THE PRESIDENT'S PAGE

By E. E. "Buck" Hilbert
President, Antique-Classic Division
CONVENTION TIME IS HERE!
(Photo by Ted Kaston)
Most of our activities will be centered about the Antique and Classic Division Headquarters
Building, and the forums tent. The building will be manned everyday all day, and the guys and
girls will do their best to accommodate your desires for back issues of The Vintage Airplane,
memberships, decals, patches and what not.
There will be a meeting of officers, directors and chapter presidents open to all the member-
ship at noon on Sunday. This is the only time available from the forum schedule. The floor will
be open to suggestions and you'll have the opportunity to meet your officers and directors in
person.
Through the efforts of your Vice President, J. R. Nielander, Jr. , the forum schedule is full from
0900 Wednesday, the first day, through 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, the last day. And there is something
for everyone, too. I defy anyone to say J. R. hasn't put together a really interesting set of forums.
I don't think I'm going to have time to look at airplanes . . . there is just too much going on at
the forum tent.
Our time slot in the main building is the anchor; we will wind up the Convention from 9:30
p.m. 'til dark. At that time we'll have any last. minute awards and you'll meet some interesting
people.
You early birds, come prepared! Have your sleeves rolled up and your working clothes on.
There will be plenty to do for all concerned, and let' s arrange it so that we alI have time to see
the airplanes and visit with our buddies by sharing the work.
See you there!!
HOW TO JOIN THE ANTIQUE-CLASSIC DIVISION
Membership in the EAA Antique-Classic Division is open to all EAA members who have a special
interest in the older aircraft that are a proud part of our aviati on heritage. Membership in the Antique-
Classic Divi sion is $10.00 per year which one to 12 issues of The Vintage Airplane published
monthly at EAA Headqua r ters. Each member will also receive a special Antique-Classic membership
card plus one additional card for one's spouse or ot her designated family member.
Membership in EAA is $15.00 per year which includes 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION. All mem-
bership correspondence should be addressed to: EAA, Box 229, Hales Corners, Wi sconsin 53130.
2
VOLUME 2 - NUMBER 7 JULY 1974
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Reminiscing With Big Nick ... Nick Rezich . ................ . ........... ... . .. . . . ........ ... .. 4
TheLife AndTimes OfTweety Bird ...Dave Hamilton .... . .......... . .... ... .... ..... . . ...... 13
Nostalgia ..A Georgia Odyssey! . . . Evander Britt .... . ...... ...... . . .. .. . .. . .... .. .. . .. . .. . .. 16
Golden Oldie of theMonth ...Gar W. Williams .... ...... . .......... ... . . . . . .... .... .. .... .. . . 20
Around theAntique/Classic World ..... .... ... .... ....... . ... ... .. ... .. ... . .. . ... .. . ....... . .. 23
ON THE COVER ... HowardDGA-ll when BACK COVER ... Jungmeister and Ryan!
new. Now owned and being restored by
PhotobyTed Koston
Bill Wright ofTulsa.
CourtesyNick Rezich
EDITORIAL STAFF
Publisher - Paul H. Poberezny Editor - Jack Cox
Assistant Ed itor - Gene Chase Assistant Editor - Golda Cox
ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC DIVISION OFFICERS
PRESIDENT - VICE PRESIDENT
E. E. HILBERT J . R. NIELANDER. JR
8102 LE ECH RD. P. O. BOX 2464
UNION. ILLINOIS 60180 FT. LAUDERDALE. FLA. 33303
SECRETARY TREASURER
RICHARD WAGNER GAR W. WILLIAMS, JR.
BOX 181 g S 135 AERO DR., RT. 1
LYONS. WIS. 53148 NAPERVILLE , ILL. 60540
DIRECTORS
EVANDER BRITT JIM HORNE MORTON LESTER KELLY VIETS
P. O. Box 458 3850 Coronation Rd. P. O. Box 3747 RR 1, Box 151
Lumberton, N. C. 28358 Eagan, Minn. 55122 Martinsville, Va. 24112 Stilwell , Kansas 66085
CLAUDE L. GRAY, JR. AL KELCH GEORGE STUBBS JACK WINTHROP
9635 Sylvia Ave. 7018 W. Bonniwell Rd. RR 18, Box 127 3536 Whitehall Dr.
Northridge, Calif. 91324 Mequon, Wisc. 53092 Indianapolis, Ind. 46234 Dallas, Texas 75229
DIVISION EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
DOROTHY CHASE, EAA HEADOUARTERS
THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE is owned excl usively by Ant i que Classi c Ai rcraft . Inc. and is published
monthl y at Hales Corners. Wisconsin 53130. Second Class Permi t pendi ng at Hales Corners Post
Office. Hales Corners. Wisconsi n 53130. Membershi p ra tes tor Ant i que Classic Aircraft. Inc. are
$10.00 per 12 mOnlh period of whi ch $7.00 i s for t he subscripllon to THE VINTAGE AI RPLANE. All
Antique ClaSSIC Ai rcraft . Inc. members are requi red to be members of the parent organi zation. the
Expenmental Aircraft Associ ati on. Membership is open to all who are interested in aVI.ation.
Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc. , Box 229,
Hales Corners, Wisconsin 53130
Copyright > 1974 Antique Classi c Ai rcraft , Inc. All Rights Reserved
3
THE HOWARD STORY - PART TWO
The DGA-8 was built under ATC No. 612. With an empty
weight of 2,330 pou nds and a gross weight of 3,800 pounds,
true airspeed at 10,000 feet was around 190 mph - 187 to
be correct. Rate of climb was 2,000 feet the first minut e.
Wing section, I believe, was a NACA 2R212 with 21/2
0
in-
cidence and zero dihedral. Basic price was $14,500 F.A.F.
All the material I once had on the DGA-15 is gone. I
loaned it to a guy who was going to convert a 15 to a tri-
gear and he never returned any of it. (Now I know why my
brother Mike won't let me borrow any of his material! I
don't blame hi m ... I lost a very precious photo collection
because I let a supposed good fri end borrow them.) Inci-
dentally, the photo of the original Flannigan on page 13
of the last issu e was not taken on the evening of the first
test flight, but sometime later. That particular picture is
in a locked vault in my brother's house or bank . .. and for
good reason, as it is the only one taken that evening other
than the ones taken by the Howard bunch.
About this time I left Bluebird Air Transport and went
to work for American Airways at Chicago "Muni ." I never
thought much of airline work, so I kept my regular visits
to the Howard factory on a time clock basis a nd I would
always remind Mr. Ewing and Mr. Purcell that I wanted a
job with Howard. In the meantime I got to know the
"inards" and "ou tards" of the Howard and I made friends
with all 24 employees. Then it happened!1
They sold two more airplanes and I was hired ... I was
number 25. I went to work for "Red" Gross in the Finishing
Department (dope and fabric) and I remained with Howard
until July of 1944 when I (and about 20 other Howard men)
entered the armed forces. When I left, I was plant super-
intendent.
Working for Howard was a family affair. Everyone had
the same goal . . . to build the best damned airplane in the
world. Pride in workmanship just oozed all over the plant.
If ever there was an airplane built to perfection, it was the
Howard. We had time cards and a payroll department -
4
REMINISCING WITH BIG NICK
Nick Rezich
4213 Centerville Rd.
Rockford, III . 61102
but that was on paper only. We worked overtime, Satur-
days, Sundays and never received extra pay . .. and never
expected it. It was either work and get the airplanes deliv-
ered or shut th e doors.
Everyone was capable of working in all departments. If
you were needed in the wood shop, you worked on wings,
ribs, etc. - or Assembly or Welding or any other place
needed. Our engineers were mechanics ... when they
desi gned a new part, they didn't send a blu eprint out to
the shop, they ca me out and built it themselves to see if it
would work. The same for test flights - the chief engineer,
Gordon, or Walt or another engineer, would fly the air-
planes themselves or ride wi th the test pilot. I'll tell you a
good story about Gordon Israel next month in the Model 18
story. The same applied to our sales people. They flew the
airplane and they knew the mechanics of it.
Other than factory demonstrators, all civi lian Howards
were custom built. The order would come out from Sales
as "Mr. or Mrs. Howard, Model 8, 9, 11" or whatever model
and would list the eguipment, color, NC number, type of
interior, panel and promised delivery date. From then on,
we all referred to the ship by the owner's name. There
would also be special notations, such as "soft back seat
special", or "make s ure windows roll up and down
guietly", or "wrap wheel half with leather to match" or
"consult with pilot before installing radios".
Most company airplanes as well as private ones had
their pilots at the factory from the time the fuselage went
into the jig to completion. When the airplane was ready for
delivery, it was inspected by Sales, then by Benny and if it
was O.K., the department head of each department was on
hand when the customer arrived. If the cus tomer had any
changes, sguawks or whatever, the department head and
his lead man would take care of it to the customer's satis-
faction. When B. D. DeWeese became president, he was the
hardest man in the world to satisfy . .. he was the airplane
inspector supreme! And he knew where to look, BELIEVE
YOU ME!!
During the early years at Howard, we built everything
in the factory. The only thing we sent out for was coffee
and sandwiches.
