in photographers. We page Jim and shortly he is on the phone to Paul Schultz, Senior Vice President of Enstrom Helicopters (and a long-time EAA member). The Enstrom plant is located right on the field . . . and the triangle formed by Menominee's three runways would make a perfect turnpoint . . . and, sure, we will be happy to help out. Almost sooner done than said.

(Photo by Jack Cox)

Down and out in Green Bay . . . temporarily. Dick checks the pump can to see how much oil he had remaining. This last minute addition allowed him to make it back to the Green Bay airport after the engine dumped its normal oil supply. Dick did a tremendous job of dead-sticking the heavily laden little VariEze.

(Photo by Jack Cox)

Silhouetted against the first light of dawn, Burt Rutan reaches for the propeller to set the days events into motion.

r^^S

nm^

2

I IL

(Photo by Lee Fray)

John Monnett, kneeling, left, and Mike Core, right, are laughing now, but 12 hours later — after working straight through the night — both were beat. They installed John's personal Sonerai I engine so a secong record attempt could be made.

Now, if the weather will cooperate Saturday morning started at 4:30 A.M. for those of us involved in the launch. A quick breakfast for some of us, none for others, and it's off to the airport . . . with one eye on the somewhat low overcast, the first since the fly-in started. The weathermen say some scattered showers and maybe a thunderbumper to fly around before the day is done, but ceilings should be VFR. The weighing, sealing of the tanks and barograph, etc., proceed under the direction of David Scott and, presently, the buzz of the VW is causing heads to peep out through tent flaps in the campground.

As Dick taxied out, Burt ran by and yelled, "Jump in the back of the VariViggen and we'll pace him the first lap. Be back on the ground here at 7:30." I dashed for my camera and hopped in behind Burt, who already had the Lycoming turning. Taxiing out to the end of 18, we lined up behind and to the left of the VariEze and followed him down the runway . . . at a distance that left us some place to go in case he had to abort. It was difficult to see much of the VariEze's take-off from the rear 'pit, but it was long and climb wasn't initiated until a real head of steam had been built up. We were already off and climbing, but when Dick started a climbSPORT AVIATION 27

ing turn back to the northeast, we seemed to be settling as he zoomed up. Burt kept yelling something about how he couldn't catch up, that we were at full throttle, etc. Also, he was laughing a lot. When Dick throttled back to 3075 rpms, we were gradually able to catch up and finally pulled alongside, indicating just over 130 mph. We then slid up under the VariEze for a look at the engine and were greeted by a chilling sight . . . a brown streak, at least two inches wide, streaming back from the air inlet all the way back to the prop hub. Oil! Some antimated radio conversation between Burt and Dick resulted in the hopeful conclusion that perhaps the oil was merely residual spillage in the cowling — because all the instrument readings were comfortably in the green. But we would keep a close watch the remainder of the lap to determine if the streak became wider or darker. On we speed, over Neenah, Menasha, past Appleton, over Kaukauna, up U. S. 41 to Green Bay where we can see Packer Stadium and wonder if Bart Starr is already whipping his charges into shape at this early hour. As we speed up the shore of Green Bay the overcast begins to break up and by the time we are approaching Menominee, shafts of sunlight are creating luminous, shimmering pools on the otherwise drab green surface of the Bay. Sweeping around the easily spotted airport, we see Paul Schultz, Joe Gypp and others spreading a white sheet near the Enstrom helipad, indicating a confirmation of our pass. Burt has also received the good word via Unicom. Turn completed, we head southwest toward Oshkosh. Sliding in under the VariEze for perhaps the tenth time, we can detect no change in the size or color of that ugly streak on its belly. As the landscape slides so rapidly beneath us, it is easy to believe our assumption that the oil is spillage . . . merely spillage. Over the city of Green Bay, the overcast becomes solid again and as we proceed down towards the north shore of Lake Winnebago the area ahead of us darkens dramatically. B> the time we are over Kaukauna and Little Chute, we are in light rain and the ceiling and ground fog that has materialized from nowhere are ominously close to what will be an illegal merger for Burt and I in the VariViggen. We push on for a couple of minutes, but when the near all-white VariEze starts pulling momentary disappearing acts on us, we know we've been had. A quick call to tell Dick to follow the dual lane road 28 OCTOBER 1975

south rather than following a coast-

line he sees to the west — that's Lake Butte Des Morts — then Burt takes full advantage of the Viggen's turnon-a-pin-head capability and we are headed back to Green Bay airport. Somehow Dick gropes his way through to Wittman Field, gets confirmation on his turn and starts back north behind us. One lap completed. Burt and I race the rapidly advancing line of crud back to Green Bay's Austin Straubel Field, land and dash into the FSS to see what th' heck has gotten the weather god's bowels in such an uproar. About 15 minutes later, I stepped outside into a light sprinkle and was greeted by, "Hey, where were you guys when I needed you?" To my utter astonishment, I turned to see Dick Rutan striding up the walk. "Weather?" 'No, just blew the engine about 20 miles north of here. Made it back by pumping the extra oil we installed last night. Dead slicked in here." "Dead stick . . . with all that fuel on board?" "Had to, the oil pressure was reading zilch. Thought you guys would come running out to help . . . had to push th' little beast in to the ramp from out there in the middle of the runway." We walked back into the FSS, turned a corner and confronted Burt. "Thunderstruck" is a pretty good adjective to describe the look on his face when he saw Dick. Out again into what had now become a light shower of rain, we trudged out to the VariEze and hunkered down to view the oil soaked belly. All the effort, all those people at Oshkosh and Menominee who have helped out . . . and here we stand watching oil drip-dripping onto the pavement. "Well, the weather probably would have zapped the flight anyway."

With the downpour getting worse by the minute, some kind gentleman drove out and invited us to push the VariEze into his hangar, which we gratefully accepted. Pulling off the cowling we find . . . absolutely nothing. No gaping hole in the case where a rod has smashed its way out, no ruptured hoses, nothing. More probing leads to the conclusion that the VW had spilled its oil out the number 3 cylinder, but it was impossible to say from what specific point because the entire lower side was covered with the stuff. I suppose for some this would have been sack cloth and ashes time, but not so with Burt and Dick. Conversation immediately turned to where and how they could get a new engine and be ready to go MONDAY MORNINGK!). With all the engines at Oshkosh, there's bound to be one that can be used, is the reasoning. It can be installed tonight, test flown tomorrow and be ready to go Monday morning. . . . sure, now all I have to do is run two hundred yards through this rain to the terminal, call Golda and tell her to start a search for a basic VW — try John Monnett — and, by the way, send someone after me. Burt is calling his father who will launch a trailer for the VariEze. In your ear, adversity. By various means, all of us got back to Oshkosh during early afternoon — in my case, two old friends from North Carolina, Swanson Poer and Roger Jennings, drove my car to pick me up since I had to get back to work. Roger had made a stab at flying up in his IFR Tailwind, but when he attempted to file, the stack up of clearances was so great that driving was quicker. Everyone was trying to get into Oshkosh that morning! Golda had John Monnett waiting for me when I walked in the door at Press Headquarters. Sure, he had a brand new engine in his booth, ready to bolt on ... but it was brand new, no run-in time, the mags would have to be timed and it had a Posa injector carb. He had a better idea. An hour or so later we caught up to Burt who had finally managed to get the

VariViggen back to Wittman Field, and right there in the middle of the busy display building floor John laid a deal on him that was impossible to refuse. "/'// send a couple of my friends down to Chicago tonight, have them remove the engine from my pranged Sonerai, fly it back, and my crew will work all night installing it in the VariEze so you can start test flying tomorrow. With a new engine any new engine, you can't be sure what you have for the first 20-25 hours. With my engine, I know what you've got." The Godfather couldn't have topped that. In late afternoon the VariEze arrived on a trailer loaned by the world's foremost airplane hauler, Molt Taylor. Hurt's father and mother, George and Irene Rutan, and his Mojave sidekick Gary Morris had done the honors. Bill Chomo had the

John's bent bird. It was after midnight when they returned with the vital organ John and Mike Core would spend the remainder of the night transplanting in the pallid body of the VariEze. (It should be pointed out that the Ted Barker engine could not be repaired or replaced because although Ted was present and had worked with Burt since the arrival of the VariEze, he had not brought another engine with him from California.)

most. It ran, but Burt was not happy with the characteristics of the Posa injector, so off with the cowling, off with the Posa and on with the Barker engine's float carburetor.. Whoops! The intake plumbing doesn't fit ... and it's Sunday. Probably the only place in the U. S. that day with all sorts of aircraft hoses and hardware for sale was the EAA Fly-In. A scouting party soon turned up the needed bits and pieces and again the VW was fired up ... this time to Burt's satisfaction. Within 30 hours of Dick's dead stick landing at Green Bay, the VariEze was winging its way around the fly-by pattern at Oshkosh.

(Photo by Lee Fray)

engine workshop ready for major surgery and the Monnett crew had scrubbed, laid out their tools and were ready to operate. All they need-

ed was an engine. After no little searching through the vast EAA grounds and not infrequent lapses into the fringes of sheer panic as darkness settled in, Sonerai builders Charlie Terry of Long Island — who just happened to have his Mooney on the field and Vance Graebner were located and immediately dispatched to Du Page County Airport to remove the engine from

By sunup two very weary bug doctors had completed their work and were ready to look for some breakfast and a couple of beds. Burt could handle the final closure, cleanup and bandaging. Throughout the morning

the Rutans and the Monnett crew — Bob Hughes, John's father, John, Sr., and Gregg Erikson — applied the finishing touches. Finally, the moment of truth arrived. Considering the drama of the past 24 hours, it was almost disappointing when the engine simply fired right up and ran like it was supposed to ... well, al-

Sunday . . . back together after the engine change.

One last dollop of adrenalin remained to be squeezed out of the situation . . . after landing, Burt eased off the runway, came to a stop, shut down and climbed out to inspect the nose gear leg. The earlier fix had not been enough — a crack had developed. No big deal, however, as the repair, including an additional wrap with glass cloth, took only an hour or so. Most of that was curing time.

At dusk all that could be done had SPORT AVIATION 29

climb-out from Wittman Field. Be-

been done, so everyone involved headed for bed. A 4:30 wake-up call would be much harder to take this

time around. Come morning the same cast of characters would greet the rising sun, save for Dave Scott who would have to leave for home during the day. He had deferred to Harold Best-Devereux as NAA/ F.A.I. Official Observer.

And that's how we came to where we are . . . standing around or absently walking over to look at a couple of homebuilts, waiting, watching for the VariEze to return. Then, finally, there it was . . . the VariVig-

gen. Can't see the VariEze yet, but the "mothership" must be leading it in. Yep, there it is! What a beautiful sight! After swinging wide around the Oshkosh tower where Harold is standing by to confirm the turn, Burt peels off and enters the landing pattern. Good sign! The VariEze must be O.K. if Burt is letting him head back for Menominee. In seconds the

razor has disappeared again to the northeast. When Burt and John taxi in, we descend upon them for word on the VariEze and they report that all

seems well. Now they join the ranks of the watchers and waiters. We busy ourselves with the statistics of

the first lap: * Airborne at 5:55 A.M. * Over Oshkosh Tower at 7:20, according to Harold Best-Dever-

eux's watch — an hour and 25 minutes to cover 182 miles. That's 128.5 mph and includes the

fore landing, Burt has gotten fuel consumption numbers from Dick by radio and he seems concerned . . . but he isn't saying much. "We'll see how it looks on the end of the next lap." Lap two ended with Harold BestDevereux's, "Mark, 8:44." That was one hour and 24 minutes — 130 mph. "Too fast," says Burt. He uses the VariViggen's radio to order a power reduction — from 3075 rpms to 3050. His brow knits a little deeper when he hears the fuel consumption figure for lap two. More waiting. My major diversion is getting Dick Stouffer and Carl Koeling set to launch our T-34 photo plane to intercept Dick as he completes lap 3 and fly with him on lap 4, getting air-to-airs and shots of the Menominee turn point. We have also briefed Arv Olson and his co-horts in the Communications Center so they can alert everyone at the fly-in when the VariEze zips over. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Oshkosh Tower has just established radio contact with the VariEze. If you will look to the northeast, you will soon see this aircraft completing its third lap." That Arv is on the ball! We all stand transfixed — watching Carl make a near head-on gunnery run on the VariEze, passing under, up and around to fall into formation with it.

(Photo by Jack Cox)

Weigh-in for the record flight. It's about 5:30 a.m. and a long, long day lies ahead.

What th' . . . hey . . . look, the VariEze is turning back. No . . . No! "Missed his verification!" yells Burt. Damn! The turn over the tower

had been a little too close in and despite running out and leaning over the rail, Harold simply had not been able

to see past the overhang of the roof to spot the tiny VariEze. This time

the turn is wide and Harold is able to verify. Only about 4 minutes are lost, but Harold decides that he may spare all of us possible cardiac arrest if he moves his vantage point to the Control Center and uses the tower as a marking pylon on future laps. With the extra turn around the tower, lap 3 consumes one hour and

twenty-nine minutes — 122 mph. Still not bad. By the time we have this figured out, the VariEze and the T-34 have disappeared, well into lap 4. "Ladies and gentlemen, the VariEze is again approaching Oshkosh. Pilot Dick Rutan is completing lap 4 and will be beginning lap 5. When he passes over the Oshkosh Tower, the VariEze will have passed the halfway point toward breaking Ed Lesher's record. 9 laps are required to set a new mark." Arv is definitely

(Photo by Dick Stouffer)

WE DID IT! Left to right, Paul and Audrey Poberezny, Dick and Burt Rutan, Harold Best-Devereux and Bill Turner.

warming to the task. "Mark 11:40." A one hour, 27 minute lap — 125.5 mph. Burt doesn't look quite as worried over the fuel situation. "Mark 1:09." One hour, twentynine minutes — 122.5 mph. Funny, the mid laps seem to be going past faster than at the beginning. Complacency? . . . or is hunger dulling the senses? It's been eight hours now since breakfast. "The VariEze is inbound again. This will be the completion of lap 6. At the turn, the VariEze will have covered 1092 miles. This is the first time a world's record has been attempted at an EAA Fly-In. We invite everyone to stick around this evening to greet Dick Rutan when he completes the flight." Now, that's confidence for you. Harold's "mark" had caught Dick rounding the Oshkosh tower at 2:36 P.M. — an hour and twenty-seven minute time for lap 6. Same as lap 4. Obviously, wind is not a factor today. "Mark 4:07. Two more laps for the record, gentlemen." Hmm, that's an hour thirty-one — 120 mph. A check with Burt reveals that, yes, he did slow Dick down again . . . to 2950 rpms . Fuel consumption? "Yeah, it looks like we are burning a little more than we expected. Don't think we will be able to go the extra laps we planned. Running too

slow now . . . but the record looks O.K. Know what? I don't think we

had the tanks completely full at take-off. I couldn't believe the consumption on the first lap, but it has settled down some now." So that's what was on his mind. "Mark 5:37."

"Ladies and gentlemen, the VariEze has now completed lap 8 and has started the record lap. If all goes well, the aircraft will return over Wittman Field at just after 7:00 p.m. At that point Dick Rutan will have flown 1638 miles, 83.7 miles farther than Ed Lesher's 1970 record." Decision time! While Arv Olson is keeping the crowd informed over the PA, Burt is busy taking data from Dick via the VariViggen's radio — speed, fuel remaining, temperatures, pressures — the decision has to be made now on trying lap 10 because now the race is also with the sun. The VariEze is not equipped with lights and a tenth lap at the present lap speeds would get Dick back around 8:30 — after official sunset. Is there enough fuel left to speed up? The pressure is beginning to build again. Lap 8 took an hour and a half even . . . it sure seemed longer than that: 121 mph. Gee, look at the peo-

ple who are beginning to gather around the Comm Center . . . there's Ed Lesher. Boy, wonder if he had to go through all this getting his records . . . and he's done it eight or nine times! Ed is fresh from establishing a new record, himself. On July 2 he flew his Teal nonstop from St. Augustine to near Phoenix . . . 1835 miles, a new straight-line distance record. What a shame it couldn't have ended at Oshkosh during the fly-in so he could receive the plaudits of all his fellow EAAers — something he so richly deserves. Ed has closely followed the VariEze's progress all through the day and couldn't be more gracious about the possibility of loosing one of his hard earned marks. That's class. Wonder if Paul Schultz and the gang at Menominee are feeling the strain, too? So close now! (What we didn't know at the time was that during the latter stages of the flight, famed lawyer F. Lee Bailey, president of Enstrom Helicopters, flew into Menominee and witnessed one of the VariEze's turns. He reportedly was as amazed with the unusual profile of the little bird as the rest of us.) "He's coming in this time!", somebody yells. A dash to the Comm Center confirms it. Dick has decided to call it quits at the end of lap 9 — the fuel

remaining is such that 10 laps would be slicing things too thin. There's a technicality that has to be kept in mind in these closed course record attempts . . . you have to land back at the same airport from which you started, otherwise all goes down the SPORT AVIATION 31

(Photo by Jack cox)

Matched pair? This candid shot was snapped shortly after the completion of the record flight. Dick, left, is telling his wife, Geri, back in Tucson that he did it. Burt is telling John Monnett that his engine now has 13 more hours running time than it did the previous day . . . and a little history to write up in its log.

This time around he has the nose gear cranked down . . . hope it's locked, Dick. That's it, he's down!

tubes. Dick has figured his fuel at

the turn at Menominee and has told them via Unicom to call us regarding his decision. "Ladies and gentlemen, the VariEze will land at the conclusion of the 9th lap - setting a new world's record. When the aircraft lands, everyone is asked to stay back behind the showline barriers. For the record to be official, Harold Best-Devereux, the official observer, must check the fuel tank seals and remove the barograph before the plane is disturbed." Arv gives 'em the word. I get Harold and his son, Igor, in my car and drive out by the runway to wait. It won't be long now . . . in fact, a lot quicker than we realize, because we can see the crowd looking to the northeast. Thousands of arms are pointing in that direction. We are out of earshot of the field speakers, so they must know something we don't. Dick must have speeded up on the last half lap. 32 OCTOBER 1975

Sure enough, there he is. Harold's "mark" comes at 6:58 p.m., officially ending the course time. That is a 1:21 lap, the fastest of the day. Just over 134 mph. We will let the tower mark his official touchdown time and figure his total time in the air from that. Just over 13 hours aloft is not

enough to cool off Dick's enthusiasm . . . he has to do a high speed fly-by before landing on 18! He says the VariEze cockpit is the most comfortable he's ever sat i t . . . must be true.

