Vintage Airplane - Feb 1979
Vintage Airplane - Feb 1979
Vintage Airplane - Feb 1979
en
.
how it will affect you and offer your own sugges-
tions for improvement. Or if you like, simply state "0
that you agree with EM' s objections to the FAA
plan, that you endorse the EAA's concepts and 0
hope FAA will listen to a complete explanat ion. m
The important thing is: do it now! We only have
untilMarch 5to respond tot he NPRM. 0
3. Then wri te a personal letter to your Congressional :::!
representatives. Ask them for an explanation of 0
the FAA proposal and evidence of how it could Z
have prevented the San Diego crash. If it' s agree- "0
able, stress the fact that EMhas a betterplan,one
that truly will enhance safety and provide more
sensible air traffic control. Insist that the EM be Z
heard out. Enclose acopyofyourNPRM response.
Use this address:
Honorable (Representative)
House Office Building
en
Washington , D.C. 20515
Honorable (Senator) :a
Senate OfficeBuilding en
Washington , D.C. 20510
Please be advised that pet itions and vulgarity have 0
novalue. m
Z
m
c
:
.
C
I
J
>
"
T
I
"
,
I
,
t
,
Why did you ever start a project like that?
I expect all aircraft restorers ask themselves that
question while they sit there in the shop, on an up-
turned box, drinking another cup of coffee and star-
ing at that skeleton of a once-proud bird. I also ex-
pect the answer consists of many parts, events, and
experiences adding up over a period of years and
culminating, at last, in the start of a project.
Looking back through the years, to find the
reasons why I caught the "old airplane disease", I
feel it must have started with exposure to the stick
and paper models of the 30's and early 40's which re-
ally gave a Kansas farm boy a feel of the basics of air-
craft construction.
Then too, "Air Trails", "Flying Aces", and all the
other adventure magazines of the time, did nothing
The
Long
(AND UNFINISHED)
~ t r v
01
to decrease an interest in aircraft. Even, "Phineas Pin-
kham' s" adventures must have had some influence!
All this reading and daydreaming started to turn to
reality when I had the opportunity to take flying les-
sons at a small field east of Mankato, Kansas with an
instructor named Verlie Heddon. Verlie was one per-
son who could really instill love of old aircraft in a
student who could only afford an hour or two a
month in an Aeronca Chief.
Days when the weather turned bad were spent
around an oil-burning heater in the office, learning
the fine art of hangar flying and tall-tale telling. If you
do not think of it as a fine art , you have never heard
the real pros tell tall flying tales. When it got so deep
in the office that no one could stand it, or some out-
rageous story had just been told, we could retire to
the hangar-shop combination and assist Verlie with
maintenance work on the Chiefs and a Waco QDC,
which was used for charter. Several times I have
wished I had more photos of that field, but I have a
hunch that the memories are much better than the
photo would be. How many of you remember a place
where there were 2 Wacos and 3 Travel-Airs sitting
along the fence, in various stages of disrepair, any of
which you could have purchased for 75 dollars?
Any young airplane nut in those days could find
someone who could help with studies for the CAA
written tests and I was fortunate enough to meet Paul
and Elaine Crider , in Phillipsburg, Kansas. There was
no airport near Phillipsburg at that time, but a good
grass area, near the Rodeo grounds, furnished a place
to land any of the light aircraft. If you ever wanted to
instill old airplane fever in a young enthusiast, all you
had to do was expose him to Paul Crider's stories of
flying the Swallows , Eaglerocks, and even a Butler
Blackhawk. Conversation, then , certainly had nothing
to do with radio procedure, EL1's Transponders or
" Who had the most radio equipment in their air-
craft. "
All of this enthusiasm was brought to an abrupt
halt by a couple of years service in the U. S. Navy,
and the delay was then prolonged by college, mar-
riage, children, and the associated need to earn a liv-
ing. I had two things happen which really helped me
along with the " old airplane hobby". The best thing
that could have happened to anyone happened to
me, when I met and was fortunate enough to marry a
girl who feels that " old airplanes" are a pretty good
hobby to have a husband involved in . The second
not-so-pleasant happening was a recall to join Navy
16
Fighter Squadron VF-884, for a tour of duty with the
fleet off Korea. Two years of work on F4U-4's kept me
up on round engines and gave me good experience
in maintenance.