When the fuselage left the jig and all the clips wer e
welded on, Mike Babco would take a torch and a rubber
mallet and straighten all the tubes by eye sight. The fus e-
lage and tail group would then go to Inspecti on and Paint.
We did not sandblast the tubing but, ins tead, cleaned and
etched it by hand. We then painted it with two coats of
zinc chromate - the second coat being a tracer which was
silver. After Sub-Assembly it was back to the paint shop for
cover. We would bring the whole airplane up through silver,
then it would be moved to the Sheet Metal depar tment and
fulty assembled. This served two purposes: first, it aged
the dope for final paint and, second, a per fect fit of all the
sheet metal was assured. All those fancy fairings with the
doubl e curves were all handmade, along with the NACA
cowl. Later on we bought the wheel pants and nose cowls.
Many fairings were two and three piece affairs welded to-
gether to form the fancy curve.
After the sheet metal was all fitted, the ship would go
back to the paint shop - this time on the gear and with
the engine in it - for final color. Many peopl e think of the
Staggerwi ng as having the best fini sh in those days . The
Staggerwing did have an excellent fini sh, but not quite as
good as the Howard. It was declar ed by NACA that th e
Howard had the smoothest finish in the indus try.
During the construction of the DGAs, we used contour
conformity jigs throu ghout and a few secrets that nobody
else was using. Have you ever heard of putting nitrate dope
over varnish? Can't be done, right? Wrong!! We did it.
Let's leave the airplane in the paint shop for final color
while I tell you how we built up to a perfect fini sh. The
wings, as many of you know, were all-wood wi th pl ywood
covering plus balloon cloth. Befor e the wing was covered
it was checked for conformity with a wing secti on jig, then
the top layers of skin were attached. We did not use nailing
strips but, instead, drove the nails into the plywood, itself.
We would have all the panels laid ou t wi th the nails started
only through the tip. Then they (the skins) were positioned
on the wing with the glue holding them in place. Now the
Wood Butcher's Symphony would begin! 6 wood butchers
armed with their hammers would start the nailing proce-
dure, which was the secret in making a two way curve wi th
wood - with no wrinkles. They would strike each only
once and each man knew the sequence of driving each
nail. This same procedure applied to the flaps and ailerons.
After the trimming and after the glue had set up, the wings
went to the paint shop ~ r 3 spray coats ot tull strength
varnish. The first coat was sprayed at8:00 a.m., the second
at noon and the third at 5:00 p.m. The masked-off bottom
panels were also sprayed at this time. After the bottom
panels were nail ed in place and trimmed, the wings went
back to the dope shop for covering a nd final paint.
The dope "slobberers" would use a power sander to
gri nd all the nail heads down flush and shape the wing to
a perfect contour. Next came the varnish. We would cut
the varnis h 50-50 with Toluol and rub it into the "'ring to act
as a sealer. This was the secret to perfectly formed wings .
Let me back-track here ... when we received the ply-
wood, we would check it for proper moisture content, then
store it in a homemade moisture control room. It was
checked again before application to the wing. I have for-
gotten the moisture content we used and myoid factory
records were desh'oyed by an over-ambitious housekeeper
. .. who shall remain nameless here.
After the varnish dried, we sprayed 2 cross coats of
clear dope on the wood surfaces for bonding of the balloon
cloth. After the wi ngs were brought up through silver, we
let them age or dry al ong with the fuselage and tail group
for 2 weeks or more, depending on schedule. Now, the hard
work started. We would sand the whole airplane down
" fl at" so all the tapes were hidden. We had a hard time
training and keeping sanders. We did not use sanding
blocks as a sandi ng block ca n't feel sharp edges, tapes, rib-
s titching, etc. As a result, the skin on a sander's fingers
would become so thin they would bleed. BELIEVE- YOU-
ME, [ know - many a Howard has my blood in it" We
(Photo Courtesy Nick Rezich)
Shell Oil 15. Pilot: Jim Wheeler. One of two bought by
Shell. The other one is in Rockford, /II . owned by Ron
Rippon. This wi/l be a super Howard when Ron finishes it.
5
would repeat this process after the final coat.
Now came the "finish perfection." From 1936 through
'37 we hand rubbed our surfaces to a super gloss, but
from late '37learly '38 we buffed them with a 2-speed
buffer. This was a tricky operation as it was really easy to
bu rn the finish when you used the high geqr. Brother, you
had better know your business or you bought yourself an
airplitne. We also appli ed the wax with the buffer. The
mas ter buffer was Eddi e Brooks. He was th e one who
checked me out on the buffer even though I was th e fore-
miln. Eddie and I put the final finish on all th e Howards
up to late 1940 when we checked out a couple more men.
This buffing operation was not only tricky, but somewhat
dangerous. In the hi gh-speed mode it generated a vacuum
between the surface and th e pad. You had to make sure
there was nothing in the path of thi s vacuum.
I learned the hard way ... I was a cocky young show-off.
I had ju st fini shed buffing a fuselage and was standing
back admiring my work - and decided to put just a little
more gloss at the tail end of the fuselage. I sprinkled the
fuselage with th e compound and started in \,vith quick
sweeps. then it happened
l
I sucked in the nav light wire hanging out the back of
th e fuselage. I tore hell out of everything - fabric, v-,,;re
and metal bulkhead. Well , needless to say, that took care
of my cockiness
l
I shook for two days after that, but my
first thought was that of getting fi.red. Cutting off my arms
would have been less painful than being fir ed from Howard
Aircraft. To make a long story short, I stayed at the plant
all night and repaired my damage so th e airplane could go
into final assembly by morning. TIl ere was no Watergate
co\' er-u p .. , the whole plant knew it and I got ribbed about
it for il long time, That buffer was dangerous and that's
wi1\' \\'e didn't check anybody else out for a long time,
We built the production airplanes just like Benny built
th e Flannigan. We would assemble everything but the
wings ,1 t the factory, then truck the wings and tow the fuse-
l'lgC to the fined ilssembly and flight test.
The hangar we used for final assembly was myoId alma
mater, Bluebird Air Transport, which, in turn, had taken
o\ 'er the Texaco hangar, In the early days only a couple of
men went with the airplane for flight tes t, but as we built
more airplanes, the hangar became a full size department.
My younger brother, Frank, worked on final assembly as
a foreman at the plant and the hangar.
VVe had our ups and downs, financially, from the day
the plant opened until the day it closed, The year of 1939
was bad, so bad that it looked like it was going to close,
One day the word came down that we were shutting down
until 3 or 4 orders were received. I knew some people at
Beechcraft, so 4 other guys and myself took off for Wichita
in my new Dodge, ,only to find that Beech and Cessna
were in the same shape as Howard Aircraft. Cessna was
building manure spreaders to stay open! We went to Stear-
man and here I got hired, but not my buddies. I had a
cou pIe of days to get moved so I drove back to Chicago
that night. During the drive, we talked about Howard,
Beech, etc., and we decided th' hell with Wichita, we were
sticking wi th Howard. When we arrived back home, my
mother said, " Howard is looking for you to come back to
work,"
When I arrived at the plant, it was all hustle and
bustle, "Sl im" Freitag and J. D, Reed of Houston, Texas
had come in with a fistful of orders, J, D, has sold just
about every oil company in Texas a Howard
l
This was the
break Howard needed. From then on, HOWill'd was on
sound footing. B, D. DeWeese left Stinson and came on as
manager and later became president. He was responsible
for converting many Stinson customers to Howards,
We expanded th e plant and production went from one a
month to one a week. I was promoted to assistant plant
superintendent at this time and George Lyons became
plant superintendent. Mr. Earl Ewing, the original plant
superintendent, went with Bell Aircraft in Buffalo, N, y,
Then came the nightmare, the Model 18, the low wing
trainer. I will devote a separate chapter to the "18" story,
Working for Howard Aircraft was rewarding in many
ways. Most rewill'ding was the privilege of working with
the su per star craftsmen of the indush-y. I met all of th e
top people in the aircraft manufacturing business, famous
people in government, movie stars and many of the
country's leading business men. I'll never forget the day I
met Wallace Beery. Mr. Beery was en route to Detroit to
purchase a new Stinson Reliant and as he was changing
planes in Chicago, h e saw Walt Diaber taking off on a test
fli ght with a new Howard, Beery turned to one of the air-
port employees and asked, "What's that?". The fellow
replied, "That's a Howard,"
What ath'acted Beery's attention was the angle of dimb,
Diaber, like Benny Howard, had a pattern for every take-
off. With Walt it was break ground and climb at about a
45 or 50 angle up to about 3,000 or 4,000 feet.
Beery watched the Howard go out of sight, then went
in and cancelled his flight to Detroit. In a few minutes he
anived at th e factor y and just walked into the Sub Assem-
bly d epartment and s tarted looking around. Before the day
was out, Mr. Wallace ordered a Wasp powered Model11 .. ,
and Stinson had lost another sale, thanks largely to the per-
formance of a Howard, A short time later Beery's pilot
anived at the plant to follow the building of his new air-
plane, Wallace Beery was an excellent pilot but his movie
contracts requir ed that he have a professional pilot on
board. When he took delivery of his new 11, he threw a
huge party for the whole plant. He really loved the Howard
a nd when the new Model 15 was available, he traded the 11
for a 15. His 15 was a special airplane that later helped us
secure th e Navy contract,
Beery loved to hunt. He wanted an airplane that he
could camp in and with room enough to fly home his catch,
This meant some kind of fold-down seat that could be con-
verted into a bed, The final version was a fold back seat,
which was later used as a stretcher in the ambulance Navy
Howards, When th e new airplane was completed, Beery
came to the factory for a check-ou t a nd he a nd Benny wen t
riding in his new 15.