He's done it! We'll celebrate later . . . now let's pace him in to the EAA area taxiway and get him stopped before he gets to the show line so Harold can get the barograph. Wow! look at the crowd. Everyone on Wittman Field must be lined up, watching. Dick taxis back up the side of the runway and turns down the EAA access. Harold is out of the car now and is giving him the "cut" sign. Dick brakes to a stop and is lifting the canopy . . . and is greeted by a resounding cheer from his fellow EAAers. Harold gives him a fast hand shake . . . wonder if he said,

(Photo by Ted Koston)

Burt and Dick Rutan

"Jolly good," or some such English expression?? . . . and proceeds to dive into the rear cockpit for the barograph. Presently he emerges and hoists it over his head like a trophy won. More applause. Paul and Audrey Poberezny step in to congratulate Dick, then Burt, his family and even wife, Carolyn, released at last from her week-long bondage in the Rutan booth in the display building. Then the line breaks and the VariEze is suddenly swamped with people. It's a good thing they are EAAers, for I'm sure otherwise the tiny bird would be broken to bits like a goal post by the souvenier hunters of other sports. As it is a few trophies are indeed taken. Dick pulls out his can of chocolate pudding to show what provisions he has left and immediately it is requested by an admirer . . . who also wants it autographed after the prize is his. This starts a frantic round of autograph signing by both Dick and Burt. Ah, fame may be fleeting, but it's sweet while it lasts! In the hours that followed, after the admiring crowd had finally drifted away, there came time to figure out some of the significant numbers — all subject to final NAA/F.AI.. verification and approval, of course. Dick was in the air a total of 13

hours 8 minutes and 45 seconds. The tower officially had him down at 7:03.45 C.D.T. The 9 lap course distance was 1638 miles, which, of course does not count the extra turn around the Oshkosh tower at the end

checking, Burt Rutan finally figured that the VariEze had taken off with 46.5 gallons of fuel on board. 6.3 gallons remained when the flight was completed, so 40.2 gallons were consumed in the 13-plus hours. This figures to just over 3.1 gallons per hour for the day's flying. One pint of oil was used by the Monnett VW. The average speed had been 125.5 mph. These were tremendous figures for

that it did not fly for the first time until May 21. The months and years ahead w i l l see the effects of the shock waves that are even now rippling out through the aviation world. We suspect they will be profound. Certainly it can be said, no homebuilt design . . . or factory design . . . has made such a spectacular start as the VariEze. It took a lot of help from Burt's friends to get the first record — and he is grateful — but to Burt must go the credit for daring to be different in the design of this aircraft, by asking so much of it so soon . . . in full view of so many people. Standing there in the last minutes of daylight, I suddenly realized that it was all over . . . Oshkosh '75 was done. What a fitting climax to a fantastic fly-in!

any small airplane, but more impressive when one reflects that the construction of the aircraft was started the last of January of this year and

of lap 3 or the "victory pass" at the

end of the flight. After some close SPORT AVIATION 33

LETTERS . . . (Continued Irom Page 5) Dear Paul: The article in the July SPORT AVIATION about Jerry Kibler s Honda Civic powered BD-5 was excellent. Not just because he has offered the thousands of BD-5 builders a viable alternative to the 2-cycle powerplant, but because he clearly stated the obvious technical advantages of watercooled 4-cycle engines over the present aircooled standard. These advantages have always been appreciated by people with knowledge of engine design, but it takes a project like Jerry's to present the possibilities to the entire EAA membership. There are several other light weight watercooled engines in the 60 to 150 hp range which are excellent candidates for our aircraft if they are modified with the skill Jerry applied to the Civic. I believe we have just witnessed the dawn of an era where watercooled engines will become common in amateur built aircraft. Very truly yours. Karl M. Hergenrother 58 Wolf Rock Rd. Carlisle. MA 01741 Dear Mr. Poberezny: Our family attended the EAA 1975 Convention at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. An injury to my seven year old son prompts this letter. We were staying in the campground and he was burnt by a roasted marshmallow around nine o'clock at night. We immediately took him to the registration tent, which was close by. seeking the First Aid tent for treatment only to find out there was not so much as a practical nurse on the grounds. We were instructed to report directly to the hospital within the city Fortunately the burn was not severe but none the less required professional treatment and a tetnus shot. I believe that the lack of medical personnel on the campground itself is nothing but gross neglect on your part. Mr. Poberezny. I also feel that with a population of approximately 10.000 people in one designated area would most definitely warrant a doctor if not a registered nurse on the premises on a twentyfour hour basis Accidents will always happen and when there is a gathering of that many people they are bound to. You should take a personal interest in this matter and see to it that there is an improvement made concerning this in the future. Sincerely, Mrs. Ned E. Molt 8922 Village Dr. Fort Wayne. IN 46808 Dear Mrs. Mott:

Thank you very much for your letter of August 18. I was very sorry to learn of your son's mishap. You stated that you went to a registration tent to seek assistance and advice. I wonder if you could be a bit more specific on this matter, as I don't know of any registration tent that would have had this information. However, a great amount of work was put into establishing a medical center, which was centrally located in a large trailer in the public area. During the Convention it was visited by over 800 people, ranging from requests for aspirins to some nine heart attacks. Assistance was available on a twentyfour hour basis with two doctors on call on the field at all times and one on call off the field at all times. At the medical center a medical technician and ambulance was on duty twenty-four hours a day. Also, a medical technician was on duty at the Security office as well as the Communications Trailer. A lot of hard work and time has gone into trying to serve the membership and we must pay great tribute to the many volunteers in the medical profession who were available before and during the Convention. Our plans call for an improved facility; a small building to be constructed for 1976 34 OCTOBER 1975

that would even serve more adequately. We have had a Red Cross facility for the past 20 years. I am sorry that whoever you talked to gave you improper information, but keep in mind whoever you talked to was also an EAA volunteer. I appreciate your bringing this to our attention. My very best to you and Ned. Sincerely, your friend Paul H. Poberezny, President

Dear Paul: Just wanted to thank you and all the committees that made our 1975 Convention such a success. Our family makes the meet one of the two times we get together. Four years at Rockford and now every year at Oshkosh has brought us many happy experiences. Thanks, again, for months of labor to add to the life of thousands of us EAA ers and our friends. Sincerely, Lyle Loomis (EAA 26444)

Dear Sir: I just wanted to take a minute and write to you as to my reasons for not renewing my membership in EAA I joined with the understanding I would be with a group of people who would help and advise me in building my own aircraft. I now find that I do not get help or advise unless I PAY SOMEONE FOR THEIR HELP.

I have purchased a set of plans for a VariViggen and as I had some questions I took it to our local chapter meeting and asked some advise. I was given a cold shoulder and left with the impression if I paid someone that I would get help and advise, yet when they wanted my help for a breakfast or some other project I am available to help them but not in the future. My time is valuable, too. I also have a Taylorcraft that was wind damaged and I asked one of the fellows that was a teacher at a local college and wanted to see if they would take the wing as a class project (at my expense) to repair it — I got a no answer. And this will be my answer to any help they might want from me. I will go to any extreme to help a worthwhile organization and have done so many times I believe you had better change your credo. I believe you have a good organization but some of your Chapters are not living up to the standards you wish to set. Sincerely, Carl Dinwiddie (EAA 86355) 1255 N. Mandalay Ontario, CA 91764

Dear Audrey: Just a short note to thank you for your assistance in our securing the golf cart for our paraplegic friend. Bill McEniry We would also like to extend our thanks to Paul for permission to use it with the flight line pass. It certainly helped out lots Bill Mac also wishes to extend his thanks We got him around to all areas and the Convention was the best yet. Again, our thanks for the wonderful job that you and Paul are doing. Very truly yours, W G. Berry P 0. Box 1238 Gulfport. MS 39501

Dear Mr. Poberezny: Last month I was in Oshkosh for your annual convention and air show It was a very impressive event. I would rank it with a Polaris missile shot off a nuclear submarine and a newsman's tour of Cape Kennedy, both events I covered for newspaper and magazine articles. In any event. I was at Oshkosh for an article in the Veteran of Foreign Wars magazine. I make no promises the article will be published, but the magazine is definitely interested. Sincerely. Reed C. Hildreth

6 Kove Landfall Village St. Paul. MN 55119

Grace United Methodist Church 3012 S. Twyckenham Dr. South Bend, IN 46614 Dear Mr. Poberezny: First I must congratulate you on the most spectacular exhibition (at Oshkosh) that I have ever seen My cousin, John Schafhausen — a Warbird — invited me to stay with him there — were my eyes opened! Although I am not a pilot. I would like to become a member of the EAA. Would you please send the necessary information to me at the above address. My son is a pilot/instructor and our interest is in the refurbishing of older aircraft Thanks from all of us for an excellent job. Sincerely, Joseph C Michael. Jr. 4825 Russell Ave., So. Minneapolis, MN 55410 Dear Paul: Concentrate less on your annual air show and more on the membership. You have repeatedly inserted biting, critical comments in your canned editorials to the effect that you are carrying the entire world on your back; that the membership just doesn't do enough, doesn't correspond its wishes and desires. In my occupation as a systems analyst. I have recently examined the actual costs of generating, filing and mailing correspondence. The cost per letter amounted to $6.18. While I doubt the average member of the association would pay even half that, the fact is that a letter is more than the cost of postage. If you want to hear from the members and really get your head out of the sand for a change, try putting postage paid comment mailers in SPORT AVIATION and running a continuing survey for comment for which you desire the membership to respond. Stick in there. Paul. Just don't start taking yourself too seriously. In friendship. Bob Hoover 1875 Monte Vista Dr. Vista. CA 92083 Dear EAA: I saw the letter about prescription goggles in the last issue of SPORT AVIATION and thought I would give you the address of someone who makes this item. I found it in a publication that we receive in this business. The name and address is: Ellie Taylor's Prescription Goggles Box 5023 Santa Barbara. CA 93108 I have not used any goggles made by this outfit and since it was in a motorcycle publication, they may not be able to help you. However, most motorcycle goggles work equally well as flight goggles so you shouldn't have any real trouble especially since you will probably be using the "old-fashioned" type of glass lenses rather than the newer ski type goggles. Anyway, good luck. Sincerely. Frederick J. Hmiel EAA 14265 Lifetime 1225 Central Ave. Albany. NY 12205

(Photo by Lee Fray)

t

'

t

.

X.

F,

£v'>

(Dick Stouf'er Photo)

CUSTOM BUILT AIRCRAFT IN ATTENDANCE REGISTRATION & AIRCRAFT TYPE PILOT AND/OR OWNER AEROSPORT Quail N10JB N8274

John Biggs. Vincentown. NJ Joel H Johnson. Tulsa. OK

Quail

The total population of Mini Macs — designer Charlie McCarley's prototype, foreground, and George Harrison's open cockpit version. Both are VW powered.

BABY ACE

N59A N76WR N111VM

Baby Ace Baby Ace D Baby Ace

N4566 N7570U N9050C CF-VMN N1557

Baby Ace Baby Ace baby Ace Baby Ace Corben Junior

Jim McMahon. Cincinnati. OH Walter M Rozelle. Coeur d Alene. ID Scott Boyer/Vincent Mainni. Deshler. OH Russ Hasenbaig. Baraboo. Wl Clarence E Schreiber. Wauwatosa. Wl EAA Museum, Hales Corner. Wl Kenneth R Rutledge. London. Ont . CAN Alfred Nagel. Montello. Wl

N1797

Jr Ace

Jim Wright. Anderson. IN

N6539D

Corben Junior Model E

Paul Walter/Joe Walter. Thiensville. Wl

BABY GREAT LAKES Baby Great Lakes N9GS Baby Great Lakes N99LH N181H

N962 N6754 N9746 N11311

Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby

Great Great Great Great Great

Lakes Lakes Lakes Lakes Lakes

George Smith/David Smith. Ashland. KY Lee Hamilton, Spokane, WA Dick Long/Harvey Swack. Fulton. NY Gene Abernathy, Tiptonville. TN John Peel. Longview. WA Richard H Boehmlce. Lansing. Ml David HamrrvHarvey Swack.

Cleveland. OH BEDE AIRCRAFT

John Thompson. Tucson. AZ

N20JT N126BD N162BD N222HS N325BD

BD-4 BD-4 BD-4 BD-4 BD-4

N406BD

BD-4

N464VB N516BD N777LC

BD-4

Bob Nornson, Palmyra. NY Joe Gauthier. Cromwell. CN Hugo Schneider, Jackson. Ml Lloyd Brekke. Newton. KS T W Chun. Lebanon. IL Val Bernhardt, Fort Lauderdale. FL

BD-4

Jim Tinsman, Excelsior Springs, MO

BD-4 BD-4 BD-4 BD-4

L Carstens. Excelsior Springs. MO Ralph Greene/Ed Dahl. Peoria. IL Edward Crump. Great Falls. MT Dave Barr. Shelburne. Ont , CAN Buddy Cottle Beaver. WV Les Serve.vBede Aircraft. Newton. KS Walt Liebfried. Acton. MA Corkey Fornof/Bede Aircraft. Newton. KS Bobby Bishop/Bede Aircraft. Newton. KS Debbie Gary/Bede Aircraft. Newton, KS Richard Bach. Winter Haven. FL

N8826 N24872 CF-BPM N27BC N503BD N746BD N5BD N151BD N153BD N177RB BOWERS N7LK N437GR N4516 N4629T N4762 N8084O N 59356 N 64388 CF-RXL N 507 N75PA

SD-SB BD-5B BD-5B BD-5J BD-5J BD-5J BD-5J

Fly Fly Fly Fly

Baby Baby Baby Baby

Fly Baby Fly Baby Fly Baby

Fly Baby Fly Baby Fly Baby Biplane Namu II

36 OCTOBER 1975.

John R Fulton. Covington. IN

George Rotter. Oshkosh. Wl Richard A Haase. Highland. IL Ed Sampson/Roger Miller. Belview. MN Harold Matteson. Greensburg. PA

Harold Otterback/James Otterback. Madison. Wl Dean A Swope. Johnstown. PA Kenneth Scragg. Marmet. WV G Welsh. Toronto. Ont . CAN

Dave Cronk. Schoolcraft. Ml Pete Bowers. Seattle. WA

(Oshkosh Daily Northwestern Photo)

"I Flew A Suzuki" says Don Stewart's name tag. He broke both arms and a leg in a motorcycle accident earlier in the year, but the designer of the Headwind and the Foo Fighter wasn't about to miss Oshkosh. You really can't keep a good man down!

BREEZY N2AW N5AF N15MB N19CS N32N N59Y

Breezy Breezy Breezy Breezy

Al White. Ft Wayne. IN

Breezy

Clayton Ziebarth. Sioux Falls, SD Earl Vieaux Carl linger Chicago Heights. IL Earl Vieaux/Jay Vieaux. Chicago Heights. IL Ray Lett. Lineville. AL Scott Hartwig/Ralph Hartwig. Rockford. IL George Economos. Washington. DC

N79V

Breezy Breezy Breezy

N2766

Breezy

N8710 N9S16 CF-FOW N10AW N11AV N11WR N22RG N44TA N72PC N1117M N3104 N5672 N 9789

Marc Brewer. Ft. Wayne. IN Charlie Shivers. Birmingham. AL

Breezy

N711LM N726RA

BUSHBV N2AT NSAC N9AA N11DB N14LB N76C N121K N190A N73T N76JS N 800 N2226 N3059

Art Anthony. Two Harbors. MN

Midget Mustang

Midget Mustang Midget Mustang Midget Mustang

Midget Mustang Mustang I

Jim Butler. Norwalk. OH W F Cassidy. Denver. CO

Midget Mustang

Jack Curry. Clarkston. WA

Mustang

J A Slanish. Fayette City. PA

Midget Mustang Midget Mustang

Robert Carpenter. Kaiamazoo. Ml

Midget Mustang

Jim Hoak. Stockbndge. GA

Ray Alien. Covina. CA

Midget Mustang

Richard Fry. Hickory Hills. IL

Midget Mustang Midget Mustang

John Bower. Grand Island. NB

Mustang II Mustang II

Alan D Weber, Oxnard. CA Al Velette. Chicago. IL

Mustang II Mustang II

William Renmnger. Jr., Tiffin. OH

II II II II

1

A C Thompson. Gary. IL L M Baron. Orange. CA

Herb Keim. Mt Carroll. IL Jack White. Orangeville. CA

Mustang Mustang Mustang Mustang

w-.^^*i

Al Amsden. St. Paul. MN D C Bradley. Kansas Cily. MO

Midget Mustang

Midget Mustang

•

R Affleck. Harrow, Ont.. CAN

Robert F Grimm. So. Milwaukee. Wl David Thuss. Churchville. PA Paul Cox. Louisville. KY

Robert Bushoy. Mmooka. IL

Mustang II

C Ray Armstrong. Ft Atkmson, Wl Kent Paser. Denver, CO

Mustang II

Ken Lehmann. Denver, CO

CASSUTT N40B N5RR N12CL N19L

Cassutt (mod )

David Bice. New Orleans. LA

Cassutt III-M Cassutt Cassutt

Ron Anusiewicz. Northampton. MA Charles A Lemmond. Gushing. OK

N40WD N51JS N94HA N94KH N429PM N616J N1431 N7133

Cassutt Cassutt Cassutt Cassutt Cassutt PM-2 Cassutl Cassutt Cassutt

CAVALIER N63C N7131

CF-GOC CF-YHP

Farmington. MN W D Brown. Jr . Waco. TX

J Sheetz. Annapolis. MD H A Hughes. Orion. IL Kerney E Rutland. Cincinnati. OH

Pete Myers. Oak Lawn. IL Jerry Coughlm. BarabOO. Wl

Eldon McDaniel. Merrimac. Wl Virgil Locke. Jr . Londonderry. OH

(Oshkosh Daily Northwestern Photo)

President Paul with the key to the city of Oshkosh. He was the first person to be so honored. George Slingstock, president of the Oshkosh City Council, made the presentation. (Oshkosh Daily Northwestern Photo)

Cavalier Cavalier Cavalier Cavaher

CHRIS TENA N44ME Mini Coupe N8423

Chuck Doyle/Larry Kinder.

Mini Coupe

M W Lossmg. Ligonier. PA Larry Burton. Klamath Falls. OR Fred Brumsma. Godench. Ont., CAN Bill Fleming. Vancouver. BC. CAN

Jerry Johnson/Mel Ellis. Hillsboro. OR Ron Dixon. Longview. WA

Feather merchants? Man-powered flight enthusiasts? Last of the Mohicans? No, just a couple of T18 builders wearning their identification feathers so other T-18 enthusiasts could spot them and ask questions.

SPORT AVIATION 37

(Lee Hray Pnotuj

Richard Bach and his BD-5J.

(Lee Fray Photo)

Pete Bowers and his latest design, the Namu II.

38 OCTOBER 1975

COUGAR N126V N315H N1046Z N3538 N6348T N6501 N6801D

N9676Z

DERJACER

Couga Couga Couga Couga Couga Couga Couga Couga

Ben Schiek. Macomb. IL Mack Weston. Baxter Springs. KS Richard Van Linder/Gene Bell. Scotts. Ml Bill Scarboro. Indian Harbor. FL Ross Murdock. So Bend. IN Bud Phillips. Red Bluff. CA Paul O Hanson. Albert Lea. MN Dix Mackey. Corona. CA

N131S N1007

Ray Fulwiier. Algoma. Wl

VP-1 VP-1 VP-1

Wayne DeSotel. Postville. IA Bill Lloyd. Noblesviile. IN Ted Stone/EAA Museum.

N3217 N3875 N3993 NS989 N12041 CF-VKS

VP-1 VP-1 VP-1 VP-1 VP-1 VP-1 VP-1

Al Sharp. Boulder CO Vie Zmn. Noblesviile. IN Ron HarveyGerome Oke. Hortonville. Wl Gerald Vaughan. Liberty. MO

N3TD N60BH N300RB N90873

VP-2 VP-2 VP-2 VP-2

EVANS

N4SD N11VP N17BL

Hales Corner. Wl

N88DS D'APUZZO N112JF N300PJ

Senior Aero Sport PJ-260

John Driscoll. Whitehouse Station. NJ Gene Hood/W C Yarbrough.

N705AP N9911 N35250 N4030B

PJ-260 PJ-260 PJ-260 PJ-295

Alfred L Pfouts. Canton. OH

DA-2A DA-2A DA-2A DA-5

Steve Fenton. Odessa. TX

Tullahoma. TN

D A Cargill. Bloomfield Hills. Ml Charles Selge. Tallmadge. OH Ed Mahler. Pittstown. NJ

DA VIS N808F N6771 CF-APH N57994

Bill W Salyer. Waterloo. IA

Der Jager Der Jager

K Winship. Ouincy. IL

Richard Doyle. Mt Prospect. IL George Kowalenko. Etobicoke. Ont . CAN Tammy Doane. Sebring. FL Bill Hobbs. Baltimore. MD

Dick Bohls. Olathe. KS Leon C Gray. Mahtomedi. MN

Harrnon Lange. Merrill. Wl

Herb Spilker. Dundas. Ont. CAN Leon Davis/Harold Oavis. Stanton. TX

(Lee

Fray Photo)

Jim Osborne's Acroduster. It is being flown in aerobatic competition by Cindy Rucker . . . who designed the paint scheme.

566 N7502U Cf fOk G-BDBD

Tailwind

N832S9 N 1 B26C

Tailwind

Richard Eaves, I ondon. Ont. CAN

lailwmd

Harold Best-Dev*reu«

Wittman VW Buttercup

Steve Wittman. Oshkosh. Wl Steve Wittman. Oshkosh. Wl

Wulwyn Garden. England

ADDITIONAL BIPLANES Knight Twister N3TL Super Sperry Messenger N10SM Lane Depr "Flycycle ' N183 N217U Little Toot N240Y Scrappy Willie II N602CB Duncan Sport N3793G Hatz Biplane N 82 79

Thomas M Love. Annapolis. MD Ray Parker. Denver. CO Dick Lang. Fulton. NY

Paul A deTamble, St Joseph. Ml Mike Osbom. Greeley. CO C B Cunmngham. Wagoner. OK

Eugene R Soper, Athol. ID James E Dutton/Dudley Kelly. Lexington. KY

N9360 N38225 CF-ASO

Chuparosa

Ray Hegy. Marfa. TX

Merkel Mark n Denien Sparrowhawk

Ed Merkel. Wichita. KS

Doug Leavens. Kmt, Ont, CAN

(Die* Stouffer Photo)

A. Mangos of Williamson, N.Y. flew all the way to Oshkosh in his S.E.5A in search of the Baron . . . at least

that's what we understand these replica builders tell their wives.

(Ted Koston Photo)

imiliar faces at Oshkosh '75. arold Best-Devereux's newly aclired Tailwind and Ed Lesher's ial. Harold bought the green and lite Tailwind from Joe Hamilton Rockford, Illinois.

(Dick Stouffer Photo)

Last year, Vern Oldershaw (EAA 32686) of Bakers'ield, California had his engine and retractable propeler for his powered sailplane on display. This year he •eturned with the rig installed. The engine is a 433cc

/amaha and the beautiful sailplane is his own design, :he 0-3. All week Vern stood out in the hot sun deployng the prop mast, starting and running the engine, stopping it and retracting the mast . . . over and over again. Several flights had been made prior to Oshkosh, Dut restrictions brought on by the modification to the jowered configuration had not been flown off. A very

ngenious piece of work.

SPORT AVIATION 53

(Dick Stouffer Photo)

Looking south down the first 10 or 15 acres of homebuilts.

