"THE FLYING WIRE" - Antique Airfield

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NE W M E M B E R
Al DiDario has a general
aviation
background
and
worked his way up the ranks
from private pilot to instructor,
then to a regional airline, and
finally to the majors. He retired
as a Northwest Airlines captain
in 2005 and recently bought his
first airplane, a 1943 Stearman
PT-17. Al has over 24,000 flying
hours and has flown many
types of airplanes but has discovered that landing the Stearman is
definitely challenging.
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DIRECTORS FOR 2011-2012
It won't be long until the 2011-2012 season commences. With that new
beginning, we've got a great slate of Directors for the season.
Traditionally, the Directors are not overworked or loaded up with
responsibilities. Other than the President, Secretary/Treasurer and
Executive Directors, they mostly serve in an advise and consent role.
The President gets to MC our meetings at the various functions, the
Secretary/Treasurer keeps the books straight and handles the corporate
recertification each year, and the Executive Directors keep everything
going in one direction on a day to day basis.
The Directors choose amongst themselves who will fill the various
offices. Here is your leadership for 2011-2012. Herb Clark (North
Division Executive Director), Jim Hawkes, John Lumley, Carolyn Myers
(Secretary-Treasurer), Jon Rising, and Larry Robinson (South Division
Executive Director).
HOW TO NAVIGATE TO A POINT UNKNOWN
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Fly just beyond the horizon. Make a steep turn to a new heading.
Continue straight for an undetermined distance. Dive through the
clouds until disoriented. Veer off course to one side or the other. You
should be there shortly. If you are bewildered and feel as though you
are lost, check to make sure the batteries are still charged. Then fly in
circles until you get your bearings. If you find a place to land, then you
have arrived. Many of your friends will already be there.
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NATIONAL STEARMAN FLY IN 2011
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Your eyes are always skyward when
arriving at Galesburg, Illinois the
week of Labor Day. I have attended
The National Stearman Fly-In for the
past 15 years and I have always
arrived with the anticipation of a fun
filled week that includes seeing
friends made from previous years
and meeting new
friends to be enjoyed
in future years. The
weather was a relief
from the Florida sun
with highs in the
mid to low 70’s and
lows at night in the
low 50’s.
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Florida Stearmans made a decent showing. Present in their Stearman
were Clark and Mary DeChant, Pete and Jeanne Reed, Roger Brown,
John Leenhouts, and Gary Lickle. The remaining Florida contingency
were Pattie Duffy, Jim Lyons, Frank Mathews, Gary Snodgrass, Bobby
and I.
Weather prohibited several
airships from getting there.
Gary Lickle was weathered in
at Guntersville, Al. and
participated in a lake fly-in
while there.
I understand
from reliable sources that he
was too low in the bombing
contest. Reverse the situation
and
imagine
a
Lake
competing at the Stearman
Fly-In. It takes nerve to pull
this off.
Monday night included a dinner at the field. Tuesday evening offered a
performance by Aaron Tippen (a Stearman owner) at the Orpheum
Theatre. Wednesday morning Pete and Jeanne Reed, Clark and Mary
DeChant and Bobby participated in Galesburg’s Public Schools Outreach
Program where they spoke on being a pilot and especially being a
Stearman pilot.
The annual mid-day fly out to Kewanee, IL for a rib eye sandwich lunch
followed. Pattie flew in John Leenhouts’ Stearman for the trip. She
dubbed his plane Stearman 1 due to John’s recent appointment to
President of Sun-n-Fun.
Wednesday evening was dinner at Barnstormers in Monmouth, IL. The
restaurant was packed with Stearman folks all having a great time
while enjoying a wonderful meal.
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Thursday’s schedule took the pilots to Geneseo, IL for lunch and an
evening pizza party at the field hosted by Dusters and Sprayers. The
program following dinner was presented by Rod Hightower, EAA
President and for those of you that don’t know, – he FLIES A
STEARMAN.
Friday is always a special day with the local Wolford family hosting a
luncheon at their family farm. Grandma’s cookies are always a
highlight. We were treated to an air show Friday night with a history
flight of different Stearman. The wing walker participants were cut
short due to a light rain and risk factor. John Mohr flew his entire show
despite the conditions.
A catered dinner followed the show with an
after dinner speaker.
Bobby, Pattie and I had to leave Saturday morning so our goodbyes were
said at the field before departing at 9:30. Once again the week just flew
by and was just a memory as we boarded the plane for our flight back to
Florida. There are very few places where you can enjoy a week of
nonstop fun with a group of outgoing people who enjoy one another.