That was the last airplane Benny Howard delivered as
president of the company. Mr. B, D, DeWesse became
president after that delivery. Benny never recovered finan-
cially after the Mulligan accident. As I said earlier, the
plant was running on borrowed money right from th e
beginning, It Still' ted out as Ben O. Howard and Associates,
then the Paul H. Dilvis group got involved and it became
Howard Aircraft Company, One of the early investors and
good friend of Benny's was Mr. Dan Peterkin, Jr., President
and now Chairman of the Board of Morton Salt. Dan bought
one of th e eMly 8s and it was fancy - special paint, a flock-
ed instrume nt panel, etc. , th e works. We lat er used this
same airplane to develop th e 11. Howard Aircraft was slow
getting off the ground and we made some marketing mis-
takes.
We built a bunch of airplanes that many people are not
aware of. The 15P was the most popular and the one we
built the most. We also built a 15 with a 330 Jake. We built
the 8, 9, 11, 12 and 15 as civilian airplanes. The 12 was a
Jake powered 11 - we built 2 of them. We built an
economy 9 with a 225 Jake and a Curtiss-Reed prop. We
built a 12 with a Jake and a Curtiss-Reed prop. We were
trying to keep the price down and be competitive with
Beech and Waco and I believe that was our mistake,
6
(Photo Courtesy Nick Rezich)
This company publicity photo depicts Benny Howard's
last delivery of an aircraft as president of the company.
7
The Howa rd had a reputati on as being a super per-
formance ilir pl ane - whi ch they were with the Wri ght or
the Was p. When these economy models hit the ma rke t,
th ey changed our image. Those 300 Jakes al most put us out
of business by repu tation. The engines were junk. We had
probl ems with th em even in tes t.
The airpl ilnes that sold were th e Wasp 11 " nd 15 and
they were th e most ex pensive . Every time we built an
economy model we were ea ting up Benny's precious money
with an airpl ane that would no t sel l. As a res ult, we had
more factory demonsha tors th an Beech.
Mi s take number two was tha t we d id n' t put fancy
pai nt jobs on some of the economy jobs and thi s hurt be-
ca use we hild the reputation of hav ing th e bes t fini sh in
the indushy. But all that changed with th e 15 - when we
went 100% Was p, delu xe fini sh inside and out il nd a wide
gear.
The fi rs t 8, or "Flan ni ga n", had a typica l Howar d gear -
hi gh il nd narrow. This was a throw-back fro m th e ril cers.
If you are an old tes t pil ot, you will understa nd the reason-
ing behind thi s type of gear, that is, to be abJe to rotate th e
wing to the max angle of attack for short take-offs and
landings . Flaps were new to mos t pil ots and the Howar d
fl aps were drag fl aps (even th ough the Fowler tl ap was
around then). When Walter Brownell ca me o n as chi ef
engineer, the fir st thi ng he did WilS to lower th e gear and
add steering to the ta il wheel. He also designed a new set
of tli ppers for better control and lig hter feel. Thi s was soon
foll owed by an even lower and wi der gear and still later the
15 had a compl etely new gear. The bigges t mi stake - and
th e most fr equ ent - in tl ying a Howar d is trying to do
wheel landings - whoopsl The landing gear was designed
and buil t with a set of taxi springs and an oleo s hock strut
. the shock shut for land ing and the spri ngs for taxiing.
So when you put it on the springs for landing, you just set
up a booby tra p t hat mi g ht jus t bite yo u! La nd them
3- point and you won' t have any probl em - cross wind, up
wind, downwind or no wind.
All Howards were good stable tl ying machines. The onl y
goofy ones are th e twisted wing Navy jobs . I personall y like
th e 11 over all the res t as it is the bes t performer of all and
had the bes t feel. The basic str ucture remained vir tuall y
unchanged from the 8 through th e 12 and were built like a
brick outhouse. All the whil e the factory was in operati on,
the civilian Howar ds were never involved in a fatal acci-
dent. Oh, they broke 'em up, but no one was ever killed or
seriously injured.
I remember a few good ones . We had an 8 that belong-
ed to a furnitur e compa ny in Indiana that went on its back
so hard and so fas t that is did not scra tch the wheel pants.
Damage amounted to windshi eld, cabin roof and verti cal
fin - no bent tubes in the fu selage. We had another bea ut
... a bra nd new 15 that belo nged to a pea nut man in Min-
neapolis. Thi s was a bea utiful two- tone red job wi th a white
pin stripe. This guy was flying it home from the ractory
and got into some weather between Lone Rock and La
Crosse, Wi sconsin and tl ew it, full bore, into the ground at
a nearly level attitude. He knocked off the gear and went
sliding on th e bell y. When the noise s topped, he and hi s
lady fri end got out, called th e fact ory and said come get it
and fi x it. They go on and on . We had a bl ack and gray 15
whi ch we ni ckn amed "The Hearse. " Thi s guy was show-
ing hi s ranch to some fri ends and fl ew it into a tree. He
ca me out of it with a broken ankle. The airpl ane needed two
new wings, new tlippers, new gas tanks, all new meted,
new motor mount and prop. We fixed it.
The "fuzz" got into th e act, also. We sold 3 Howards to
the CAA - all these were loaded "'lith special radio gear
and with all that on board an inspector couldn' t find Kan-
sas City! He put it down in a fi eld and proceeded to bus t it:-
all to hell, but we fi xed that o ne, il lso.
Thi s same CAA Howard almost cos t me my I ife. We were
waiting for th e s pecia l radio gear to be returned to the
factory after the accident so that we could finish assembling
the airpl ane and we were short of factory space, so we
decided to hang th e fu selage from the ceiling until the
radios ca me in. As we were hoisting it in pl ace, a cable
bro ke and the fu selage rolled over and came down invert-
ed. I was standing to o ne side during the hoisting, but when
th e fu selage roll ed, I wa s directl y undernea th and the cabin
roof knocked me to th e ground and out. What saved me
from beco ming a pa ncake was a bench and th e motor
mou nt lu gs. As the fu selage was coming down, the motor
mount lugs ca ug ht th e edge of the bench and s topped it
from crushing me. When I recovered and found out that
the cabl e they were using was rope instead of aircraft
cabl e, I stormed into Steve Sanyard's offi ce and proceeded
to tear hell ou t of him. As purchas ing agent he bought the
ro pe cabl e as a mo ney saver instead of aircra ft cabl e.
Needl ess to say, we put it back up wi th aircraft cable'
We had very few working accidents and very littl e
absenteeism. We trained our own fir e bri gade and they
saved th e f<lc tory twice. It seems to me that all aircraft
factori es are the sa me . .. they always pl ace the welding
depar tment a nd th e dope shop back-to-back. Howard was
no exception. The south wall of the dope shop was the
div ider betwee n the welding department fitting welders
and th e spray booth . The welders would hang their lighted
torches o n hangers whil e turning over parts .. . with the
flame pointed toward the wall! Well , one fine day one of
these torches burned a hole in the wall and WHOOM! We
had a fire!
When I fir st saw it, th e tl ame was about the size of a
basketball. By the time I sounded the alarm, which was at
my desk, th e whole wes t wall of the spray room was a tl ame
from tl oor to ceiling. Behind that wall on the outside we
had stored about 20 barrels of dope thinner. All I could
thin k about was tha t soon we would have Roman candl es
going off all over the pl ace when those barrels went, and
that would take care of the factory.
Thi s is hard to beli eve, but BELIEVE- YOU-ME, the fac-
tory fir e bri gade grabbed their assigned extinguishers and
rushed in and put out that nitrate dope fir e . .. just as they
ran out of extingui shers and the sprinkl ers went off. Whil e
thi s was going on, we had one compl ete airpl ane in there
being s prayed with sil ver dope whi ch was removed, beli eve
it or not, withou t fir e damage. When the fir e department
arri ved, we were in the process of cl eaning up and were
back in producti on th e next morning. If that fire bri gade
had taken 30 seconds longer to respond, we would have
lost the fac tory. Tha t fir e taught me a lesson ... I needed
more protec tion. First, I turned the welder' s benches
180", next I moved the dope storage area, I doubl ed the
number of extingui shers and cut explosi on doors in the
roof.
The next fir e took pl ace while I was in Florida on the
Gulf Oil Tour and the Miami Air Races. It happened on the
second shift. Mike Bernat, the foreman, was spraying a
set of wings with bl ack nitrate dope when he noticed the
bl ack turning to orange. Wh en he turned around, the whole
dope room was in tl ames . Again, the trained fir e bri gade
extingui s hed th e fir e and saved the factory. The wings? Oh,
they were O. K. - no fir e damage! Yes, we were lucky . . .
but the answer to some of that luck was a good and well
trai ned fir e bri gade who were not scared to go into the
potenti al bl as t area. Speedy res ponse and the proper type
of extingui shers were th e keys. As I said earlier , every-
bod y at How ard was super.