My search for a rebuildable antique began in ear-
nest in 1966. I had always wanted to rebuild a
Travel-Air "4000" and my search started with that air-
craft in mind. I soon became aware that there is a lot
to learn about old aircraft buying. "Buyer Beware"
gets to be a watch-word in a hurry when you find the
"Basket Case" and "Restorable Airplane" mean the
same to some owners.
One day, I was sitting in the coffee shop at the
Ottumwa, Iowa Municipal Airport having a cup of
coffee with Bob Taylor, president of the Antique
Airplane Association, and was grumbling about the
difficulty of finding the aircraft I wanted, and Bob
came up with a good piece of advice: "Start rebuild-
ing something, AJ-3, any old aircraft, but get started.
Then you will have more contact, and will be able to
find what you want, and learn at the same time." Bob
was certainly correct. When you fix your mind on one
plane only, you pass up some rare aircraft.
In September of 1968, I made a trip up to Dazey,
North Dakota, where I had heard that Peter Bryn had
several old aircraft, stored in a barn. I had certainly
heard correctly! When Mr. Bryn opened that barn
door, I felt like a kid in a candy store! There was just
what I had been looking for, a Travel-Air
"4000"! We started talking price and my "Old
Airplane Budget" would not stand the strain. Looking
back now I know Peter's asking price was more than
fair, but that is now hindsight. While we were looking
at the Travel-Air, I noticed a massive set of wings
leaning against one wall of the barn and asked about
them. Peter said they were from a Stinson SR-SA and
the fuselage was outside in a machinery lot, and that
it also was for sale.
Only a crazy antique airplane nut would have fal-
len in love with that aircraft, but I sure was bitten by
the bug. In about 30 minutes, we had come to terms
and Peter Bryn had my check. I didn't even imagine,
at that time, that I had just opened a "can of worms'
and to this day, I haven't gotten the lid back on that
can!
The filst problem was getting that fuselage and all
the parts back to my garage, 500 miles away. I was
fortunate that the company I work for had a truck,
with a 40 foot flatbed trailer, in that area and I could
arrange to have the driver swing by and we could
load the plane in a couple of hours and be on our
way. The "couple of hours" stretched into two days,
but we finally did get it all on and tied down, ready
for the trip.
I was a little self-conscious about bringing the
airplane, in that condition, into a nice neighborhood.
The truck driver and I had a brillian idea; we would
wait until after dark, about 8:30, and he would drive
quietly up to my house, back up the drive, and we
would get unloaded before anyone found out. Did
you ever realize the amount of noise, confusion, and
Re13B4B
By C. R. Near
Box 607
Hastings, Nebraska 68901
flashing lights that appear, when a 40 foot semi-
tractor-trailer outfit drives into a quite, residential
neighborhood? We couldn't have attracted a larger
crowd if we had hired the Blue Angeles to fly cover.
Needless to say, we had many willing hands. Too
many! I think more damage was done to the aircraft
17
from loading and unloading, without proper equip-
ment and planning, than was ever done in all its years
of flight operation and neglect.
The next evening, after the great moving event, I
found myself perched on a stool in the garage, suffer-
ing from a bad case of "buyer's remorse". All sales
training programs mention the existence of this dis-
ease, and I sure had it! However, I was too involved
then to back out. Already the "When are you going
to fly it?" and " You aren't really going to fly that , are
you?" questions were starting to be heard.
