derful weather, tremendous crowds, the hospitality and fellowship generated, we often wonder if there could be any possible improvement for the 1980 Con- vention. The answer is yes , definitely , and with gusto! Each year we attempt to correct the errors and mistakes made in previous years. Our goal is to pre- sent the most enjoyable Convention of all, for you, your family and friends. The Antique/Classic Division schedule for Oshkosh '80 is basically the same as those of previous years, but we are proud to announce that some changes have been made including the addition of new and interesting events. The forum tent will be located with the other forum tents in the area adjacent to the Commercial Display Area. In the past the general public has been prohi- bited from attending Antique/Classic forums because a flight line pass was needed to get to the location near the Red Barn. Now, all who attend the Conven- tion can also attend forums on the older aircraft. The Antique/ Classic Division Forum schedule will be posted daily on the bulletin board outside the Divi- sion headquarters barn. The annual Division picnic will again be held in Ol- lie' s Park, with the festivities beginning about 7 p .m. on Tuesday, August 5th. Be sure to purchase your tickets early for the picnic bash. Bring the family and your friends and enjoy the fellowship. The attendance at the annual picnic has increased each successive year. The annual Parade of Flight will be flown on Wednes- day, August 6th and will be part of the daily air show. Many of you will be contacted to participate in this enjoyable venture. The Parade of Flight Committee will start programming the event on the first day of the Convention and we request that each of you who are asked to participate make a concerted effort to attend the pilot briefing and have your aircraft available for this fantastic event.
On Friday evening , August 8th , the Convention awards presentation will again be held at the new outdoor pavilion in Ollie' s Park. Plans ar e underway this year to assure that the presentations are of sig- nificant importance to the recipients and of special in- terest to the audience. Now that the main entrance for EAAers entering the airport from the campgrounds has been moved to the northeast corner of Ollie's Park, a tremendous in- crease in pedestrian traffic past the Red Barn has been noted. We need to capitalize on this exposure in ways to benefit both the Division membership and the EAA membership in general. Often, we have overheard EAA members expressing their thoughts that the area around the Red Barn was an exclusive area for antiquers only. How wrong this is. We need to invite all EAA members to visit with us , browse around the Barn and join in the fellowship we cherish so much. Let this be a challenge to each Antique/ Classic Division member to extend our hospitality to all visitors in the area. A glance through an issue of The VINTA GE AIRPLANE should entice many of our visitors to become' a member of the Division. Something new will be added to the area this year . Occupying the space where the forum tent previously was will be a tent for use as our Division hospitality area. It will be available for members of the OX-5 Aviation Pioneers , QBs, old timers , or any group that wishes to use the facility for informal gatherings con- cerning antique and classic aircraft. The information bulletin board wil: also be placed in the hospitality tent and chairs will be available. We need to pass the word around that this facility will be available. Your personal contact with the various groups as listed above will be the only communication we will have to advise them of this hospitality facility. How many times have you heard an interview over the Convention PA system and wished you were there to see as well as listen to the proceedings? Usually, by the time one gets to the Interview Circle, the program has ended. We have now been allocated an area across the paved road east of the Red Barn for use as our own Antique/Classic interview area. We will have our own PA system and the use of this new facility should enhance the prestige of the Division and draw further attention to our special activities. Saturday, August 9th will mark the annual member- ship meeting of the Antique/ Classic Division. The meeting will start at 10:30 a.m. in the hospitality tent adjacent to the Red Barn headquart ers . All Division members are urged to attend and we wel come the guests of our active members. The floor will be open for pertinent business concerning the management and activities of the Antique/ Classic Division. We look forward to seeing and visiting with each of you at Oshkosh this year . Fly safely, have fun and enjoy your Convention . Editorial Staff Publisher Paul H. Poberezny Editor GeneR. Chase Chase) Nick Rezich from Rockford, Ill inois announcing one of the dai l y air shows at Lakel and, Florida's Sun 'n Fun '80 Fly-In. Associate Editors: H. Glenn Buffington, Edward D. Wi l liams, Byron (Fred) Fredericksen, Lionel Salisbury Readers are encouraged to submit storiesand photographs.Associate Editorships are assigned to those writers who submit five or more arti cles which are publi shed in THE VINTAGE AIR- PLANE during the current year. Associates receive a bound volume of THE VINTAGE AIR- PLANE and a free one-year membership in the Division for their efforts. POLICY-Opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting restsentirely with thecontributor. Directors Claude L. Gray. Jr . Morton W. lester 9635 Sylvia Avenue P.O. Box 3747 PRESIDENT Northridge. CA 91324 Martinsville , VA 2411 2 W. BRAD THOMAS, JR. 301 DODSON MILL ROAD DaleA. Gustafson Arthur R. Morgan PI LOTMOUNTAIN, NC27041 7724 Shady Hill Drive 3744 North 51st Blvd. 919/368-2875 Home Indianaooli s, IN 46274 Milwaukee. WI 53216 919/368-2291 Office Richard H. Wagner John R. Turgyan VICEPRESIDENT P.O. Box 181 1530 Kuser Road JACK C. WI NTHROP Lyons. WI 53148 Trent o n . NJ 08619 ROUTE1, BOX111 ALLEN, TX 75002 2141727-5649' AI Kelch 66 W. 622 N. Madi son Avenue SECRETARY Cedarburg. WI 53012 M . C. "KELLY" VIETS 7745 W. 183RD ST. Advisors STILWELL, KS 66085 John S. Copeland Stan Gomoll Gen e Morri s 913/681-2303 Home 9 JoanneDrive 104290th Lane. NE 27 Chandell e Drive 913/782-6720 Office Westborough. MA01581 Minneapolis, MN 55434 Hampshire. Il601 40 TREASURER Robert E. Kesel George 5. York E. E. "BUCK" HI LBERT Ronald Fril z 2896 Roosevelt SI. 455 Oakridge Drive 181 Sl oboda Av e. P.O. BOX 145 Conklin. MI 49403 Rochest er . NY 14617 Monsfield. OH 4490" UNION, I L60180 815/923-4205 THE VI NTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091-6943) is owned exclusively by EAA Antique/Classic Division, Inc., and is published monthly at Hales Corners, Wisconsi n 53130. Second class Postage paid at Hales Corners Post Office, Hal es Corners, Wisconsin 53130 , and additional mailing off ices. Membership rates for EAA Ant i que/Classic Division, Inc.. are $14.00 per 12 month period of whi ch $10.00 is for the publication of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE. Membershipisopen to all who are i nterested in aviation .
OFFICIALMAGAZINE EAA ANTIQUE/ CLASSIC DIVISION INC. ofTHE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION P.O. Box 229, Hales Corners, WI53130 Copyright 4l 1980 EAA Antique/Classic Di vision,Inc., All Rights Reserved. JULY 1980 VOLUME 8 NUMBER 7 (On The Cover. 1942 Fairchild PT-23, N54375 owned by Ed Earp, Jr ., of Houston, Texas. See story on Page 5. Photo by Ed Earp.) (On The Ba ck Cover. Outstanding example of a Waco UPF-7. N29368 was manufactured in 1940 and is owned by Arnold Nieman, Ocala , Florida. Photo by Gene Chase.) TABLE OF CONTENTS Straight and Level by Brad Thomas ............................................... 2 A/ C Hot Line by Gene R. Chase... ... . ....,.....,............ ........ . .. ...... .. . 4 PT-23 ...Easiest Plane To Fly by Edward Earp, Jr. ........... . . ..... .. ...... . .... .. 5 Douglas DC-4 Giant OfThe Air by Edward D. Williams ....... ... ... . .... . ...... ... 6 Jesse Orval Dockery ... ' A Flying Silver Eagle' by Robert G. Elliott ..... ... .. . . . .... 12 The Cunningham-Hal l GA-36 by Gene Chase.. .... . . ..... . ... ....... . ...... . .. . .. . 17 Rebirth OfA Taylor craft byBob Moore.................. . .... . . ..._... . .... . .... . 18 SzekelyAircraft And Engine Companyby Phil Mi chmerhuizen ...... . .. . . . ... ..... . 20 Calendar Of Events ............................................................. 23 Borden'sAeroplane Posters From The 1930's by Lionel Salisbury ................... 24 EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION MEMBERSHIP oNON-EAA MEMBER - $22.00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique/ Classic Divi sion, 12 monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE; one year mem- bership in the Experimental Aircraft Associ ati on and separate membershi p cards. SPORT AVIATION magazine notincluderl . oEAA MEMBER - $14_00. I ncludes one year membership in the EAAAntique/Classic Divi sion, 12 monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE AND MEMBERSHIP CARD. (Appli cant must be current EAA memberand must give EAA membership number .) ............. ..... ..