ADDITIONAL LOW WING N5PK Super Fh Saterimer N12BS Bell FW-1 N503 BJ-520 N520BJ Dyke Delia N555A Skeeter N1111V Messersnipe N 1672

Paul White/Phil Kratt. Vista. CA Robert Sater San Pedro. CA

ADDITIONAL MID-WING Osprey-2 N3GP E & P Special N11EP

Warren V Bell. Spokane. WA B F Brokow. Leesburg. FL John Dyke Fairborn. OH

N889

Sharps SA-1

N2148C N4219C

Cliff Midwing

John Palmen. Manasquan. NJ Otis Smith. Bethel. MN

Teal Formula Vee

Edgar Lesher. Ann Arbor, Ml Stan Wood. Riverview. FL

POO-2 371 cu in racer

Wayne Ison. Elkhart. IN Bill Falck/'Chapter 474. Warwick. NY

Leonard Eaves. Oklahoma City. OK Sean Sweeney/Raoul Messier.

N31549 N4183S

Scottsdale. AZ N2182 N2561 N3152 N4768T N6313D N7873 N8381 C-FCYB

Fournier

Erwm w Mueller. Buffalo. NY

Richards-Judy Special Bock 2

Bud Judy. Richardson. TX John Bock. Long Beach. CA

Sky Hopper

Shmn Beverage. Peru. IN

Sweet Patootie

Ed Holfman. Tarpon Springs. FL

Der Flederrnaus

Al Schubert. Gaiesvilie. Wl

Eaglet Hauscat

George Ramin. Houston. TX

54 OCTOBER 1975

Yvan Bougie. Vaileyfieid. Que . CAN

ADDITIONAL HIGH WING CUBy N3WA

George Pereira Sacramento. CA Edward Pruitt. Flint. Ml

Dick Wagner. Lyons. Wl

N11GH

Hast Wooden Baby

George Hast. Champaign. IL

N12JF N111DA

Sumpnthr Spencer Air Car

John Frilmg. Lombard. IL

P. H. Spencer/D Anderson. Sun valley CA

(Lee Fray Photo)

Buddy Cottle of Beckley, West Virginia and his Hirth powered BD-5 — the first non-factory version to

fly at Oshkosh. N847Z N 1879 N 194 9 N3844 N4625T N5682 N6769 N8866 N9190 N29717

CF-ZWX

VS-1 Ol Ironsides

Ganagobie Grega GN-1 Mercury One List Doohickey

James Vidervol. Cleveland. OH Ron Scott. Waukesha. Wl Jo Ann Neii. Grand Rapids. Ml Allan Hostrawser. Black River Falls. Wl

Bakeng Duce

Irv Winer. Minneapolis. MN James List. Granville. IA John Thomas. Manton. CA

Durl-E-Aire

Jayne Schiek. Macomb. IL

H & H Special Woody Pusher Warner 103

Dick Halpin/Tom Huf. Hatboro. PA

Rex Coopender. Hacienda Heights. CA Jack C. Warner. Edmonton. AID . CAN

REPLICAS • ANTIQUE N21KL N103N N255Y N1911D N1912G N6162

Buecker Jungmeister

Ken Larsen. Dallas. TX

Buecker Jungmeister

Brown B-2 Racer

John Nyquist. Dallas. TX Bill Turner. Belmont. CA

Curtiss Pusher

Dale Crites. Waukesha. Wl

1912 Bellanca Replica 1908 Demoiselle (Barndoor I)

Mike Murphy. Oak Lawn. IL

REPLICAS- WARBIRD N9841 SESA N18828 W A R FW-190

E Adkisson. Atwood IL

A Maugos. Williamson. NY Jerry Greenameyer/WAR Aircraft Rephcas. Santa Paula. CA

SAILPLANES (POWERED)

N2560B

Oldershaw-03 Renegade

Vern Oldershaw. Bakersfield. CA

American Eaglet

Larry Haig. Muskegon. Ml

Buzzer Ultra-Light

Walter Haufe. Neenah. Wl

SAILPLANES AND HANG GLIDERS Laister LP 49 N10LP N6855 HP-18 Schweizer 2-33 N7772S Rogallo Hang Glider

Kevin and Cal Knsten. Miami. FL R E Schreder. Bryan. OH Bill King/Silent Wings. Inc.. Milwaukee. Wl Steve Oravecz. Sylvania. OH

(Dick Stouffer Photo)

A couple of Texas T-18s on the Thorp line. N18TM belongs to Tom Miller of Mesquite and N199S answers to G. S. Clardy of Dallas. 32 T-18s were registered at Oshkosh '75. SPORT AVIATION 55

(Dick Stouffer Photo)

George Andrew of Milwaukee modified his KR-1 to resemble a P-51. It was successfully test flown September 6.

(Ted Koston Photo)

Home is where you park your Flutterbug.

SPECIAL AIRCRAFT IN ATTENDANCE REGISTRATION & AIRCRAFT TYPE PILOT AND/OR OWNER BELLANCA N22KA Citabria N361AC Citabria

Leslie Woodward. San Diego. CA

N2880G

Citabria

Gary Bernstein. St Louis. MO

N5115T

Citabria

Carl Vogel III. Carmichael. CA

56 OCTOBER 1975

Kent Arrowsmith. Tucker. GA

N5139X N5220X N5277X N8568V N9168L N4PM N8550V N 8560

Citabria Citabria Citabria Citabria Citabria Decathlon

Decathlon Decathlon

C R Santord. Kansas City. MO

Asher Nesm. Westfield. MA Robert C Taylor. Madison. Wl Jim Carrol). Solana Beach. CA Jon Moore. Lake Park, FL

Pete Myers, Oak Lawn. IL David Harden. Oklahoma City. OK Bob Taylor. Woodland Hills. CA

(Ted Koston Photo)

Dave Cronk of Schoolcraft, Michigan showed up at Oshkosh with this version of a Fly-Baby Biplane . . . in search of the S.E. 5s that have been showing up for the past few years.

(Lee Fray Photo)

Welding is still one of the most popular workshops at Oshkosh as demonstrated by Lloyd Tholl.

(Lee Fray Photo)

Alaskan EAAers, left to right, Dave Daly, Marty Hettinga, Fred Keller and Lloyd Lowther.

3500 MILES TO OSHKOSH! Jack Cox

A few months back I wrote an article which saluted the efforts of our fellow members who fly little low powered aircraft to Oshkosh . . . aircraft that were not necessarily designed for serious cross country work. This year another marvelous example of perseverance surfaced, one that is going to be hard to top in the years to come.

Remember the sharp little KR-1 built by Fred Keller (EAA 77940) and trucked to the 1973 Oshkosh FlyIn from his home in Anchorage, Alaska? (See January 1974 SPORT AVIATION). Well, this year he flew it to Oshkosh . . . 3500 miles in four days! This remarkable flight involved 28 hours of flying time at an indicated 140 mph. Fuel consumption averaged 3% gallons per hour and l/i quart of oil was used on the entire trip. Outside air temperatures ranged from a low of 38° near Northway, Alaska, where Fred saw his breath condensing on the canopy, to 102° at Minot, North Dakota . . . and, no, the Dynel skin did not develop any cracks. Fred and his Revmaster VW powered KR-1 were accompanied by three friends in a Cessna 210. Pilot Dave Daly and passengers Marty Hettinga and Lloyd Lother lugged along at 40% power to stay back with Fred and had to change lower plugs at Edmonton, Alberta, but, otherwise, the trip proceeded without incident. 15 stops, including touchdown at Oshkosh, were made along the 58 OCTOBER 1975

way. The KR-1 was carrying 13 gallons of fuel, including that of a newly installed 4'/^ gallon wing tank (transferred by a hand actuated Kohler fuel pump), but 3500 miles is a heck of a long way. A couple of times, fuel had to be siphoned from the Cessna to tide the little bird over to the next airport with pumps. The 210 served other purposes, also. At Whitehorse, no tie down rings were available, so the KR-1 was pushed under the wing of

the mothership, nose toward the fuselage, and the tail was tied to the Cessna's wing tiedown ring, the nose to the main gear leg. Despite the already considerable length and duration of the trip to the EAA Fly-In, Fred intended to go even further — to his parent's home in Kentucky. He gave it a try but was thwarted by weather at Indianapolis. Now, get out your atlas and trace Fred's route to Oshkosh. You will note he had to divert northward at the start . . . this was to avoid bad weather. Here we go: (1) Anchorage to Talkeetna, (2) to Big Delta, (3) to Northway, (4) to Whitehorse, (5) to Watson Lake, (6) to Ft. Nelson, (7) to Ft. St. John, (8) to Grand Prairie, (9) to Edmonton, (10) to Saskatoon, (11) to Regina, (12) to Minot, (13) to Alexandria, Minnesota, (14) to Wisconsin Rapids, and (15) to Oshkosh. Quite a ride behind a VW, eh? I've titled this piece "3500 Miles to Oshkosh!" . . . perhaps a truer measure of Fred Keller's accomplishment would have been reflected in the title "7000 Miles to Anchorage!".

SiV

(Photo by Dick Stoutfer)

Jerry Greenameyer in W.A.R.'s super realistic little Fw.190. It is now powered by a Continental 0-200.

N8698V N8751V N36139 N57463 N88048 N88467 N88637

Decathlon Decathlon Decathlon Decathlon Decathlon Decathlon

Wesley Todd. Oconomowoc. Wl John McKeever Lynn Haven. FL James Batterman, Cedarburg. Wl Bob Smith, Mondamm. IA Tom Close. San Diego. CA Gene Beggs. Midland. TX Mike Green, Plantation. FL

PIPER N6620H NS1565 N70628

N1235 N6198 N8032 N8ED N16PS N23RK N27PS N29MC N31A

Clipped Wing Cub Clipped Wing Cub Clipped Wing Cub

Giles Henderson. Charleston. IL Dennis E. Houdek. Brighton. Ml Don DeWitt. Mt. Prospect. IL

N56PS

PITTS N7JB

N11GC N11PJ N12JK N21RK N31SP

N46CC N66JS N371WS N1115M

Decathlon

Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-IS Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-IS

Jim Butler. Salt Lake City. UT George Compton, Kent. WA

Michael Ryer. Boulder. CO Alan Bush. Miami, FL R V Koscal. Madison. Wl Steve Poleskie. Ithaca. NY Tom Bishop. Hurst. TX

Jerry Spear. Centralia. IL John Lillberg. Riviera Beach. FL

Olin Pash. Harlan. IA

N69KW

N8026 N8028 N8029 N80004 N80016 N80039

Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-1S Pitts Special S-2A Pitts Special S-2A Pitts Special S-2A Pitts Special S-2A Pitts Special S-2 Pitts Special S-2A Pitts Special S-2A Pitts Special S-2A Pitts Special S-2A Pitts Special S-2S Pitts Special S-2 Pitts Special S-2A Pitts Special S-2A Pitts Special S-2A

L Worrell. Brunswick. OH

Tony Perner. Wantagh. NY James Rossi. Northndge. CA Ed Cymbal. Barnngton. IL

Glenn Giere. New York. NY Otto Runkel. Watertown. Wl Len Shattuck. Maxwell AFB. AL Marion Cole. Shreveport, LA Paul Warsaw. Davey. FL

Ken Nicholas. Boulder. CO K Weeks. Miami. FL Dan Gray. Santa Paula. CA

Dan McGarry. Olympia Fields. IL Don Rhynalds. Catlott. VA Tom Collier. Decatur. GA W W Haynie. Butler. MO

James Hamm. Jackson. TN

TAYLORCRAFT

N5WR

Clipped Wing

N1776B N2I292

Modified Clipped Wing

N26659 N9660S

Modified Modified

Wayne Reicner. Dubuque. IA J D Gathright. Richardson. TX Duane Cole, Burleson TX Bill McCollough. Leveliand. TX Michael Swick. LewisviMe. TX

SPORT AVIATION 59

MISCELLANEOUS N13LS Acrostar

N58733 N1947G

Boeing/Stearman A75N1 Buecker Jungman 131

N20GM

CAP 10

Lew Shaw. Dallas. TX William McBride. Rochester. Ml Doug Dodge. Bay City. Ml Daniel Hehgom. Billings. NY Ted Hendrickson. Snohomish. WA Tom Atkinson. Las Vegas. NV

N77452

Cessna 140 (experimental)

N2365G N70W

Cessna 182 ( C A P) Chipmunk

N1BOGR

Great Lakes

N74166 N38904

Interceptor 400 Monocoupe 90A (modified)

Sandi Pierce. Avon Park. FL Peter P Luce. Boulder. CO Harold Neumann. Leawood. KS

N730W

Waco Meteor

Larry Kingery. Sparta. NJ

Doug Warren. Big Spring. TX

ROTORCRAFT IN ATTENDANCE REGISTRATION & AIRCRAFT TYPE PILOT AND/OR OWNER BENSEN

N21RN N69FU N72RW N201RK

N1802

N 2303

Gyrocopter Gyrocopter Gyrocopter Gyrocopter Gyrocopter Gyrocopter B8M

N2522

Gyrocopter

N 3384 N3746 N 3891 NS997

Gyrocopter

N 63 98 N6661 N8137V

N8212 N8330

N9375 N 9647 N9871 N30082

Gyrocopter Gyrocopter Gyrocopter B8 Gyrocopter Gyrocopter Gyrocopter B8M

Gyrocopter Gyrocopter Gyrocopter

R Fitzpatnck. Custer Park. IL Raymond Enutt. J r . Huntsville. TX Eugene Baum Brooklyn. NY Roger Wood. Cincinnati. OH Max Lanbee. Camden. NY Herb Krause. St Paul. MN Ken Brock. Anaheim. CA Russ Jansen. Riddott, IL Leon Spence. Orlando. FL Carl Schneider. Ft Madison. IA Ron Menzie. Ashaway. Rl E A Van Hoten. Orlando. FL Dick Gooch. Rock Island. IL Dick Wundelich. Lockport. IL Samuel R Johnston. Greensburg. PA Clyde Gordon. Weekapaug. Rl Bob Tozer. Brookhn Park. MN Tom Miller, Cincinnati, OH Terry Cory. New Castle. IN

Gyrocopter

George Chariet. Clinton. LA

Gyrocopter Gyroglider Auto-Gyro

Tom Angelos. Bloomington. IL

Francis W Bakula. St Paul. MN John Mattson, Eau Claire. Wl

(UiCK btoutler rtioto;

"Neither rain nor. . . !"

SCORPION

Scorpion n N 5886

Scorpion II

Norm Hamilton. Hemlock, Ml B J Schramm. Tempe. AZ

N3273

Scorpion G-1

George Spadie, Louisville. KY

(Lee Fray Photo) MISCELLANEOUS

N1822 N6154S N4011G

Barnett J3M Air and Space 18A Bell Jet Ranger 206

J. Eich. Alhambra. CA William Bruggman, Minneapolis. MN T Duke. Charlevoix, Ml

N47088

Gyrocoptei

Bruce Tim. Camanllo, CA

60 OCTOBER 1975

Dick Gooch of Rock Island, Illinois has built a really sharp "cabin" for his Bensen.

V.

\ _ (Dick Stouffer Photo)

Cockpit of George Pereira's Osprey 2, winner of the Mechanix Illustrated Award for outstanding workmanship.

(Jack Cox Photo)

George Charlet of Clinton, Louisiana checks out the pre-rotator engine on his Bensen before another flight from the rotary wing runway at Oshkosh.

( f ' v •».-/. ;-*

SPORT AVIATION 61

n

(Lee Fray Photo)

Grand Champion Rotorcraft, a Scorpion helicopter built and flown by George Spadie of Louisville, Kentucky.

(Jack Cox Photo)

A modified Air and Space 18A owned by William Bruggman of Minneapolis caught in the first instant of a "jump take-off". Notice the camerman in the rear seat.

(Photo by Jack Cox)

Homer Bell of Miamisburg, Ohio demonstrates his Scorpion II. 62 OCTOBER 1975

(Photo by Lee Fray)

By James R. Young (EAA 55981) 6410 Green Valley Cr., No. 126 Culver City, California 90230

rr

INTRODUCTION

B

IG RED", AS the sleek creation of Dr. Jim Young is known, was Skelton in form when I first saw it about twenty months ago. It has been a thrill to me to watch the airplane evolve out of a combination of parts, and effort. The care to detail, and meticulous workmanship is evident at every turn. The countless mock-ups of installations to come, and positioning of assemblies paid off in the finalization of an airplane that is a joy to behold. The engine and propeller combination has a sound all its own, and sends tingles through me when I hear it down wind, or during a "fly by". On an abrupt

pull up, the wing wires sing their own tune. I was proud with him after first flight, and was pleased that other people have appreciated this fine effort by awarding Grand Champion trophies at Corona and Watsonville, California, fly-ins, and topping them

off with the big one at Oshkosh '75. I salute Dr. Jim Young, and "Big Red" N69JY. Ted Brownell, President EAA Chapter 7

SPORT AVIATION 63

BIG RED Sometime in the morning of August 11, 1970, a tired looking World Airways streteh-8 deplaned several lines of rumpled and saddle-sore GIs after a nineteen hour

flight from Seattle. Despite the effect of jet-lag and cold box lunches, adrenalin ran high as the first view of concrete revetments, emergency bunkers, and camouflaged fighters of Cam Ranh Bay, RVN came into view. Nineteen hours and seemingly a different world away as the wide eyed troops moved into the aerialport depot. In Seattle it had been polished vinyl floors, plastic chairs, taxi cabs, wet-eyed wives and piles of duffle bags. Now the concrete and plywood floors were dirty; here and there Vietnamese slept on bamboo mats; soldiers slouched on wooden benches in worn fatigues; and there were knots of Army Special Forces and the tougher looking Navy SEALs. Among the troops viewing all of this for the first time was a young Captain shouldering a nine foot long, ten inch wide cardboard tube that was surely nothing less than a rocket launcher or anti-tank gun. No one would believe me when I explained that it was steel tubing for my homebuilt airplane!!! The first glimmer of this insanity . . . I mean, aren't airplanes hatched by a giant Piper-Cessna bird somewhere up in the mountains . . . began six months earlier. In the spring of 1970 I was interning at the U.S.A.F. Medical Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. Our schedule was pretty busy so at the first sign of a break in the work I tried to sample some of the Ohio countryside. To a Los Angeles cityboy spring and autumn take on a new meaning when there really are four distinct seasons. On my way out of the city that spring day, a turn in the freeway revealed a scene out of the past: a quiet river with floatplanes next to a grass runway lined with old biplanes. This picture demanded investigation, so twenty minutes of wrong streets led me to South Dayton Field and the home of many beautiful Wacos. I can honestly say that seeing those old biplanes was the first time I had associated romance and beauty with an airplane. Like everyone I had my share of trips with the airlines and I had ridden in many different standard category aircraft as a part of four years and several hundred sport-parachute jumps. But none of these other airplanes had ever made me smile spontaneously and walk over to say, "Hi", as I would to an old friend. After hanging around and asking a few questions I managed to meet the airport manager and then his son who for five dollars pocket money took me around the patch in something called a UPF-7. At my urging he threw in a roll and then a loop; as we came down the backside of the loop I was staring at a big tree in the middle of a green field and . . . I was hooked for good. Back on the ground my enthusiasm for biplanes was very obvious and someone suggested that I attend a fly-in the following weekend in a neighboring town. I did and realized that airplanes are built, not hatched, and it doesn't necessarily take a factory of people either. The idea of building my own biplane seemed insurmountable at first but everyone I met was very encouraging. One person in particular suggested that I look up a friend who was building a two place biplane called a Starduster Too. I did and for several evenings of the following weeks I pestered Carroll Thorne of Vandalia, Ohio with silly questions and drank gallons of his wife's coffee. Before I knew it I had ordered a set of plans for my own Starduster Too. I'm sure people thought I was crazy to be building an airplane when until this time I'd never thought of getting a pilot's 64 OCTOBER 1975

(Photo Courtesy Jim Young)

The author with military haircut, a big smile and a box full of completed, cadmium plated and baked fittings for the Starduster Too wings.

(Photo Courtesy Jim Young)

A study in concentration as the author gang drills a series of fittings.

license. But then I always seem to come in the back door. About this time my internship was coming to a close and I was waiting for the Air Force to send me off to Europe for a tour of frauleins, Porsches, dunkles bier, and alpine skiing. You guessed it, I'm single!! But with all the divine wisdom that directs government agencies, I was assigned to Viet Nam instead. And this is where we came in.