Probably the slowest part of any restoration must
be the teardown of the aircraft, to determine damage,
locate corrosion, and decide on what defective parts
are worth saving for patterns. As I moved through
this process, I made a point to photograph everything
with Tri-X film, to keep a record , and I have been
amazed how often I have referred to those photos,
during the reassembly process. Drawings of the old
aircraft of the 20's and 30's seem to change with each
aircraft, and the best reference you have is the one
sitting in front of you, no matter how rough it may
appear.
If I were going to make up a list of rules to follow
for restoration , number one would have to be, "don' t
throw anything away". Time and time again, you will
dig into those old rotten wood parts and pieces of
tubing to check hole spacings, covering locations,
and many other points of needed reference. It is
hard to believe how much dirt, oil, and rotten wood
you can find in an old airplane. When I removed the
leading edge of the wings, I was able to fill one and
one-half 30 gallon trash cans with old mouse nests!
It took several weeks of working, in the evenings,
to get the parts all removed from the fuselage,
labeled, and stored. By the way, small price tags, 1" X
2", with a string attached sure helps identify parts for
future reference .
When the parts were all removed , it was time to
get down through all the surface primer, surface rust,
and clean all the welds, so a thorough inspection
could be made to determine how much tubing would
have to be replaced. It was evident that some tubing
would have to be replaced , since some 4 feet of the
aft end of the fuselage was completely broken off!
I felt the best way to accomplish the cleaning of
the tubing was sandblasting, but I was not about to
trust my fuselage to a commercial sandb laster! I
made a container from a 5 gallon oil can, a funnel, a
1/2" copper elbow, and 6 feet of old garden hose. All
of this with a discarded sandblasting gun , got me
started . It didn' t take long for me to find out an im-
portant fact. You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT get along
without at least a 12-1/2 hp twin piston air compres-
sor. After I corrected that situation, the cleaning went
quite well, using fine silica sand and 45 pounds of air
pressure. This was a slow process, but did not dam-
age the tubing, and cleaned small crevices better than
beads. While cleaning the fuselage, I found that sev-
eral pairs of soft, white cotton gloves keep finger-
prints away from the cleaning tubing, and that an
arc-welding helmet with only the coverplate in place
makes a cool helmet and protects your eyes, while
giving much better vision than a conventional
sandblasting hood.
As the cleaning of the tubing progressed at a slow
pace, it was rather simple to check closely for internal
cor rosion by tapping along the lower portions of each
tube with a small ball pien hammer. Checking each
tube after only 2 or 3 feet had been cleaned, enabled
me to concentrate my attention much better than if I
would have attempted to check the whole aircraft at
one time.
The airframe required in excess of 30 feet of new
tubing to replace defective sections and areas I felt
might be questionable. The main thing in my mind
was to be certain that the "equal to or better" rule
was never broken. As soon as all repairs were com-
pleted and checked, the airframe was given a spray
coat of epoxy primer and the appearance promptly
improved.
Thi!i same process of clean, sandblast, inspect , re-
pair, and prime, was carried out on all the control
surfaces and then everything but the fuselage and the
wings were suspended from the garage ceiling, while
I too k stock of the situation and embarked on the
next step.
It became apparent to me that a 22' X 24' garage
was not going to be large enough to continue this
project. My wife and I discussed the problem, drew
up a set of prints, and hired a contractor to tear up
the patio, pour footings, install a foundation, and
pour a floor.
When this work had been scheduled, we loaded
up the family and too off for Oshkosh for the EAA
Fly-In. Upon our return, everything was completed
just as we had planned. Instead of working on the
SR-5A that fall and winter, I extended the garage
another 20 feet and installed a heating system and a
very good lighting system.
The shop had just been completed when my two
sons decided I could assist them in restoring a 1956
Triumph TR-3. Between our car restoration and the
garage construction, the Stinson took a back seat for
almost a year.