8
Above (Photo Courtesy Nick Rezich)
Jake powered 15. The ship is now in Minnesota.
The economy 12. Note the Curtiss-Reed prop and the long
motor mount.
We built a super airplane with super people and then
we built some super, SUPER jobs ... like the 15P that
went to George Mason, president of Nash Kelvinator. This
was the most expensive Howard ever delivered. It had
everything super special - paint, interior, radios, two
doors - the works. Another super special went to Merrill
C. Meigs when he was in Washington, D.C. with the War
Department. The company ordered a scale model of thi s
airplane to be delivered along with the airplane. My
brother , Mike, built the model and I must say it was super
super. Detail was so fine - it even included miniature maps
in the seat pockets. It was mounted on a simulated runway
with grass sides enclosed in glass.
We built some super Howard ISs for the du Ponts,
Shell Oil bought two, Texaco one, Pure Oil two and Humble
Oil one. Several governors bought Howards; Mr. Putman,
president of Chicago and Southern Airways bought one;
and the Free French bought some. The list goes on and on.
1941 was our banner year ... then BAM! the war. What
could we build for the war effort? The gutl ess 18 was
going to C.P.T., but it was not accepted as a primary
trainer by the Army.
About the time it looked like the end for the 15, 10 and
behold if ol' "Sl im" Freitag, vice president a nd top
salesman, didn' t come up wi th the answer. He returned
from Washington with an order from the U.S. Navy for 30
custom built Howard DGA-15Ps. These first 30 airplanes
were built the same as custom jobs, including a high-gloss
silver finish and plush interior. This now paved the way for
other military orders, which included the ambulance and
9
the instrument trainer. Later came a sub-contract to build
the Fairchild PT-23.
This was when B. D. DeWeese and the Navy decided to
twist the wing on the 15 and goof up a good airplane. We
stepped up production to one a day and received the Navy
"E" Award ... and I was promoted to plant superintendent.
In the meantime we were building a plant in West Chi-
cago next to the St. Charles airport (now the Du Page Coun-
ty airport). The new plant would build PT-23s on one side
and NH-ls on the other. The army was in a hurry and want-
ed PT-23s before the new plant could be finished. I was
sent to St. Charles to get the 23 program roLling as well as
the NH-l. I used my Culver Cadet, which I bought the year
before, to commute the 15 miles or so between Muni (pre-
sent Chicago Midway) and St. Charles (Du Page County).
The first PT-23 was built in an old warehouse in Geneva,
llIinois and assembled at the St. Charles airport. The next
six were built at the airport. We then moved into the new
factory and used the hangar as the fly-away hangar. It was
here in St. Charles that we had our first fatal crashes. The
airport then had two grass runways - a long EIW and a
short SWINE. Two Navy aviators were picking up two NH-
Is; the wind was W-SW about 15, gusting to 25. The pilots
were instructed to take-off west. As they taxiied out, one
pilot decided to take off SW vvithout informing the other
pilot or the hangar. The airplane taking off west was air-
borne first ... the one taking off SW met the west bound
plane at the intersection and he Hew right through it. The
west bound craft crashed and burned and the other
landed on fire - the pilot survived. Surprisingly, the sur-
viving aircraft did not suffer much collision damage.
We also had a PT-23 crack up. This time an Army pilot
was taking delivery of a PT and the engine quit on take-off.
He just kept on climbing and turning until he spun in. The
company test pilots never put a scratch on any airplanes
all during the production days of Howard Aircraft.
The only near mishap with a Navy Howard came when
the NACA wrapper cowl came loose and tore up the air-
plane. This was really funny when it happened. You
would have to know Walt Diaben, the test pilot, to fully
appreciate this story. This was GH-2 built by the main
plant and Walt was west of Muni putting the airplane
through final Hight test - which included a dive to 280 plus
mph. It was during this dive that the cowl came loose. It
took the windshield out, that big chunk of tin then took
out the compass, and the stabilizer adjustment handle (all
on the roof). The rest of the cowl went over the wing tak-
ing out part of the left wing, Hap and left nipper. In the
meantime 01' Walt got on the radio and called a May Day to
the Muni tower - which we could hear on our hangar
moni tor.
Well, he never turned off the mike after the first call
and all we kept hearing was, "Whoa, you #?1&/!$!
Whoa, you #ii?&(!$1! Whoa, you #!!$&?0/#!1!" He landed
with full power to control the ship. Later, he told us his only
worry was whether the fuselage rib stitching would hold.
He said the fuselage sides bulged out like a balloon and he
was glad that fabric was stitched! Walt was killed after the
war while working for International Harvester - by a B-23
propeller.
Howard continued to grow with the military contracts
and the new plant. Everything was going fine until 1944,
the power struggle was on which ended with the plant
closing down before the war was over. Only two aircraft
plants were shut down during the war - Howard and
Brewster.
With our growing production, we sub-contracted many
parts and assemblies in the Fox River Valley area just west
of Chicago. I became president of Valley Aircraft along
with my duties at Howard.
When the power struggle was under way, the first order
of the day was to eliminate the old original staff and I be-
came a tiHget - and a good one. I was slated for plant
manager and the new group didn't want this. They wanted
to milk th e government dry with bootleg sub-contracts,
phoney pay roLls, phoney consultants, etc. I was one of
their biggest obstacles .. . so I had to go. But how? Well,
I was single with only my mother as a dependent. Those
(expletive deleted) went to the Draft Board and told them
they had a new plant manager and I could be taken off
the deferred list. When the word came down to Howard
Aircraft that I was re-classified to lA, the stuff really hit
the fan. The president, Mr. B. D. DeWeese, went to the
Draft Board and wanted to know why. He was informed
that his office had directed the Board in its action. DeWeese
then went to the U.S. Navy contract representative, a
Captain. He went to Washington to stop the action, but it
was too late. By the time he got the red tape untangled, I
was on my way to Fort Sheridan along with about 20 other
faithful Howard employees. That was in July of 1944 and
Howard closed its doors less than a year later.
End of story?? No!!
Before I left Howard, I took with me all the phoney
records, phoney sub-contracts, etc. When the war was over
and I was operating the Pylon Club, I was paid a visit by
the FBI which was investigating the defunct Howard Air-
craft Corporation. I was still mad at those (expletive
deleted) and was ready and willing to spill my guts to the
FBI. Before I testified, I called my boss who was president
of Howard when it closed. I told him I would keep my
mouth shut if it would hurt him. He told me to tell every-
thing and he would back me all the way. I thanked him
and spilled my guts ... end of story ... end of Howard
Aircraft.
Next - the Model 18 Howard.
Oshkosh '74 is about a week away for most of you living in the
USA and Canada. Now that the fuel crisis has settled down, all
indicators point to the largest Fly-In ever. A 20% increase in attell-
dance is predicted. With 20% more aircraft, campers and autos,
EAA is stepping up the safeh) program by 200%. In order to main-
tain our respected safety record, we need the co-operation of roery-
one on the site.
Remember, when you arrive at Oshkosh you will be at the
world's busiest airport. Approach Oshkosh as you would Chicago
O'H are. Before you leave home, pick up a copy of the letter of
operation from your local FSS. Study the letter and adhere to it.
Plan your trip carefully, giving yourself ample time. Take your
time, don't push weather. The Fly-In is a week long and it is a lot
more fun flying your airplane during the Fly-In than spellding the
week picking it out of a farmer 'S field and trucking it home.
I have asked Paul to establish a Division Safety Trophy. This
Trophy will be awarded to the EAA Division with the best overall
safety record at the Fly-ln.
I believe the Antique-Classic Divisioll can win this award sim-
ply by helping each other. Example: If a buddy needs a wing walker,
jump in and wing walk; a buddy needs a cockpit minder for a start,
jump in and help. Here are some "don'ts" - do not pull any props
you can't handle, let the owner handle it. Don't let a stranger fly
your airplane with out a proper check out. We get many Lind-
bergh's at Oshkosh - so watch Olll'! If YOIl have a car or trllck in
the immediate area for children or someone sleeping in a bag. Keep
an eye on smokers. If YOIl see a smoker by an airplane, ask them
to pllt it alit. An accident is an accident whether it be an airplane,
auto, bicycle or whatever. They all can rllin a good time and be
costly.
Beliroe-you-me, being safe is no accident. One last word, be sllre
to sign up for at least one days voilln teer work.
Enjoy the Fly-In from the ground lip!! Fly and drive safely.
10
( Photo Courtesy Nick Rezich)
The Nash Kelvinator Howard, the most expensive one
ever made. George Mason was president. Photo taken
just south of Muni (Midway Airport in Chicago).
(Photo Nick Rezich)
The Pure Oil 8 .. . before and after.
(Photo Ni ck Rezich)
The ghost of Howard - made by the
paint shop when a lay-off was announced.
11
(Photo byJ. D.Reed)
Humble Oil 's red and white 15, one of many Howards
soldto the oilcompanies.