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Page 5 Page6 Page 13 3 CESSNA 170 CONVENTION TO BE IN MILWAUKEE Th e Inter national Cessna 170 Association, Inc., has scheduled its 12th Annual Convention for August 10 -
PIPER WING STRUT ASSEMBLIES The National Tr ansportation Safety Board has r ec- ommended to the FAA that immediate inspection be made on all lift strut forks on Piper model s PA-12, PA-14 , PA-16, PA-18, PA-19, PA-20 and PA-22. Also all )-4, )- 5, AE-1 and HE-1 series aircraft. In the past two years ther e have been two fatal accidents as a resuIt of the failur e of cut threadbolts on these forks. Re- placements should use rolled threadbolts. NAVYALERTS GENERAL AVIATION PILOTS TO COLLISION HAZARDS CREATED BY SAN DIEGOTCA Officials of North Island Naval Air Station at San Di ego are concerned that the tunnel through th e new Terminal Control Area is in direct conflict with the approach path to the primary arrival runway at the Naval Air Station as well as to Outlying Field Imperial Beach. The Navy objected to the FAA about the location of tunnel, because they felt it would create a dangerous mid-air collision potential. There have already been two mid-air collisions in a similar tunnel through the Los AngelesTCA. NEWANTIQUE/ CLASSIC CHAPTER IN EUGENE, OREGON EAA members in Eugene are in th e process of form- ing a newAntique/Classic Chapter. They've held their ini tial meeting, elected officers, selected a name, and started work on a restoration project. The project is a rare 1934 Stinson SR-5E Reliant which was donated to the group last spring. Most of th e members belong to Eugene's EAA Chapter 34, which i s a large and active group. In Ap- ril, they held th eir First Annual Oregon Aviation Film Festival and in May, their Annual Maint enance Clinic and Designer 's Forum. A lawyer has been contacted regarding the filing of incorporation papers for the new group, and when the paperwork is in order, a chapter charter will be issued from EAA Headquarters. Thos e interested in joining th e newgroup should contact the Oregon An- tique and Classic Aircraft Club, P. O. Box 613, Cres- well, OR 97426. NO80OCTANEFUEL AT OSHKOSH Basler Aviation reports that an adequate sup- ply of fuel is available for Oshkosh '80, but that no80 octane f uel will be available. Payment will be accepted only with the following credit cards: Shell, Master Charge, orVisa. (Phoro by Don Pratt) Pretty in-fli ght shot o( Howard Twibell , EAA 33431, o( Oskaloosa, Kansas fl ying his 1942 Culver LCA Cadet, sin 393 over th e fl at Kansas (arm country. 16 at the Red Carpet Inn across the street from Mil- waukee's Mitchell Fi eld. The event features forums, a flight rally, and tours including the Miller Brewery, the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard facilities and the Paul H. Poberezny Air Museum. For furth er information, contact: Ri chard To- masello, 1333 Wagner Drive, EI Cajon, CA 92020. CESSNA 120/140 CLUB TO OSHKOSH '80 Recent issues of the monthly newsletter published by the West Coast Cessna 1201140 Club have con- tained information which should be useful to all pilots making their first flights (except via airlines) to the EAA Convention at Oshkosh. As noted in the March, 1980 issue of The VINTAGE AIRPLANE, this club is planning a mass fly-in to the Convention from Northern California. They extend an invitation toothers to join them along the way. They've received confirmation from several airports along the way, assuring them that "red gas", tie- down and camping facilities will be available. In past issu es of their newsletter , based on previou s experi- ence, they've list ed specific items to bring along, in- cluding clothing, tools, camping equipment, and per- sonal gear. For thi s information, se nd $2 . 00 to Oshkosh Package, P. O. Box 891, Menlo Park, CA 94025. For information about the mass flight to Oshkosh, contact: Barker and Williams, 25636 Franklin #1, Hayward, CA 94544. Telephone415/581-7083. *.': ... 4 PT-23 ... Easiest Plane to Fly by Edward Earp, Jr . EAA #33228, AIC #3480 P. O. Box 2766 Houston, TX 77007 PHOTOSCOURTESY OF THE AUTHOR I purchased thi s aircraft in 1975 from a friend in Houston. At that time, N54375 was a Fair child PT-19 and I had known of it for over 20 years, never dream- ing that oneday I would own it. Right after I bought the Fairchild, I stumbled upon a PT-23 engine mount , engine, and just everything from the firewall forward that I would need to con- vert a 19 to a 23. As you know, a PT-19 and 23 are identical from the firewall back . I had the conversion done by Chuck Nichols in Brenham, Texas. Originally the plane had an inertia starter and I knew that as long as I could wind it up, I could cer- tainly pass my flight physical. After watching me go through thi s windup one hot summer day, my wife had an electrical system install ed which I mu st say I Ed Earp, Jr. , in his wint er flying togs. Ed Earp, Jr ., enjoying flight over the South Texas coun- tryside in his beautiful Fairchild PT-23. thinkis pretty keen. Surely this must be one of th e easiest aircraft in the world tofly. It has no bad habits but there is no mess- ing around when it quits flying ... it really settles. I have slow rolled it , snap roll ed it , looped it and spun it but I don' t do this anymore. Let's face it , the old bird was built in 1942. About all I can say is that it is a joy to fly. In the summertime my standard uniform is a parachute , swimming trunks and tenni s shoes. Flyin g in the winter requires a ski jacket , gloves, boots and blue j eans and you are ok in the front cockpit but forget about the back one! The Fairchild is based in Houston at Genoa Airport which is right nex t to Ellington Field. In fact we are so close that we fly a400' pattern . At the present time, I have more than enough parts to build at least three more PT-23s and I hope to start constructing one of them this coming year. I have a complete set of plans for all models of PT-19 and PT- 23 aircraft, includingall modifications. !, Front cockpit ofthe PT-23. Windshieldhas tint edgl ass. Ihe 220 Continental engine is'ex tremely l owtime. 5 GIANT OF THE AIR by Edward D. Williams, Associate Editor EAA #51010 713 Eastman Drive Mt. Prospect, IL 60056 ou s Forty-one years ago a one-of-a-kind airplane went on a coast-to-coast tour and gave the American publi c a view of the advanced aviation technology of the day. The plane was a giant air transport, with a re- volutionary tricycle landing gear never before used on a plane that size, and it ushered in a new era in air transportation. But that historically significant plane is not visible today in any museum or collection of antique aircraft . It rests ignominiously on the bottom of Tokyo Bay. The plane was a triple-tail prototype of the Douglas DC-4 , which was destined to serve this country well as the C-54 and R5D Skymaster military transport of World War II before donning civilian livery with many of the nation's airlines . In 1935, when the famed Douglas DC-3 was queen of the skies, William C. Mentzer , a United Airlines engineer, was assigned by United's president, William A. Patt erson , to prepare specifications for a super air- liner. The new aircraft was to have four engines and carry three or four times as many passengers as the transport planes then in use. After Mentzer worked out his specs, they were pre- sented to various aircraft manufacturers for consider- ation. The Dou'glas Aircraft Company became in- ter ested in building the air giant, and four other air- lines - TWA , Eastern , American and Pan Am - joined United in splitting a $300,000 engineering cost to get the project underway. It was a noteworthy col- lective effort by the airlines involved. United's " Pat " Patterson later explained how he had gotten the other airlines to cooperate in the ven- ture. At a meeting with hi s competitors' top manage- ment , he explained, " I said United we fly and divided we lose money. " Mentzer, meanwhile, moved to Santa Monica, California, in March , 1936, and took an office in the Douglas factory. He remained there until November, 1938, watching and participating in day-to-day build- ing of the new plane, which was rolled out of the fac- tory in June, 1938. When United took it over for flight tests on its coast-to-coast system in May, 1939, he ac- companied the plane, noting its performance. The plane showed itself to be well ahead of its time in 1939. But the triple-tail giant was never to make it into airline service. After a number of design changes, the DC-4 became a smaller airplane with one a single rudder instead of three, and the unwanted prototype, designated the DC-4E, was sold to the Japanese gov- ernment as a VIP transport. 6 An earl y test fli ght of th e prototype Dougl as DC-4 . Pro- pell ers are feath ered on engines 3 and 4. Note th e interest- ing wire structure below the ventral fin , probabl y to warn the pil ot in case of over-rotation on takeoff. O n its f irst t est fli ght by Japanese pil ots, th e pro- totyp e plunged int o Tokyo Bay wh ere its ru sting hulk r emains to thi s day. Expect ati ons had run hi gh f o r th e use of the giant DC- 4 in airlin e ser vi ce, Mauri ce Roddy, av i ation edit or of th e Chi cago Times, wrote on April 30, 1939: " Ever y l esson and experi ence gained by the commer- cial transport operators in the countr y have been incorpo- rated in to th e amaz ing sky giant , whi ch has a gross weight of 32% tons. "One hundred and sixty-five structural tes ts requiri ng 2 1 ,000 engineering and shop hours were made. More than 500,000 engineering hours are represent ed in the compl eted plane. " To t al cos t of devel opment w as approx imat el y $ 1,500,000, and many tes ts centered around th e tri cycl e l anding gea r devel oped to gi ve thi s tremendous ship a smoother landing. Th e thi rd wheel is l ocated in front of the center of gravit y, and th e pl ane ca n be brought into a l anding fi eld at a steeper angl e and taken off more rapidl y than th e familiar type. Luxuri ous appointments are fea- tured throughout th e plane, whi ch has also a bridal suit e. Th e prot otype airplane had a wing span of 138' 3" and a f uselage 97' 7" long and 24' 4" high. Its crui sing range with a f ull l oad was 2,200 mil es . It had a top speed of 240 mil es per hour , a cr ui se speed of 2101 mil es per hour and a gross wei ght of 65,000 pounds. Its servi ce ceiling was 22 ,900 f eet , and its absolut e ceiling 24,500 feet. It was abl e to maintain f li ght on its two Pratt and Whitney R-2180 engines at 8,000 f eet above sea l evel . Th e useful load was 20,000 pounds, and i t carri ed three t ons of mail , exp ress and baggage in additi on to th e passengers. One of i ts outst anding features was th e innovative tri cycl e landing gear. In additi on t o the many t echni- ca l advant ages, thi s type of l anding gear provided extra comfort f or th e passengers by ass uring l evel l anding of the ship- and making it possi bl e to set th e pl ane down at ni ght with out awak ening th e occu- pants in th eir berths. The DC-4 was bor n with a contract dated March 23 , 1936. Parti cipants were the Douglas Air craft Co. , Inc., United Ai r lines Transport Corp ., Transcontinental and Wes tern Air , Inc. , Ameri can Airlines, Inc., Pan Ameri- can Avi ati on Suppl y Corp ., and North Ameri can Avi a- ti on, Inc. Dougl as Aircraft Compan y engineers and oper a- ti ons executives of th e airlines held monthl y confer- ences during the constru ction of th e pl ane. Valuable di scuss i ons of every con ceivabl e r equirement took pl ace at th ese conferences, and o ft en the ideas were incorpo rat ed i nt o the plan e. Nine th o usa nd para- graphs made up th e contract under whi ch th e plane was built. The DC-4 E was des igned for 42 passengers by day (and 30 by ni ght) and a crew of f ive - two pilots, a fli ght engineer , a st eward and a st ewardess. Call ed the " Fl ying Hotel " , it boast ed of a comfor tabl e ladi es ' l ounge, men' s dressing room, a pri vat e compartment up fr ont call ed the " bridal suite" and a lu xuri ous gal- l ery amidships. Its four Twin Horn et engines, with a total of mor e than 5,600 ho rsepower , took its pampered passengers al ong at a speed greater than that of any bomber of that era. The year s required in th e devel oping of thi s giant airliner - it took 18 months just t o build - fr om the drawing board t o th e fini shed produ ct, rep resent ed not so mu ch the diffi culti es and pr obl ems of bu i lding a l arge airpl ane as th e careful resea rch and t esting of pa rt s and new featur es. A t esting laborat ory and out- st anding engi neers were kept bu sy for mor e than two yea rs devel oping information on th e new probl ems