In retrospect, I realize that year overseas was the most important step of my entire project. I learned how to weld from a Chief Master Sargeant (they really run the Air Force, you know!) and even made a sack full of fittings, but that was a drop in the bucket. The real value was in being forced to think and ponder the entire project for one year before I could cut, fit, glue, and weld for real!! And this is my strongest piece of advice to other builders: thoroughly preplan your project! For months I walked through the pages of plans for the Starduster Too until I was friends with every nut, bolt and fitting. Not being a draftsman or engineer, it was slow at first, but with enough puzzling and time each squiggle told its story. After a while it was possible to mentally conjure up a composite view of the entire airplane and then dissect any portion to its basic elements. Then came the preplanning of technique and procedure for fabrication of all the elements. There's always the easy and the hard way to fabricate a part and I was determined to make my mistakes in my head and not with expensive materials. While I was doing this planning I was also trying to learn something about flying. I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull, but it didn't tell me much about basic technique, so I read Langewische, then the Sanderson ground school for the private pilot, and finally Kershner twice. Through all of this the dream image of my ideal Starduster began to take form. I wanted a comfortable and relatively fast cross-country biplane, one which was moderately competitive acrobatically, and also fully instrumentated for those days in Los Angeles when the ceilings are 1200 feet, tops 2200 'til 1:00 in the aRernoon. And, of course, there would be some changes in its lines to please my own eye. By the end of my one year tour "over there" I sincerely felt I knew the plans, my intended modifications and their repercussions throughout the design, and had prepared an efficient construction sequence for the project. Once again I'll say that I think this preplanning phase is critical to a happy and efficient project and especially one that will turn out as the builder originally intended back in the daydreaming phase. My assignment stateside in the fall of 1971 was my next big break for I was sent to March AFB, ten miles from Flabob Airport! After finding an apartment, opening my shave kit, and tossing around a few dirty socks so this bachelor would feel comfortable, I drove over to Flabob. After snooping around in different hangars I saw a building on the edge of the airport with the name "Glenn Beets" across the roof. This rang a bell for Glenn was responsible for much of the workmanship on the first two Starduster prototypes and was now fabricating custom Starduster elements for other builders. During the following weeks I pushed a broom around Glenn's hangar, filed on fittings, etc., and finally talked him into letting me borrow a table and use his tools to build my wings. In the weeks and months to follow there were many bull sessions over coffee at Mary's Cafe and Tiffany's Restaurant. The principals in these conversations were such notables as Lou Stolp, Clayton Stephens (Stephen's Akro), Ed Marquardt (Marquardt's Charger), Ray Stits (too many designs to list), Morgan Schrack (Acroduster II), Art Scholl, Frank Boyce (engineer and draftsman for Starduster series aircraft and Glenn Beets' Special), and, of course, Glenn Beets. When you're a rookie around people like that, you do alot of listening and learning, and speak only when your foot's stepped on!! The weeks and months of that period from September through June blended into sameness as every minute away from the base was spent at Glenn's hangar. The wings went together smoothly. The ailerons were enlargd twenty-five percent, the aileron hinge axis lowered

(Photo by Jim Young)

Wing panels, centersection, ailerons and tail surfaces stacked and awaiting final assembly while the fuselage is being built.

(Photo Courtesy Jim Young)

Jim Young installing the engine baffling. The fabric covered internal aluminum panels are exposed to examination and the instrument plumbing being routed down the left side is in view.

and the aileron leading edges modified to create a modified Frise effect to counter adverse yaw. The root fittings were strengthened and root tie-in bolts increased in diameter to create greater cross-sectional resistance to fitting elongation. The control system was modified to allow the use of bearings throughout, eliminating all bushings. This included substituting bearings in the

aileron hinges using pillow block bearings about the SPORT AVIATION 65

(Photo by Lee Fray)

torque tube. The outboard portion of the drag/antidrag truss on the lower right panel was modified to allow

installation of the nav antennae within the wing. A mathematically designed jig which allowed for springback in the tip bow tubing was used to create four identical tip bows. All wing fittings and tubing were cadmium plated and baked to mil. specs, before installation. At this point the preplanning work shone through as I was able to anticipate the placement of later fairings and cover plates with plywood attach plates on the wings. Four coats of spar varnish finished the wings for precover inspection, and I was ready to go on the leading edges. I never liked the appearance of lap joints in most leading edges with the ultimate split in the fabric at the juncture so I had a set of custom rolled full length single piece leading edges formed by Laister Sailplane. They adapted beautifully and looked great. The leading edge in the tip bow area was formed out of polyurethane 66 OCTOBER 1975

foam, dynel fabric, and epoxy resin. Now I know some old pros are chuckling as they read this and they are right, for when I took the panels outside while cleaning up, the leading edges expanded and "oil canned" badly in the heat of the sun!! Well, I'm not a drinking man but that sure was alot of work down the drain! I pulled the aluminum off and in the following month redid the leading edges in foam, dynel, and epoxy resin. Now no oil canning, nor lap joints, and the gain in individual panel weight was only two to three pounds. In June of 1972 the Air Force closed the gates at March AFB behind me for the last time, so along with my suitcase of dirty socks I moved my wings to Compton Airport in the heart of Los Angeles. This well manicured airport is owned and operated by Los Angeles County and many of the hangars are the site of projects in progress.

The second and third years of my project were spent in hangar G-4 at Compton. During those two years there were countless evenings after work and many long weekends, in fact my log tells me that I averaged over fortyone hours a week. Monday night was regularly an all nighter and Tuesday morning a run to Aircraft Spruce and Specialty for parts. Meals were at the local restaurant and the waitresses were all known by first name. Many wrenches were thrown, countless words said, tires were kicked, and more than once a passerby with five dollars could have had himself an airplane. Four girl friends got tired of Friday nights oiling down the fuselage and walked, so long!! My car got dirty and stayed dirty, many patients waited while I sat in my office doodling and the girls humored their eccentric doctor. There were scraped knuckles, cut hands, dirty fingernails, singed hair, metal chips in the eye, ad infintum. The fuselage tubing was increased in size as well as wall thickness from that indicated on the plans to accommodate the big engine. Electrical, pitot static air, and fuel lines from the centersection tank were routed inside the cabane struts. The gear was rotated aft three inches and a special engine mount was built up and stress analyzed; a secondary luggage bay designed for a tent, two sleeping bags, and two air mattresses was fabricated below the turtledeck. Position lights and an anticollision light system were installed for VFR night work, an electric elevator trim system was incorporated into the empennage area. The fuel tanks were modified so as to have their filler caps flush with the cowling line, and, of course, the standoffs were all looked at very closely to insure the final lines of the fuselage being comfortable to my eye. The engine is a modified IO-540-K1A5 but the word modified should be used lightly as I didn't wish to disturb the TBO. The engine was obtained in run-out condition from a Salt Lake City FBO where coupled to a Cherokee Six-300 it had been used in a charter operation. The rebuilding was performed by Lynn Cooler of Lynn's Aircraft Engines, Long Beach, California who is recognized as the best opposed engine man in Southern California. Lynn balanced the engine, polished the intake and exhaust ports, and modified the valves. This complimented by a ram induction system, an increase in RPM range, and a tuned extractor exhaust system by Hank Young of Thorley Headers made a super engine. This package of 350 horsepower was combined with a special made polished three bladed prop by Hartzell, Inc. The interior was executed in black naugahyde, red and black carpeting, polished stainless steel heel plates, multihued red fabric arm rests, with Brazilian rosewood grips and accent pieces throughout. The primary instrument panel has as its center a basic instrument T of airspeed, sensitive altimeter, D.G., artificial horizon, and remote VOR/Loc head; the other expected engine and flight instruments are grouped to both sides along with the electrical switches, annunciator panel, and fuses. The pedestal panel beneath the main panel has a King 720 transceiver, transponder, marker beacon display, and Flight Guide/map case. Beneath the seat frame in the rear cockpit is a Sony TC-20 stereo cassette tape player which is integral with the intercom communications system. The front cockpit has VFR instruments, full treatment with upholstery, and complete controls with the exception of brakes. "Big Red" is finished out with root fairings on the lower main panels and horizontal stabilizer, fairings top and bottom for the I struts, and fairings about the juncture of the wheel pants and gear leg fairings. The ailerons have gap seals along their top surface, and the primary flying/landings wires are damped by a polished aluminum javelin. The aileron interconnect tubes and all

the exposed fittings are chrome plated and baked to mil. specs. The paint scheme final result was worked out through a thousand revisions and renderings during the three years of construction. The finish is Dupont Dulux enamel but the essence of the mirror finish is elbow grease. The wings were sanded no less than six times during the thirty coat non-tautening nitrate dope buildup, and this isn't counting the sandings during the covering process and initial brush coats. For the test flight period the dope was sealed with a coating of Dupont Dulux silver enamel. This prevented any oil or grease from penetrating the dope and interfering with the enamel adhesion later. The application of the final red, white and blue paint scheme took thirty days of painting, curing 'time, taping, spraying, back taping and spraying again. And finally to point, the finish has been hand rubbed with wet, then dry turkish towels every week for one year. During these three years of construction a little voice kept saying, "Better learn to fly, stupid!" but it's always easier to procrastinate and spend those valuable free hours in the shop. But I did manage to log about 150 hours with three different flight schools and picked up my private and commercial ratings. Still this was all "nose dragger" experience and I kept hearing horror stories about ground-looping on my first landing and rolling my taildragger up in a ball. So just before packing "Big Red" up and moving out to the test field, I put together about ten hours in a Citabria and Decathelon. I still didn't feel very confident though, so a friend, Dan Carey, who is a very experienced Starduster Too pilot borrowed a Starduster Too and coaxed me through several take offs and landings at Compton until he was satisified with my performance. Two weeks later on October 7, 1974, and, to the day, exactly three years from the start of this project, "Big Red" was rolled onto the ramp at Chino Airport. Dan Carey was at the controls as "Big Red" taxied out to the active. I followed in another Starduster as observer plane and "Big Red" looked awfully good to me from where I sat as we moved to the runup area. The runup went smoothly but Dan shut the IO-540-K down complaining of cramped muscles in his legs from trying to hold the big engine back during taxi and run-up. After a rest we restarted and Dan moved onto the active for the first test: a take-off, short flight, and landing on the 6000 foot runway. This was accomplished in two blinks of an eye and soon he was taxiing back. This time we both moved onto the active for take-off, and a couple moments later off my left wing as we climbed out my mistress of three years was looking fantastic!! Dan soon transitioned me to "Big Red" and in the months to follow as the hours were accumulated we began to grow together. If time and space allowed I'd like to tell a hundred experiences; such as our first spin and the groping and finding our way into aerobatics; that first landing on a strange 2000 foot runway on top of a hill with a forty-five degree crosswind; the beauty of super slow rolls about the setting sun over the ocean with Neil Diamond in the headphones; our first night landings; the champagne glass raised in salute by the fantail skipper as we cruised by his yacht; the crowds and compliments at fly-ins where hundreds of new friends were made; my introduction to the mutual respect and camaraderie of competitive aerobatic pilots; the first "low approach" by a beach nudist colony; the roll by a J-3 Cub and frolicking with a gaggle of PT-22's on the way home from a fly-in; and the salute from a 707 Captain as he yielded the active to "Big Red" for the benefit of his passengers and asked if I'd like to trade mounts for the day! I know I could go on for hours and then some, but my pen hand is weary and this article will give Jack Cox SPORT AVIATION 67

a fit with its length anyway. So I will end this with a salute to all of my friends whom I've met or will meet in the EAA and IAC; a sincere thank you for all of the kind words spoken of "Big Red"; and a word of encouragement to every builder who may be in a slump . . . keep with it, don't stop, it's really going to be worth every scraped knuckle and long evening spent in the shop!

SPECIFICATIONS

Aircraa . . . . . . . Starduster Too, "Big Red", N69JY Builder . . . . . . Jim Young, Culver City, California Construction Time . . . . Three years — 6000 Hours Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I don't dare add it all up!! Engine . . . . . . . . . . . 82" dia. three bladed, polished Hartzell, special manufact. Prop . . . . . . . . . . . Lycoming IO-540-K1A5 modified Fuel . . . . . . . . . . 100/130 octane, 40 gallons useable Empty Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1580 lbs. Gross Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2300 lbs. Max. sea level ROC . . . . . . . . . . 3100 fpm sustained Cruise Climb . . . . . 1800 fpm at 110 mph indicated Cruise Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . 65% power, 5000 feet — 175 mph at 13 gph Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 miles with reserve Fully aerobatic with VFR night and IFR instrumentation

nUUDRDS 1975

(Jack Scholler Photo)

(Jack Scholler Photo)

(Jack Scholler Photo)

Lloyd Brekke receiving one of the several trophies for his beautiful BD-4.

Dr. Jim Young accepts the Grand Champion Custom Built award for his Starduster Too, "Big Red".

Bob Ladd, right, presents the Spirit

of EAA Award to Dale Crites of Waukesha, Wisconsin.

General Chairman

Bob Ladd. Milwaukee, Wisconsin Judges Committee Antique Aircraft

Judges Committee Custom Built Aircraft

Roger Davenport. Hubertus. Wisconsin Chairman Lee Williams. Springfield. Illinois Dave Knaup. Brookfield, Wisconsin Herb Combs. Bedford. Indiana

Paul McReynolds. Memphis. Tennessee Marvm VandenHeuvel, Milwaukee. Wisconsin

Cliff Gould, Milwaukee. Wisconsin Don Pietsch. Slinger. Wisconsin

Bill Spurgeon. Indianapolis. Indiana John Beetham, Indianapolis, Indiana 68 OCTOBER 1975

Evander Britt. Lumberton. North Carolina Chairman

Pete Covington, Spencer. Virginia Claude Gray. Northridge. California Dale Gustafson. Indianapolis. Indiana Paul Hopkins. Hialeah. Florida Al Kelch, Mequon, Wisconsin Hank Palmer, St. Petersburg, Florida H H "Dusty" Rhodes, Englewood. Colorado Doug Rounds. Zebulon. Georgia

Rod Spanier. Riviera Beach. Florida

Judge* Committee Clattlc Aircraft

Jim German, Mansfield, Ohio • Co-Chairman Morion Lester, Martinsville, Virginia -

Co-Chairman Maurice Clavel. Wauchula, Florida John Engles, Lakeland. Florida Roger Jennings. Greensboro. North Carolina

John Parish, Tullahoma, Tennessee Swenson Poer. Jr.. Greensboro. North Carolina Brad Thomas. Pilot Mountain, North Carolina Duffy Thompson, Lakeland. Florida John Turgyan, Trenton. New Jersey W. C. 'Dub' Yarbrough, Tullahoma. Tennessee

(Jack Scholler Photo)

(Jack Scholler Photo)

(Jack Scholler Photo)

Molt Taylor, left, receives the August Raspet Award from EAA President Paul Poberezny.

Ed Wegner, right, is congratulated by Evander Britt for winning the Grand Champion Antique award for his American Eagle. Claude Gray, left, and Antique/Classic Division President Buck Hilbert look on.

Burt Rutan accepts the Outstanding New Design Award for his spectacular VariEze.

George York, Mansfield, Ohio Dale Wolford, Ashland, Ohio John Womack. lola. Kansas

1ST OF CLASS - ALL METAL —

Ed Merkel. Wichita. Kansas for his Merkel Mark II - N38225. Sponsor: Russ Bayse

Memorial Award, Ms. R. M. Tweedie

Judges Committee Special Aircraft

Leonard Tanner. North Granby. Connecticut - Warbirds of America Bob Fitzpatrick. Custer Park. Illinois Rotorcraft Chairman Orend Champion Award* GRAND CHAMPION CUSTOM BUILT —

Jim Young, Culver City. California for his Starduster II - N69JY. Sponsor: Beech Aircraft Corporation FORMER GRAND CHAMPION —

L. L. "Jim" Butler. Norwalk, Ohio for his Butler Midget Mustang - N14LB. Sponsor:

EAA Chapter 166. Hartford. Conn GRAND CHAMPION ANTIQUE —

Ed Wegner, Plymouth. Wisconsin for his 1928 American Eagle - NC7310 Sponsor: EAA GRAND CHAMPION CLASSIC —

Jim Mankins. Corona. California for his Stinson 108-2 - N971J. Sponsor: EAA GRAND CHAMPION ROTORCRAFT —

George Spadie. Louisville, Kentucky for his Scorpion I - N3273. Sponsor: EAA GRAND CHAMPION WARBIRD —

Preston Parish, Hickory Corners. Minnesota for his Grumman/GM FM-2 Wildcat - N1PP. Sponsor: Warbirds of America

Special Award* DR. AUGUST RASPET AWARD —

M. B. "Molt" Taylor, Longview. Washington. Sponsor: EAA GEORGE GRUENBERGER MEMORIAL AWARD —

L. "Lu" Sunderland. Apalachian. New York. Sponsor: EAA Chapter 18, Milwaukee. Wisconsin STAN DZIK MEMORIAL AWARD —

David E. Carr. Beaverton, Oregon for Outstanding Design Contribution - Carr Twin Sponsor: Daryl Dzik MICHAEL SEYMOUR MEMORIAL AWARD —

Virgil Locke. Jr., Londonderry, Ohio for Best Cassutt - N7133. Sponsor: William

Seymour Family SPIRIT OF EAA AWARD —

1ST OF CLASS - MIXED CONSTRUCTION —

sor: Stanley Homes, inc.. Milwaukee. Wisconsin JOHN LIVINGSTON MEMORIAL AWARD —

David E Carr. Beaverton. Oregon Sponsor: EAA Chapter 227. Waterloo. Iowa TELEDYNE/CONTINENTAL MOTORS SCHOLARSHIP AWARD —

Donald C. Howe, Wichita. Kansas Sponsor: Teledyne/Continental Motors DEWEY BRYAN YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT AWARD —

William "Mike" Baker. Bartlett, Illinois. Sponsor: EAA Chapter 384. Ann Arbor.

Michigan AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION AWARD —

The Experimental A i r c r a f t Association. Sponsor: State of Wisconsin Air Force

Association BEST SOLO ITEM IN STAGE SHOW - MARTY HAEDTLER MEMORIAL AWARD —

Claudia Grieco. Las Vegas. Nevada. Sponsor: Harold Best-Devereux Ml AWARD - BABY ACE ANNIVERSARY —

Paul H. Poberezny. Hales Corners. Wisconsin. Sponsor: Mechanix Illustrated BREEZY AWARD —

Carl Unger. Chicago. Illinois for Introduction of Breezy to the EAA Membership. Sponsor: Charlie Shivers. Sue Shivers and Karen Shivers OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD —

Elmer Erickson, Omro, Wisconsin. Sponsor: EAA

Custom Built Aircraft Awards OUTSTANDING NEW DESIGN AWARD —

Burt Rutan. Mojave. California for his VariEze - N7EZ. Sponsor: Bellanca Aircraft Corporation OUTSTANDING WORKMANSHIP —

George Pereira. Sacramento. California for his Osprey 2 - N3GP. Sponsor: Mechanix Illustrated 1ST OF CLASS - ALL WOOD

CONSTRUCTION — Larry Burton, Klamath Falls, Oregon for his Cavalier - N7131. Sponsor: Aircraft

Spruce and Specialty Co.