This year was the 40th anniversary of the event and the town of
Galesburg and the Stearman committee went all out for the week. 135
Stearman were registered by the end of the event. If you have never
been to the National
Stearman Fly-In you
need to plan to do so.
Plan to return home
exhausted and in need
of sleep.
I am sure I have
missed some events
and if I missed any
members I apologize.
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NASHVILLE MISSION REPORT
For 33 years our PA 11 has been in our temporary care. This 1948 airplane
was our first. My wife Kathy learned
to fly in it. We started our business
with it and spent many hours riding
the zephyrs in it for business and
pleasure. There are A LOT of good
memories that were made flying
this little bird. It has plenty more
memories to help make for the new
caretakers.
We've now passed the duty of caretaker
to the next owner. Today (09/10/11) I
passed the keys to Larry Bode of
Bozeman, MT with the precise direction to "not break it". I felt very
confident entrusting our little flying machine to Jim Albright, Larry's ferry
pilot, as Jim has tons of flying experience piloting all manner of winged
machines. With any luck, Larry and his wife Jennifer will enjoy the airplane
as much as Kathy and I have enjoyed the experience and pass on the
caretaker duty to the next owners in due time. Both Larry and Jennifer plan
to get their licenses in the little bird and ply the skies of Montana. What a
fitting place for a Cub. Did I mention that Larry is 71 and beginning this
journey
to
become
a
pilot?
I began the final journey from Florida with a spate of ugly weather which
required something less than spectacular VFR flying. The sky cleared by
Kissimmee and I enjoyed a beautiful flight all the way to Cordele, GA.
Cordele is the water melon capital of the world and the folks there had their
particular PA11 story to reveal. I heard a bunch of these PA 11 stories at
virtually every fuel/butt rest stop along the way. It was actually my posterior
that dictated a stop every hour and a half more so than the need for fuel. For
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some reason, I don't seem to remember butt fatigue being an issue when we
flew the airplane long distances 30 years ago? What's with that?
I flew under an overcast from Cordele to Peach State Airport in Williamson,
GA where I was welcomed by David Harwell of Barnstormer Restorations.
David gave me a tour of projects under restoration including a Ryan STA, a
very rare early Aeronca and various other projects. In turn, Trudy Gill
showed me around the beautiful restaurant and accompanying hangar.
Trudy is the manager of Barnstormers Grill. Ron Alexander, who owns
the airport, joined the welcoming committee and gave me the fifty cent tour
of the facility. This is one neat venue. Ron allowed me to stash 4988M into
the pristine hangar along side his very nice J-3 Cub he has owned longer
than we've owned our PA 11. With the airplane safely nested, David kindly
drove
me
into
Griffin,
GA
for
the
overnight
stay.
Ron came by
the
next
morning and
picked me up
and took me
out
to
his
house for a
private viewing
of some of his
neat stuff. Of particular note is the only
Stearman Cloudboy flying. To the left you will see it in its original livery and
configuration and to the right as it appears today.
Among Ron's "stuff" is something VERY
unique. It is a Jenny project that is well
toward completion and should be flying by
the big antique fly in scheduled for Peach
State next May. The Jenny has paperwork
and some original parts but otherwise will be
ALL new construction built from the original
plans. I might add, the workmanship is very
nice. Just as with his facilities at Peach State and his commitment to
everything antique, Ron does stuff first class. Peach State would make a
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great spot for a regional antique biplane meet and Ron is all for it. Are you
"in"
for
the
adventure
next
May?
From Peach State, I blasted off toward Nashville and
flew between the tops of the Appalachian foothills
and the bottom of the cloud base. One fuel/butt stop
later and I was at John C. Tune Airport which is a
very nice executive airport, without tower, on the
west side of town. I made the mistake of calling
approach control when I could have done without
and I thought they were going to vector me back to
Florida. I almost had to make another fuel stop.
I got the little bird checked
into her corner of a communal
hangar populated by jets of
one sort or another; the PA 11
was the only REAL airplane in the hangar! For the
next 2.5 days, while waiting for the new owner and
ferry pilot to arrive, I spent re-exploring Nashville as I
hadn't been there since on an airplane purchasing excursion some fifteen
years
earlier.
One of the more notable excursions involved a visit
to the Grand Ole Opry Friday night show which is
also the longest running radio show in America
having run continuously for 85 years. Complete
with commercial breaks and over two hours of old
and new style country & western music, it is
definitely worth the price of admission and a
worthwhile experience even if you are not a fan of
C&W music. Give it a chance, listen to the lyrics which you can actually
understand, and you might actually come to enjoy this style of music. I
guarantee it's way better than hip hop. Not that many in our circle would be
listening to that. No room for those big base speakers in a Cub.