(Photo CourtesyNickRezich)
Left
AJacobspowered15.
(Photo CourtesyNickRezich)
AproductionNavyjob- builtbythemainHowardfactory
in Chicago.
. at"".....
.' . .. ~
.: 1" , , : ~ ~ : .... -;.
~ ~ .. ' ,...... -:. ~ #
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF
TWEETY BIRD
By
Dave Hamilton (EAA 48226, Al e 15)
905 Slack Drive
Anderson, Indiana 46013
It all began in 1968. I started out the summer looking for
a "basket case" Cub. On every trip throughout the summer
a little time was put aside for nibbing around airports in
the areas we were visiting. With no luck I was about to give
up on an antique or classic Cub and build a homebuilt,
then in September I heard about an Aeronca LC just 20
miles southeast of us. I went down to check on it only to
find it was not for sale. A fellow at this airport told me
about a J-3 in Greenfield, Indiana, just 25 miles south of
my home. He gave me the name and address of the fellow
who owned it. The following Saturday I drove down to take
a look at this Cub. TNr man's name was Bob Willis. I found
him to be a very int1 esting fellow; he is an avid antiquer
(PhotobyJim Mahoney)
Dave Hamilton andTweety Bird aboutten minutes after
she was finished. 15 minutes later she was in the air.
and is a storehouse of information on antiques and classics.
He was one big help to me later in rebuilding the Cub.
Well, to get on with this story, I looked over his Cub and
found it was built in November 1945. I asked Bob if it was
for sale and it wasn't at that time. He was planning on re-
building it himself. After many more visits with the Willis
family, our family and their's became very good friends . I
pestered Bob many times about the Cub but he said he
wanted to see it restored as she came from the factory .
That was the point we saw eye to eye on, we both had
the same idea in mind, being to put her back in original
configuration. The following February, Bob and his family
came to visit and he gave me the good news, that he would
sell the Cub to me.
We got a duce flatbed and hauled the Cub to my house
the following weekend. I completely disassembled the
plane and had the fuselage sandblasted. Upon inspection I
found some pits in the lower longerons. The inspector came
over to look at it and condemned it. My bubble burst. He
said it would be best to part it out or get a new fuselage.
The problem was where do you find a Cub fuselage in
better shape than the one I had? Bob and I decided that
13
we would rebuild the one I had. I built a jig to fit the old
fuselage and started cutting out th e old tubes . I had to
re pl ace bot h lower lo ngerons fr om cen ter of the gear
httmgs to the tailpos t, all cross and diagonal tubes on the
bottom, four verti ca l tubes between upper and lower long-
erons, and r ear gear fittings. I found aD air die grinder
wIth a bUrrIng tool was the bes t tool for thi s; it kept th e
heat down to a minimum. I had about 200 hours in thi s job
from start to fml sh. I got all th e new tubing tacked into
pl ace and then Bob s pent quite a few hours welding it up.
Atter z lIlC chromating it I received the O.K. to go ahead.
. Att er about three weeks of painstaking work putting th e
and ba.ggage in and bringing the
IIlteno r up to sil ver, I notI ced that what once were good
sharp corners were now pulling away and becoming fill ets
due to the tautelllng of the dope. After looking at it for
about a week I deCIded to start all over. This time every-
where I wanted a sharp corner I sewed a piece of pinked
ta pe a nd wrapped It around the tube or channel in the
corners. By doing this I was abl e to obtain the corners I
was after. At the time I put the interior in I al so put the
rIght SIde on the fuselage. Thi s was to make sure the side
and interi or fabri c were bonded well to each other at the
door opening. I was now ready to fini sh the interior with
new fl oorboa rds, bl ack trim, etc.
Next was the big job of the exterior of the fuselage.
Aft er 12 coa ts of cl ear dope then 6 coats of silver and fini sh-
ing up wi th 4 coa ts of color, the job was done. The wors t
part W ,lS the wet sa nding between all coa ts of dope, but
thI S 15the onl y way to obtain a super slick fini sh. The wings
were tini s hed in much the same way.
Ross Gresley, the president of Chapter 226 at that time,
was at my home every ni ght helping me ribstitch. There
were many other members in th e chapter on hand at vari-
ous tImes to lend a ha nd when needed.
To put thi s Cub into the sha pe I was looking for , I re-
placed a lot ot parts. Just to name a few: new tires, landing
gear vees, shock cords, long and short shock cords struts,
one ex pander tube, brake fairings, brake cylinder dia-
phragm, brake lines, hu b ca ps, brake blocks, all new glass,
lllstrument panel, boot cowling, s tabili zer yoke and screw,
all new cabl es, turnbuckl es, new landing edge aluminum,
all new fairings, new stringers, three wing ribs, pull eys,
throttl e plates, th rottl e cabl es, new fa irl eads, every bolt,
nut and screw repl aced, sti ck grips, new gas tank, one
rI ght rear strut, ti e rod nippl es, gascolator, engine rebuilt,
prop rebuilt and engine cowl. Thi s was something in itself.
Bob Fros t, a fri end in Greenfi eld, had been sa ving this
engine cowl for about 12 years for just such a r ebuild. Bob
Willis managed to scrounge up a compl ete set of white
faced Cub instruments over th e years. These two additi ons
helped make it original all the way.
I had scrounged for an original all the way.
J had scrounged for an original Senseni ch prop for about
2 years when I heard about some props at Cl pital Drive Air-
port in Milwaukee.
My wife Phyllis spent many hours doing the seats on th e
Cub. She hunted until she found some expanded vinyl
WIth the sa me gralIl pattern as the original buttons off the
old seats and repainted them. The old seats were taken
a part and used for patterns, and the new sea ts were stitch-
ed exactl y the way the old ones were. Except for the foa m
rubber ins ide, you ca n' t tell th em from th e origina ls .
Ph yllls had many broken fingernails and thread burns fr om
sewing up the seats, but without her work th e "ole Cub"
wouldn' t have been near the res torati on it turned out to be.
Ross Gresley and I s pent about two weeks aft er work
every ni ght putting it all together. We didn' t think to
much o f th e s tring -from-tip - to-tip - to-ri g-the -wings -
method, so bei ng a pattern maker, I made a strai ght edge.
Have you ever seen a 36 foot straight edge? This made the
job much easier.
"TWEETY BIRD", as N-42621 has affecti onately become
known, was inspected on Sunday, Jul y 16, 1972 and passed
with flying colors .
We worked the foll owing week putting fairings on and
doubl e checking everything. The following Saturday, Ross
and I took her up for her firs t fli ght. As I taxi ed down to the
end of the runway, I wondered about this bolt and that
bolt . . . had I tightened them all? Well , we were ready to
take off, the bi g moment was here. As we went down the
runway, I figured the minute she left the ground I would
have to give her left or ri ght s tick to compensa te for
ri gging. " WOW", s he was rigged perfectl y, the sti ck was
ri ght in the cent er' After 3 years and 5 months my drea m
had come tru e. I was in the air in my own ori ginal J-3 Cub.
Ross and I fl ew around for quit e a whil e doing some lazy
8's, chandell es, s tall s ... "s he" felt bea utiful.
After about an hour of fli ght we returned to the airport
and were taxiing up to th e gas pump and noticed a bi g
crowd around a littl e Taylorcraft. Anderson was having an
air show the next day and the Cole Brothers were to be the
performers. Dua ne Cole had already arrived and was o n the
ramp; I noticed him looking at the Cub and soon came
walking over to take a closer look. He sa id he had bought a
Cub in 1945 and my registrati on number ca ught hi s eye;
later he checked hi s log book and hi s number was just two
different than mine - mine was NC-42621, his was NC-
42623. Duane and I talked about the Cub for quite awhil e.
He looked it over very closely, as ked if I was going to Osh-
kos h '72 and said I should do well. I didn' t think I had a
chance as that is the big one.
Phyllis a nd our da ughter, Michell e, took the tru ck
camper and ou r son, Derek, and I fl ew the Cub to Oshkos h.
After arri ving, we looked at every Cub that arri ved all
week and finall y thought maybe we had a chance for the
" Bes tCub." On Friday of that week we were asked by the
judges to sta y for the awards Saturday ni ght. After we
didn' t get the " Best Cub" award or the " Bes t 65 H.P.", I
figured they had changed their mind and one of the late-
comers took it. Then the bi ggest moment of all - GRAND
CHAMPION CLASSIC AIRCRAFT FOR 1972, NC-42621,
owned by Dave Hamilton, Anderson, Indiana' I could hard-
ly beli eve my ears. "She" won the big one. Since that big
moment, she has taken 3 more firs t pl ace awards and one
second. It doesn't take a bi g, rare, one-of-a -kind to win at
air s hows. With work and a lot of T. L.c. - even a Cub ca n
do it.
14
ey)
Tweety Bird the day Dave brought it home from Bob Willis ' Spraying the wings.
(Photo by Jim Mahoney)
strip.
BELOW, LEFT - A gaggleofCubs.
ABOVE - An angular old Stinson axle deep in fescue.
BELOW, RIGHT - A Franklin-powered Cub on a father-
ABOVE, RIGHT- " OldBlackJoe"
and-son tour.