The next phase, after I was able to get back on the
SR-5, was to start replacing wood. Over half the for-
mers were completely missing and those that were
left were not even good enough for patterns. Lee
Brown, from Independence, Mi sso uri , not only
loaned me an old set to use for patterns, but he
drove clear up to Hastings one day to deliver them.
Old airplane builders are a great class of people!
I used the old formers as patterns for new tem-
porary formers which were cut out of 1/8 inch Maso-
nite. These were clamped to the airframe and the
new stringers installed. By cutting, wedging, and the
use of many discouraging words, the final shape of
the formers was arrived at, and they were then cut
out of the correct plywood and varnished prior to
final installation.
This same procedure was followed for all wood-
work. First a cardboard or paper pattern, then the
final construction in wood.
Due to my crowded shop situation, I tried to
schedule woodwork and sandblasting work in the
warm months, and engine and welding work in cold
months. This type of schedule also determined the
selection of a covering material. My employment dic-
tated that at any time, I might have to stop work for
two or three weeks. Therefore, a search was started
for a covering material which could adapt to these
conditions.
I found that if you want to start a major debate
within the "old airplane fraternity" all you have to do
is say, " 1 am going to cover with . ... ", and stand
back! After hearing good advicefor several years, I
decided that I was the one who had to coger the air-
plane and was going to have to make the decsion
and live with it.
By far, the best way to study the various materials
and techniques is to attend the EAA Convention at
Oshkosh and work in the covering workshops. This
doesn' t mean you should just stand and watch, it
means you should get in there and work all day long
and really cover an aircraft. It sure beats learning on
your own, at your own expense.
After spending the better part of two Oshkosh
trips in the covering tents, it was finally decided that
Razorback fabric suited my working conditions better
than any other . I also found that Sam Macre and
Robilyn Henry of Razorback, were able to give more
accurate information, and knew their product much
better than any of the other commerical supplier 's
representatives in attendance.
The fuselage and all control surfaces are now co-
18
~ ~
. \ "
vered and I have certainly not regretted my choice of
covering material. It is light weight, uses butyrate
dope for all finish coats, and is not subject to rot or
deterioration, when exposed to sunlight.
Acceptable doping and covering weather is now
over until spring, but the wings are sitting there wait-
ing for me. Most of the ribs have to be rebuilt using
5/16" X 5/16" square tubing which had to be specially
manufactured, but they should be finished by next
spring.
In drawing this first chapter of "an old Stinson's 4. Do all of the work yourself, if at all possible.
rebuilder" to a close, I would like to conclude with a Paying someone else may be faster, but then it really
few hints for the person who is contemplating a re- isn' t your airplane anymore, is it?
building project:
1. Join a type club for the aircraft you are restor-
ing.
5. Shut off the TV and START!!
2. Purchase good tools and be sure they are large
enough.
3. Become acquainted with an AI who likes old
aircraft and wants to see them restored.
19
AEROplANE POSTERS fROM
Article number one, poster numberone,
Lindbergh's Lockheed- Sirius
By Lionel Salisbury
7 Harper Road
Brampton Ontario
Canada L6W2W3
Several weeks ago, my fifteen-year-old son, David,
came home- with some real treasures. He had been
given a total of eighteen airplane posters, all of them
in excellent condition, printed in black and white,
and each with a dynamic photo of aircraft that were
either from the late 1920's or the early 1930's. They
had exciting titles too - "Captain Frank Hawk's
Northrop-Gamma - The Texaco Sky Chief", the
" New Stinson Reliant ", the " New 15 Passenger
Curtiss-Wright Condor Transport ".
We spread them out on the floor for a better look.