encount er ed in th e constru cti o n o f t he pr ot o type DC-4 . Part s wer e t est ed for every possibl e condition and many of them were t es ted to destructi on to de- termine th e limit of their endurance. Special expen- si ve machinery was constru ct ed fo r the t ests. The DC-4E' s gestati on was l ong - and expensive. More than 500,000 hours were spent in engineering and des ign and anoth er 100,000 hours in ground and labo ratory tes ting. More than 20,000 differ ent pi eces of metal wer e made in diff er ent shapes , and more than 1,300,000 rivets were used in its constru cti on. The t otal cost was a whopping $1,634,612. Of th is, $992,808 was for l abor and engineerin g and $641 ,804 for materi al s and overhead. There w er e many new pr obl ems of desig n. The pressurized fu selage from th e pi l ot' s control room to th e rear-mos t toil et compartment required th e most careful design. Windshi eld, windows, and doors car- ri ed th e pr essure differ enti al r esulting f rom an al- t itude pr essur e of 12,000 f eet inside the cabi n at an actu al altitude o f 20, 000 f eet. Th e bl ower s, saf et y valves, and automati c pr essure r egul at ors - for main- taining th e pressure inside the cabi n at a littl e more than half of that outside - had to be des igned and thor oughl y test ed . Hydr auli c control surface loc ks had t o b e de- vel oped whi ch would prevent wind gust s acting on the huge surfaces and overpowering th e pil ot during taxiing and yet would permit him to operat e the con- trol s easil y under normal weath er conditi ons. Power units were developed for furni shing 110 volt electri cal cu rr ent to operate if1stru ments, radio, cook- ing, and li ghting and for the development of entirely new and improved radio equipment. From the beginning, th e size of th e DC-4E caused pr obl ems. A whol e new engine control syst em had to be devi sed because each of th e two outboard engines was 70' fr om th e co ckpit . Th e new sys t em used push-pull rods and cables whi ch ran through the in- side of the wing. A new f uel syst em al so was desi gned whi ch gave th e pl ane extr a power - about the same ho rsepower as two di esel locomotives - f or takeoff. The system included a 100-gallon tank of tak eoff fu el and a 300- gall on tank f or crui se for each engine. And t oday' s ai rline pilot s can thank Douglas en- gineers for an innovation for the DC-4 , th e fli ght en- gin eer's stati on. Th e designers put dupli cat e engine contr ol s and hydrauli c sys tem control s on a second control panel just behind the pilot s' stati on, and the f li ght engineer was born. Th e size of the DC-4E i s illu strated by th e fact that it s contr o l surf aces, it s ail er o ns, rudd er s and el evators, were bi gger than the wings of tr aining air- craf t Douglas was bUilding. But Douglas gave DC-4 pil ots fingertip control by appl ying contr ol boost ers. It repl aced th e standard contro l ca bl es with small di amet er hydrauli c lines and el ectri c motor s diving pumps. Th e di stin cti ve tripl e-tail o f th e pr ot ot yp e was necessa ry f or the DC-4E for gr eat er lat eral stability. But th e idea was abandoned f or the small er , produc- ti on model s of th e DC-4. To reduce dr ag in fli ght , f lush ri vets were perf ect ed f or all external skin surfaces . Int ernall y, even the seat s were the resu It of months of the mos t intensive design t o provide th e easily ad- justabl e seat and the r eclining and reversing back that are so essenti al t o th e ease of th e passenger on a l ong f li ght. Th e seat s al so had the capability of being f olded with a minimum of effort int o beds. Full si ze mock-ups were used t o perfect th e ar- rangement of the pil ots' compartment and controls, passenger accommodati ons, and power pl ant installa- ti ons. Painstaking and almost endl ess detail s of the wind tunnel model t est s were r ecorded , and every 7 aspect of the new design had been thoroughly studied. The strength of the structural design had been demonstrated by complete tests of many important structural parts , and by a proof test of the assembled experimental airplane before the first test flights . Loads totaling 60% of the ultimate design load had been applied to the airplane by means of jacks and lead weights distributed as nearly as possibl e like the actual weights and air loads. By this means the most severe loads likely to be encountered in service had actually been placed on the airplane and it had shown that it was easily capable of withstanding such loads. The tricycle type of landing gear had never before been used on an airplane of that size, and a program was carried out involving tests on a scale model car towed by a truck, and later , tests on a twin- engined Douglas Dolphin airplane. These tests showed that this type of gear offered the advantages of better con- trol on the ground through its inherent rolling stabil- ity. It also was free from rebound during landing re- sulting from the sudden drop in wing lift caused by the reduction of the angle of attack at the mo ment of contact as the airplane settles on the nose wheel. And it eliminated the possibility of nosing over with 'sudden application of the brakes. The design of the tricycle landing gear proved suc- cessful from the start. A United Airlines report on June 15, 1938, states: "On the first take-off the plane had a gross weight of approximately 53,000 pounds, or about 12,000 pounds under what is expected to be its maximum gross weight. The take-off appeared normal in every respect. The nose wheel was pulled off of the ground approximately 500 feet after the start of th e run and the airplane was in the air after a total run of approx- imately 1',000 feet. The landings made with th e tricy- cle landing gear proved very satisfactory." Although it was the largest plane in th e air at the time, the DC-4E was a pilot's dream. United t est pilot Benny Howard (designer of the "Mist er Mulligan" aircraft) said that " Flying the DC-4E is about as excit- ing as a game of solitaire." In a t es t flight at Cheyenne, Wyoming, Howard head ed down the runway - with an elevation of 6,200 feet - calmly cut two engines on the takeoff, and th e plane took to the air as if it didn't know the difference. A United official wat ching the demonstration smiled broadly and said, " That's the plane for us." Under its contract with Douglas , United had the option of purchasing the prototype (NC18100, ser ial number 16010). The plane, with four Pratt and Whit- ney R-2180 engines , was test flown by Douglas for six months before being awarded its Approved Type Cer- tificate in May, 1939. Then , painted in United colors, it began another five months of rout e testing flights by United. No passenger s were carried, but demonstration flights were made across the country by Douglas and United flight crews. While the prototype proved to be a great technical success, the route t est ing showed that it was too large for economical operation. Con- sequently, the prototype was return ed to Douglas, who sold it to the Japanese in October, 1939. Meanwhile, the DC-4 design was reduced in size, left unpressu ri zed and repowered with a mor e de- pendable Pratt and Whitney R-2000-2SD engine and redesignated the DC-4A. Most notabl e of th e design , changes was the use of a single vertical tail instead of three with the initial orders from Eastern and United, the highly-improved DC-4A was now ready for pro- duction . But it now was scaled down to a wing span of 117' 6" and a l ength of 93' 11". On January 2, 1940, the Douglas Aircraft Company proudly announced at Santa Monica, California, that "Commerci al aviation in the United States will begin the new year with the largest and most signifi ca nt (United Air Lines Photo) Th e prototype Douglas DC-4 fli es over th e Ca lifornia countryside. Here it carri es an NC number in place of the original NX. Note the change in the shape of the ventral " fin " . airplane order in the history of peace-time flying." Douglas announced it was starting construction of 40 production-model DC-4 aircraft valued at $14,000,000. Thirty-nine of these modern , four-engine, sky giants already were covered by contract in the final stages of negotiations with leading airlines in this country and in Europe. With understandabl e pride, Douglas once said th e DC-4E design " r epresents Douglas ' contribution to the science of aeronautics. " Th e performance of the production DC-4 was ex- pect ed to surpass that of the prototype DC-4E airplane. The forty DC-4 airplanes ordered into pro- duction at the end of 1939 were faster and mor e com- fortable than the prototype that paved the way for their appearance. The story of the production of th e DC-4 was not to end until August 11, 1947, when DC-4 number 1242, the last of th e famous Skymasters to be built, rolled 8 off the Douglas assembl y line and was deli vered t o South Afri can Airways. The deli very marked th e conclusi on of a f ive-year manufacturing program whi ch pr oduced 1163 military and 79 post-war commer cial tr ansport s of th e DC-4 type. Th e D C- 4 in 1947 outnumber ed all o th er four- engined tr anspo rt s about seven t o one, a Douglas survey di sclosed , and th ei r servi ce record of one bil- lion mil es of dependabl e fli ght was unapproached by any oth er air craft in that category. With more than 1,000 in use in 1947, Douglas ser- vi ce anal yst s pr edi cted that DC-4s wou Id be f lyi ng f or at l east anoth er 10 yea rs. However , some DC-4s are still fl ying today. The fir st pr oducti on Skymast er , a military C-54, ac- tuall y fl ew eight weeks aft er Pearl Harbor . When the Unit ed St at es was plunged int o war , Do ugl as had start ed pr oducti on of DC-4s f or commerci al airlines. Nine air craft wer e in advanced stages of constru cti on when the Army decided the DC-4 , with f ew modifi ca- ti ons, would meet its requirements for a l ong-range troop and ca rgo carri er. Changes were made dur i ng produ cti on and th e Army C-54 and Navy R5D were born . Th e DC-4 proto typ e at Newark, New Jersey being in- spected by the publi c during i ts coast to coas t tour in 1949. During WW /I Dougl as modified the DC-4 to meet the military's need for l arge transports. Th e plexigl ass dome behind th e l oop ant enna over th e pilots' compartment serv ed th e naviga tor while he took sun and star shots for cel es ti al navigation. (U nited Air Lines Photo) Th e original DC-4 wi th its distinctive tripl e tail , is shown above in a rar e photograph amid a l ine-up of Dougl as DC-3s . Th e prototype l ater was designated the DC- 4E when the singl e tail DC-4A went into producti on. It was necessary to inst all the tai lskid pedestal assembl y before l oading or unloading the C-S4IRSD aircraft as it was possibl e to get an aft cg condition while handli.ng heavy militar y equipment. Wartime C-S4 taking off at Guadalcanal in 1944 . Planes i n the background include 3 8-24s, a Noordyn Norseman and a Stinson L- 1. 9 Because of the war, early service of the four- engined sky giants, then the largest mass-produced transport plane, was veiled in secrecy. But confiden- tial reports reached Douglas from scattered points of the globe indicating that the C-54 was proving the Army's faith in the aircraft was well justified . As the war progressed, production was stepped up at the Santa Monica plant and later at a new factory established in Chicago on the present site of O'Hare I nternational Airport. Shattering previous concepts of time and distance, the C-54 and R5D proved the feasibility of global air transportation by land-based aircraft. Skymasters made more than 20 round-trips a day for months over the stormy north Atlantic. They conquered sand and heat to maintain an African supply line. They flew over the treach erous " hump". In the China-Burma- India theater of operations they carried precious plasma and whole blood to battle-scarred Pacific atolls and returned to the United States with the wounded . They accomplished this with an amazing record of safety. Figures compiled by the Army Air Transport Command and the Naval Air Transport Service showed that in making 79,642 war-time ocean cross- ings, only three C-54s were lost. One was a deliber- ate " ditching" and the other two were unexplained. Because of their record of dependability, DC-4s were used to carry top Allied statesmen and military leaders to historic conferences which shaped the course of victory. They were used as personal planes by such notables as General Douglas MacArthur, General Dwight Eisenhower, General " Hap" Arnold and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It was a C-54, with a special interior , which became world famous as the personal airplane of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Until it was succeeded by a Douglas DC-6, the same plane served as the Flying White House for President Harry Truman. One of ihe most spectacular jobs the C-54 was called upon to do was to transport two divisions of oc- cupation troops from Okinawa to Tokyo in ten days. Taking off at five minute intervals, 250 C-54s made 1,400 flights of five hou rs du ration withou t a si ngle mishap or casualty. Air Transport Command records show that between January, 1944 and April, 1947, C-54s had flown a total of 350,049,900 miles. No accurate records were kept before 1944. The Naval Air Transport Service had logged, 68,000,000 mil es on Douglas R5Ds in four years with only one fatal accident. 