NOSTALGIA - AGEORGIA ODYSSEY!
" Backward, Tu rn bac kwa rd, Oh Ti me i n Th y Fl i ght "
The grass under my feet was a bluish green with the
fescue, ryegrass, and common bermuda sprawling over
each other in riotous splendor. The cl over was there if you
had time for s uch things. The tiny yell ow buttercup under
my feet smi led up at me. I was sixteen years old walking
back to the hangar wi th my 6-foot white Modelcraft Spook
72 gull wi ng model with Ohlsson 60 Custom engi ne and
large flashlight batteries inside jauntil y held on my left
s houlder. The ot her six foot gassie, the bri ght yell ow Berk-
ely Buccaneer C Special with the "Skychi ef" engine was
waiting near the hangar to be fl own next. Ah, I had been
chasing these big gassies through the lush grass of thi s old
field for two years now, and it was wonderful to experi-
ence th e ex hilirati on of yo uthful exubera nce so dearly
loved in the summer of 1942.
But that was no Bucca neer with a S kychi e f
in front of that hangar. That is a yellow Cub - a real one-
with a 65 Franklin. That is no Rit z Super Thrust on the nose.
That is a brand new wooden Senseni ch, or is it a Fahlin
propellor?
... Thi s isn' t a childhood friend, its Dr. Ed Garber of
Fayetteville, N.C., walking beside me up to the Doug
Rounds' hangar at Zebulon, Georgia, 50 mil es south of
Atlanta. It isn' t really 1942 - just 32 years later now, April
27, 1974, as we arrive after an hour and 15 minutes jet
flight to Atlanta and a Hertz Rental drive on south to Zebu-
lon. My mind is playing tri cks on me. No, time hasn't
really turned backward. There is "Old Black Joe", the 1928
Stinson SM-2 standing in front of the hangar that I sold
Bob Jenkins in - was it 1966? There's Bob himself with
that cigar clamped ti ghtly in hi s teeth grinning. Here comes
By
EvanderM.Britt(EAA 13,137)
Brittand Britt,AttorneysAtLaw
P.O. Box 458
Lumberton,N.C. 28335
( Photos ByAuthor)
Douglas T. Rounds, the genial owner of thi s nostalgic ai r-
port that Bonni e lets him keep only beca use it is cl ose to
hi s heart.
Do ug is a pretty good boy' He's been down South from
Michi gan way 10 - maybe 15 years now. We may decide
to keep him and let him stay. We just aren't sure yet. Things
move slowl y in Georgia. Didn't we drive by Jonesboro on
the way down from Atlanta - the home of "Tara" Planta-
tion which was the nostalgic site of "GONE WITH THE
WIND"? Yeah, but remember those hickory axe handles
he brought to Ottumwa or Blakesburg four years ago -
personally e ndorsed by Lester Maddox - then Governor of
Georgia. Just one more caper like th at and back you go to
Yankeeland for sure, Doug'
But there, hiding in her hangar in front of a pristine
Yellow Cub is the one he ca lls "?&# ([.vii !!([.v& ole &# (u, !'?!"
- - that beaut iful "origi nal" 1931 Stinson JR-S, affec-
tionately known throughout our nati on as "Raggedy Ann",
but some folks call her "Patches". Perhaps thi s Flagship of
BTB Airlines will be hi s passport to stay down South after
all.
One of the recent songs inquired: " Where have all the
you ng gi rl s gone?" I know for sure tha t the brigh t yell ow
J-3 Cubs have all disappeared from the airports I've been to
in the last few years: Raleigh-Durham, Indianapolis, Chi -
cago. Not a Cub in sight at any of th ose Jet-X brand pl aces.
Of course not' They all fl ew off to Georgia some winters
ago, a nd they are still there. Count th em on both sides of
the hangar, lined up as far as th e eye can see over th e
curving pasture that was for cows until a cow made the
mistake of eating half th e fabric off a Cub two years ago
and now it' s airport only - count them -14 bright yell ow
Cubs on one field at one time. On Sunday, you'll see all 14
in the air at once merril y chasing each other's tails until
16
ABOVE, RIGHT - George Hefflinger's Waco.
ABOVE - Kelly Viets stops to admire a rare 1933 Fair-
Child CBA.
BELOW, RIGHT -John Parish' s " Big Red."
you get dizzy watching those littl e yellow birds come tum-
bling by doing nearly 60 miles an hour. Not since 1946 have
I ever seen this many - oh, why li e about it? I never saw
)-3's together in my life. Not even parked side by side at
Oshkosh. But here they were a living dream of noise bub-
bling happily by just out of reach over head. Probably the
happiest of the carefree aerial creatures with their doors
and windows wide open with 2 sets of grinning white
teeth staring down at us below from each of them.
Ca n thi s be Blakesburg? Gastonia? Oshkosh? No, its
Zebulon for real. Twenty-si x hundred feet of beautiful
green grass strip 300 fee t wide with 2 metal hangars and
severa l open shed type hangars. Even an outside "privy"
with a real half moon cut in the door, appropriate signs in-
side about "pilots with low manifold pressure please taxi
close to th e ramp", and yes, even a Sears-Roebuck catalog.
Man, the detail s of thi s place are amazing for reality!
Just inside the big hangar th ere is a Bellanca Skyrocket
on her outrigger gear with wings overhead. A Cessna Air-
mas ter of Jenkins' in th e opposite corner not fini s hed
either. An extra Airmaster cowl hanging on the wall , and
overhead - the Travelair 6000 wi ngs as well as the front
nose cowl of a Hellcat F-6-F with faded yellow paint is
just another goodie to make visitors drool.
Stinsons.. . Lord, but Eddie would be proud of hi s de-
pression children if he could be here today: 1925 Stinson
SM-2, 1931 Stinson JR-S, 1930 Stinson SM-SA, and the only
other remaining SM-2 left in the world (I think)- the last
remaining SM-2AA with 165 hp. Wright )-6-5. And if Ed
Garber and Dolph Overton had brought their respective
JR-S and SM-SA (Old Yellow Puke), it would be the
largest coll ection of Straight Wing Stinson Detroiter , )r.'s
left in th e world. Still probabl y the record with 4. And
then the plumb younguns! Three 1944-1946 Staggerwing
Beeches. God, how th ey growled th rough those grinning
cowls.
a few gallons of SO octane and ca mp under the wing. A
leisurely tli ght down and back teaching a young boy the
beauties of the South from the open windows of a slow
moving Cub - LAUGHI G ALL THE WAY - as Bclrbara
Howar wrote of her Was hington, D.C. experi ences.
White with red trim, th e New York Daily News 1940
Waco ARE with 330 Jacobs sa t nes tling in the fescue in
front of th e hangar, only an hOUl' and forty minutes ou t
of Greensboro, N.C. with a beaming Di ck Austin proudly
standing nearby.
Could that be the head of the Ercoupe Cl ub, Kelly Vi ets
from Stilwell, Kansas standing beside the 1933 Fairchild
24-CSA 110 Warner powered with the immaculate black
fuselage and red trim with original silver wings? Sure is,
on hi s way to Coca Beach, Florida a nd found it hard to turn
down a good Fl y- In with hi s lovely wife Edna.
But old Kelly "ain't" the furth erest travelled one to get
to thi s tly-in, not by a " damsite. " There sits a dirty - moth
eaten, riltty, working airplane - orange and creil m with
checkerboard cowl: an English DH Tiger Moth, tired some-
what from years of towing gliders. Adjacent to it is a beau-
tiful rebuilt si lver and blue French, or is it Belgian -
Stampe aerobatic biplane. Transversely across the fi eld sit
two Bueckers - A )ungmann and a Jungmeister - all the
way from Germany. Even fu giti ves from Adolph's Luft-
waffe eagerly seek the lush green grass of the State of
Georgia.
May I present yo u ladi es: Bonni e Rounds, Mrs . Bob Jen-
kins, and Mrs. Rounds, Sr., Doug's mother visiting from
Michi gan! And now, that we've formallv met, may I pl ease
have another hot-dog? Forty-eight dozen hot -dogs with
roll s, chilli, and more than sixty cases of Coca-Cola
were served over th e two days by these three lovely South-
~ r Bell es. There was a volunteer kitty container that
you could feed if you felt like it. A real good idea, Doug
said, for after feeding hundreds of hungry people time
after time, the kitty was lea ner, bu t broke exactly even.
Imagine - what would a New York based 1941 Franklin
Now that's what I ca ll southern gentl emen who pay th ei r
J-3 Cub with pretty green stripes be doing here? Oh, noth-
was as they go. Of course Doug had a few cold-ones around
ing much. Just a father and son who sawall the pretty
airplanes lined up below and stopped last night on their
th e corner of th e hangar, but reall y, beer isn' t legal down
way back to New York from Disney World in Florida to gulp
here in God's Country... unless you know th e Sheriff.
17
And overhead, a dusty old Waco ASO with 220 Con-
tinental conversion had the hiccups and kept doing tlip-
tlops till we got sore necks watching him. Reminded me
of the 1939 airshow when I saw a fifty horse Cub doing
about 50 consecutive loops.