Nashville and the surrounding countryside is very pretty and there is plenty
to do there. Give it a try. Kathy and I are going back in a couple days. This
time via the silver tube.
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THE STEARMAN 6L-CLOUDBOY
N787H is one of 3 remaining Stearman Cloudboys. The airplane was
manufactured by the original Stearman Aircraft Company located in
Wichita, Kansas. Date of manufacture is September 12, 1930. It was
designated a Stearman 6A meaning it had a Wright J-6-5 engine. It is
serial number 6002 meaning it was the second Cloudboy to be
manufactured. The airplane was sold to the U.S. Army Air Corps on
October 7, 1931 and delivered to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. N787H
is the first Stearman aircraft used by the U.S. Army Air Corps for
evaluation as a primary trainer. Serial number 6001 was sold to the
Army but was rejected for some unknown reason and returned to
Stearman. N787H was accepted by the Army and Stearman was given a
contract for Service Test trainers designated as YPT-9. N787H has the
distinction of being the first Stearman Trainer owned by the U.S. Army
Air Corps.
Only 10 Model 6 Cloudboys were manufactured. This is a result of the
difficult times during the depression. The aviation industry was
basically grounded. The Model 6 actually helped the Stearman Aircraft
Company through these hard times until military trainers became its
only product.
In 1952 N787H was converted to a Stearman 6L with the installation of
a Lycoming 680 engine.
Specifications:
Fuel – 38 gallons Wing Span – 32 ft Length – 23 ft
Empty weight – 2186 lbs
Gross weight – 2749
The airplane was located in California from 1946 until 2005. Mr.
Gordon Plaskett of King City, CA begin restoration of the airplane in
1986. He completed the current restoration in 1992. The airplane is
covered with Poly-Fiber fabric and is now owned by Ron Alexander of
Griffin, GA. Ron is placing the airplane in the Candler Field Museum
located in Williamson, GA. For information on this museum please go to
www.peachstateaero.com.
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All information contained herein is believed to be correct. However, it is intended to be for
informational purposes only and is not to be relied upon. You are reminded that Federal Air
Regulations Part 91 places primary responsibility for ensuring the airworthy condition of an
aircraft on the owner or operator. Any person who maintains, modified or otherwise changes an
aircraft must do so in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendations and all applicable FAA
regulations. You should independently verify any of the information contained herein. No
warranty is expressed or implied.
The Florida Antique Biplane Association Inc. does not project or accept any responsibility for
participation by readers of the “Flying Wire”, non members or members at fly-ins listed in this
issue. This publication is produced as a medium of communication for those antique biplane
enthusiasts and members of Florida Antique Biplane Association, Inc.
The Florida Antique Biplane Association Inc. is a 501C6 corporation incorporated in the State of
Florida. It’s purpose is to promote the preservation, restoration and safety of flying antique
biplanes. Membership in FABA Inc. is open to all antique biplane owners, whether or not the
airplane is airworthy. An antique biplane is defined as one having had its original type
certificate issued on or before 1950.
E
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Maaiill D
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The FABA newsletter and meeting notices are distributed via e-mail on the Internet. These
transmissions contain information, which is intended for the sole use of the recipient or
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information could be intercepted, altered, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not
accept any liability for damages caused by the fraudulent alteration of this message including,
without limitations, damages caused by any virus transmitted by it.
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NAME:_____________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS:_________________________________________________________________
CITY: _____________________COUNTY:________ STATE:______________________
ZIP CODE:___________PHONE:(_____)_______________________________________
E-MAIL ADDRESS:____________________________FAX#:______________________
CELL:___________OCCUPATION : __________________________________________
AIRCRAFT OWNED:_______________________________________________________
Must Be An Antique Biplane With Original Type Certification Prior to 1950.
IS THE AIRCRAFT LICENSED?: ______ “N” NUMBER:___________
NAME & A/C LOGO TO APPEAR ON YOUR NAME BADGE:
___________________________________________________________________________
YOUR SPONSOR IS:_______________________________________________________
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YEAR.
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FABA LEADERSHIP 2011-2012
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JIM "RED" HAWKES
617-834-8546
[email protected]
JOHN LUMLEY
561-499-1115
[email protected]
CAROLYN MYERS-Secretary/Treasurer
813-995-9313
[email protected]
JON RISING
352 245 3834
[email protected]
HERB CLARK-North Division Executive Director
352-821-2618
[email protected]
LARRY ROBINSON-South Division Executive Director
561-732-3250
[email protected]
Pattie Duffy – Photographer
954 977-8038
[email protected]
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