10 Pil ots' cockpit of the DC-4A. Th e wheel mount ed hori - zontall y on top of the instrument panel is the rudder trim control. The DC-4 with a singl e vertical fin and rudder instead of the tripl e tail as on th e prototype went into servi ce with the airlines aft er WW /I duty as the C-S4 and RSD mili- tar y transport<; . During 1946, the Pacific Division of the ATC flew C-S4s the equivalent of 1,200 times around the earth without a single passenger fatality. Thi s perfect safety record involved the transportation of nearly 110,000 passengers on approximately 20,000 separate Pacific crossings. Converted C-S4s and new DC-4s flew over global airways daily as commercial .airliners. Of the more than 500 surplus C-54s sold o'r leased by the govern- ment, more than 220 entered the service of sched- uled domestic airlines. For example, of the 47 air- craft operated by United Airlines, only one (N10204) was a DC-4 . The others were C-54A, Band G air- craft. The sole DC-4 was a postwar civilian plane produced by Douglas. Recognizing the outstanding record and the as- sured future of DC-4 type transports, the U. S. Post Office Department in 1946 pictured the four-engined Douglas airliner on the five cent airmail stamp. A nu mber of foreign cou ntries have given the plane similar recognition. In a final analysis, the name "Skymaster " was a most appropriate one. And it all is owed to a triple- tail giant which possibly is interred forever in a salt water tomb near Tokyo, Japan. N C 7 I <I o s 11 b y Robert C. Ellioll PART I JESSE ORVAL DOCKERY . . EAA #85 145, AIC # 3296 7227 Oakwood Avenue ' A FLYING SILVER EAGLE' (photos From Th e Coll ection Of /. O. Dockery) Daytona Beach, FL 32074 When a stranger vi sits with j .O. Dockery, he is im- mediatel y engul fed i n Southern hospitality, al l t he wh i l e enthral l ed wi th Dock 's ea sy co untry-styl e humor . Hi s ' escapades', as he ref ers to his flying experi - ences , encompass the fath erin g of crop du sting tech niques, toget her with a life-time of flying, coun- try and city living, a host of aviator friends from over the years ... al l brought to the fore by a needle sharp memory, sal ted with wit. j .O. is easy goi ng, a family man, proud father and still flyi ng at age 71 , f rom hi s old ai rport in Stuttgart , Arkansas . The take-offs and l andi ngs of his career since he was born on February 26, 1909 have awarded him with a dedicated wife, Irene, and two daughters, Bunny Carol yn Scott and joyce DeMaine. Th e fact that Bunny was M iss Arkansas in 1977 and 1978 was frosting on the cake. Two Cessna Skyhawks pr.ovide the means for Dock to schedul e singl e and multi-engi ne checks, a modest number of charter f li ght s and occasional student training. Though retir ed, he hasn' t stopped flying. " j .O., " 1 as ked, " when did you f ir st become in- t eres ted in avi at ion?" " Well ," he dr awl ed, " I was born in Texas in th e year 1909. My fath er was a Texas land baron. He had 700 acr es of th e mos t barr en l and in Texas. Th en, about tli e time of WWI , in 1916 and 1917, my folks moved to Lawton , Okl ahoma, and of course, Post Fi eld at Ft. Sill was nearby. At the ti me i t was one of the f ew airport s in th e country. Two Harl ey Davidson motorcycle buffs in Pine Bluff, Ar- kansas . Doc, with pin stripe suit in fronl, age 74 and Freel and Meyers, mechani c for Harl ey Davi dson. At this age Doc rode from Pine Bl uff to Stull garl, Arkansas to fl y WW 1 pl anes f or a mechani c-owner . The pilol, Joe Class being afraid to fl y them for tes t or deli very to their new owners was encouraged when Doc volun teered to do so . . . and coll ected his ri ghtful pay for th e opportunit y. 12 "Myfather owned two cafes there as well as several jitneys . . . now known as the airport limousines. The jitney that ran to the airport passed right by my school, so every evening when I got out of school I'd hail one ofthe drivers and go to Ft. Sill. "Well, in as much as the jitneys were running in and out so often, the guards let me pass right on through and I'd get off out at the hangars. There were times when I'd stay the whole evening. It wasn't long before I was considered a mascot by some of the pilots. "I learned about the airplanes, their parts and the workings inside and out. Often I would be asked to crawl back in close places when the mechanics were stringing cables, in places too small for them to reach. ''I'd hate to tell you how many left handed monkey wrenches and buckets of compression I toted for those guys, but I'd wander off to find them .. none-the-Iess." Interrupting his line of thought for a moment, asked ..."What were the types of planes there at the time?" "Oh, Jennys, Cannucks, DHs, Tommy Scouts, Barl- ing bombers, the old WWI airplanes," responded J.O...."and as I say ...I learned all the parts, but they couldn't take me up for a ride. I was just a kid and acivilian. "Itwas pretty hard to get a ride, fact is ... I never did get a ride during the time I spent helping out at Ft. Sill. "But the folks moved us all down to Corpus Christi later, and it was in 1921 that I got my first ride. My fascination with airplanes continued, but they being so scarce, I didn't see one often. Then, this one day, just coming out of school, I saw a plane flying over town and I watched it till I saw it descending over the south side of town. I jumped on my bicycle and hur- ried out to have a look. "The pilot was Barney Flowers and he said ... 'Son, if you'll stay here and watch this airplane and keep the cows off it, I'll give you a ride, providing you loan meyour bicycle to ride into town.' "I said, 'that's a deal' ...but you know . ..he didn't tell me he'd be gone three days. It got right cold down there in south Texas at night, but I wrap- ped up in the motor cover and my brother was kind enough to bring me some food. Anyway . after three days Barney came back and he sez ... 'you ready to take that ride?' and I sez 'Yes sir.' "Man, I was quivering with anticipation. "Barney had returned in a Model T truck with cans Charli e Hays in light plus-fours and Doc, l eaning on an OX-5 Wa co used to adverti se Fargo Foods in 7927. Char- li e was a former WW I fighter pilot. of gas in the rear, and tied on behind was my bike. We hid the bike in some mesquite clumps and got aboard. "He sez ...'Well, we'll run over to Alice, Texas', so he started the thing up and we took off heading for Alice. "He had dual controls in it so I followed him through all the way. Now bear in mind, I had learned a lot about planes at Ft. Sill so I knew pretty well what he was doing. We got toAlice, landed in afield, and again he asked me to watch the plane while he went into town. He stayed a little while ...I'm out there making sure the cows and people stay away ... and back he came. We took off and flew down to McAllen ...that gave me another hour, hour and a halfdual time." "By the way, if you've ever flown a Hall-Scott 4 Standard cross country, you can build up a lot oftime going practically nowhere. As a matter of fact, I've made the remark in later years, I watched one farm woman throw out three dish waters before passing out of view. Another time I watched a man plow a ten-acre field with a single horse turning plow ... and if you didn't watch yourself, you'd be going the otherway, backing up. "But anyway ...we made this tour from Corpus Christi, down to Alice, over to McAllen, then Har- Two new short-nosed American Eagles at Meridian, Mis- siss ippi in February, 7928. Standing at Doc's left was the President of Meridi an Airways, who was also the local Ford dealer. Doc had quit Meridian Airways before he soloed the boss in order to be home for the birth of his first daughter . The boss then decided he'd had sufficient dual in struction promptly spun in. so he soloed himself one day and , M~ j IJiAN<I4IR WA o Ii A J.... [) 0 ed- e I( 11 UF-. ~ II lingen and back into Corpus Christi . . . and we hadn't been there but a few hours when he sez .. ' Son, I ' m gain' to ask ya another favor ... said . .. I want you to watch this airplane while I run up to Houston. I' m going up to get an airplane and when I get back I'll give you another ride.' " Yes sir. I' ll be glad to do it ," so I stayed there another couple of days. Now during that wait .. . my brother came out with some of my friends and we were talking about the plane and my flying with Barney. I no doubt bragged a bit about my ability to fly, cause my brother said ... " Whyn't ya stop telli n' peopl e that sort of thing ... you cain' t fly no airplane!" "Oh-h-h yess I can too," ... I said ... " If you'll just pull that prop through for me ... I' ll show you ." "Well, I'd learned that you turned on the switch and hit that booster when you rocked the prop ... and it started. I was a mite surprised because I didn' t think he could pull it through. " But it was ticking over, so I yelled out . . . ' Come on, get in,' . .. and he shouted ... 'Oh no, you fly it ... lemme see you fly it first .' "Well, I thought, I'd just taxi down to the end of the field and taxi back claiming some mechanical problem, which would get me off the hook. So I got moving down the field and with my weight, about 120 pounds wringing wet ... and little gas ... I got off the ground .. . and the first thing I knew I was tree- top high. "I made a big turn way round to the south and got lined up with this big pasture when it quit. Only thing in my way was a few mesquite clumps and Texas longhorns. I hung onto the stick and it landed by itself. My brother came running down and said .. . 'What's the matter?' and I said ... ' Alfred, I'm out of gas,' ... so he went and got me a couple of buck- ets which we put in. With that, I knew I'd have enough for a couple of swings over town, which I made. "You know, I had forgotten about how people would run out to the field if there was an airplane flyin' over, and the first thing I knew, I had three or four hundred spectators out there waiting for me to fly some more. "Along about this time Barney came in from Hous- ton with an OX Standard and I thought .. . 'Whoa, he's gonna wonder who' s puttin' on the air show.' So, I went over to Barney' s plane and said, 'Barney, I want to tell you this before somebody else does I've been flying your airplane: "He sez, 'You have?' "He got right out of the back seat of that OX Stan- dard, got up in front turned around and sez . . . 'Give me a ride.' "I took off with him, flew around the field and then began to worry about landing , and how good it would be ... but I didn't drag it, and made the most beautiful landing you ever saw. "He unbuckled his belt, turned around in the seat on his knees and sez ... ' Who taught you to fly?' . . . I sez .. . 'You did,' ... he sez ... ' I did?' ... I sez, 'Yes sir, I followed you every step from her e to Alice, McAllen, Harlingen and back to Corpus Christi.' "He sez . . . ' Well you do a pretty good job .. . give me another ride' ... "So we took off and I went around the field again and fortunately I made another good landing. "Next day we went over to Kingsville and carried passengers ... all day, Saturday and Sunday." J. O. and I were recording a few of the early events in his aviation career while sitting comfortably inside the mobile home at Bob White's airport near Zellwood, Florida . We had to stop now and then when a plane took off, but after things became more quiet he continued. " About 1922 after flying about a year fish spotting with the OX Standard, near Corpus Christi over the Gulf of Mexico, the folks moved back to Pine Bluff . Course, I was still in school there too, but there were no airplanes around. This made me pretty fidgety . I knew of one at Little Rock that Carroll Cone had. He ran for Governor and he owned a Jenny. Then, there was a fellow in Little Rock, named H. C. Alexander . . . so I hopped on my motorcycle and sped over to work up a deal to fly his airplane, but he'd hired Rolly Inman. "During the summer vacation I went out to Ok- lahoma City and worked for Burl Tibbs . .. this was in '23 as I recall. When I first talked with him, I told him I could fly, and he sez . . . 