Then on Sunday, those Cubs began chasing each other's
tails - just like a bunch of hound dogs-until the sheer
delight of it all made you dizzy just watching. And to walk
behind that 1933 Fairchild 24 and see those span ailerons,
and then see exactly the same full span ailerons on top of
Big Red - the 1946 G-17S Staggerwing Beech.
Surely not? Oh yes, here comes a real live Grumman
F-6-F Hellcat with wheels down grinding down to-
ward the grass until the wheels strummed the clover and
fescue and back up into the sky. Neither foolish nor fool
hardy - just touching his wheels in fond salute to all the
antiquers present. Had it not been for the large White
arrow painted and pointing forward under his left wing as
he howled by, we wouldn't have been sure in which direc-
tion he was flying. Yep, a few minutes later, here came a
DC-3 roaring down to touch his wheels and then slithering
right back up again. 2600 feet is a wee bit short - even for
a -3, if you're out of practice. Just visiting trom the Air
Academy over at Griffin, Georgia. 139 airplanes in two
davs. Tens of dozens of Antique fri ends. Bob and Brent
Taylor all the way from Ottumwa, Iowa. George Heitlinger
and wife along with Tony Tobiason from the State ot
Michigan. .
These, and a whole lot of the Good Lord's Georgia
Crackers made my weekend backward to nostalgia most
meaningful and memorable. Why don't you ti-y it: Oshkosh,
Blakesburg, Ottumwa, Gastonia? The names are dif-
ferent. The entertainment is always the same. Just good
people and fine old birds, which, like fine wine, just k eep
on improving with age. May I invite each ot you, my frIends
and fellow Antiquers and EAA'ers to come join me in Osh-
kosh July 31 - August fl, 1974, to continue thi s Odyssey in
a few short weeks from now.
Doug and Bonnie Rounds.
18
GEORGIA ODYSSEY
... CONTINUED
by Joseph Jup!ner
Hard cover
Volumes 1 Ihru 5
$9.95 each.
Vol. 6 $11 . 95
Complete word and picture story of each
certificated ai rplane since # 1 of 1927.
600 classic airplanes are presented in
the 6 volumes available. (Additional
volumes in preparation) .
o Vol. 1, 256 pages. 316 photos, A TC # 1,
Buhl-Verville " Airster " thru ATC #100
Travel Air "6000", 1927-29. $9.95
o Vol. II , 300 pages, 316 photos, A TC
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#301 " American Eagle" thru ATC #400
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#401 "Travel Air 12" thru ATC #500. Boe-
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scale drawings. by Reed Kiner!
o Vol. 1, 1909-1923. $3.00
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o THE NATIONAL AIR RACERS In 3-Views,
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race planes of the Golden Era with notes about
the racer - pilot - race results BY2 x 11 $3.95
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1940 by EAA. Histories of the racers, stones
about their pilots and designers with race results
and 3 views. Hundreds of pictures make this a
must volume for the racing enthUSiast $4.00
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life and feats of Art Chester-barnstormer. race
pilot and designer. 75 photos & plijns $295
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19
Golden OldieOfThe Month
TheTravel Air Mystery Ship
By
GarW. Williams
9 S. 135 Aero Dr. ,Rt. 1
Naperville, III .60540
(Photos CourtesyThe Author)
Travel Air - this name brings to mind visions of OX-5's,
biplanes barnstorming low and slow - but SPEED - not
really.
Mystery Ship - now there's an image of speed - marry
. the two - Travel Air Mystery Ship and you have the image
that the Army would like to have forgotten back on Sep-
tember 2nd, 1929, in the free-for -all race at the National Air
Races. In this race, Doug Davis and his Travel Air R, NR-
614K attained a high speed of 194.9 mph which was
several miles per hour greater than his nearest military
competitor. This win was in spite of Doug's missing a pylon
and an additional circle of said pylon to insure his com-
pleting the race without error.
This remarkable performance was obtained without
any revolutionary design concepts. The airplane was aero-
dynamically conventional - a low wing, wire braced
monoplane. Practically every known drag reduction
method was employed. Gose examination of the pictures
will show to what degree the designers stressed stream-
lining. Wheel fairings, tapered wings with fillets, wind-
shield, all carefully done to keep a clean ship.
Two young Travel Air engineers, Herb Rawdon and W.
designed the 'R' as a sport and racing airplane.
A reVIew of the stress analysis handbook, which is now on
file in the Smithsonian Archives, points out that the design
was far from ' eyeball' and it is not surprising that initial
test flights showed performance which equaled or bettered
all predictions.
The original plane, NR-614K, was powered by a modi-
fied version of the Wright J-6-7 (R975) 300 horsepower
Whirlwind. According to early records, the modificati ns
consisted of a higher compression ratio and a faster super-
charger. Those changes upped the horsepower to 400 at
2300 fpm. Travel Air stated that the modifications gave
better fuel economy with 13 gallons per hour at 1550 rpm
and an indicated airspeed of 150. Behind this 400 horse-
power was a 1940 pound gross weight airplane for a power
loading of only 4.6 poundslhorsepower! That model 'R'
was designed to have either of two different sets of wing
panels mounted dependent upon the task at hand. The
short wings, total span of 29' 2" with a 5' chord, were for
the 'racing' version. The resultant wing area was 125
square feet with a wing loading at gross of 15.5 poundsl
per square foot. The long wings, 30' 6", had two inches
more chord with a resultant lower wing loading and
were to be used for longer, higher flights. As flown in the
National Air Races, NR-614K used the shorter wings. The
shi p had a length of 20' 2", height was 7' 4" and an empty
weIght of 1475 pounds. Design load factors were plus 8,
mi nus 4.
Leslie Neville, who was the Technical Editor of Aviation
in 1930, gives the following description of the construction:
. the wing structure is generally conventional
In deSIgn. Spruce and Haskelite three-ply 1/16 in. mahogany
plywood are used in the construction. Spars are built up
20
of two spruce beams glued together and not routed. Ribs
are built up of 5116 in. square spruce strips with 1116 in.
mahogany plywood gussets at the joints and are secured to
the spars by the use of glue with a nail at each point of con-
tact to maintain position during the glue drying process. A
filling stri p is placed between the ribs on the top and
bottom of the spar and parallel to it, producing an even
contour along the entire length. Compression ribs are built
up of spruce trussing boxed with plywood webs, nailed and
glued in place on the spars with angle block. In addition
to the plywood covering the rods are employed in the drag
bracing. The leading edge is covered with 2-in. tape to pre-
vent the plywood from breaking out over the bend, while
the trailing edge is of spruce. All fittings are of chrome
molybdenum steel and are enclosed. The wing is covered
with plywood. _ .
Maximum chord of each wing is 60 in. and the total
area of the wings is 125 sq. ft. Ailerons are built up of
chrome molybdenum steel and covered with fabric. Each
aileron is attached to a false spar by three inset hinges.
They are controlled by a steel torque tube actuated by a
differential push and pull tube system, providing an angu-
lar travel of plus 35 to -25 deg. The span of each aileron is
6 ft. and the chord is 1 ft. 1 1/2 in. The total aileron area is
12.3 sq. ft.
In order to provide a desirable compromise between
cockpit capacity and frontal area the fuselage is made
wedge-shaped. Structurally it is built up of welded steel
tubing with an absence of internal wire bracing. Long-
erons are of 7/8 in. x 0.035 in. and 1 in. x 0.049 in. tubing.
The finished fuselage is faired out to a nearly elliptical
cross section through the use of a spruce superstructure
covered with 1116 in. mahogany plywood. Metal cowling
extends from the engine compartment back as far as the
cockpit on all sides.
One of the unique features of the Travel Air Mystery
plane is the landing gear. The method of mounting the
shock absorber and of attching the landing gear to the air-
plane is quite unusual. The shock absorbing device, in con-
formity with Travel Air practice, is a combination oil and
coil spring mechanism with the oil cylinder used to absorb
the initial landing load and the spring for the purpose of
taxiing. Vertical " N" struts are used to attach each unit of
the landing gear to the ends of the wing stubs and each
wheel is braced laterally by streamline wires attached to
its wing and to the opposite wing stub, the former con-
stituting the external wing bracing wires. The shock
absorbing device consists of two oil cylinders and four
coil springs with the wheel slung between. It is located at
the lower end of the " N" struts. The entire mechanism
and most of the wheel are enclosed in a streamline cover
of 0.040 in. aluminum. Wheels are 24 in. x 4 in. Bendix.
Brakes and tires are the same size.
In conformity with the attempt to reduce parasite
resistance to a minimum and extremely short tail skid,
fitted with a shoe and completely streamlined, is employed.
An oil spring shock absorber is fitted to the upper end of
the tail skid beam which is hinged to the lower member of
a bulkhead. When the tail skid is on the ground, the thrust
line makes an angle of 13 deg. with the horizontal.
Both horizontal and vertical tail surfaces are construct-
ed of steel tube spars and stamped steel ribs and all are
covered with fabric. The stabilizer span is 8 ft. 10 in. and
the maximum chord 2 ft. 3 5116 in. Each elevator has a span
of ft. 2 in. and a maximum chord (hinged to trailing edge)
of 1 ft. 5 1/2 in. The stabilizer is adjustable in flight through
a range of plus 2 to -4 deg. and its area is 14.1 sq. ft. The
elevators are not balanced and the distance from their
21
hingeline to the center ofgravity of the airplaneis 13 ft.