Don Bates. Kansas City. Missouri for his Starduster Too - N2369. Sponsor: EAA BEST AUTO POWERED HOMEBUILT —

Bernie Pietenpol. Spring Valley, Minnesota for his Aircamper - N7533V. Sponsor: Joe

Durham BEST INSTRUMENT PANEL/INTERIOR LAYOUT —

Lloyd Brekke, Newton. Kansas for his BD-4 - N325BD Sponsor: Joe Durham OUTSTANDING PAINT AND DESIGN —

Lloyd Brekke. Newton, Kansas for his BD-4 - N325BD. Sponsor: Stits Aircraft Coatings OUTSTANDING CHAPTER PROJECT — EAA Chapter 148. Fredericksburg. Ohio for

Pietenpol Aircamper - N3148. Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING AMPHIBIAN —

George Pereira. Sacramento. California for his Osprey 2 - N3GP Sponsor: The Amalga Corporation BEST SINGLE PLACE STARDUSTER —

H. M. Woodrow. Belleville. Illinois for his Starduster SA100 - N64HW Sponsor: Stolp Starduster Corporation BEST TWO PLACE STARDUSTER —

Edgar Thomas, Jr.. La Jolla. California for

his Starduster Too - N10BT Stolp Starduster Corporation

Sponsor:

BEST TAILWIND —

Wallace Carlberg, Minneapolis. Minnesota for his Tailwind - N374D. Sponsor: Steve Wittman BEST EAA BIPLANE —

J B Cavalier. Ligonier, Pennsylvania for his EAA Biplane - N63C. Sponsor: EAA BEST RV-3 —

William Pomeroy, Norval. Ontario for his Van Grunsven RV-3 - C-GBRV. Sponsor:

Van's Aircraft BABY ACE AWARD - 1ST PLACE —

Vincent Mariani, Findlay. Ohio for his Baby Ace - N111VM. Sponsor: Paul Poberezny BABY ACE AWARD - 2ND PLACE —

George Hast. Champaign. Illinois for his Baby Ace - N11GH. Sponsor: Paul Poberezny

Dale Crites. Waukesha. Wisconsin. SoonSPORT AVIATION 69

BABY ACE AWARD - 3RD PLACE —

Clarence Schreiber, Wauwatosa. Wisconsin for his Baby Ace - N7570U. Sponsor:

Paul Poberezny BEST CONTINENTAL ENGINE INSTALLATION —

BEST RAZORBACK COVERING ON A CUSTOM BUILT AIRCRAFT —

Hale Wallace, Johnson City, New York for Sponsor:

BEST CANADIAN HOMEBUILT IN ATTENDANCE —

William Pomeroy. Norval, Ontario for his RV-3

Yvan Bougie. Valleyfield. Quebec for his Hauscat - C-FCYB Sponsor: B & F Aircraft Supply BEST IN CLASS - MODEL A —

Don Bates, Kansas City, Missouri for his Starduster Too - N2369. Sponsor: Teledyne/Continental Motors

his Steen Skybolt - N1HW. Razorback Fabrics

BEST IN CLASS - CANADIAN WAR REPLICA —

- C-GBRV. Sponsor: EAA Chapter

305. Dartmouth. Nova Scotia FIRST V4 SCALE Fw-190 —

Ron Kitchen. Carson City, Nevada for Fw-190 - N190KA. Sponsor: Replica Fight-

ers of America FIRST K SCALE Fw-190 — Warren Eberspacher. Santa Paula. California for Fw-190, N18828 Sponsor: Replica Fighters of America

Forrest Lovley, Apple Valley. Minnesota for Pietenpol Aircamper - N12937. Sponsor: B & F Aircraft Supply BEST IN CLASS - AEROBATIC —

Phil Kraft. Vista. California for his Super Fli - N5PK Sponsor: B & F Aircraft Supply SPECIAL AWARD - AIRSHIP ERA —

Ray Parker. Denver. Colorado for his Super Sperry Messenger - N10SM. Sponsor: B & F Aircraft Supply HCIAL AWARD —

Vern Oldershaw, Bakersfield. California for his Renegade (powered sailplane) N2560B. Sponsor: B 4 F Aircraft Supply BEST IN CLASS - VW POWER —

C. E. McCarley. Hueytown. Alabama for his Mini Mac - N152CM. Sponsor: B & F Aircraft Supply

Mike Murphy, Oak Lawn, Illinois for his 1912 Bellanca replica - N1912G, Sponsor: EAA Chapter 133. Ft Lauderdale, Florida BEST ACRO SPORT —

W. R. Curd. Kansas City, Missouri for Acro Sport - N21WC Sponsor: Wag Aero. Inc

Antique Aircraft Awards RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION —

Al Nagel and Ken Gatzke. Montello, Wisconsin for their Rearwin Sportster N-20723 Sponsor EAA JUDGE'S CHOICE —

Jim Ardy, Phoenix. Arizona for his 1936 Stearman PT-13 (Ser. No. 1) - N75001 Sponsor: EAA

BEST SKYBOLT —

Hale Wallace, Johnson City, New York for Steen Skybolt - N1HW. Sponsor: Steen Aero Lab. Inc. BEST ALL-AROUND UNMODIFIED PITTS AIRCRAFT —

Clint McHenry. Boca Raton. Florida for his Pitts Special - N88TF Sponsor: Aviation Supply Company BEST ALL-AROUND FINISH ON PITTS AIRCRAFT —

Bill Oprendeck. Reston. Virginia for his Pitts Special - N10AJ. Sponsor: Randolph Products MOST ORIGINAL PAINT DESIGN ON A CUSTOM AIRCRAFT —

George Compton. Kent, Washington for his Pitts Special - N11GC Sponsor: Randolph Products OUTSTANDING WORKMANSHIP USING GERDES PRODUCTS —

Norman Taylor. Ontario, Oregon for his Miniplane - N412T Sponsor: Gerdes Products Co. BEST MIDGET MUSTANG —

Jack Curry. Clarkson, Washington for his Midget Mustang - N73T. Sponsor Bushby Aircraft Company BEST MUSTANG II —

William Renninger, Tiffin, Ohio for his Mustang II - N11WR. Sponsor: Bushby Aircraft Company BEST BABY GREAT LAKES —

Lee Hamilton, Spokane. Washington for his Baby Great Lakes - N99LH Sponsor: Harvey Swack CONSTRUCTION EXCELLENCE —

W. "Dub"

Yarbrough. Tullahoma. Tennes-

see for his PJ-260 - N300PJ. Sponsor: Nick D'Apuzzo BEST COOT AMPHIBIAN —

Warren Eding. St

Louis. Missouri for his

Coot A - N107D. Sponsor: Molt Taylor 70 OCTOBER 1975

COCKPIT — Jack Schnaubelt, Elgin, Illinois for his 1933 Fairchild 22 - NC14768 Sponsor: EAA

Antique-Classic Division

1938-1941 PRE WORLD WAR II ERA CHAMPION — George Mennen, Bernardsville. New Jersey for his 1940 Spartan Executive - N34SE. Sponsor: EAA PRE-WW II - OUTSTANDING BIPLANE —

Vince Mariani. Findlay. Ohio for his 1941 Waco VKS-7F - N31653

Sponsor: EAA

Antique-Classic Division PRE-WW II - OUTSTANDING MONOPLANE —

Dr. J T. Patterson. Louisville, Kentucky for his 1938 Spartan Executive - NC17615. Sponsor: EAA Antique-Classic Division PRE-WW II - OUTSTANDING CLOSED CABIN —

Bill Nutting, Menlo Park, California for his 1941 Waco SRE - NC1252W EAA Antique-Classic Division

Sponsor:

PRE-WW II - OUTSTANDING TRAINING AIRCRAFT —

Koerner Aviation, Kankakee, Illinois for its 1941 Stearman - N61511 Sponsor: EAA Antique-Classic Division

MOST UNIQUE COMBINATION MAN AND MACHINE —

SILVER AGE - OUTSTANDING OPEN

AWARD OF MERIT —

John Innis, Culver City. California for his 1936 Porterfield - N17029. Sponsor: EAA 1903-1912 CHAMPION - WRIGHT BROTHERS ERA —

Dale Crites. Waukesha. Wisconsin for his 1911 Curtiss Pusher. Sponsor: EAA 1912-1922 CHAMPION - WORLD WAR I ERA —

Not Awarded 1923-1932 CHAMPION / GOLDEN AGE ERA —

Dean and Dale Crites for their 1929 Waco ASO - N6930. Sponsor: EAA

GOLDEN AGE - OUTSTANDING BIPLANE —

Mike and Pete Heins, Dayton, Ohio for their 1930

Waco CRG - N600Y Sponsor: EAA

Antique-Classic Division GOLDEN AGE - OUTSTANDING MONOPLANE —

Gene Morris. Dundee. Illinois for his 1931 American Eaglet - N5489 Sponsor: EAA Antique-Classic Division GOLDEN AGE - OUTSTANDING CLOSED CABIN —

R. F. Johansson. St Charles. Missouri for his 1931

Waco QDC - NC11470 Sponsor:

EAA Antique-Classic Division 1932-1938 CHAMPION - SILVER AGE ERA — J C Weber, Barrington. Illinois for his 1935 Waco CUC - NC14625 Sponsor: EAA SILVER AGE - OUTSTANDING BIPLANE —

Stan Gomoll. Minneapolis. Minnesota for his 1936 Waco EQC-6 - N16591. Sponsor: EAA Antique-Classic Division SILVER AGE - OUTSTANDING MONOPLANE —

Mel Heflinger. Los Angeles. California for his 1938 Harlow PJ-C-2 - N18978. Sponsor: EAA Antique-Classic Division SILVER AGE - OUTSTANDING CLOSED CABIN —

Dr. R C Wicker, Atlanta. Georgia for his 1936 Cessna C-34 Airmaster - N16403 Sponsor: EAA Antique-Classic Division

PRE-WW II - OUTSTANDING OPEN COCKPIT —

Dan Wine and Mike Smiley. Denver. Colorado for their 1941 Navy N3N-3 - N2896. Sponsor: EAA Antique-Classic Division WORLD WAR II ERA CHAMPION —

John Turgyan. Trenton, New Jersey for his 1943 Howard DGA-1SP - NC95462 Sponsor: EAA WW II ERA - OUTSTANDING TRANSPORT —

Geren and Omdorff, Dallas, Texas for their 1943 Howard DGA-15P - N1335M Sponsor: EAA Antique-Classic Division WW II ERA - OUTSTANDING BIPLANE TRAINER —

Charlotte Parish. Tullahoma. Tennessee for her Stearman N2S-5 - N44JP Sponsor

EAA Antique-Classic Division WW II ERA - OUTSTANDING MONOPLANE TRAINER —

Mark and Matt Macario. Malvern. Pennsylvania for their 1942 Ryan PT-22 - N46805 Sponsor: EAA Antique-Classic Division WW II ERA - OUTSTANDING LIAISON —

Gene O'Neil. Spirit Lake. Iowa for his Piper L-4 - N43518. Sponsor: EAA AntiqueClassic Division WW II ERA - BEST CANADIAN AIRCRAFT —

Fr John MacGillivray. Ottawa, Canada for his 1935 Miles Hawk M2-W Sponsor: EAA

- CF-NXT

OUTSTANDING AERONCA —

Tom Trainor, Royal Oaks. Michigan for his 1939 EAA

Aeronca K - NC2233 Sponsor:

OUTSTANDING DART —

Art Bishop. Norton, Ohio for his 1946 Dart GC - NC31697. Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING FAIRCHILD —

Tom Leonhardt and Dick Buck. Lambertsville. Michigan for their 1946 Fairchild F-24R46 - N77661 Sponsor EAA OUTSTANDING CESSNA —

Ken Coe. Pleasanton. California for his 1940 Cessna C-165 Airmaster - NC237 Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING STAGGERWING —

Robert Fergus, Columbus, Ohio for his

1946 Beechcraft G-17S. N6RF Sponsor: EAA

OUTSTANDING MEYERS —

E. C. Stewart. Tullahoma. Tennessee for his 1943 Meyers OTW - N34341. Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING MONOCOUPE —

John McCulloch. Fairfax. Virginia for his 1941 Monocoupe 110 Special - N36Y. Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING PIPER —

Steve Boronstein, Columbus, Ohio for his 1940 Piper J-3 • N30503. Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING WACO —

G M. Miller and N R. Sawwell, Dayton, Ohio for their 1941 Waco UPF-7 - NC32077. Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING SPARTAN —

Pat Hartness. Greenville. South Carolina for his 1938 Spartan Executive - N13PH. Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING REARWIN —

Jim Wilson, San Antonio. Texas for his 1939 Rearwin Sportster - N21977. Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING HARLOW —

Ron Boyce. Farmington, New Mexico for his 1940 Harlow - N3947B Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING PORTERFIELD — Bill Gore. St. Louis. Missouri for his 1941 Porterfield - NC34706 Sponsor: EAA OUTSTANDING RYAN —

Da no Toffenetti. Winnetka, Illinois for his 1937 Ryan STA - NC17361. Sponsor: EAA BEST WW I REPLICA —

A. Mangos. Williamson, New York for his SE-5A - N9841. Sponsor: Harold Best-

Devereux BEST "LITTLE ROUND ENGINE" AIRCRAFT —

Gene Morris, Dundee. Illinois for his American Eaglet - N548Y. Sponsor: Ken and

Shirley Williams

PUBLIC CHOICE —

BEST CESSNA 170 —

Steven Wilson, Arlington. Washington for his Cessna 170 - N3945V. Sponsor: EAA BEST CESSNA 190/195 —

Joe Kikel, Geneva, Ohio for his Cessna 195 - N9344A. Sponsor: EAA BEST ERCOUPE —

Ken and Fran Heath, Tulsa, Oklahoma for their Ercoupe - N2522H. Sponsor: Univair Aircraft Corporation BEST LUSCOMBE —

Harvey Richey. Waco, Texas for his Luscombe - N2522K. Sponsor: EAA BEST NAVION —

R. Matt. McHenry. Illinois for his Ryan Navion - N437M. Sponsor: EAA

EAA Chapter 291. Sioux City. Iowa for their Piper J-3 - N7436H. Sponsor: EAA BEST POST WAR PIPER (OTHER THAN J-3) —

P Cashmere. Addison, Illinois for Piper Clipper - N5335H. Sponsor: EAA

RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION —

Edmond Gorny. Livermore, California for his Swift GC-1B - N2459B. Sponsor: EAA BEST CLASS I CLASSIC (UNDER 100 H.P.) —

Dutch Bradford, Lima. Ohio for his Cessna 140 - N89728. Sponsor: EAA

BEST CLASS II CLASSIC (101-164 h.p.) —

Charlie Harman. Phoenix. Arizona for his Stinson 108-1. N8626K. Sponsor: EAA BEST CLASS III CLASSIC (165 h.p. and up) —

Scott Twitchwell. Berkely, California for his Bellanca Cruisemaster. N506A Sponsor: EAA BEST ORIGINAL RESTORATION —

Ron Kramer, Pella. Iowa for his Stinson Sponsor: Univair Air-

BEST SWIFT —

Bob and Pauline Genung, Indianapolis, Indiana for their Swift GC1B - N3399K Sponsor: Univair Aircraft Corporation BEST TAYLORCRAFT —

William Knight. Kent Joranlien and Edwin Disch. Brodhead. Wisconsin for their Taylorcraft BC-12D - N68773. Sponsor: EAA BEST LIMITED PRODUCTION CLASSIC —

Charlie Nelson. Athens. Tennessee for

BEST CUSTOM RESTORATION —

Don Freitag, Summerville. South Carolina, for his Aeronca Champion. N2215E Sponsor: EAA BEST AERONCA CHAMPION —

Melvin Hill. Danville. Illinois for his Aeronca Champion. N83633. Sponsor: EAA BEST POST-WAR AERONCA (other than 7AC) — Clifford Wadsworth Lapel. Indiana for his Aeronca Chief. N9820E. Sponsor: EAA BEST BEECH BONANZA —

Simmie Sanders. Knoxville. Tennessee for his Beech Model 35. N3150V. Sponsor EAA BEST BELLANCA —

CLASSIC WORKMANSHIP AWARD — PA-16

Clipper - N5335H. Sponsor: EAA

BEST RAZORBACK COVERING —

P. Cashmere. Addison. Illinois for Piper PA-16 Clipper - N5335H. Sponsor: Razorback Fabrics BEST CLASSIC AVIONICS —

Geoff Fickling, Miami. Florida for his Beech Bonanza - N8635A. Sponsor: Radio Systems Technology MOST AUTHENTIC SKYRANGER —

B. Snyder. McGraw, New York for Skyranger - N73810. Sponsor: SPARS AL WILLIAMS OUTSTANDING ERCOUPE AWARD —

Ken and Fran Heath, Tulsa. Oklahoma for Ercoupe - N2522H.

Rotorcraft Award* 1ST PLACE - MAN AND MACHINE —

John Gadeikis. Burlington, Wisconsin Scorpion I. N62310. Sponsor: EAA 2ND PLACE - MAN AND MACHINE —

Homer Bell. Miamisburg, Ohio - Scorpion II. N17HB Sponsor: EAA 3RD PLACE - MAN AND MACHINE —

his Bellanca. N86881 Sponsor EAA Don and Pat Backstrand for their Cessna 140, N89230. Sponsor: EAA

M. L. Miller, La Porte. Texas for Cessna OE2 - N101GC. Sponsor: Warbirds of America BEST P-51 —

Don Plumb. Windsor, Ontario for his P-51 N10FF. Sponsor: Warbirds of America BEST AT-6/SNJ —

N6FD. Sponsor: Warbirds of America BEST MILITARY CLASSIC —

Paul Pfoutz. W. Alexandria, Ohio for his BT-13 - N67789. Sponsor: Warbirds of America Robert Townsend. Garden City, Kansas for his Piper L-4 - N33561. Sponsor:

Warbirds of America SERVICE TO WARBIRDS AWARD —

Donald Hoover. Fred Webster and George Meltzer Sponsor: Warbirds of America AWARD OF MERIT —

Chuck McWilliams. James Vernon and Norman Chrive

Sponsor: Warbirds of

America MOST IMPROVED WARBIRD —

Jerry Walbrun. King of Prussia. Pennsylvania for his T-6 - N3687F. Sponsor: Warbirds of America

Contest Awards PAZMANY EFFICIENCY CONTEST —

1ST PLACE — Glen Cawley. Buckley. Washington - Stinson SR-9C - N18406. Sponsor: EAA

2ND PLACE — Eric Glew, Toronto. Ontario - Diamant - CF-YQH. Sponsor: EAA

3RD PLACE — Les Berven/Bede Aircraft, Newton, Kansas - BD-5 - N503BD. Sponsor: EAA SOUND EVALUATION TEST — 1ST PLACE — Earl Adkisson. Atwood, Illi-

nois - 1908 Demoiselle (replica) - N6162. Sponsor: EAA

2ND PLACE — Russ Hasenbalg. Baraboo. Wisconsin - Baby Ace - N4566. Sponsor: EAA 3RD PLACE — Terry Volante. Euclid. Ohio -

Luscombe 8A - N71348 Sponsor: EAA EAA SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS —

Steve Madsen. Minooka, Illinois Gary Alan Shunk, Lemon Grove. California John Maxfield. Dearborn. Michigan EAA APPRECIATION AWARD —

Lou Michelin. Oshkosh, Wisconsin OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN AVIATION

EDUCATION FOR 1975 —

Dr Charles Thomas, University of Wisconsin - Stout State. Menomonie, Wisconsin

Roger Wood. Cmcinatti. Ohio - Bensen B8M. N72RW Sponsor: EAA BEST WORKMANSHIP - UNDER CONSTRUCTION —

Dick Gooch. Rock Island. Illinois for Bensen B8M, N6398. Sponsor: EAA BEST ORIGINAL ROTORCRAFT DESIGN —

Ray Nutt, Huntsville. Texas for Pterosaur #5. N21RN. Sponsor: EAA

Dan Cullman. Sacramento, California for BEST CESSNA 120/140 —

MOST UNUSUAL —

his Buckaroo T-35 - N68773. Sponsor: EAA

Mark Holliday. Hastings. Minnesota for his Swift GC1A. N80760 Sponsor: EAA

Don Whittington. N. Palm Beach. Florida for his Douglas A-26 - N26WB. Sponsor: Warbirds of America

RARE WARBIRD AWARD —

BEST STINSON —

P Cashmere. Addison. Illinois for Piper Classic Aircraft Awards

JUDGE'S CHOICE —

Joseph Dulvick. Lake Orion, Michigan for

BEST PIPER J-3 —

108-2 - N8074K craft Corporation

John Schafhausen. Spokane. Washington for his P-51 - N921. Sponsor: Warbirds of America

EAA Major Achievement Awards Dallas Alldredge. Waterloo. Iowa - Chapter 227 Myron Ihde, Monona, Iowa - Chapter 368

John A. Thompson. Tucson. Arizona - Chapter 81 Fred E. Ennis, Salisbury, Maryland - Chapter 532

Val Bernhardt. Ft. Lauderdale. Florida - ChapWarbird Awards RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION —

John Ellis III. Delton. Michigan for T-28 N100JE. Sponsor: Warbirds of America

ter 133 Helen Moore, Holcomb. New York - Chapter 504 Bradley Davenport, Broomfield. Colorado Chapter 43 SPORT AVIATION 71

Harold Bulmahn. Waco. Texas - Chapter 59 Rosemary Haus. Coraopolis. Pennsylvania Chapter 68 James List. Granville. Iowa - Chapter 291 Pr»»ld*nt'» Awards Bob Burbick. Sun City. Arizona Verne Jobst. McHenry. Illinois Sam Burgess. Honolulu. Hawaii Ralph Borden. Ramona, California Eduardo C Escallon, Merritt Island, Florida Orrick and Bernice Howard, Kenosha. Wisconsin Charles T Vogelsong. Dillsburg. Pennsylvania S*rvlc« to EAA Award* John Redmond. Baton Rouge. Louisiana Peter James. Scarborough, Ontario, Canada Richard Klockner. Volant. Pennsylvania Joseph J. Wieger, Yardley, Pennsylvania Alvin Schubert, Qalesville. Wisconsin Robert Hammer, Kirkland. Washington Cletus Brow. Hobbs. New Mexico Jenny Dyke. Fairborn. Ohio James Holmes, Hazen. Arkansas Mr and Mrs Fred Goldstone. Grafton, North Dakota Mike Springett. Cambridge, England Rev Charles W. Conaster, Sunburst, Montana

Jack Winthrop, Dallas, Texas Liz Winthrop. Dallas, Texas Dave Hamilton. Anderson, Indiana Bill Nolan, Jonesboro, Arkansas Richard Cavin. Dallas Texas Art Anthony, Two Harbors. Minnesota Bryan Christianson, Gwinn. Michigan Clarence R Cottle. Jr.. Beaver. West Virginia Al Main, Sioux Falls. South Dakota Edward Schultheiss. Abingdon. Illinois D Paul Hopkins. Hialeah. Florida Roy Sweatman, Harborcreek. Pennsylvania George 0 Bettridge. Salt Lake City. Utah James Campbell. Versailles. Ohio Rudy Frasca, Champaign, Illinois David Engleman, 0 Fallen. Illinois Lloyd Toll, Hazen, Arkansas Gary L. Richmond. Holt. Michigan

EAA Chapter 64. Madison/St. Clair Counties. Illinois EAA Chapter 71, Bakersfield. California EAA Chapter 78. Philadelphia. Pennsylvania EAA Chapter 84, Everett. Washington EAA Chapter 85. Vancouver, B.C.. Canada EAA Chapter 103. Boise. Idaho EAA Chapter 122. Harrisburg. Pennsylvania EAA Chapter 124 Santa Rosa. California EAA Chapter 133. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida EAA Chapter 135. Des Moines. Iowa EAA Chapter 160, Erie, Pennsylvania EAA Chapter 166. Hartford. Connecticut EAA Chapter 188. Fitchburg, Massachusetts EAA Chapter 189. Scarborough. Ontario. Canada EAA Chapter 194, Pontiac. Michigan