'Well, I'll give you a job as helper.' "What it really amounted to was being baby-sitter for his two little girls to keep them out of the spin- ning props . " After maybe two weeks, I finally said ... 'Burl, I want to fly'. Ole Burl was an easy going sort of big fella and he sez .. . ' Come on over here, Orval, and we'll go fly. I' ve got to fly this Cannuck ... you can take me for a ride.' " Well . . . after I flew him around for a while he sez ... ' By golly ... you really can fly, can't you?' So Burl let me start doin' all the flight instruction. Earlier, when I'd told him I' d done this and that, ole Burl had '-t. .--..,S' {\, Three cronI es at Jackson, Mi ssiss ippi in in dark suit, Doc and Martin Jensen. taken it all with a grain of salt, but after I flew with him, he became fully confident in my ability. I was only around fourteen years old at the time. As a you ng kid I never did play tops or marbles ... I rode motorcycles and learned about airplanes. Nothing else inter ested me very much. After this surprise be- ginning, I spent two of my school vacations working for Bu rl. "In the Spring of 1924, Alan Scott and I were down at Finklea Brothers at Leland, Mississippi. They owned a Hisso Standard which we were flying . The General Manager of the Delta Pine and Land Company, the largest cotton plantation in the world . .. a Mr. Young . . . came by and wanted to know if we could pour some poison on the worms that were coming out of the small grain and eating up the cotton. They had twenty-four thousand acres of young cotton , anywhere from one to two inches above the ground. 14 The worms were eating it up and they didn' t want t o r eplace it all with th e turning plows used back in those days. " Generall y th eir method of fi ghting the worms was to suspend a hi ckory pol e over th e back of a mul e. Helpers would hang gunny sacks full of dust on th e ends and the j ostling would fl oat th e dust down ont o the worms. Mr . Young thought that if we could pour thi s poi son out of a sack fr om the plane he' d have b ett er cover age, but we t old him, ' th at wouldn ' t work, it' d go in th e pilot' s face.' "So Alan Scott proposed that ... ' If you' ll guaran- tee us enough work, we' ll pull the front seat out and put a gin-bell . . . or a hopper . . . in its place.' " He agreed to a deal , so we took the seat out and put in two Model T gas tanks in th e center section, covered them over with fabri c and put th e hopper bel ow with a bi g six inch pipe goin' out through th e bottom with a gate slip valve ... you know . .. with a shovel handl e on it. Of course, like two kids would do ... we' d matched to see who' d fl y it fir st. Well , I won . .. so I f lew it fr om Leland up to Scott wh er e the pl antati on headquart ers was. " They immediately put 500 pounds of du st in it and told me to go over to th e bend in the river. There wer e 200 acres of cotton with th e worms eating it up. Well , I got the Standard in th e air and aft er finding the bend in th e river , went down over those bi g cy- press trees and pull ed the shovel handl e ... and that was the last time I could find it. The prop wash puffed th e dust ri ght up into the cockpit so I was finally standing up , tl ying in a circl e over that half moon shaped fi eld . When I got through there was a deep f og settling in there and that ti ckl ed Mr . Young no end. " I headed back for our landing fi eld , my eyes and mouth full of du st and spitting mud and cott on it seemed like. About that time, Alan came up driving the old Model T, hollerin' .. . ' I' m next : and I sez ... ' Yep , you ' r e next .' I figur ed th er e was no use ex- pl aining to him, let him find out himself what was th e matter. " So they put another 500 pounds of du st in th e hopper and t old him to go out there al ong the front of the strip and put it out. He came diving in , opened the gate and pull ed up abruptl y. He wasn' t as tall as I was, and couldn' t get up out of th e swirling cockpit dust. He couldn' t f ind th e handl e eith er , so he pull ed up and dumped it from a pr etty hi gh l evel. When he came down h e told Mr. Young, ' W e've got to seal thi s thing up some way.' " Aft er some f iguring we put in a bulkhead and seal ed around it whi ch improved th e operati on consider- abl y. With thi s and other modifi cati ons, we wer e abl e t o work th er e over a month putting out th at poi son . To the best of my knowl edge that was th e beginning of crop du sting with an airpl ane. Now the Gov ernment had run some t es ts with saddl e guns hung over the si d e . . . cranking it out. Dr . B. R. Coad at Talul ah was in charge of their so-call ed ex- perimental stati on and pest contr ol. He had a coupl e of Army DHs with nets th at hung between the wings. He' d f ly ar ound th e country side and scoop up th e bu gs in th ese nets f or hi s laboratory exper i ments. " I' ll never forget . . . he had Sergeant' s Angel and Mit chell fl ying those DHs. We found out that Henry Elli ott and Doug Culver had bought the manufactur- ing ri ght s and ji gs t o build th e old Huff-Pu ffers. They had start ed du sting over in Georgi a, but th ey reali zed in th e Summer of 1924 that th ose p ea pat ch si zed f i elds were no pl aces f or airpl anes . .. so they moved to Monroe, Lo ui5i ana that fall. They set up a bu siness in an old WWI ca moufl aged t ent hanga r. By 1925 they were ready t o dust , but th ey were broke. The fa rmers wouldn' t l et them was t e th eir poi son fl yin' ar ound and dumping it. " So a f ell ow ca me al o ng and pr o mo t ed a new company. He got some bankers, some ginners, some chemi cal compani es and st art ed by taking in Henry El- li ott and Doug Culver . Henry and Doug got stock in t he new company for their airp lanes and equi pment , besi des getting a year-round job. That was the begin- ning of Delt a Air Corp or ati on. Th ey di d t hei r fir st crop du sting in th e Spring of 1926 and were th e onl y company exclu sively equipped for crop du sti ng. Then in 1928 th ey start ed their f irst airline with J6- 9 Travel Airs f lying fr om Monroe t o Dall as and Atl anta. Mon- roe was headquar t ers. Later th ey got a f ew Tri -moto r Stinson 'T' s, and they al so had one or two Stinson l ow-win g ' A's with retr act ab l e gear . O nl y a sh ort whil e lat er they added several ten-twelve pl ace Lock- heed El ectr as. Later of course, th ey graduated to th e DC-2's , DC-3' s and have grown t o the renowned air- line of today." Doc and I thought it time for a br eak in the taping sessi on, so we visited for a whil e with two croni es of hi s, Clem W hittenbeck and Olin ' Pappy' Longcoy. On t his day a number of members of the Fl orida Sport Av i ati o n Ant i qu e and Cl ass i c Associa ti o n w er e gathered for a fri endl y fly-in picni c. When he had hi s second wind, J.O. continued hi s remini scences. }. O. Dockery with foot on lower wing of OX-5 Eaglerock with wife, Irene, l eaning on l ower wing. "I had a forced landing with an OX-Swallow about 1926. The engine iced up . .. well ... that is , I thought it iced up ... it was quittin'. When I landed in a corn fi eld . . . it was too little to land i"n, I fell in ... The ole boy who was with me, Rowe Soward, the Assistant Manager of the Long Bell Lumber Co., of Pine Bluff, immediately started gettin g chills and fever . I did too, but it didn't show. " The funny part was . .. he was so sick , we put him on a train for the trip back home. I went back to the plane and found I had a troublesome magneto, so after getting that fixed, we had to pull the plane over to the road and up a hill to a field . I took off down the hill, round the curve, up through some pine trees and came on out. I then landed at Smoot Field at Monroe and got some gas from Henry and went back to Pine Bluff. I got there in time to meet the train , got Rowe Soward off the train with his chill and fever and took him home. " Back in those days, there was no such thing as a steady job in aviation. You had to create on e. So naturally, we had created the crop dusting, but that only lasted about sixty days out of the year. We' d dust for boll weevils and worms but the farmers just hadn't taken to it yet .. . the dustin' . .. they couldn' t feature anyone flying around dumping out their poison and having such methods be effective. Of course, we were getting ten cents a pou nd or a minimum of two dollars an acre for doin' it. But we couldn' t rig our planes for just dustin' and have them idle the rest of the year . We' d clean them up for barnstorming, air shows and passenger rides, picking up what money we could . " You know, back in 1927 they came out with the first rules and regulations . .. called themselves the Department of Commerce, Aeronautics Branch ... and they gave me a license to fly. None of us be- lieved that it would stick ... who was gonna enforce rules in the air? Shorty Cramer was the first inspector. He came out to Houston and gave Benny Howard, Frank Hawks , Bert Pitco, Bert Eison , Bozo Moore and myself our licenses. " Like I said . .. Shorty Cramer was the first inspec- tor in the field. He had Letters of Authority numbered from 101 to 200. Eleven of us took our transport examination after which he issued numbers 190 to 200. When we learned he had numbers 101 to 200, the first to be i ss ued to any pilots except government pilots ... we asked if he would issu e us numbers from 101 up. But no ... he wouldn ' t do that because he wanted those in his portfolio so that aft er taking them off the top , he could tell right off how many he had left. 16 " It didn' t make any difference, becau se he took mine back anyway. Later, I found my first number was re-is su ed the next week to Bill Berry in Shreveport , Loui siana . All the insp ectors , one hundred of them , had gone into the field with one hundred numbers , so you understand why not many were issued in numerical order . " A short time later an incident occurred relating to my former comment that Shorty took my li cense back anyway. " "Shorty had to make a flight to Houston, San An- tonio, Waco and back, and when he was landing at Houston , I was right behind flying a Super LeRhone Standard. He was flyin ' this ole J-4 Stinson biplane, the first airplane I ever saw with brakes . Soon as I had my plane shut down , I got out and walked over to talk with him and asked .. . ' Shorty, how you doin'?' " He said .. . ' Doc, I'm fine, but what're you doin' flyin' that unli censed airplane? ' "Right off, I said ... ' Well , I' m a married man and I ' ve gotta make a livin' , an this is the only job I can find around here.' "He sez ... 'Why you're a licensed pilot and that's an unlicensed airplane and you ' re subject to a year and a day in the Federal pen and a thousand dollars fi ne or both .' " I countered ... ' Now wait just a minute,' ... and I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Letter of Authority and said . .. ' You know what you can do with this piece of paper don' t you?' ... and I gave it back to him and went on flyin' that Super LeRhone Standard which had an old rotary engine converted to a stationary engine. "I won' t tell you what we called those engines in those days because each time we'd start one of 'em, we'd have to fill a suction gun full of castor oil and squirt it into the hollow crankshaft and hope to God it'd hit on all cylinders when we got off the ground. In thirty days of flyin ' those Super LeRhone Standards I had fou rteen forced landings. " At that time I was flyin' for J. C. Tipps and Co., and I told ' em that I thought I was gonna qu it. Cap- tain Tipps didn' t know why I wanted to quit , and asked me why ... to which I said . . . ' I don' t think I ' m gonna live long enough to spend another thirty days at this sort of thing,' .. . so I quit and went to work for Captain V. C. and Phoebe Omlie at Mem- phis, Tennessee. " First thing Captain Verne did was ask if I had a license. I said . .. ' Well-I-I . . . I had one,' . . . and then told him the story. " So he said ... ' Well , it's not goin' to stick any- way. " I went ah ead and flew for him . He had a couple ole OX and Hisso Standards, but he also had a brand new Waco 7, fully licensed. I' d been ther e about two weeks wh en some guy came out and wanted to fly to Lou isville, Kentucky. " Verne sez .. . ' D()c, you'd better take the Waco, you won' t get up t h e r ~ in those Standards.' " So I took the man to Louisville, let him out and came back to Memphis, landed and two men walked out from the hangar. They introduced themselves as Mr. Sandy Willets and