2in.
The vertical fin is adjustable on the ground and has a
maximum length of 2 ft. 1/4 in. Its mean height is 2 ft.
8 112 in. andits area4.1 sq. ft. Theheightoftherudderis
4ft. 5 in. andthemaximumchord (hinge to trailing edge)
1ft. 71/2in. Therudderhasarangeoftravelofplusor-35
deg. andanareaof5.7sq. ft. Thedistanceofitshingeline
fromthecenterofgravityoftheairplaneis13ft. 8in. Asin
the caseofthe elevators, therudderisunbalanced.
Cable control is employed for both rudder and
elevators.
As in the case ofa number of contemporary commer-
cial airplanes, the weldedsteel tube engine mount is de-
tachable. Themountingringis11/4in. x0.083in. Twofuel
tanks are provided. One, the main tank, in the fuselage
supported on the longerons, is constructed of 0.040 in.
aluminum'sheet. A five-gallon reserve tank is located be-
hind the main tank andconnected to it only by a whole
pump. Thecapacityofthemain tankis42 gal. andgravity
feed is employedbetweenitand theengine, 1/2 in. gaso-
line tank is located exactly onthe center of gravity ofthe
airplane which is located 24 percent backward along the
chord. Inasmuch as the gasoline constitutes nearly all of
the variableload, thestatic balanceis practicallyconstant.
Thefire wallis 0.040 aluminum alloy sheet. This same
thickness of stock is used in the inner and outer engine
cowlings as well as the cowling of the forward portions
of the fuselage behind the firewall. The Venturi cowling
has no cooling baffles between the cylinders. The inner
cowling extends back to the cockpit. An oil radiator is
mounted in the wing stub and the cooling fins form the
walkway. An 8 ft. diameter Standard Steel propeller is
usedsetata pitch of22.6 deg.
The usual instrument equipment as well as a safety
belt and fire extinguisher areincludedin the pilot's cock-
pit and the engine control bracket consisting of throttle,
sparkplugandmixture levers is locatedatthe.pilot's left.
The specifications according to the manufacturer are as
follows:"
Length Overall ............................20 ft. 2 in.
Height Overall .............................7ft. 9 in.
Airfoil (Wing Section) ......................R.A.F. 34
Span, EachWing .......................... 29 ft. 2 in.
Chord, Each Wing .............................60 in.
AreaofWings, Total ....................... 125 sq. ft.
Area ofAilerons ..........................12.3sq. ft.
Area ofHorizontalStabilizer ............... 14.1 sq. ft.
Area ofElevators ..........................9.4 sq. tot.
Area ofFin ................................4.1sq. ft.
Area ofRudder ............................5.7sq. ft.
WeightEmpty .............................. 1,475lb.
DisposableLoad ..............................465 lb.
Gross WeightLoaded .......................1,940lb.
PowerPlant ......... Special R-975 400 hpat2300 rpm
Wing Loading ...............................15.5lb.
PowerLoad .................................. 4.6lb.
AftertheperformancedisplayoftheTravelAirs614K
and 613K, it was obvious that more would bebuilt. Shell
and Texaco each placed orders for a Mystery Ship. As a
resultNR482NandNR1313werebuiltduring1930andfin-
ishedin time for entryinto theNational AirRaces.Some-
time later the 5th and last Travel Air R was built for the
Italian Government.
Today, two ofthe originalairplanes are stillintact. NR
613K, which carries a serial number of RB002, was pur-
chased at the Tallmantz auction in 1968 by "Pancho"
Barnes, the original owner, with hopeofrestoring it to at
leastdisplaycondition. NR1313, thefamousTexacoNo.13,
ishangingondisplayinChicago'sMuseumofScienceand
Industry.
Around The Antique/Classic World
Dear Sir:
I'vebeenan EAA memberfor 11/2 years wi th my main
interest lying in the vintage field. I don't own an aircraft
at present however I am negotiating to buy a Ryan STM
wreck. Unfortunately there are not a large number of
vintage types in Austral ia and thi s is worsening as air-
craftareexported. Wearesti ll tryingto establish a vintage
movementin Australia and as more peopleare becoming
interested this could shortly be a reality. I am therefore
joining your division to learn a bit about vintage aircraft
and the runni ng of the club. Please accept enclosed
draught for $15.00 to pay for one years membership and
10 back issues ofTheVintage Airplane. Thank you .
Yours faithfully,
Graham OrphanAIC No. 1155
20 Tallaroon St.
Jindalee4074, Brisbane,
Qld., Australia
DearBuck:
In The Vintage Airplane, May, 1974, page10.
Ibelieve thebackgroundairplane to bea Thunderbird.
In 1930 I worked on one down at the Warren School
and were-assembleditattheOld Western Airportouton
CrenshawBlvd. - long sincea housingdevelopment.
Theairplane was never certified, as anything over two
turns it went flat. I tried to get the owner to increase the
Calendar OfEvents
JULY20-21- SHIRLEY, N.Y.(LONGISLAND)-12thAnnualFly-Inofthe
Antique Airplane Club of Greater New York at Brookhaven Town
Airport. Dinner dance on Saturday night. Cont act Harry E. Geddes,
Sec. , 374 Latham Rd., Mineola, N. Y. 11051 (516) 746-3453.
JULY 31AUGUST 1- FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN- Antique/Classic
Division Participation in EAA/IAC Aerobatic Contest. Spin, Loop
and Roll Competition on August 1. Contact: Don Taylor, Contest
Chairman, 2ChandelleDrive, Hampshire, Ill . 60140, (312) 683-2244.
JULY 31AUGUST6- OSHKOSH,WISCONSIN- NEW DATES - 22nd
Annual EAA InternationalFly-InConvention. LargestandbestAntique
and Classic gathering anywhere. Make your plans and reservations
early.
AUGUST10-11- ALBERTLEA,MINNESOTA- Skyrama74.Airportdedi-
cation. ContactR. J. Lickteig, Box 731, AlbertLea, Minn.
AUGUST 25 SIPTEMBER 2 - BLAKESBURG, IOWA - Fourth Annual
National InvitationalAAA-APM Fly-In - Antique Airfield.
AUGUST 30 SIPTEMBER 2 OTTUMWA, IOWA - Ottumwa Antique
Airplane Convention. Ottumwa Airport. Sponsored by Air-
men, Inc. Contact: J. C "Chuck" Weber, 441 Berry Rd., BarrIngton,
Ill. 60010.
SIPTEMBER 13-15 - GALESBURG, ILLINOIS - 3rd National Stearman
Fly-In. Contact: Jim Leahy, 445 N. Whitesboro, Galesburg, Ill . 61401-
OR Tom Lowe, 823 Kingston Lane, Crystal Lake, Ill . 60014.
aspect ratio of the tail surfaces to get more of them outin
the wind, as the fuselage was bulkyat the tail.
He was too busygetting the airpl aneready to go upto
Utah.Besides, Ibelievebythattimethecompanyhadgone
broke, and apparentl y he could care less about certifying
ONEairplane.
Inclosing, ifI'mright- good !If I'mnot-1930isalong
way back! Besides, you are doing a real fine job on the
magazine and Ilook forward to each issue.
Yours trul y,
W. A. Reynolds, A IC No. 792
Rt. 1, Box33
La Feria, Texas78559
DearGene:
.Do you plan to have your E-2 Cub flying at Oshkosh
this year? I am toying with the idea of trailering mine so
as to have something to fly there and was wondering if
yours mightbe there too?
Is thereanythingyou candotogetthegrapevineasking
people where Icangeta 40 hpCub cowling? Myship has
a J-3 cowling on it and I'd much prefer an authentic J-2
cowl with lace wires ifIcouldfind one.
Sincerely,
Bob Whitti er
Drawer T
Duxbury, Mass. 02332
'.'
CLASSIFIEDS
FORSALE
FOR SALE - Antiuqe Piper J-SA Cruiser,
1940, 3-place, fancy paint, fresh OH & license,
leopardinterior. $4,600.Drawscrowdswherever
it goes. Oassie Fairchild 24R '46. Fresh license,
beautiful paint and interior . Aeromatie prop.
Runs p"erfectly. $8,900 includes load of extras
plus 2 engines. Photos and detail info upon re-
quest. L. Jennings, 2280 Aloma Ave., Wmter
Park, Fla.32789. Ph.305-644-000anytime.
",
'J
Back Issues OfThe Vintage Airplane
Limited numbers of back issues of THE VINTAGEAIRPLANEare available at .5Oc each. Copies sti ll on
handatEAA Headquarters are:
MARCH 1973 JUNE 1973 SEPTEMBER 1973 NOVEMBER 1973 JANUARY 1974 APRIL 1974
APRIL 1973 JULY 1973 OCTOBER 1973 DECEMBER 1973 FEBRUARY 1974 MAY 1974
MAY 1973 AUGUST 1973 MARCH 1974 JUNE 1974
23