EAA Chapter 210, Western Reserve, Ohio EAA Chapter 227, Waterloo. Iowa

EAA Chapter 244. Baton Rouge. Louisiana EAA Chapter 291. Sioux City. Iowa

EAA Chapter 303. Santa Paula, California EAA Chapter 305, Dartmouth. Nova Scotia,

Canada EAA Chapter EAA Chapter EAA Chapter EAA Chapter EAA Chapter

310. West Penn. Ohio 320. Watertown. Wisconsin 321, Reading, Pennsylvania 325. Cleveland. Ohio 350, Monmouth. Illinois

EAA Chapter 384. Brighton, Michigan

EAA Chapter 390, Fredencksburg, Pennsylvania EAA Chapter 391, Pasco, Washington EAA Chapter 416. Mobile, Alabama EAA Chapter 429, Jefferson City. Missouri EAA Chapter 437. Jonesboro, Arkansas EAA Chapter 438, Plamview. Texas

EAA Chapter 453. Cape Girardeau. Missouri EAA Chapter 486. Weedsport. New York EAA Chapter 521. Kamloops. B.C.. Canada EAA Chapter 531. North Jackson. Ohio

EAA Chapter 532. Salisbury. Maryland EAA Chapter 534. Leesburg. Florida Gerdes Products. Vandalia. Illinois

Al Kelch, Mequon. Wisconsin Mechanix Illustrated. New York. New York Metal Masters. San Diego. California Morgan Jewelers. Theinsville, Wisconsin Paul H. Poberezny. Hales Corners. Wisconsin Radio Systems Technology. San Diego, California Razorback Fabrics. Manilla. Arkansas Randolph Products Co.. Carlstadt. New Jersey Redfern & Son. Tekoa. Washington Replica Fighters of America, Berea, Ohio Rockwell International, Oshkosh, Wisconsin Alfred Rosenhan. Salt Lake City. Utah Roper Whitney. Rockford. Illinois Scot-Air, Cedar Rapids. Iowa William Seymour Family. Chesterland. Ohio Charlie, Sue and Karen Shivers. Birmingham. Alabama Society for the Preservation & Restoration of Skyrangers Stanley Homes. Inc . Milwaukee. Wisconsin Steen Aero Lab. Inc., Brighton. Colorado Stits Aircraft Coatings. Riverside. California Stolp Starduster Corporation. Riverside. California Harvey Swack. Gates Mills. Ohio Mrs John Taylor, Essex. England Molt Taylor. Longview, Washington Teledyne/Continental Motors. Mobile, Alabama Frank W Tomenga. Blue Bell. Pennsylvania Mrs R. M. Tweedie, San Jose, California Twin Disc. Racine, Wisconsin Univair Aircraft Corporation, Aurora. Colorado Flight Line Aircraft Supply. Hobart. Indiana Van s Aircraft. Beaverton, Oregon Wag-Aero, Inc., Lyons, Wisconsin Wicks Aircraft, Highland. Illinois Wil Neubert Aircraft Supply. Long Beach. California

Ken and Shirley Williams. Portage, Wisconsin Steve Wittman. Oshkosh, Wisconsin Woodward Governor Company, Rockford. Illinois

AWARDS PROGRAM CONTRIBUTORS

Aeronca. Inc.. Middletown. Ohio Air Force Association of Wisconsin Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co . Fullerton. California The Amalga Corporation, Menomonee Falls. Wisconsin Aviation Supply Company, Tampa, Florida B & F Aircraft Supply. Oak Lawn. Illinois Bass Aviation, Toms River. New Jersey Beech Aircraft Corporation. Wichita. Kansas Bellanca Aircraft Corporation. Alexandria. Minnesota Bendix Electrical Components Division. Sidney. New York Dr. Igor Bensen. Raleigh. North Carolina Bergstrom Paper Company. Neenah. Wisconsin Harold Best-Devereux, Herts, England Bushby Aircraft, Minooka, Illinois Cessna Aircraft. Wichita. Kansas Nicholas E D'Apuzzo, Blue Bell. Pennsylvania Joe Durham. Okeene. Oklahoma Daryl Dzik. Milwaukee. Wisconsin Experimental Aircraft Association, Franklin. Wisconsin EAA Chapter 4. Washington. D. C

EAA Chapter 6. Mableton. Georgia EAA EAA EAA EAA EAA EAA EAA

Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter

13. Detroit, Michigan 18. Milwaukee. Wisconsin 22. Rockford, Illinois 23. Salt Lake City. Utah 28, Phoenix. Arizona 49. Lancaster. California 50. Sandusky, Ohio

EAA Chapter 51. Middletown. Rhode Island EAA Chapter 55. Lansing. Michigan

EAA Chapter 56, Sudbury. Ontario, Canada EAA Chapter 60. Janesville/Beloit. Wisconsin EAA Chapter 62. Santa Clara Valley. California 72 OCTOBER 1975

(Photo by Jack Scholler)

Morton Lester, left, presents Charlie Nelson, president of the Swift Club, with an award for his Temco Buckaroo.

THE SPORTPLANE BUILDER

THE BATTERY . . . AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

By Antoni (Tony) Bingelis EAA Designee Program Advisor OU DONT HAVE to try to justify something if you really want it. Still, many builders find it difficult to decide whether or not an electrical system is justified for their particular project. Sometimes this decision is easy to make. For instance, engines like the Continental A-65, the C-85-8, and the VW do not, ordinarily, have provisions for the installation of an electrical system as there is no place to hang a generator or starter. If your airplane is to have one of these engines, you will have undoubtedly, already concluded that you will not install a battery and you will rely, instead, on the hand prop system. However, the fact that a particular engine is manufactured without pads for the mounting of accessories, does not always deter homebuilders. There are homebuilts with VW engines, for example, modified to accommodate a starter and generator. Nevertheless, if the installed engine is one of the smaller basic powerplants, you would normally have to be content without an electric start capability. It should be acknowledged, though, that many homebuilts are flying which could have been equipped with an electric start capability but their builders had decided against such an installation. An electric start system ordinarily includes a battery, battery case, a relay and/or battery connector, voltage regulator, generator or alternator, starter, master switch, battery cables and some additional wiring. All of these items cost the builder extra cash . . . possibly in excess of a couple hundred pre-inflation U.S. dollars. In addition, the complexity of the installation for the added electrical capability means construction time will probably be dragged out another month, perhaps more, as shopping and searching for the required parts and materials will take time. Certainly not the least important consequence is the effect of the added weight of the electric system on a homebuilt's performance. A full electrical system, built around a standard aircraft storage battery weighing about 21 pounds (that's right, 21 pounds), will

8509 Greenflint Lane Austin, Texas 78759

undoubtedly add at least 50 pounds to an engine installation such as for the Continental C-85. (Battery 21#/starter 16#/generator 9.75#, regulator, battery box, solenoid, switch, wiring, etc., easily adds another 4 plus pounds). This being the case, how does one decide whether or not an electrical system can be justified for a homebuilt? More arguments, it seems, can be made against the installation of an electrical system than for it. Nevertheless, one big argument for it does carry tremendous clout . . . SAFETY. Obviously, the principle purpose of the electrical system in a homebuilt will be to supply the electrical energy required to start the engine. The danger of hand propping is eliminated. In the more sophisticated homebuilt, the battery must also be relied upon to operate all of the electrical equipment, like radios, fuel gauges, flaps, navigation lights, and whatever other goodies strike the builder's fancy, during low engine speeds, and in the event the generator (alternator) or engine fails. Of course, during normal engine operations, the battery just goes along for a free ride as the engine driven generator is continuously working to furnish the electrical energy for operating all electrical units. You will probably be quick to point out that when consideration is given to installing a battery for the sole purpose of providing an electric start capability, the attractiveness of that feature diminishes after the added weight of the storage battery and of its support systems is likewise considered. It is no wonder, you say, that the builders of small aircraft like the Cassutt and the Pitts forego the "luxury" of a battery installation. True, but don't be too quick to j u m p to conclusions. The electric start capability a battery provides to the safety of your aircraft operation cannot be measured in cost or weight alone. Or for that matter, as

an undesirable tradeoff for a little better rate of climb in some cases. Not only is the electric starter one very nice luxury, and something of a status symbol . . . it is, literally, a life saver! There is no doubt about this. Statistics show that your aircraft would be much safer with the electric start capability the battery provides. BATTERY LOCATION

The battery is heavy, bulky and the biggest problem it creates is in finding a suitable location for it. After all, a 21 pound object cannot be placed just anywhere in a small aircraft without having a considerable effect on the weight and balance. This could be desirable since the battery can be used as a weight in controlling or correcting the CG location. Three locations are frequently used for battery installations in homebuilts. 1. A Firewall location: Whenever the CG adjustment is not a factor, the battery should, by all means, be located with consideration for its electrical load and operational requirements. That is to say, because of the high ampere load imposed when starting the engine, a location for the battery fairly close to the starter permits the system to get by on a lower ampere capacity. The firewall location allows easy access to the battery for inspection and servicing. The battery cables are short and effective. One difficulty this location presents in single seaters is the lack of space on the firewall for a battery. This is particularly true where a short engine mount is used. Another drawback is the detrimental effect of heat on the battery when poorly positioned. 2. A Cockpit Location: The least desirable location for a battery is in the cockpit area SPORT AVIATION 73

. . . most usually between the pilot's feet or behind something

builders call a console. A cockpit location is not the best but it is often the only choice in a single sealer because of space limitations and CG considerations. Effective venting of a battery so located is essential. The routine inspection of the battery may be difficult to accomplish in this location. But there is one advantage worth noting. The battery will, ordinarily, have little or no effect on the CG. 3. The Aft Fuselage Location: A location someplace behind the seat aft of the cabin is quite common for both factory built and homebuilt aircraft. This location is frequently a compromise to weight and balance as well as space requirements. A battery buried someplace in the dark depths of the fuselage is often not very accessible. The battery in such an installation is likely to receive less attention than would one at other locations. The act of inspecting the battery becomes difficult, under the circumstances, and servicing it is likewise awkward. Battery leads being much longer have to be of a heavier size to carry the electrical load effectively. Locating the battery in this aft location could dangerously aggrevate a tail heavy condition. On the other hand, with bigger engines being installed these days, an aft battery location might provide just the right corrective moment needed. THE BATTERY BOX

Unlike the auto installation where the storage battery is held in place on a rack by means of a couple of long bolts, aircraft installations utilize a battery box which is secured to the aircraft structure. The battery, therefore, obtains its security by being fully enclosed in this container. So, before you can even install a battery,

you must obtain or fabricate a battery case for it ... find a good location for it ... and devise a means for securing it in place. These are some of the few extra complications stemming from your decision to have a battery on board. A durable battery case bent-up from a single sheet of aluminum and riveted together is easy to make. As a matter of fact, making a battery box is a good exercise in sheet metal work and might convince some builders that the next project should be an all metal one. 74 OCTOBER 1975

A bicycle valve stem "salvaged from some kid's bike" makes an excellent fitting for the attachment of the vent hoses. Ideally, a battery case is equipped with two such vent nipples. One connection near the top is used to vent the battery through a small plastic or rubber hose to some point in the slipstream where it is exposed to ram air pressure. The other vent nipple is in the bottom area of the box and simply serves as a drain sump outlet which, likewise, is connected by tubing routed to some overboard location. Remember, fumes or spillage draining out of this hose is corrosive and must be conducted away from fabric and metal parts of the aircraft. This dual venting arrangement of the battery box is especially recommended if the battery must be located inside the fuselage. THE NEW BATTERY

You can, if you like, use almost any battery in your homebuilt provided it has enough capacity to crank the engine. The primary difference between the auto 12 volt storage battery and an aircraft battery is that the aircraft battery has nonspill filler caps. These large plastic caps are hollow with a bell shaped lead weight inside them that "drops down" within the cap closing the vent anytime the aircraft is inverted and also seals the vent under negative G forces. See Figure 1. Of course, if you can scrounge a set of vented caps you could put them in any other battery you obtain. The vented caps for the battery are essential if the aircraft is semi-aerobatic and may be flown through unusual maneuvers. A couple of years ago, Bill Fleming, EAA Designee #194, (Vancouver, Canada) informed me of what might be a good substitute battery manufactured by Delco for use in snowmobiles. It was similar to an aircraft-type in that it featured nonspill vented caps. He said that its dimensions were the same as that of the standard small aircraft battery and it had a capacity of 35 amperes. The price in Canada, at the time, was about $24 vs the $40 to $50 for similar aircraft batteries of lesser capaci-

ty (25 ampere hours). Bill uses the battery in his Lye 0-290 powered bird and has had no complaints. A new dry charged battery, after purchase may be kept indefinitely if it is not immediately put into service by adding the electrolyte. Follow the directions received with the

electrolyte and be careful. Once a battery is so activated no additional electrolyte should be added to it while the battery remains in service.

If the electrolyte level falls below

the normal while in use, add only distilled water to bring it back up to the proper level. The dry charged battery will be ready for operation within minutes after the electrolyte has been added. If the battery will remain idle while you work some more on the airplane, you had better charge the battery in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. The electrolyte (sulfuric acid) will burn you if it comes in contact accidentally with any part of your body, so be sure you have a plentiful supply of clean water around for immediate washing of the affected area. Acid splashed on clothes makes nice "free-form'' unwanted holes in them. Keep the battery cables as short as practical without imposing an undue pull on the battery terminals. Such a strain on the terminals, coupled with engine vibration can cause the posts to part company with the battery. Anchor cables wherever they come in contact with the aircraft structure. This will prevent chafing of the cables. NEVER connect or disconnect the battery while the circuit is loaded. Arcing at the connections is apt to occur. If at the same time, the filler caps happen to be removed, sparks may ignite the gases from the cells. So, make sure the master switch is OFF before messing with the battery. It is advisable to always remove the ground cable first when disconnecting a battery. This precaution prevents an accidental shorting of the battery to the airframe by tools, wrist watch or whatever metal objects might get in the way. Disconnect the positive terminal last. On reinstalling a battery, reverse the procedure and secure the positive

cable first. To insure maximum electrical efficiency, the cable ends and the battery posts must be brightened up with emery cloth before hook-up (the lock washer goes on first and then the plain washer . . . next to the wing nut). After the cables are tightened,

coat the cable ends and battery terminals with Vasolene or lubricating grease. Should you spill any electrolyte on the external parts of the batter> or any place nearby, neutralize its corrosive effects by applying common baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) mixed with water . . . about 3 tablespoons to a glass of water. Formula is not critical. (Soda pop, coke, 7-up, etc., is OK but leaves things a bit sticky unless rinsed.) Don't allow any of the mixture to run into the battery as it will neu-

tralize the battery's chemical solution. Continue to add the soda solution to the area being cleaned with a brush until all bubbling has ceased. Complete the process by rinsing the area with clean water and wiping it dry. MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTION

Prevent corrosion from t a k i n g place in hard to reach places like the metal seams of the battery box and at the bracket attachments. One of the lubricant corrosion inhibiting sprays such as WD-40 has an excellent penetrating characteristic that is effective as an anti-corrosion treatment if applied periodically. If you fly the airplane weekly for an average flight time of at least 30 minutes, your aircraft battery should remain in a good state of charge and should serve you well for at least 5 years. About once a month you should check the level of the electrolyte in each of the cells. The level should not be too high in the cell but it should at least cover the plates. The "water level", if maintained about %" above the internal baffle plates would be just about right. There is a need to check the water level in the battery more often in hot weather than in the cold winter days. If water needs to be added, you need not use distilled water unless your tap water is too hard and would be unsuitable for use in the battery. It is usually a simple matter to collect rain water in some plastic containers and save it for future use in your batteries. It does take a deliberate effort to achieve that goal, however. Some batteries fail because of electrical problems or neglect, but it is quite probable that yours will serve you well until it gives up from old age.

DESIGNEE NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTIONS

In addition to Tony Bingelis' monthly column, The Designee Corner, EAA Headquarters publishes a monthly Designee Newsletter containing even more "How To" material, a compendium of the previous month's Designee inspections and a summary of all homebuilt accidents occurring around the nation the previous 30 days. Any EAA member can subscribe to the Designee Newsletter for $7.00 per year. Make your check payable to: EAA P. O. Box 229

Hales Corners, Wise. 53130

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(Jack Cox Photo)

Bob Fitzpatrick, Chairman of Rotary Wing flight line safety at Oshkosh, acts as Dick Wunderlich's chock while adjustments are made to the brain bucket.

HEADQUARTERS COMMENT By Mike Heuer

THE BIENNIAL FLIGHT REVIEW

I

N JANUARY THIS year, Secretary of Transportation Claude S. Brinegar created a Task Force to examine the FAA's safety mission and report back to him on how the FAA could better accomplish that mission. On April 30, the Task Force submitted their recommendations to the new Secretary, William T. Coleman, Jr. These recommendations were subsequently transmitted to James E. Dow, Acting Administrator of FAA with the instructions that they be implemented within 45 days. The report — containing 19 points in all — dealt with many aspects of FAA's responsibilities, its management of existing programs, rule-making procedures, and its method of delegating responsibilities. Many aspects of this report were given wide publicity in the aviation press. However, one that involved EAA almost immediately was Point 6: "FAA must develop more specific guidelines for the conduct and content of biennial flight reviews in consultation with the general aviation community, and should consider centralizing compliance records." As a result of Point 6, FAA subsequently initiated a consultative planning process with the general aviation associations on the biennial flight review program. This process consisted of a series of three meetings at FAA Headquarters in Washington, D. C. Other than EAA, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the National Aviation Trades Association, the National Pilots Association, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the National Association of Flight Instructors, and FAA representatives participated in the meetings. The meetings were initially organized by Bernard A. Geier, Acting Chief of the General Aviation Division, Flight Standards Service. However, it should be pointed out that the meetings were not run by FAA — they sat in as advisers and provided much-needed expertise. The meetings actually took place on June 11, July 1, and August 26. At the first meeting, EAA was represented by David Scott, EAA's Washington Representative. At subsequent meetings, both David Scott and this writer participated. The first meeting was largely conceptual in nature. It was at this meeting that David Scott presented his paper on some of EAA's observations on the overall biennial flight review program (BFR). This statement was printed in full in David's "Washington Report" in the August 1975 SPORT AVIATION. This paper reflected EAA's official position on the BFR and its weaknesses. Unfortunately, this ad hoc committee's role — as it developed — was not to deal with the overall concept of the BFR and whether or not it was needed at all, but rather to further improve and standardize the existing program. It was determined at this initial meeting that standard76 OCTOBER 1975

ization of the BFR was badly needed, but this standardization must not assume the form of regulation, as this would drastically alter the BFR concept, i.e. it is not supposed to be a "check ride". It was determined by the committee that guidelines would be drawn up by the committee and these subsequently distributed to association members. The FAA agreed to distribute the information in the form of an Advisory Circular, through their normal channels. Even though EAA believes that the BFR is an unnecessary and expensive program, it elected to participate in these meetings so as to work within the system and help see improvements made in what has become a well-established procedure. At the second meeting, on July 1, the committee learned that FAA had decided that one part of Point 6 was not practical. FAA told DOT that keeping records to insure compliance with the BFR was not feasible at this time, and the present system of logbook entries now required would remain. One of my concerns in EAA's participation in these meetings was whether we were helping create the foundations for future regulatory action. It is EAA policy that less — not more — regulation is needed. FAA representatives assured us at these meetings that no such regulatory action was contemplated nor desired. One interesting observation that was aired at the meetings by other association representatives — and which we would appreciate your comments on — is that "95^ of the pilots surveyed supported the BFR and welcomed the opportunity to take a review with an instructor." We would like your comments on that statement. At the July 1 meeting an outline for BFR guidelines was drawn up and it was agreed that Bill Reynard, Executive Director of the National Association of Flight Instructors would be responsible for assimilating comments on the outline and preparing a draft. Bill did an excellent job and this draft was subsequently reviewed and finalized at the August 26 meeting. The guidelines were broken down into six phases: (1) Introduction and explanation of the BFR; (2) Pilot profile (review of pilot background); (3) Review of applicable rules and procedures; (4) Pre-flight procedures review; (5) Basic flight review; (6) Post flight discussion and recommendations. During part 1, the instructor is to make clear what the purpose of the BFR is and the philosophy behind it. He should emphasize that it is not a "test" but rather a review of skills and procedures which may be helpful. It is determined at this point whether dual instruction will be a part of the review. It should be thoroughly understood by the pilot at this point exactly what the BFR is for. During part 2, the instructor reviews the pilot's logbook and his background and experience. This gives the instructor an idea of what kind of pilot he is dealing with and what sort of proficiency level he should reasonably

expect. This also provides an opportunity for him to determine that all necessary paperwork is in order. It is during this phase that the instructor can determine the character of the oral and flight review, according to the pilot being reviewed. It is obvious that no two BFRs will be the same and they should be designed during this phase of the review. Also, the instructor can suggest regulations to read, books to review, and manuals and

rather than training exercises. A thorough review of stalls, slow flight, various types of landing approaches, forced landings, and related maneuvers would be in order. Above all, however, this phase should not be too long and only as much as the pilot needs. In other words, the review should be accomplished in minimum time. The flight operations aspect should be evaluated on the

charts to obtain, if necessary.

total, overall performance of the pilot. The basic flight portion should not exceed one and one-half hours in

Part 3, the review of applicable rules and procedures, is simply that. For the most part, it would deal with applicable parts of FAR 91, general operating and flight rules, depending on what the pilot needed. It would be discussional and could bring the pilot up-to-date on recent changes in operating procedures. Part 4 would deal with all activities which a prudent pilot would normally be expected to engage in before he actually starts the engine of the aircraft. Such things as obtaining weather, filing flight plans, aircraft preflight, weight and balance, fuel requirements, and whatever else is appropriate, would be reviewed. This phase would recognize the degree of flight planning required. Part 5 — the basic flight review — is the heart of the BFR. During this flight portion, attention should be paid to maneuvers which have to deal with safety of flight,

length. Part 6 — maybe the most important part — would be a review of the flight and discussion of weak areas. The instructor should give the pilot an honest and clear appraisal of his flying skills. This discussion should be positive and helpful. The instructor would make the logbook entry at this time, if the pilot's performance was acceptable. It is our hope that these guidelines will improve the BFR program and reduce the number of people and companies taking advantage of the FAA requirement for a BFR to set up elaborate training programs. Certainly, greater and greater expense in flying is the last thing that we need — especially if pilots are to maintain that much-needed flying proficiency only acquired by frequently flying.