Mr. Bettenger .. . and then request ed my li cense. " I told th em the story and then heard . .. ' Mr. Dockery, you ' re subject to a year and a day in the Federal pen and a thousand dollars fine or both . You ' re flying a licensed airplane and you ' re an un- licensed pilot ... but they continued .. . ' We' re not gonna press thi s pilot violation, we want you to take the flight examination over again.' " Well . . . as I told you, each inspector went into the field with a hundred Letters of Authority. For in- stance . . . Sandy Willets . . . I found out later . .. had numbers 401 to 500 and Mr. Bettenger had num- bers 2401 to 2500. " He gave me the examination over again and is- sued me number 2418, and that ' s the one I have to- day, because by that time, I figured the rules were goin' to stick." Doc and I had to take a break for a minute while I changed tape in my tape recorder and during these moments he mentioned that also during 1927 he was chief test pilot for Clyde Cessna for a while. Editor's Note: Robert Elliott's story about J. O. Doc- kery will be concluded in the August issu e of The VI NT ACE AIRPLANE. Irene Docker y l eans against short-nosed OX Ameri can Eagl e. Noti ce the beautiful burnished cowling and wheel covers. ~ " - ' ....... In the mid-thirties the Cunningham-Hall Aircraft Corporation of Rochester, New York designed and built a good looking low-wing aircraft which proved to be far ahead of its time. Designed by Randolph F. Hall it was to have both high and low speed capabil- ity. The GA- 36 built in 1935 was the outgrowth of pre- vious designs . It was powered by a Warner Super Scarab engine and had full span flaps plus other high lift devices on the wing. It was flown by several pilots who all spoke well of the craft. The GA-36 was fully aerobatic and had ex- cellent slow speed flight ability. Apparently it was overbuilt and overweight, however , and did not fare well when its climb and top speed was compared with the performance of other 2 place planes of the day. It could have made good use of a controllable pitch propeller but one was never fitted. The project was not continued and when the Cunningham-Hall Aircraft Corporation failed to bid successfully on government plane contracts, they manufactured aircraft parts and gun mounts during VVW II. In the meantime, the GA-36 sat in a hangar at the Rochester, New York Airport until 1941 when the Meyers Aircraft Company in Tecumseh , Michigan purchased the plane for its engine. Among the pilots who were flying at the Rochester Airport at the time was a you ng man named Robert E. Kesel . Bob greatly admired the GA-36 and he and his friends considered it to be the " absolute epitome of a sport plane" . THE CUNNINGHAM-HALL GA-36 by Gene Chase (Photo Courtesy of Bob Kesel) Th e 1935 Cunningham-Hall GA-36 was a ra cy looking machine. Some of the STOL devices on the wing are vi si- bl e in this photo. Company tes t pilot, Otto Enderton is at the controls. Bob is now an active member of Antique/ Classic Chapter 6 of Rochester and through the years had never forgotten the plane. On June 28, 1978, quite by chance, Bob and some of his friends learned that the GA-36 still existed and was located at the Tecumseh, Michigan Airport where AI Meyers, of Meyers Air- craft, had removed the engine some 37 years previ- ously. The aircraft was obtained along with a complete set of factory drawings and now is the restoration project of Antique/Classic Chapter 6. This group is actively making the airplane airworthy and they are in need of donations. A major item needed is the Warner en- gine, either 145 or 165 hp. They have located two for sale, but the prices are beyond the group's means. For donation purposes the group has formed a non-profit corporation called the GA-36 Association, Inc. The purpose of the restoration is " to insure that Rochester regains its proper place in the history of aviation during the days when real pioneering work was being done". Bob Kesel and other Chapter 6 members will be promoting their project at Oshkosh '80 by manning booth number J- 7 in the North Exhibit Building. They will display photos of the original plane as well as the current restoration. They will also have scale models of the GA-36 on display, and kits for sale for building 1/24 scale paper models of this beautiful aircraft. For those interested in more details of the GA-36, the Summer , 1971 Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society contains a story of the Cunningham-Hall Aircraft Corporation by Randolph F. Hall, who was vice president and chief engineer of the company. (Ph oto b y R. Straub) Th e GA-36 as it lay in th e weeds for many years at the Tecumseh, Mi chiga n Airport. 17 In the Summer of 1969 I heard that there were two planes for sale at the airport in Beaumont, Texas. One was a )-3 Cub and the other was a Taylorcraft , both in need of rebuilding. I fell in love with the T-craft when I saw the round control wheel and big tachometer . The owner wanted $1 ,200.00 for the Cub and $500.00 for the T-craft. While checking over the logs I fou nd that the latter had only 442 total hou rs on the engine and airframe. Also , it hadn't been flown since 1965. Thi s Taylorcraft, a BL-65 was man- ufactured on February 10, 1940, and powered by a Lycoming 0-145-B2 of 65 hp. At the time I owned a Volkswagen Van, which made an ideal platform for carrying wings safely. My family and I loaded other parts inside the van. By re- moving the tail wheel and using a big bolt through the tail spring and the trailer hitch on the bumper, the fuselage towed nicely. This caravan attracted a lot of attention. We stored the T-craft behind my garage as I was in the process of covering a Piper Colt. I am an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic and hold an I.A. rating . Since 1967 I have rebuilt and covered 30 planes and 88 Stearman wings. The oldest plane I have worked on was a 1935 German Focke Wolfe 44 Biplan e. I work on planes as a hobby. My main job for the past 25 years has been with BF Goodrich Chemicals in Port Neches , Texas . I received my aviation training in the U. S. Navy. I attended Aviation Structural Mechani c School at Memphis, Tennessee. My duties included working on all parts of an airplane, except the engine, electrical system, and radios. My first duty assignment was with the Blue Angels, from April, 1952 to February, 1954. Besides doing airframe work I was squadron painter. I n February of 1954 I was transferr ed to Fi ghter Squadron VF-111 at the Naval Air Station in Miramar, California. I served four months with them. The rest 1M of my time in the Navy was spent with Fleet Air Ser- vice Squadron Twelve at Miramar. I was Petty Officer in charge of the aircraft paint shop. While in the Navy I painted at least one of the fol- lowing types of aircraft; Grumman Panther , Cougar , Bearcat, McDonnell Banshee, Phantom, Beech 18, and finally a Grumman TBF Avenger. I really enjoyed the chance to work on the military aircraft, but my first love i s the old fabric planes. As the years went by I worked on my T-craft as well as seve ral planes. The fuselage needed to be sandblasted. Some nut painted the wing spars with zinc chromate and thi s had to be stripped off. As the fuel tank had some l ea ks I sloshed the tank with sloshing compound. I replaced the following items: control cab les, shock cords, windshield, windows, seats, seat belts, and prop. The wings and tail sur- faces were covered with Grade A cotton. The cover material came with the ship. The fuselage was cov- ..,. ... REBIRTH F A by Bob Moore EAA # 773726, Al e # 3808 976 South 72 Street Nederland, TX 77627 18 ered with Stits dacron. The first time I paint ed th e plane it ended up white with blue and gold trim, and with bi g numbers on th e wings. I didn' t like thi s so I r e- paint ed it orange/yell ow with whit e trim and bl ack pin striping. I maj o r ed the engine and everything went back standard. The bi ggest pr obl em with the engine j ob was th e pri ce I had t o pay for parts. Th e o nl y place I could f ind any parts was in O kl ahoma. Th e rod bear- i ngs cos t $99. 00 in 1975. The T- craft f inall y f l ew in 1976, af t er el even years of being grounded . Th e fir st f li ght was uneventful but yet a real t hrill f or me. Aft er about four hours f lying time the engine quit on takeoff when I was about 100 feet up. The runway here i s over 5,000 feet l ong so I was abl e to land safely. Boy, did it get qui et - I could hear my h eart pounding! Thi s w as my fir st f or ced landing. Th e fu el l i ne was p lugged with the sl oshing compound whi ch was shedding from th e sides of th e fu el tank . Needl ess t o say I purchased a new t ank. I had to disassembl e the fr ont of the pl ane t o i nstall th e new tank. In the meantime, I had started work on a Stearman and th er e was n' t much time to fl y my plane. The new tank began t o leak around th e fitting on the bott om whi ch I had i nstall ed using t eflon tape. It seems that thi s tape all ows you t o over ti ghten the fitting wi th out you being aware of it. Lat er , someone t o re th e f abri c on both wings by dr agging anoth er plane over it. Th e Tayl o rcraf t then sat for 26 months w hil e I made a Stearman out of thr ee. Next I recovered a Citabri a, a PA-11 and a 7EC Champ. It was n' t until Ap ril of 1979 that I f inall y got back t o my own pl ane. As th e engine had to come off again to r epair th e l eaking tank, and th e fabr ic on th e wings had t o be repl aced , we br ought th e pl ane ho me. Whil e the engine was off we inst all ed br ake pedal s on the ri ght side of th e pl ane. These were des igned and welded up by Tommy Font enot , the President of EAA Chapt er 223. Tommy i s building a Sonerai Two, and does some of the best weldi ng I have seen. I got a one time approval from the FAA on thi s i nstall ati on. The main reason we install ed the new brake system i s th at my so ns want t o l ea rn t o f l y. Al so, To mmy needed some t ai l dragger ti me. Nex t I r ecover ed the wings and tail surfaces with Stit s dacron . Th e pl ane i s now painted wi th Stit s Aer othane int ernati onal orange wi t h whit e trim and black pin st ri ping. I install ed an air dr iven generat or and a Genave radi o, and wheel pant s. I weigh 225 Ibs., and th e T- craf t will do 90-95 mph with me al one. The engine burns 3-4 gall ons of gas an hour. It ' s a l ot of f un to f ly and cheap even at today's pri ces. RCRAFT TAYL Photos b y Wayne M oore 19 Szekelv AIRCRAFT AND ENGINE COMPANY HOLLAND, MICHIGAN h y Phi l Michmerhui zen 186 Sunset Dri ve Holland, MI 49423 (Photos Court esy Of Th e Author) ... The Szekel y Fl ying Dutchman, NX9450 under the wing of a Stout Airli nes Ford Trimotor, possibly at the openi ng of Sze kel y's airport at Holl and, Mi c higan. Th e Flying Dutchman was fl , ", '11 to Los Angel es, Ca l iforni a where i t was di spl ayed Jt ;,e I nt ernational Aircraft Show. Th ere, Charl es Lindr. ' gi l I, 'spected the plane for 20 minut es and prai sed it. It was whil e r eading " Mr. Pi per and Hi s Cubs", about 1953 that I came fa ce to face with th e fac t that airplan e engin es wer e ac tuall y built in Ho ll and , Mi chi gan . A det ermi ned and l engthy trip t o our li- brary pr oduced newspaper clippings giving the hi st ory of th e fa ct ory and also th eir dr eams. Otto E. Szekely (pr onounced ZAY-KI ) was described by o ne o f hi s Ho ll and empl oyees, Conrad G . Lohmann , as " a very smart enginee r but a l o u sy businessman." Mr . Szekel y gradu at ed f rom schools in Vienna and Berlin and came to the Unit ed Stat es aft er World War I. He j oined Vil ey Mot o r Corporati o n, Moline, Illinoi s, where he desi gned fr ont wh eel drive vehicl es f or a man who lat er became hi s broth er-in- law. A f ew years lat er he began hi s own engineering firm and d es i gned small gas o l i ne engin es for Cushman of Lincoln, Nebraska, and oth er firms. He also ent ered th e pi st on ring business. One of the firms he did work f or was the Maytag was her company in Iowa. He al so drew th e att ention of Holland Furnace Company offi cial s who invest ed in a washing machine f irm in Holl and, Mi chi gan call ed Vac-A- Tap. Szekely was talked into moving hi s engineering and pist on ring firm t o Holland wh er e he bega n work wi th Vac-A-Tap on Howard Avenu e. Among th ose Szekely empl oyees moving t o Hoi- land from Moline in 1925 was Fritz Li edtke; now 87 and living in Bea tri ce . Nebraska . Mr . Li edtke still works for a bank. Li edtke recall ed those earl y years. " They (Vac- A-Tap) made a good machine. I sent one home to my moth er in Nebraska." But company offi cia l s di sagreed over poli cy and Vac-A-Tap was abandoned, but not bef or e Szekely turn ed t o a p et pr o j ect , d evelopment o f a three- cyli nder ai rcraft engi ne. Li edtke said th e pi ston ring divi si on expanded and millions were sold to Ramsey Associat es or Ramco of 51. Loui s and lat er through jobbers such as NAPA. Li edtke and Lohmann r ecalled how Szek ely de- veloped sp eci ali zed pi ston rings, including the re- voluti onary inner ring. Szekely al so produced a few machines that made th e pi ston rings. In 1928 Sze kel y acquired the Burke Engineering Company in Holland and began produ ci ng engines of 25 to 200 ho rsepower for Continental Motors, Gould Pump Corp o r ati o n , El ectri c Wh ee l Corpo ration , Cushman Mot or Works and Westinghou se El ectric Company. But still he worked on the thr ee-cy linder aircraft engine. Lohmann was hired to work on the i gniti on system for th e engin e whi ch included Scintill a Mag netos from Switzerl and. Th e Szekely SR-3 air- cooled radial engine was pre- vi ewed in Avi ati on magazine, May 28, 1928 whi ch re- port ed it rat ed at 40 hor sepower at 1,800 revoluti ons per minut e and weighed 148 pounds. 