The posters were all printed on a fairly stiff card, each
was 19/1 across by 11" high, each had a photo that
covered all of the front, and on the back, each had
three-view line drawings of the aeroplane and a de-
scription and specifications. The back of the posters
had been published by the Borden Company limited
of Toronto, Canada. When you bought a 16 ounce
can of Borden's Chocolate Flavored Malted Milk, you
would find a paper band pasted around the outside
20
TANK FILLER
- ~
GASOLINE
BATTERY / \
COMPASS )
RADIO TRANSt.4ITTER
226 TO 900 METERS
I I
:- - - - - ~ - - :
)
2S- POUND ANCHOR
WATER RUDDER
INTO ~
WRIGHT C.YC.LONE ENGINE
680 H.P. AT 2100 R.P. M.
DOOR FOR ACCESS TO
LUGGAGE SPACE
TRANSPARENT
SLIDING HATCHES
EARTH INDUCTOR COMPASS
GENERATING UNIT
METAL
VENTURI
ENGINE COWL
\
RADIO RECEIVER
20 TO 1050 METERS
I MAPS, ETC.
~
NR-211
METAl FLOAT DIVIDED
WATER-TIGHT COMPARTIIAENTS
which could be sent in for another of "these Marvel-
ous Pictures". We could not help but marvel at the
gentility of a time when you could put a coupon on
the outside of a product.
The promotion must have been quite successful.
The first poster had a list of a total of fourteen pic-
tures in the series. A fifteenth was added later and il-
lustrated the Sikorsky " Clipper Ship of the Air". It
appears that this was not sufficient for the demand,
so a second series was brought out. There were ten
FUEL TANKS IN BOTH FLOATS
TOTAL 300 GALLONS
posters in the second series but an examination of
the second list reveals that only four new posters
were added. The rest were repeats and a re-
numbering of pictures from th first group. In all, 19'
photos of aircraft were published by the Borden
Company, we're missing only one from the complete
set, only one had slight tears, and the balance had
weathered some forty odd years of storage, in fine
shape.
My initial contact with the Borden Company in To-
LOOP FOR RADIO DIRECTION FINDER
600-t.4ILE RANt;E
COL. LINDBERGH'S
LOCKHEED "SIRIUS"
SEAPLANE
AfRO DICES T . NEW YORK
ronto gave rise to some surprise on their part, that
the company had never been involved in a promotion
of this nature. In fact, even the address on the poster
was strange. At first, no one could recall the "Yardley
House" address. Some inquiries of older members of
the staff revealed that in the 1930's, the company' s
head office had been on Spadina Road in Toronto.
Apparentl y, Yardley House had been used for extra
office space for awhile, because it was near the main
offices of the company. Yardley House had been
21
used for that purpose from 1932 to 1938, and this was
my first indication of the age ofthe posters. Mr. Dale
Tulloch, the Manager of Industry and Government
Relations for the Borden Companyvery kindlyhas ex-
tended the permission of the company to reprint the
posters in The VINTAGE AIRPLANE, but was unable to
obtain any further background information on the
series. To my knowledge, this collection of posters is
the only one know to exist , from the Borden collec-
tion.
These posters were a gift from Heather Inch of
Brampton. Her father, Glenn, was the original collec-
tor of the series, and he was able to pin-point the
date the series came out as 1936. He recalls being a
teen-ager at the time, living in the town of Alliston,
Ontario, near the Camp Borden Air Base. The local
young men ofthe town were naturallyvery interested
in airplanes, but it appears that the product you had
to buy to get the posters was pretty expensive in
comparison to the money they had available. Collect-
ing a full set was quite a chore. Some of the fellows
would go together to buyacan of the malted milk so
they could getaposter.
The poster reproduced here is the first one of the
first series . The line drawing of the side view of the
"Sirius" is full size from the back of the poster. The
description reproduced is also taken from the back of
the item.
NEXT MONTH - Poster number two of seri es number
one - Th e New 15 Pa ss enger Curti ss -Wright Condor
Transport.
DESCRIPTION OF LOCKHEED SIRIUS
Specifications: Span, 42 feet 10 inches. Length over-
all, 27 feet 6 inches. Height overall, 9 feet 2 inches.
Wing area (including ailerons) , 275 square feet.