FiberGlass For aircraft By Larry Schubert (EAA 40030) 236 S. Florence Wichita, Kansas 67209

(i.e.: landing gear, main spars, etc.) don't read any further. This article will be devoted solely to non-structural applications, using methods and tools feasible for the typical homebuilder. The use of fiber-glass cloth and polyester resin w i l l be covered most thoroughly. Four types of fiber-glass exist: The glass fibers can be chopped up and formed into a sheet called "fiberglass mat"; the fibers can be woven to form a long filament or thread; the

threads can be woven together to form fiber-glass cloth; and the cloth can be pre-impregnated by the manufacturer (called pre-pregs). As with cotton

and other conventional materials, the mat, thread and cloth have varying applications. All of the above forms come in varying thicknesses and thread diameters. Both mat and

cloth thicknesses are defined by weight (i.e.: 3-ounce glass, 7 ounce glass, etc.) The fiber-glass mat is quite heavy w h e n saturated w i t h resin. It is

(Reprinted from "The Homebuilder" Newsletter of Chapter 88, Wichita)

quite rigid; however, its strengthto-weight is considerably lower than using fiber-glass cloth and resin. Usually, mat is used when making fiber-glass molds to provide rigidity to the mold. Weight isn't important

W ITH THE ADVENT of the KR and WAR series of airplanes, the fiber-glass medium of airplane construction has raised considerable interest. As nobody else has taken a crack at this subject, I thought I would give it a try. First, if you are expecting to see structural applications of fiber-glass in this article

as the mold doesn't fly. Commercially, cowlings and wheel fairings are sometimes constructed of mat. The result is a rigid shell which doesn't show a fiber-glass cloth weave; however, a weight penalty is paid. As the commercial people can hold the amount of resin used to a bare minimum, their finished product won't weigh nearly as much as a part constructed by the typical homebuilder. For this reason, I discourage the use

of mat as the primary material for constructing any aircraft part. Mat is like a sponge and will absorb a considerable amount of resin — much more than is required to properly wet the fibers. This results in an overly heavy part and excessive cost for the resin. In addition, fiber-glass is most flexible when the minimum required resin is used. Excessive resin makes the part more brittle and more susceptible to cracking. The fiber-glass thread or filament is generally not used in non-structural applications as the job can be more conveniently accomplished using fiber-glass cloth. Fiber-glass cloth, in the 1.8 to 7 ounce range, is the most used form of glass for the homebuilder. It is available in v a r y i n g weights; it shapes quite easily to compound curves, it is easily impregnated with resin, it doesn't absorb an excessive amount of resin, it can be laminated into as many layers as required, it's quite flexible (a mixed blessing) and it provides the best strength to weight ratio. After final finishing, the weave of the cloth is visible; if this is objectionable, the part can be covered with a gel coat or surface coat. The fourth type of fiber-glass is a cloth which has been previously impregnated with a resin. These are commonly referred to as "pre pregs". I doubt these will ever be very popu-

lar with the homebuilder in nonstructural uses. Now, let's look at resins; basically there are two different types: polyester resin and epoxy resin. All resins are a two part mix using a base material and a catalyst to cure the

resin. The mixing ratios are differSPORT AVIATION 77

ent for various resins, so read the directions carefully (particularly when using epoxies). When working with any resin, always wash hands thoroughly before eating, smoking, etc. The polyester resin, to my way of thinking, should be the first choice of the homebuilder unless a special quality is required which can be better attained with an epoxy resin.

Polyester resin is polyester resin. There are no different types for different applications. This makes it simpler to use. The resin is quite thin allowing easy penetration, cost is less than an epoxy resin, mixing ratio isn't critical and it's less hazardous to work with. Polyester resin can be used at any temperature which might be found in the workshop. However, I would suggest an ambient temperature range of 45 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The lower the temperature, the slower the cure; the higher the temperature, the faster the cure. The curing rate for any ambient temperature can be "adjusted" by varying the amount of methyl ethyl ketone

peroxide (MEK) catalyst used. The smaller the amount of MEK used, the slower the cure; conversely, the larger the amount of MEK used, the faster the cure. The curing of the resin by the MEK is a chemical reaction. As with all chemical reactions, heat is produced; therefore, when attempting a "hot" mix of MEK, don't overdo it. At first, the resin will appear to be curing at a satisfactory rate, then the resin temperature will increase due to the chemical reaction which has the same effect as raising the ambient temperature; this will increase the rate of the chemical reaction which has the same effect as raising the ambient temperature.

be dewaxed first or use a resin which does not have this disadvantage. If the wax is not removed, the bond between layers is weak and the part can delaminate. In any case, if the part is constructed of a continuous layup, where the first layer doesn't cure until the last layer is added, the wax secretion is not a problem. Polyester resin can be used over urethane foam; however, it cannot be used over STYROFOAM (white foam) as the foam will be destroyed. Tools used for application, (acid brush, paint brushes, etc.) can be cleaned by washing in lacquer thinner. Naturally, the tools must be cleaned before the cure begins or the tools are lost. Acetone can be used as long as the tools are never removed from the acetone until immediately before the next job. Due to the fire hazard of an open container of acetone, I recommend only lacquer thin-

ner be used. One of polyester's advantages previously mentioned was that it was thin (low viscosity). This allows easy penetration; however, if a vertical surface is being worked, the resin can run or sag as occurs with paint. The resin viscosity can be increased to the required degree by using a t h i c k e n i n g agent such as Cabosil (isentropic thickener). The addition of the thickening agent does not effect the physical properties of the resin other than to increase its viscosity.

After laying up the glass and the cure is complete, there are probably

low spots and surface irregularities which would be desirable to remove. This can be done using a filler. Coats of polyester resin can be added; however, as a filler, it is relatively heavy and hard to sand. Automotive body filler (Hondo, White Streak, Black This "cat chasing its tail" will pro- Magic, etc.) may be used; however, gress faster and faster u n t i l the most of these are a polyester material chemical reaction is complete. If a so are also relatively heavy and hard REALLY hot mix was used, the resin to sand. The best filler I've found to temperature will exceed the burning date is to mix polyester resin with temperature of the resin. If you sus- micro-balloons. Micro-balloons appear to be miniapect the temperature is getting too ture balloons made of phenolic. They high, it can be slowed by spreading are about the consistency of wheat the resin over a large surface or flour and are extremely light (about throwing ice, snow, etc. on it. 2 pounds per gallon). The mixing ratio When laying up large or compliis as little or as many micro-balloons cated parts which require a fairly as you wish to use. Eventually, the long working time, the curing time resin will become saturated with the can be reduced by mixing the resin micro balloons and they will not reand making the layup in a cold area main in suspension. I usually use a (outside in the winter); after the layup is complete, bring the part to mix of 1 part micro-balloons to 1 a warm area which will accelerate part of resin by volume. The more micro-balloons used, the lighter the the cure. A word of caution regarding lay- filler and the easier it is to sand. As ups: Some polyester resins secrete a long as the resin doesn't become wax to the surface during the final super-saturated w i t h the microstages of the curing process. If suc- balloons, the filler won't crack and cessive layers of cloth are added to fall out as sometimes occurs with an already cured part, the part must automotive fillers. As with Cabosil, 78 OCTOBER 1975

micro-balloons do not effect the physical properties of the polyester resin. Castings can be made from the micro-balloons and polyester which work quite well. The resulting casting can be drilled and sanded as required. They are, however, fairly brittle and definitely non-structural. A point to remember when working with polyester and epoxy resins: epoxy resin can be laid up over polyester resin without a decrease in bond strength between the two resins; however, polyester cannot be used over epoxy if a satisfactory bond is desired.

Epoxy resins are available in as many types as colors in the rainbow. Each has its own particular advantages and disadvantages. The basic advantages of epoxy resins over polyester resin are: they can be laid

up directly over STYROFOAM (white foam), they are structurally stronger than polyester resin and they do not lose strength and rigidity as readily when subjected to heat. Some of the disadvantages are: higher cost, confusion in deciding which epoxy to use, more hazardous to work with than polyester resin, mixing ratio should not be "adjusted" to compensate for ambient temperature or to speed up the cure and generally, a layup using epoxy resin will be heavier than using polyester due to the increased viscosity of the epoxy. Let's look at m a k i n g an upper pressure-type cowling for an airplane. In flight, the air pressure inside the cowl will attempt to "bow up" the cowling. When, the engine heat is taken into consideration, the use of a high temperature laminating epoxy resin appears to be the best choice. Now, as if that epoxy didn't have enough descriptive adjectives, there are room cure and oven cure types of high temperature laminating epoxy resins. Your choice will probably depend upon the material your mold is made from and whether your wife will allow you to smell up her oven while you are curing your prized cowling!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS OCTOBER 11-12 — WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA — Colonial Fly-In/

Items to appear in Calendar of Events in Sl'OKT AVIATION must be in EAA Headquarters office by the 5th of the month preceding publication date.

Festival sponsored by EAA Chapter 156. All "flying machines' welcome. Free breakfast and no registration fees for pilots. Contact Tom Madre. Box 2103. Poquoson, Va. 23662. OCTOBER 20-26 — SHERMAN-DENISON. TEXAS — 1975 National Aero-

batic Championships and Air Show. Sponsored by Sherman Jaycees. Grayson County Airport. Contact Ken Baucom, President. Sherman Jaycees, Sherman. TX

OCTOBER 9-12 — HARLINGEN. TEXAS — Confederate Air Force An-

nual Air Show featuring Bob Hoover, Art Scholl, the Red Devils. Golden Knights. Silver Eagles. Demonstrations of WW II Confederate Air Force aircraft Contact AIRSHO '75, P. O. Box 645. Harlingen, TX 78550.

NOVEMBER 10 — FAIRVIEW, OKLAHOMA — Fly-Lady Derby. Inter-

city 3 point race for proficiency Free Fly-In Breakfast on the 11th. Contact Joe Durham, Publicity Director. Fairview Flight Club, Fairview. Okla.

OCTOBER 11-12 — CLAXTON. GEORGIA — 6th Annual VW Powered

Aircraft Fly-In Contests, races, forums, awards. All homebuilts welcome "Bean Banquet Saturday. Camping Contact Merle Miller. Box 8, Claxton. Ga. 30417 (912) 739-1930.

JANUARY 19-25 — LAKELAND. FLORIDA — 2nd Annual Mid-Winter

Sun 'n Fun Fly-In. Contact Martin Jones. 1061 New Tampa Hwy., Lakeland. Fla (813) 682-0204

OCTOBER 10-12 — TAHLEQUAH. OKLAHOMA — 18th Annual Tulsa AAA-EAA-IAC Fly-In. Contact Calvin G Bass, P. O Box 4409, Tulsa, Okl. 74104.

Strong

JULY 31 - AUGUST 8 — OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN — 24th Annual EAA

International Fly-In Convention. Start making your plans NOWI

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VINOOM AtaD COUNT! M CALM J

MAIL (UMCHlPIION*

C. TOTAL PAIOCIHCUUATlOM

I.

«l*OLf IMU( Hj»ll»MtO SIAA 1ST T O « > L i X a O A > t

46,158

TOTAL DiirnivutiON Oftrt ff C tmtJ Of

none

43,393

43.683

43,303

43.683

850

900

none

non*

44.243

44.583

r. of net UM Lt *TOVIN wMAccovwTf o aroiLiD APTIA

1,915

MIINTINO

.«.*..,-~-,^«_,^———————__.^

, ___________________ . _ _ _ „ ______________ ___ ______

46,156

wic^t-L-' /O.

3,917

THE SAME AS ABOVE WITH ADJUSTABLE STOP. 14" LONG, 2V? LBS.

ORDER NO. RA407, $22.50 PPD NAME ... ADDRESS CITY

....

STATE . . . . . . . . . . ZIP . .

QUANTITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NORI, P. O. Box 141, Kenllworth, Illinois 60043

48,500

L**?£*

Winner of Oshkosh 1972 Awards for "Outstanding New Design" and "Outstanding Contribution to Low Cost Flying"

Under construction as a trainer for Canadian Ministry of Defense Air Cadet Program. A superbly engineered design. Roomy cockpit Full IFR instrument panel Safe and Easy to fly SO Hp VW to 100 Hp Continent*!. Folding wing Towable All metal Pop riveted Easy to build. Aerobatic Large baggage space. Keep your flight proficiency for less than $2.00thour

Introductory Package ............ ........................... t 300 Drawings .......... .......................................

$8000

Construction Manual ....................................... $10.00 Exploded Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12.00 Drawings - Construct Manual t Exploded Views........... $95.00 Materials. Hardware. Pre-fab Parts Kits Available

PAZMANY AIRCRAFT CORP.

Box 80051-S, SanDtego, Calif. 92138

If a* ^ LIGHT WEIGHT-WHOLE" SYSTEM UNDER 16 LBS • 26' LOW POROSITY, STEERABLE CONICAL • STANDARD CATEGORY TESTED TO 5000 LB SHOCK LOAD • PARACHUTE SYSTEM MEASURES 16" WIDE. 12" DEEP, LESS THAN 3" THICK •120 DAY REPACK CYCLE • PADDED HARNESS • CONVENIENT CARRYING BAG AND INSTRUCTION MANUAL INCLUDED S 450.00 p p See You At Oshkosh For Free Inspection

._^am Bring Your Parachute To Our Booth F i t . ^^7 and Evaluation. Repack $1000

A comprehensive works parTicuisriy for me sp"Ou& minded mdividua' interested -n design,ng and Dui'ding light float sport aircraft 7 drawings 24 x 36 PROFUSELY I L L U S T R A T E D An exclusive '•'$! m the modern method o' technical presentation which cou'd not be accomplished otherwise • n lesser forn- A st'aight-lo'ward approach to proper float aircraft design practice (Fmger tip float design engineering data 'o p light float aircraft from i 000 and 'ess and up to and including gross weight of 2 425 lbs ) Highly detailed showing details sutcassemhiies and mam assemblies generously delated "Float Aircraft Design Guide " $19 SO postpaid m u S A and its possessions For a^ma^i service aac $2 00 OutS'de of North America kindly use international money order payable •n u S equivalent currency Add $1 00 additional for postage or $300 for airmail service Of send self-addressed stamped envelope for detailed float aircraft design guide information

MRS. STANLEY J. DZIK 4079 NORTH 62nd STREET MILWAUKEE. WISCONSIN 53216 U S A

SPORT AVIATION 83

BUILD YOUR OWN AMPHIBIAN

INVERTED OIL SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$107.50 Includes n-Oil changeover valve

"COOT"

*Oil Separator tank

*Sump fittings

PITTS

—

SKYBOLT

*Fuel Tanks • Smoke Tanks *Flop Tubes - Wing Fittings

—

ACRO SPORT

Two-Place —

*Dyna Focal Ring Kits *Dyna Focal Rings

Folding Wings —

Towable —

Completely welded Complete with Bearings * Stainless Steel Exhaust *"l" Struts - Slave Struts 150-18C and 10-360 200 HP * Engine Mounts *Pilcl Tubes For Complete Listings and Prices Write To:

Easy Construction

Kokomo, Indiana 46901

SEND

available Please state Drawing Set number when ordering. Construction Photos — $25.00 COMPLETE PLANS AVAILABLE

A C R A - L I N E PRODUCTS P. 0. Box 1274

"COOT-A with fiberglass hull.

We have hard to build parts and hull shells

MOLT TAYLOR

(317) 453-5795

$4.00 c

p'hntn"-! ifilj,."* Prices an*

Information Packet

Box 1171 — Longview, Wash. (98632)

Phone (206) 423.8260

ATTENTION EAA MEMBERS In answer to your many requests, the single-seat PITTS SPECIAL is now available in kit form. Most of the fabrication work has been completed at our plant leaving only assembly, covering, and painting. If you have ever wanted to own a WORLD CHAMPION PITTS SPECIAL, but couldn't find the time to build one from scratch, here's your chance, and at a price far below the factory-built version. For those of you who would rather "Do it yourself," there's a new plan set for the S-ID 4-aileron model consisting of 47 sheets of production quality drawings with assembly manuals. We also have a large selection of off-the-shelf parts to facilitate construction. All the details are included in a vinyl portfolio containing spec sheets, parts lists, assembly details, etc., plus a giant full-color brochure that opens up into a poster-size picture of the finished airplane. SEND $5.00 FOR VINYL PORTFOLIO CONTAINING FULL DETAILS ($6.00 outside continental limits of U.S.A.) PITTS AVIATION ENTERPRISES

Box 548E, Homestead, Florida 33030

Jfor give Books By THE FLYING COLES $8.50 20,000 hours of odventure in no-radio tail draggers, the 20's, the great depression, CPTP, the war years, air show years, aerobatic competition, and run-ins with the Feds set the stage for the drama of THE FLYING COLES. WHAT THE READERS SAY — ERNEST GANN —

"THE

FLYING COLES is a barnstorming

masterpiece. I heartily recommend it to all true airmen." RICHARD BACH —

"He writes his life as sure and honestly

as he flys his airplanes This book at last is our own private view into the storms and adventures of one of the most famous

pilots in all aviation. I loved the book." FRANK TALLMAN —

"Everyone in American aviation knows "The Flying Coles" for they are America's premier flying family. Duane Cole's autobiography, entitled THE FLYING COLES, is an exciting word picture of their romantic way of life. I highly recommend it for all who enjoy fun airplanes and the people who

fly them."

Mail orders to

THIS IS EAA $8.00

TO A PILOT $5.00

A narrative history of the EAA. For new members and old Duane tells the story from its beginning. A candid year by year account of the humor, tragedy, disappointments, and successes that molded the heritage of every EAAer.

A heart warming memorium to the author's son Roily. It is the story of a boy growing up in aviation - It's the story of the Cole Brothers Air Show - Of a young man giving up his life for sport aviation.

WHAT ONE READER SAYS —

CONQUEST OF LINES AND SYMMETRY $5.50

"Thanks, Duane, for a great story." Paul Poberezny EAA £1

VAGABOND CUB $5.00 The first person autobiography of a J-3 Cub. Twenty years of romantic events — sometimes funny, sometimes sad. Through foul weather and fair, the tale carries on from factory to

museum.

FBO's bush pilots, cowboys, farmers, stunt pilots, and a sheriff share in the story.

DUANE COLE

201 E Lester Street-

The most comprehensive book written on aerobatic instruction from basic to advanced maneuvers.

ROLL AROUND A POINT $4.00 Basic aerobatics from spins to inverted flight. Aresti Key.

Burleson, Texas 76028

ADD 50c FOR POSTAGE AND HANDLING (75c FOR CANADA) 84 OCTOBER 1975

PLANS NOW AVAILABLE

PLANS FOR ALL-WOOD FLY BABY FOLDING-WING SINGLE-SEATER WINNER OF 1962 EAA DESIGN

CONTEST.

$25.00 SEND SI .00 for literature, specifications, material costs, tooling requirements, large flight photo.

Simplified step-by-step assembly drawings and detailed printed instructions.

PETER M. BOWERS 13826 DES MOINES WAY SO. SEATTLE, WASH. 98168

Build Paul Poberezny's latest design, the VW powered Pober Pixie. Features a very roomy cockpit, super short field performance, economical operation and is easy to built. Plans consist of 15 big sheets drawn by Bill Blake who also did the widely acclaimed EAA Acro Sport plans. The Pixie is a very docile little- sportsplane designed for the pilot who wants an honest, inexpensive fun airplane for weekend and sparetime flying.