20 These early ('28) overhead valve engines differed from later production engines in several ways. The mounting flange for the engine consisted of a round machined pilot fitting into the engine bracket on the plane. The engine was held together with six thru bolts, and the cylinder and head were cast as one, with spark plugs on the sides and the exhaust pro- truding out the front of the cylinder. A Holland Sentinel clipping of june, 1928 notes, " The company's airplane motor set a record when it Phil Mi chmerhui zen and his Szekely engine. covered 920 miles in nine hours and 18 minutes at 38 mpg." By the Fall of 1928 Szekely was producing small planes at the 12th Street factory overlooking Black Lake. The aircraft called the "Flying Dutchman" was of tubular welded steel and the cantilever style wing was of wood construction. Both were fabric covered. Wing span was 26' length was 18'. Test pilots flying the plane were familiar sights as they zoomed in the skies over Holland, waving to persons on the ground. One of the Sentinel clippings stated that one of the first Holland-made planes, carrying the name of "Fly- ing Dutchman" flew to California under the direction of james R. Williams , manager of the company, where it was exhibited. Apparently only one or two airplanes were actually built, and these may have been other airplanes with Szekely engines. The FAA files do not record a "Fly- ing Dutchman" airplane and I assume it was never certified. Liedtke, who was superintendent of the local plant, remembers Szekely as a fine man. "We used to go a long time without wages but we liked him and we worked for many weeks and finally he paid us our wages," said Liedtke. Lohmann, on the other hand, became disenchanted with Szekely and in the Fall of 1928 left the firm. He now lives in Florida in retirement. " Szekely's decision to build a five-cylinder radial engine was a big mistake," wrote Lohmann in 1972. "The required tests with the government ate up lots of money." Production of planes, engines and piston rings in- creased and an addition to the 12th Street plant was start ed in February, 1928. The story-and-a-half addi- tion with arched roof to the west of the existing building allowed for the fuselage department on the ground floor and the wing department in the bal- cony. A sales brochure stated that by july, 1929, with the new addition in operation, the plant was produc- ing 24 planes a week and 72 complete engines. In june, 1929, Szekely Aircraft & Engine Corpora- tion dedicated its own airfield north of Holland along 136th Avenue, boasting two 2,200 foot runways and two " ,500 foot ru nways. Sales offices were opened in San Francisco, Kansas City and New York to meet the expected demand of the private aircraft industry. Within months the stock market collapsed and the great depression set in. In july, 1930 Szekely attempt- ed to quiet rumors of financial ruin, but declined to offer any details. At that time the plant listed 150 employees. The Zeke making sweet music. Pusher prop is blowing oil and grease away (rom th e operator, Szekely travel ed to Eu rope, retu rni ng in janu ary, 1931 to assure local people his aircraft plant would remain in Holland. He also made plans to go to In- dianapolis to confer with parties interested in affiliat- ing with Szekely. The Vice President of the Szekely Company, jack Whitaker, went to New York, Detroit, and the Cleve- land National Air Races in 1931 to promote the engines and planes. But the company did not prosper and on May 10, 1932, Szekely Aircraft & Engine Company filed voluntary bankruptcy in Federal court at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Liabilities were placed at $129,859.24 with assets of $136,784.60. The liabilities included $1,868.45 in unpaid taxes and $6,396.63 in unpaid wages. Szekely moved his family to Elmira, New York and then to Philadelphia where he became connected with the Navy. In 1950 he operated a factory in Com- merce, Georgia which produced secret items for the Navy. Later Szekely moved to Florida where he died a few years ago. It is interesting to note the various engines the company hoped to produce. "jane's All the World's Aircraft" of 1929 lists three Szekely engines, the three-cylinder at 40 hp; a five- cylinder at 70 hp; and a seven-cylinder at 100 hp. One year later, "jane's All the World's Aircraft" of 1930 again listed three engines, a two-cylinder at 22.5 hp; a three-cylinder at 40 hp and a five-cylinder at 70 hp. The seven-cylinder engine was not mentioned. 21 AIRCRAFT POWERED WITH SZEKELY ENGINES Ref: "U. S. Civil Aircraft" by Joseph Juptner - Vol. 3,4, 5 A.T.C. Aircraft No. American Eagle "Eaglet" 380 Curtiss Wright " Junior " 397 Buhl " Bull Pup" LA-1 405 Rearwin " Junior" 3000 434 Alexander "Flyabout" D2 449 American Eagle - Lincoln "Eaglet" B-31 450 Rearwin " Junior 3100" 481 Taylor " Cub" H-2 572 The 1932 "Aircraft Yearbook" shows front and side views of the 3-35, 3-45 and 3-55 series of Szekely en- gines. It can be seen from these views that the 55 hp has the valves and rockers enclosed in aluminum covers cast with the head. I doubt that the two-cylinder or seven-cylinder ver- sions were ever built; and after talking with men who worked at the Szekely plant it appears that only five or six of the five-cylinder engines were built and test run, trying for certification. Besides , the above mentioned engines , all of which used overhead valves, the company was supposed to have built both three and five-cylinder L-head en- gines. I have never seen the L-head version but 80 American Eagle "Eaglet" airplanes A.T.e. No. 380 used th e SR-3L-30. It is difficult to come up with exact production fig- ures for Szekely engines . One reference source is "U. S. Civil Aircraft" by Joseph Juptner, Volumes 3, 4, and 5. Assuming that all of the following aircraft were delivered with Szekelys installed 645-plus engines can be accounted for in the chart above. I know that some engines went overseas to power light planes in Europe. Other en&!nes were used on prototype airplanes such as the first Funk and the twin-engined Fuller-Hammond. Both aircraft were powered with 45 hp Szekelys. In my search for a Szekely engine, I spent about three and a half years of writing post cards and mak- ing long distance phone calls chasing down rumors and leads, only to find out I was anywhere from a couple of days to five years too late. Then one day I received a post card from someone who heard of my search for an old airplane engine. He wrote that about five years ago he had heard a rumor in upper Michigan of a three-cylinder and a seven-cylinder engine in a shed. I called fellows in Production Engine Run SR-3L-30 80 SR-3-0 (45 hpj 270 Szekely 45 100+ Szekely 45 17 SR-3-0 (45 hpj 14 Szekely 45 13 Szekely 50 2 Szekely SR-3-50 149 Holland who go fishing up north and they gave me the name of a man who worked up there. I called him and he didn't know who would have one, but he would check around. About a week later I received a call from a Jim Hammel. " I hear you are looking for an old three- cylinder ' Holland' engine. Well, there's one in the shop that hasn't run for seventeen years. Yeh, I guess I'd sell it, don't know what I'd do with it, had it on a snow sled. Three days later my wife and I started out for upper Michigan. We found Jim' s place, waited for him to come home from work, then trudged through knee- deep snow to the shed. Sure 'nuff, there was a "Zeke"! It turned over, looked fair, had no car- buretor or data plate but we agreed on a price then carried the little engine to the truck! Oh yes, I checked - there were no airplanes around, or the seven- cylinder engine rumored to be there too! Back home, because I had run ads in the Sentinel and over the radio requesting Szekely information I thought I would stop by and show my friends with the news media what I had found. Later, when an ar- ticle came out in the newspaper, one former factory employee, Ed Scholten, had to see that engine the very next morning. He told stories of working in the new plant in March with no glass panes installed in the open windows. John Emmons, a good friend and experienced mechanic (though not on Szekelys) and I were suc- cessful in getting the engine apart without breaking anything. We found the engine to be in surprisingly good condition internally. The cylinders had only .005 taper, and the rings had very little wear. We had the cylinders honed and magnafluxed along with the crankshaft and rods. I made new gaskets. Gene Mor- ris sent a valve stem end and valve retainer clips for use as patterns and Carl Kallunsrud made six more. Chet Miller was good enough to make an aluminum cap and gave me the thrust bearing number I needed for the oil pump assembly. I also had three new exhaust valves made. Then another exciting trip took place. In October, 1978, I was paging through Trade-A-Plane and noticed a " Zeke" to be auctioned off on the following Satur- day in Columbus, Ohio. Friday evening after work we headed for Columbus, arriving at a motel at 2:30 A.M. I was up at 7: 00 A.M. and one of the first at the auction. By 12: 30 P.M. the engine was mine and another "Zeke" was on its way back to Holland. This 45 hp engine had a data plate, 3/8"cable around the jugs; and other needed parts, including a carburetor, carb spacer, oil lines and oil tank. I doubt if the engine mount was "aircraft" as it was built of angle iron and tubing; the splintered Sensenich prop was from an American Eaglet, B-31 and was nailed to- gether at one tip! I had the recently acquired carburetor and mags overhauled, then built a test stand for the engine. At last John and I were ready to assemble the first "Zeke". As this engine had been used on a snow sled up North, it had really been abused when compared with aircraft standards . John had to solve many little problems as he went. The previous owner had used an old tractor carburetor and had stripped several of the mounting holes. Then, as we were priming the oil pump before starling the engine, oil was running o.ut of the front of the crank. I know that many old radial engines slobber oil, but this was too much. Sure enough, someone had used a wheel puller and had driven the welsh plug right into the crank. If anyone can fix it, I thought, John can, and three hours later we were ready once again, to try to make the "Zeke" run. I wish I could say that it started on the second or third pull. The truth is, we worked with it about an hour on a Friday night, a couple of hours on Saturday morning, and finally on Saturday afternoon John and I were all smiles - the little "Zeke" was running. It' s a good thing the engine had a pusher prop or John and I would have been covered with grease and oil. Sud- denly we didn't notice our sore arms, with that sweet sound coming from all three cylinders. And best of all , despite the rumors about Szekelys, the engine didn't even throw a jug. Now I'm looking for a plane on which to mount the Szekely, such as a Curtiss Wright Junior or an Alex- ander Flyabout - or even a Fuller-Hammond! I do have two e n g i n e ~ remember! Up to now I don't have a single hour flying behind a Szekely, but I hope to remedy that situation. 