Motor , Wright "Cyclone" 680 horsepower at 2100
rpm. Power loading 8.83 pounds per horsepower.
Wing loadings, 21.8 pounds per square foot. Weight
2,978 pounds. Gross weights, 4,600 pounds. With
pontoonsand extraequipment6,000 pounds.
Perfonnance: High speed, 175 miles per hour. Cruis-
ing speed, 145 miles per hour. Rate of climb, 1,200
feet per minute. Service ceiling, 20,000 feet. Radius,
2,000 miles. Gasoline capacity 225 gallons, plus spe-
cial 300 gallon in pontoons.
The is monocoque. The fuselage is wood
laminated and glued, covered with glued plywood.
Ailerons and tail surfaces are conventional, plywood
covered. The wings are conventional low wing. Air
foil section is Clark Y. Covering is ofplywood.
Equipment includes Hamilton-Standard propeller , Ec-
lipse electric starter. N.A.C.A. cowling. Standard in-
struments are provided. Also rate-of-climb and ice-
warning indicators.
Cockpits are tandem. Controls are dual.
Ha l Showerman of62 17 Ca nobie Avenue, Whittier, Cali -
forni a, sent i n these two shots ofa Fleet 2, NC775V which
he soloed i n 1935 . Hal reports he has other photos he's
wi lli ng to send i n. We hope he wi ll . . we hope others
wi ll also.
How to Get Free Set of Aeroplane P'1Cbns, DN,r....and 0..
1
LOCKHEED-SIRIUS 8BOEING BONIIEIl It BOEING PUaSUJT c.o.ofBordca'1 <laooDIIIe ......Mi1k lAWLIa.oM
Actual plaoc use<! by Coloocl lindbCTsb. (Bi8 Brocbnand Liule Brocbcr) .
bafta paper bald J.-.I.... die_- NINTYOta N.- AIm__
ft NEW PASSENGEIl 0JRTIS&-WRIGHT 9FAIRCHIlD "22" side. lemoYetIUabald.mepIKe..bd
CONDOll. TII.A)I;SPOIlT. ModemEconotll;' 2-oa.cr. H.... and 011 die ..is a
TheBorden Co. Limited
Yardlcy Ho.oc - - T_.o. Ont.
3
CAPT HANK HAWKS' NORTHltOP coupoo which briDssJOD-acrof tbae
10
SIKORSKY AMPHIBION
GAMMA-THE TEXACO SKY-<:HIEF. iii
NarYeloQS Picnua. PriDt you..meand
PleueICDd meAaopbDePicrIIKNo. 8 A4O-..-uscr-oneaI.t.. lars...in A-nca.
... PlTCAIJlN CABIN AlTIOGlltO adcIl'CIIclcarl.,011 adlCOUpaDandiDIliare
40< paNCDSU.
11
NEW STINSONaJ!UANT
by oambers the pictuc WUIICII. Nail
TOM SMITH
A4-puoenSUcabin plane. N...,
5
NEW BOI!lNG Tll.ANSI'OI.TModelNo.247. coupoo ro:
A Ircmcodoas puoenscr Ihip in DOC by.t.. 1ftCHANCE VOUGHT CORSAIR .
MILK
"IJitlOWIn4
12 ,..IIST AVE.W.
c:...ln 5UGo" Smd Uoi.ed Air Lion. As Iaaoched by ca.apule from beul..b.", .
THE BORDEN CO. UMITED
. ,
6
R)RO Tll.ANSPOItT . 13NEW MARTIN BOMBER - "My..cry Ship" YARDLEY HOUSf: - TOI.ONTO. <>NT e,l] OTTAWA, ,.....OMT
Famous 'n-motor .haook AdmU'al Byrd F hArm
.0Sou.b Pole. 0<' e y.
7
SAVOIA-MARCHETTI AMPHIBION
14
CURTISS "SHRIKE" ATTACK PLANE
Twin-bull . 14 Puscnscr. "Terrorof .he Ski.....