Plans are only $40.00. Mail your check to:

HATZ CB 1 Thrifty 100 h.p.

EAA AIR MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC. BOX 229 HALES CORNERS, WISCONSIN 53130

3-view & photo $3.00 Plans $125.00 DUDLEY KELLY Rt. 4,

Versailles, Ky.

AL BUTLER will do your 49% with PRECISION!

COMPLETE SERVICE Certified aircraft Quality material cut to blueprint sizes full

STITS C A T A L O G LISTING

COMPLETE WOOD KITS BY A BUILDER

Sitka Spruce. Pine. Douglas Fir. All Plywoods - Nails Wing ribs fabricated \ AN hardware packages are complete to conform to plan j down to cotter pins and all details.

AEROLITE 306*

^

ONE SHOP • ONE STOP

4130 TUBING PACKAGE

KITS MADE UP TO THE SPECS OF

HIGH GLOSS URETHANE ENAMELS FOR METAL & FABRIC AIRCRAFT, URETHANE & EPOXY VARNISH, CORROSION INHIBITING EPOXY PRIMER, ETCHES, BRIGHTENERS, CONVERSION COATINGS, CLEANERS, AIRCRAFT PAINT

STRIPPER, REPAINTING & RECOVERING SUPPLIES.

AIRCRAFT YOU ARE BUILDING

Drag and Anti-drag wires with fittings to your specs. V W Prop Flanges - Built by Butler

Full Machine Shop Facilities

Modern facilities used for welded ^components, fuselages, gears, etc. Complete follow through on your project. We are a shop, not just a store!

POLY-FIBER AIRCRAFT COVERING PROCESS SERVICE PROVEN. NON-BURNING COMPLETE FABRIC COVERING SYSTEM USING NEW MODERN MATERIALS WRITE OR PHONE FOR CURRENT CATALOG AND DISTRIBUTOR LIST

STITS

FAA Facility * 103-13

Puiminiibv Ptnxulit Buldfrs

Quality materials and Craftsmanship are buy-words at BUTLER'S.

SEND ONE DOLLAR FOR CATALOG

STITS AIRCRAFT COATINGS POST OFFICE BOX 3084 S RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA 92509 A.M. BUTLER, EAA 57353 R D 2. Box 174 BLAIRSTOWN. NJ 07825 AC'201-362-6333

PHONE 714-684-4280 SPORT AVIATION 85

WASHINGTON REPORT . . . (Continued from Page 99)

FUEL PRICES Like the rest of the nation we have had to stand by and see what the President and Congress will do about fuel prices. Price controls on petroleum products expire on August 31, 1975 unless the government extends the law. Both the Senate and House have passed legislation extending price controls for six months while the President has promised to veto this law. Will his veto be upheld or voted down? It appears at this time that price controls will elapse and that brings up the question of what will happen to gasoline prices after

September 1, 1975. Many politicians have predicted that gasoline prices will soar when the price of "old oil" is allowed to rise to current world prices. Just as many economists are saying that there will be relatively little change in gasoline prices at the consumer level since supply and demand are in balance now. The oil companies have already raised gasoline prices one or two cents a gallon so it is a good guess that they will not want to make themselves unpopular with a dramatic price rise immediately after the lid is off. We shall see. BIENNIAL FLIGHT REVIEW During the summer EAA along with other general aviation organizations has

been meeting with the FAA once a month to suggest possible changes in the Biennial Flight Review Program. The Washington Report in the August issue of SPORT AVIATION presented EAA's position on this program. At the most recent meeting late in August guidelines were drafted for use by flight instructors when conducting biennial flight reviews. These guidelines will be general in nature and will provide that the instructor

conduct a review that relates to the pilot's experience and the type of equipment he flies. Emphasis will be on covering the essentials of pre-flight planning and inspection of the aircraft, taxiing, takeoffs, enroute, approach and landing procedures. Grading will be either pass or fail but only on the entire review and not on individual maneuvers. Instructors will endorse log books only

when the pilot has successfully completed the review. The industry plans to circularize these guidelines by the middle of October and the FAA will follow up with an Advisory Circular late in the year. These then are a few of the highlights of our two months work in Washington. Nothing very startling happened or was accomplished but after September 2nd when Congress reconvenes and the FAA gets back to full time work we expect there will be much more constructive work to report and participate in.

WE SHALL REMEMBER THEM

HERMAN GERLACH, JR. (EAA 12332), Lake City, Florida, May 9, 1975. JAMES H. "JIMMY" HAYS (EAA 84363), Enid,

Oklahoma. Charter member of EAA Chapter 455. NICHOLAS SOMBORETZ (EAA 26294), Cincinnati, Ohio. July 7, 1975. Past president of Chapter 174.

CHARLES SMAAGAARD (EAA 23614), Vienna, West Virginia. July 10, 1975. CLAUDE FLAGG (EAA 19904), Gridley, California. July 16, 1975. DAVID S. BATEMAN (EAA 46454), Staffs, England. July 27, 1975. TOM MC CANN (EAA 36209), Naperville, Illinois. July 27, 1975.

86 OCTOBER 1975

JOHN MADIGAN (EAA 20706), Gap, Pennsylvania. July 31, 1975. Charter member of EAA Chapter 540. DEE TUTTERROW (EAA 85858), New Castle, Indiana. August 4, 1975. LAIRD E. SIMPSON (EAA 67735), Minneapolis, Minnesota. July 26, 1975. JAMES HENRY EARL MORPHEW (EAA 52916),

Cranston, Rhode Island. July 26, 1975. President of EAA Chapter 381. ROGER CRANE (EAA 76529), Webster, New York. August 1, 1975. JACK LEE (EAA 77078), Fort Worth, Texas. August 7, 1975. President of EAA Chapter 34. DENZEL WADE (EAA 793), Alma, Michigan. August 15, 1975. Member and designee of Chapter 134. WILLIAM "BILL" MASON (EAA 1265), Morristown, Arizona. August 15, 1975.

TECHNICAL TIP By Jim Peale (EAA 15132) 511 Ashbv Way Warner Robins, GA 31093 Ever have trouble with the table top on your table saw or your drill press table rusting? Well, there's a way

to stop that. Rub wax . . . yes, old fashioned paraffin like the wife uses to seal homemade jelly . . . on the table top, then use a heat lamp to melt it in. After it has hardened, rub off the excess. Not only will it keep the table top from rusting, it will make the wood slide across it easier. I find that this treatment lasts about six months. Another tip from the wood shop: ever notice that when sawing spruce, fir, pine or any highly resinous wood, your saw blade seems to become dull in a hurry? It isn't dull, it's just gummed up. Before you rush down to have the blade sharpened, go steal some of the wife's oven cleaner. The spray-on is best, but you can also use the

YOU CAN ^"" Of - 1 2 • Fly Slilighl to any Qrtic Fi.ld 01 Slnp • Spot Not 1 . 2 4 3 Wn«n You'i* 4 to Ltnd •! ft Buty Airport

• LOM fu«i? tfln«rg»ncy? Fly Ou«ct to Nftftr.sl Anport Without U». ol Lftndmftrkf. VOW. ADF RNAV • Downed Alicull with E L T ? You Cftn Find Him B.loi. T A P n, t A A

LOWEST

ELT BATTERIES

brush-on . . . it all works. Apply it to the saw blade, let

FRESH STOCK — MFG. THIS MONTH BOTH FAA APPROVED JSO C-91 FOR EBC 102A & ALL OTHER EBC MODELS

it stand for 15 to 30 minutes, thn wipe the resin off. Apply a very light coat of oil. It's certainly cheaper than a sharpening job.

GS-21

SUncUid

4h4>mfl

ti T .-ep'oi-einem tutte'y p*>

G.AJC 'O' an nornm fit^m oper ni diij lemperjlu.ACTUMO x

ti.ftv TO IMITIII

"LICTIOW VW /

-|ILT

V

"VI

D

^^ ' OB .MORSE CHAIN DRIVE

EL GRINGO

Stalls under 40. Top speed is 150 I A.S. V.W. Power. Steel tubing airframe and wing spars. Quick removable wings. Adjustable seat and elevator trim New techniques in Foam. Dynel, and Epoxy. Plans, Photos and Instructions, $50.00. New to market. Electric Hot Wire Foam Cutting Unit. For a fast and professional job, makes cutting and conturing remark-

ably easy, $45 00. C. B. ENTERPRISES 2022 N. Acoma Hobbs, NM 88240

BUICK-V6-Special CHAIN DRIVE

FORD-VB L..^C. I. FOI REPLICA FIGHTERS CHAIN DRIVE

Use with standard aircraft mikes and 600 ohm headphones. 12 V. Four new models to choose from: Model 301-use w/o radio and hand mike, $39.95; Model 302-use w/o radio & boom mike, $44.95; Model 303-use

with radio & hand mike, $49.95; Model 304-use with radio & boom mike, $5495. Post paid. Satisfaction guaranteed. Mass,

res. add 3% tax MX CORPORATION

Box 47, N. Chelmsford, Ma. 01863 (formerly Max Meredith Assoc.)

96 OCTOBER 1975

ty Shorty Hirsekorn

105 Rosamond Houston. TX 77022

* Fiberglass Hull

Assem. * Window Kit

* Tail Kit * Engine Pylon Kit * Many other parts Send $2.00 for info Pack.

— — — — —

NO INCINI MOOI'ACTIOM tlQUIIIO IILF STAtTII IQUirrlD ALL INClHIl IUILO TMIM VOUIllLf HOM iCALI PLAM1 IUT THIM COMfLITI 1IAOT TO INSTALL ICALI PLANS KIT1 OF MAT , FAlTl « CAlTINI

*O* INDIVIDUAL ITlM HMD 1)00 IO* INIO »Of\ ALL ITlMl MNO t»OO fOI IMfO fACKtT T.OT;/, L*vOOti -.PtCi DAJA PB'Cti

'.FN: ii oO IXTRA OU'SiW u S A

VW-

ilLT

DRIVES STAKT AS LOW AS SI99*

GYROOYNAWC SYSTEMS k> O. §OX SS DIPT Ifl IIOLANOS. CALIF 92373

ANDERSON KINGFISHER SPORT AMPHIBI-

AN — Flight proven, simple and economical Wooden construction. Piper Cub wings PLANS $150. information brochure $300 Present builders note new address Earl W Anderson. P O Box 422. Raymond. Maine 04071

1912 BELLANCA REPLICA — single place, sticks and wire monoplane Many fittings

and details full size 2' x 3' poster incl Plans $40.00 Michael Murphy. 4923 W 99 Street. Oak Lawn. Illinois 60453

Soaring

COMPLETE — Unused Davis DA 2A plans $ 7 5 0 0 W Adams. 2 Cansbrook Drive,

Kitchener. Ont , Canada. T-18 PLANS — Unused with newsletters and instructions $12500 Tom Ferguson. 256 Douglas Road, Warwick. R.I. 02866 UNUSED PLANS: Taylor Coot and 200 photos $12500 Pazmany PL-1 $6000 J Poehner. 409 Hillwood Court. Flushing. Michigan 48433

SOARING magazine comes with SSA Associate membership, only $12/yr Or, send $1.50 for sample copy plus literature Soaring Society of America. Box 66071-X, Los Angeles. Calif 90066 A SPECIAL OFFER — Guide to Sailplamng

'How to Get Started in Soaring", 64 pages $1 00 postpage paid. Schweizer A i r c r a f t Corp.. 36 Airport Road, Elmira, New York 14902.

WICHAWK BIPLANE — Can be built 2 place side by side. 2 place tandem or 3 place 3

view drawings with complete specifications and performance data, assembly and weight and balance information with list of drawings. $5 00 Javelin Aircraft Co., Inc., 9175 East Douglas, Wichita, Kansas 67207. TAKEHOME T-1B WING — Airway to Highway in |ust minutes Information $3 00 Plans $35.00. Sunderland Aircraft, 5 Griffin. Apalachm, N Y. 13732 PRACTICAL LIGHTPLANE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION FOR THE AMATEUR —

has plans for the Fike Model "D" and sells for just $6 75 plus 35c postage U S . Fike Model "E" low aspect ratio STOL airplane plans $35.00. airmail $2 00 extra in U.S Brochures on both $200 W J Fike. Box 683. Anchorage. Alaska 99510.

Wanted Will purchase P & W R1340 and R985 engines Also Ham Std 2D30 and 12D40 propellers Mid-Continent. Drawer L. Hayti, Missouri

ADVERTISE IN 'SPORT AVIATION"

63851 314/359-0500 BUILD 18 IN

NEEDED complete set papers. Luscombe 8A 609/386-5157 after 5:00 P M WANTED "T" or Row Hangers, preferably southwest Howard L Harder, 3027 Country Lane. Santa Susana. Calif 93063

BAND SAW FROM KIT

Precision crowned aluminum wheels, ball bearing drive and blade guides

r

ALSO KITS for 12 in Band Saw. 10 in

Tilt Arbor Saw. 6x48 Belt Sander. Wood Shaper. Comb Drill Press Lathe Kits from $23 99 to *89 99

Send $200 each lor Plans or 25c lor catalog GILLIOM MFC CO

Dept SA 1.

St Charles. MO 63301

&

.SPORT'/

STOLP STARDUSTER CORP. 4301 TWINING RIVERSIDE. CA. 92509

(714) 686-7943

in BY LYMAN E. COX

ACRODUSTER 1

aeronautical paraphernalb

RATE OF R O L L — 2 4 0 " / S E C . BROCHURE $5.00 COMPLETE KIT - $5500.00

(19761 A11RCR1 AFT C A LE ND AR Truly a collector s treasure, this 1976

aft calendar features 13 fascin iling scenes of nostalgia in bril iant qual ty color . A panorama of vist is of the >ast It has a large pad with loom for notes, and is filled with historical date of aircraft'importance Page si 13'/4

X 10V4".

STARDUSTER TOO

$49!

Each. Add 55c Shipping

PLANS $75.00 BROCHURE $2.00

$5.54

T,otal

NAVY FLIGHT JACKET—fine goatskin, bi-swing back, fur collar A2 Flight Jacket—leather. quilted lining, knit cuffs, leather collar, both in brown only 38-46, Navy $76 95, A2 $69.95. 48-50 add $8.00

SEND SOC FOR C A T A L O G SHEETS & BROCHURES ON ALL PHASES OF MODEL BUILDING INCLUDING R A D I O CONTROL. C H A R G E C A R D S ACCEPTED.

Stanton Hobby Shop Ino. 4734

STARLET PLANS $50.00 BROCHURE $2.00

NORTH MILWAUKEE AVENUE CHICAGO. ILLINOIS 6063O

\/ LEATHER FLYING HELMETS—newly made Available with radio gear—receivers, harness and carbon boom mike $58.95, w/out boom mike $43.95, with only radio adaptors $27.95 helmet only $23 95

PHONE 3 1 2 / 2 8 3 - 8 4 4 8

AIRFOILS NOW

FROM EAA

510—finest made Curved triplex lenses, soft

leather lined. Light weight head band $18 95, extra smoked lens $7.00, extra clear lens $5 00

VSTAR PLANS $50.00 BROCHURE $2.00

917—wide vision curved laminated glass, light weight strap $13 95, extra strap $2.50,

extra clear lens $5.00

THEORY OF WING SECTIONS ACRODUSTER TOO

By

2-SEATER

Ira H. Abbott and Albert E. Von Doenhoff

PLANS $75.00 B R O C H U R E $2.00

The best single volume study available on subsonic wing sections. 693 pagts include theory airfoil ordinates. e t c .

$6.50 (Includes

GLENN BEETS SPECIAL PLANS $50.00 BROCHURE $5.00 LOWEST PRICES ON 4130 STEEL - 2024-T3 AL. SPRUCE, PLYWOOD, H A R D W A R E , ETC. CATALOG $2.00

98 OCTOBER 1975

hook rate FROM

postage)

M K 9 — R A F style English made, excellent visibility, adjustable $12 95. tinted lenses $6 00. extra strap $1 00 100% WHITE SILK FLYING SCARF $19.95

PATCH CORDS—USE WITH ABOVE HELMETS JT400 W/PUSH TO TALK SWITCH $25.95 JT900 PATCH CORD ONLY $19.95

EAA

ADD POSTAGE & IN CALIF. ADD 6% TAX

Box 229 HALES CORNERS, WISC. 53130

WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG

AIRFOILS

SPLIT S. AVIATION 15320 WILLOW DRIVE LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA 95030

By

DAVID H. SCOTT, EAA 1004 1346 Connecticut Ave., Suite 915 Washington, D.C. 20036

1975 Summer Highlights With Congress in recess and many FAA employees on vacation the August days that remain after the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh have been spent in Washington on catching up on events that have already occurred and reporting on those that are still making news. An examination of our daily Washington log discloses a few items that are newsworthy enough for this column. AIRPORT CONTROL TOWERS During the past three years EAA has been critical of the FAA's policy of commissioning control towers at airports where there was comparatively light traffic. We were not the only ones that kept bringing up this question of tower eligibility to the FAA since many other general aviation organizations felt that towers were being established where there was really no need for them from the standpoint of sport and general aviation. Opposing our efforts were the airlines through the Air Transport Association who felt that any airport with scheduled airline service should have a tower. The FAA agreed to review this subject of airport eligibility for towers and early this summer came up with a somewhat complicated formula for future evaluation of airport towers. In brief this formula provides that an airport in order to be eligible for a tower must have at least 15000 air carrier operations a year, or 25000 air taxi operations a year or 200,000 general aviation operations a year. Since most airports will have two or more of these types of operations a formula was suggested that an airport would be eligible for a tower if a ratio value of 1.00 or more was achieved by any combination of these three types of activities. As an example 5000 air carrier operations would be a ratio of .33 in comparison with 15000 air carrier minimum operations. 10000 air taxi operations would give a ratio of .40 in comparison with the minimum of 25000 and 100,000 general aviation operations would give a ratio of .50 in comparison with the minimum of 100,000. Adding up these ratios would give a total of 1.23 so the airport would be eligible for a tower. EAA gave tentative approval to this new airport tower criteria but in a written communication to the FAA we pointed out that some airports have temporary surges of traffic due to special events in their area and therefore this should be taken into account for any traffic total. Also we suggested that all traffic counts should be very carefully audited and not estimated to reflect the true activity at the airport. And finally EAA recommended that the hours of operation be flexible ranging anywheres from 8 to 16 hours a day depending upon activity. Based on the new criteria the FAA estimates that of the 358 airports with airline service 65 locations would be eligible for towers under the new formula by 1985. Using the old criteria of 24000 or more itinerent operations with scheduled airline service and 50,000 or more

itinerant operations with all other operations, then by 1985 144 airports would be eligible for towers. AVIATION SAFETY REPORTING PROGRAM Late in the winter of 1975 the FAA announced a program to encourage airmen and controllers to voluntarily report unsafe operating conditions and promised immunity for infractions of FAA rules. But the catch was that the FAA said it would still penalize pilots, controllers or other airmen if they were involved in reckless operations, criminal offenses, gross negligence, willful misconduct or accidents. These exceptions were so broad that most aviation organizations advised their members not to participate in the program. As a result it was a failure. In the middle of July the FAA called an industry meeting and suggested a new plan to encourage airmen and controllers to report unsafe conditions. The FAA proposed that NASA be designated as the agency to receive all reports and the report form would be designed so that the name and address of the author could be separated from the form and returned to him as a receipt. Then the unidentified form would be put on NASA's computer to help form a data base for future corrective action. Industry representatives were willing to cooperate with this new plan which will require some months of work by NASA to organize it. But it should be operational by March 1976. NASA stated that after operating the plan for a year it would be turned over to a private contractor and the original data would never be given to the FAA. The FAA made only one reservation to the new plan which was christened the "Third Party NASA Safety Reporting Program". It said that if the FAA made an investigation on their own of any incident that was brought directly to their attention and it involved gross negligence, reckless operations, willfull misconduct or criminal action then the FAA would be free to file a violation against any individual even though he had filed a report with NASA on this incident. ADAP LEGISLATION The House Committee on Public Works and Transportation completed its hearings on new Airport Development Aid Program legislation before adjourning for the August summer recess. The Senate Committee on Commerce scheduled hearings on ADAP legislation in April but never got around to holding these hearings because the committee chairman, Senator Cannon, was tied up with hearings on the New Hampshire Senate election dispute. The Senate Commerce Committee has finally scheduled hearings on ADAP early in September and EAA is presenting a statement similar to the one given before the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation. This statement was printed in the June issue of SPORT AVIATION. Aside from the question of amount of aid by the federal government to this ADAP program the major controversy is whether all general aviation airport aid should be turned over to the state aeronautic commissions. This is the Administration's plan and it is supported by the National Association of State Aviation Officials and also by many of the state aeronautic commissions. EAA made a survey of the other general aviation associations in Washington and it appears that all of them favor continued federal control of general aviation airport aid. Most of the general aviation groups felt that several states had run efficient general aviation airport aid programs independently of the federal government and their programs would suffer if they were turned over to federal supervision. It seems likely that neither the House or Senate will turn all general aviation airport aid over to the individual states. (Continued on P«g» 16)