22 CALENDAR OF EVENTS JULY 3-6 - BOWLING GREEN, OHIO - Ercoupe Owners Club Na- tional Fly-In, Wood CountyAirport . Forfurtherinformation,please contact: Carl Hall, Bowling Green State University, School of Art , Division of Design , Bowling Green, OH 43403. Tel ephone: 4191 372-2640. JULY 4-6 - ALLIANCE, OHIO- 1980 Taylorcraft Reunion, sponsored by th e Taylorcraft Owners Club at Barber's Fi eld. For further in- formation, please contact: Allan Zollitsch, 37 Taft Avenue, Lan- caster, NY 14086. Tel ephone: 716/681-1675. JULY 4-6 - COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lAC Chapter 80 for the Sportsman and Unlimited categories. For further information, please contact: Earl Sanford, 5416 Pacific Street , Omaha, NE 68106. JULY 4-6 - HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lAC Chapter 44 for th e Sportsman category only. For further information, pl ease contact : Robert Austin, 701 Fagan Springs Drive, Huntsvill e, AL 35801. Telephone: 205/534-8146. JULY 4-6 - GAl NESVILLE, GEORGIA - 13th Annual " Cracker" Fly- In. AAA North Georgia Chapter. For further information, please contact : Jim Clarkson , 1649Avon Avenue, Tucker , GA 30084. JULY 11--13- ACME, ALBERTA, CANADA - EAAC National Conven- tion. Contact G. W. Le May, 5003 Bulyea Rd., NW, Calgary, Al- berta T2L 2H7 orT. Fitzgerald, 3311 Caribou, Alberta T2L OS4. JULY 11-13 - OWOSSO, MICHIGAN - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lAC Chapter 88 for the Sportsman and Unlimited categories. For further informati on, please contact: David E. McKenzi e, 21141 H. C. L. Jackson, Grosse IIl e, MI 48138. Telephone: 313/671-1837. JULY 12 - TECUMSEH, MICHIGAN - Meyers OTWReunion - Back to Factory. For further information, pl ease contact: Di ck Martin, Rt. 3, Aerodrome Road, Green Bay, WI 54301 or Haro ld Losser , 41 5 Eighth Street Place, Des Moines, IA 50313. JULY 13 - EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA - 4th Annual Aeronca Fly-In, Easton Airport. For further information,please contact: Jim Polles, 2151759-3713, nights and weekends. JUL Y 17-20- OnOWA, KANSAS - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lAC Chapter15 for the Sportsmanand Unlimitedcat egories. For further information, please contact: Patri cia G. Brown, 10614 West 108 Terrace, Overland Park, KS 66210. Telephone: 913 /492-7581. JULY 18-20 - MIDDLEFIELD, OHIO - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lAC Chapter 34 for the Sportsman and Unlimited categories. For further information, please contact: John T. Meyers, 9089 Sky- lane Drive, Wadsworth , OH 44281. Telephone: 2161336-7479. JULY 18-20 - MINDEN, NEBRASKA - The National Stinson Club Fourth Annual Fly-In will be held at Pioneer Field. For further in- formation, please contact: Bob Near , 2702 Butterfoot Lane, Hast- ings, NE 68901. Tel ephone: 402/463-9309. JULY 19-20- LEWISTOWN, MONTANA- 3rdAnnual Montana Chap- terAAA Fly-In at Beacon Star AntiqueAirfield. For further informa- tion, please contact: Frank Bass, Star Route, Moore, MT 59464. Telephone: 406/538-7616. AUGUST 1 - HARVARD, ILLINOIS - Vintage Ultralight Fly-In at Dacy Airport. 1941 or earli er , 60 hp or less. To conclude with a group flight to Oshkosh on August 3. For further information, please contact: Richard C. Hill , P. O. Box 89, Harvard, IL 60033. AUGUST 2-9 - OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN - 28th Annual EAA Con- vention and Sport Aviation Exhibition - the world's largest and most exciting aviation event. For further informati on, please con- tact: Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), P.O. Box 229, Hales Corners, WI 53130. Telephone: 414/425-4860. AUGUST 10-16 - FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN - The International Aerobatic Club's annual aerobatic competition. Biggest field any- where for an aerobatic contest plus greatest variety of aerobatic aircraft. For further information, please contact: Herb Cox, Con- test Chairman,812 TaylorAvenue, Mt. Vernon , IL 62864. AUGUST 10-16 - MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - 12th Annual Con- vention of the I nt ernational Cessna 170 Association at General Mitchell Field. For further information, please contact: Richard Tomasello, 1333 Wagner Drive, EI Cajon, CA 92020. AUGUST 17-30 - OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN - World Aerobatics '80. For th e first time ever, the U. S. will host the World's Aerobatic Championships. Fourteen countries will participate. Don' t miss this historic event. For further information, please contact: World Aerobatics '80,P.O. Box 229, Hales Corners,WI 53130. Telephone: 414/425-4860. AUGUST 22-24 - COFFEYVILLE, KANSAS - Funk Fly-In. For further information, please contact: Ray Pahls, 454 South Summitlawn, Wichita, KS 67209, or G. Dale Beach, 1621 Dreher Street , Sacra- mento, CA95814 . AUGUST 24 - WEEDSPORT, NEW YORK - Fly-In sponsored by EAA Chapter 486 at Whitfords Airport Field. Airport closed from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for air show. For further information, please contact: Herb Livingston, 1257 Gallager Road, Baldwinsville, NY 13027. AUGUST 30 to SEPTEMBER 1 - CALHOUN COUNTY, TEXAS - Port Lavaca-Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce sponsors an air show at Calhoun County Airport. For further information, please contact: Preston Van Hanken , Port Lavaca Chamber ofCommerce, P. O. Box 528, Port Lavaca, TX 77979. Telephone: 512/552-2959. SEPTEMBER 5-7 - MARION, OHIO - 15th Annual Mid-Eastern Re- gional EAA Fly-In at Marion MuniCipal Airport. For further in- formation, please contact: Mr. Louis Lindeman, 3840 Cl overdal e Road, Medway, OH 45341. Telephone: 513/849-9455 . SEPTEMBER 12-1 4 - CALGARY, ALBERTA - Alberta' s 75th Anniver- sa ry as a Province, the Airdrie Country Club of the Air is sponsor- ing a "Diamond Jubilee Antiquel Classic Fly-In", at Airdrie Air- port. For further information, pl ease contact: George B. Pendle- burg, Vice-President, Publicity Chairman, 304 Manora Road, N.E., Calgary, Alberta T2A 4R6. Telephone: 4031272-4383. SEPTEMBER 12-14 - DELANO, CALIFORNIA - lAC Contest - Spon- sored by lAC Chapter 26 for the Sportsman and Unlimited cate- gories. For further information, please contact : Jack Gl adish, 120 South Ham Lanek, Lodi , CA 92540. Telephone: 209/369-5768. SEPTEMBER 13 - GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - Chapter 651 is spon- soring a fly-in at Plainview Airport. For further information, please contact: Dave Frisbie, 414/336-3257. SEPTEMBER 13- 14 - OSCEOLA, WISCONSIN - lAC Contest - Spon- sored by lAC Chapter 78 for the Sportsman category only. For furtherinformation,pleasecontact: JamesG.Taylor,119Comanche Drive, Webster, MN55088. Telephone: 507/652-2607. SEPTEMBER 14 - EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA - Antique & Classic Piper Fly-In. For further information, please contact: Jim Polles, 299 Nazareth Drive, Nazareth, PA 18064. Telephone: 215/759- 3713 (nights). SEPTEMBER 14 - LANSING, ILLINOI S - The Lansing Police Cadets will sponsor their 2nd Annual Fly-In and Air Show at LanSing Municipal Airport. For further information, please contact: J. P. Fish , P.O. Box 411 , Lemont , IL 60439. Telephone: 312 /257-7.552. SEPTEMBER 19-21 - KERRVILLE, TEXAS - 16th Annual Southwest Regional Fly-In, sponsored by the Texas Chapters of EAA. For further informati on, please contact : Bob Reese, Rt. 4, Box 305, San Angelo, TX 76901. Tel ephone: 915/658-4194 or915/949-2886. SEPTEMBER 19-21 - VINCENTOWN, NEW JERSEY - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lAC Chapter 94 for theSportsman and Int ermediate categor i es. For further informati on, please contact: Fred Weaver, Himmel ein Road, Box 9E, Medford, NJ. Telephone: 609/654-7867. OCTOBER 1-5 - TULLAHOMA, TENNESSEE - 2nd Annual EAA Na- tional Fall Fly-In. Don't miss this one. For further information, please contad: EAA Fall Fly- I n, P.O. Box 229, Hal es Corners, WI 53130. Telephone: 414/425-4860. CLASSIFIED ADS Aero II Plans The new2-place aerobatictrainer and sport biplane, 20 pages of easy to follow detailed plans. Complete with isometric drawings, photos, exploded views, Plans - $85.00, Info pack - $4 .00, Send check or money order to: AeRO SPORT, INC., Box 462, Hales Corners, WI 53)30._414/425-4860. Classic owners! dJu,
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DRESS IT UP I\;JQJ WITH A NEW INTERIOR! All Items READY-MADE for DO-ITYOURSELF INSTALLATION Seat Upholstery - Wall Panels Headliners - Carpets - etc. Ceconite Envelopes and Dopes Send $1.00 for Catalog and Fabrics Selection Guide
259-15Lower Morrisville Rd. Fallsington, Pa. 19054 ( 215) 295- 4115 23 by Lionel Sa li sbury BORDEN'S AEROPLANE POSTERS EAA #114 523, AIC # 3207 Seven Harper Road Brampton, Ontario L6W 2W3 Article Number 18, Poster Number 9, Series Number 2 Ca nada THE FA IRCHILD 45 FROM THE 1930'S , ,;2.j This is th e eight eenth poster in our series. When we originally started reproducing the poster s which had been offered by the Borden Company in Canada, it was expected that this would be the final one. This was the las t from the original collection provided by Mr. Glenn Inch of Brampton , Ontario, who had col- lect ed th em in 1936, when he was a young man. However , as th e series began to appear on the pages of The VINTAGE AIRPLANE, we start ed to re- ceivemail from th e readers, indicating that there had indeed been additional posters offered by the Bor- den Company in the United States in 1933 and 1934. Mr. Cedric Galloway of California came forward with three from hi s collection that had not been made available in Canada. A few months later, Mr. Marion McClure, who resides in Illinois, sent in his entire collection. From that source we will be able to offer an additional six posters for inclusion in our series . Therefore, we will continue next month with Mr. Galloway's first offering, the Borden Poster that fea- tured the Boei ng Tri-Motor, a very attractive pictorial of a most unique aircraft. This month's poster has, as usual , the line drawing taken from the back of the original and the descriptive notes that were also pro- vided with the drawing. N EXT MONTH - Th e Boeing Tri -Motored Transport 24 3!:)1FT. !- leFT. III.... -\ ."
FAIRCHILD .... S..- SEDAN OF THE AIR FAIRCHILD " 45" - " SEDAN OF THE AIR" Made at Hagerstown, Maryl and, by th e Fair child Aircraft Corporat i on, The Fairchild "45" i s a fiv e-p lace low-wing monoplane wit h a Wright Whirlwind engine. The int erior of the cabin i s built to resembl e that of streaml ined motor ca rs. Specifi ca tions Performance Wing span, 39 feet. Length overall , 28 feet, 11 inches. Hi gh speed , 170 mi les per hour . Landing speed, 48 Height overall , 8 feet. Mot or, Wri ght Whir lwind. Power mil es per hour . Cruising speed , 156 mi les per hour . loading, 15 pounds per horsepower. Wing loading, I nitial rat e of climb, 640 feet per minut e. Cruising 14.75 pounds per squar e foot. Gross wei ght , 3,600 range, 600 mil es. pounds. Pay l oad , 880 pounds. 25 FOR SALE Nord 1203-3 " Norecrin" , manufactured in Fran ce in 1956. This 4 place, all metal, retractable tricycl e gear aircraft is power ed with a 145 hp SNEC7A "4LOO" engine. 1000 hours on the airframe and on the engine. Paint scheme is camouflage, similar to Me 109. Contact: Mr. Jeane-Claude Paillard, No. 5 La Marinere rueAlbertcamus ,Br etignysur Orge91220, France. AVAILABLE BACKISSUES OF The VINTAGEAIRPLANE 1973 - March through December 1974 - All Are Avai l able 1975 - All Are Available 1976 - January through May, August through Decem- ber 1977 - All Are Available 1978 - January,March through June,August, October , November 1979 - February through December 1980 - January through June Back issues are available from Headquarters for $1.00 each, postpaid, except the July 1977 (Lindbergh Com- memorative) issue, which is $1.25 postpaid. 1928 STEARMAN C3B by Gene Chase The above photo is one of several sent to us by Antique/ Classic member Hal Kostka of Valparaiso, I n- diana. The aircr aft is an extremely accurate scale model with a35" wing span. Hal is a gol f professional who has enjoyed antique aircraft since he was a kid growing up on the north side ofMilwaukee, Wisconsin . Obviously, he is also a highly skilled modeler. All of t he controls on the Stearman are operable from the cockpit including the elevator trim. The finis h is 10 to 12 coats of hand rubbed dope. The model was built from a Flyline kit.' To scale modelers the name Flyline is synonomous with Hurst Bowers who designed the Stearman model as well as most of the others killed by Flyline. Hurst is also an EAA member. 26 (Pho ro by Hal Kostka) Hal Kostka' s Stearman C3 B. Urschel Fi el d was the name of th e airport at Valparaiso, Indi ana.
2.50 ea. or6 for$12.50 II SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO: EAA Air Museum Foundation,Inc. Box 469 Hales Corners.WI 53130 Allow 46 Weeks For Delivery Wisconsin Residents Include4% Sales Tax (Photo by Gene Chase) Two new production Creat Lakes at Sun ' n Fun '80, Lake- land, Fl orida. Th e one on the l eft i s owned by Dr. Robert Tober, Napl es, Florida and th e other by Marty Lowe, Hid- den River, Fl orida.