| Welcome! |
| With
winter hammering the fold-up doors of our unheated
hangar, our thoughts turn to projects that can be done
in the home shop (or the heated hangar of a generous
friend!). One feature of this edition of Vintage
Aircraft Online is a nifty little restoration
project if your airplane uses the older AAF Type A7 or
similar magneto switch. If your switch uses the larger
handle style of the Type A7, we'll show you how you can
use the old switch to conceal a new, modern key-type mag
switch. It's even better if you have an unserviceable
switch you can modify.
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H.G. Frautschy
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This is
just one example of the way we can all share the
knowledge we have as a community. If you're working on
something that you think might benefit your fellow
members, how about sharing it with us? We'll take care
of the presentation; all we ask is that you share some
photos and a description of what you're working on.
E-mail
us at VintageAircraft@EAA.org
and we'll help you get started. Don't worry - it's not
nearly as difficult as you may think!
We've
been pleased to see so many members interested in the
vintage designated engineering representative (VDER)
run by the FAA. For years the FAA has relied on the
expertise of the designated engineering representative
(DER) to create data to support a modification,
alteration, or repair of vintage airplanes, and the
VDER will give the community a streamlined way to get
their data approved for a field approval or a
supplemental type certificate. There's some confusion
in just how an individual can be appointed to a VDER
position, so we've created a brief article to help
explain it a bit further.
We're
also highlighting the recent issues that have come to
light with the issuance by the FAA of a far more
restrictive set of rules than anyone thought possible
related to through-the-fence agreements (TTFAs).
Please read the news item related to those issues, and
Earl Lawrence's editorial about TTFAs. While TTFA
issues are directly related to airports that accept
federal funds, it doesn't take much imagination to see
how they could be expanded to affect other airports in
the future, all in the name of "security."
They impact hundreds of airports and thousands of
pilots who enjoy living and working in close proximity
to their airplanes, many of whom are members of the
Vintage Aircraft Association (VAA).
To
cap this edition off, we have a Timeless Voices
interview with Ruth Richter Holden, whose father was
one of TWA's founding fathers. So get your mouse
button finger limbered up, warm up your cup of coffee,
and let's get started on this edition of Vintage
Aircraft Online!
H.G.
Frautschy Editor, Vintage Aircraft Online
Editor, Vintage Airplane magazine
Executive Director, VAA |
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| News |
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| VDER
Update |
| Since
the announcement earlier this year that the FAA was
creating an addition to the DER program administered
by the regional aircraft certification offices (ACOs),
the VAA has spoken or written to more than three dozen
members interested in applying to become a DER. During
our conversations, it's become clear there are some
misconceptions regarding the qualifications needed to
be appointed a VDER. Read
more |
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| An
Airport Christmas (Valley) Story |
|
The
airfield at the wonderfully named Christmas Valley,
Oregon, is not a facility one would think would be in
the center of a national aviation debate. The airport
has only five taxiways leading to a single airstrip,
primarily used by homeowners with their private aircraft
hangared adjacent to their houses. Read
more
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The
Final Word
By Earl
Lawrence, EAA Vice President of Industry and
Regulatory Affairs |
| The
FAA released a new Airport
Compliance Manual, or Order 5190.6B, this past
October. The document went from an original 94
pages to 691 pages! This policy covers the
compliance items an airport must meet to qualify for
federal funding of airport improvements. This funding
comes from fuel taxes paid by pilots and aircraft
owners like you. Read
more
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| Hamilton
Metalplane |
| Thirty-five
years ago, Jack Lysdale and a small group of
volunteers completed the restoration of the only
remaining Boeing Hamilton H-47 Metalplane. The
airplane was built in 1929, and it went to the
Canadian Forest Service and was later owned and flown
by the |
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| famous
great north pilot Joe Crosson, flying it on floats and
wheels all over northwestern Canada, the lower 48
states, and Alaska. The Hamilton served as a bush
plane until it was taken out of service July 10, 1947.
By the time the bits and pieces were brought back to
the lower 48, the project was in pretty rough shape. Read
more |
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Technical
Tidbits
Modifications
for the AAF Type A7 Mag Switch |
| Back
in the mid-1990s, Tom Baker brought a Taylorcraft to
the EAA Fly-In that was so good it won the Grand
Champion Classic award. It goes without saying that
the airplane was neatly done, but one little
modification in particular really caught my eye. The
AN AAF Type A7 magneto switch had been
changed in a very clever way - Tom had hidden a modern
keyed switch right inside the handle of the original
switch! Read more |
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Great
Web Links
From the EAA Vintage
Community |
 The
Red Barn message forum at Oshkosh365 is as active as
ever, and it continues to grow in popularity. Have a
look at the list below and follow the links to read
the actual questions and discussion topics.
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| EAA's
efforts to compile an oral history of aviation's
pioneers and those who have helped make aviation
such a fascinating part of our nation's history
has culminated in EAA's Timeless
Voices project. |
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| Hundreds of videos are now
archived at EAA Headquarters. We continue to
create online versions of those videos so that
members and others who have an interest in
aviation can watch and learn from those who have
come before us. This month's featured interview
is Ruth Richter Holden.
Ruth's
first memories are of aviation. Her father, Paul
Richter, learned to fly in 1924 from Jack Frye
and became one of the original stunt pilots of
the 13 Black Cats flying circus. In 1926,
Richter, along with Frye and fellow pilot Walter
Hamilton, founded the Aero Corporation of
California. Over the next two decades, this
company grew into TWA-Trans World Airlines. Many
years later in 1988, Ruth decided to follow up
on her own dream to fly and began taking flying
lessons at age 54. She earned her private pilot
ticket and flew recreationally on a regular
basis. Over that time, she created a website
dedicated to the memory of her father and TWA.
In 2005 she received an inquiry regarding the
history of a Lockheed Electra 12A that was for
sale and had been owned and used by TWA in the
1940s as a flying test bed. When Ruth came to
the realization that her father had flown the
plane, she mortgaged her house and bought the
airplane sight unseen over the phone. Watch
the video.
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| Flared
tubing fittings are used in every aircraft
restoration, and in this month's Hints for
Restorers, Brian Carpenter, an airframe and
powerplant mechanic with inspection
authorization of Rainbow Aviation Services,
explains the proper techniques for the
fabrication and assembly of these components.
Watch
it here.
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| As
an added bonus to our coverage of Tom Baker's
switch modifications, here's a link to a PDF
copy of the full article on Tom Baker's
Taylorcraft, as published in the October 1994
issue of Vintage Airplane. Read
it here.
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| Question
of the Month
Q. How often do
you attend EAA AirVenture Oshkosh?
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| From
the Newsletters
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| One
of the longest published newsletters in EAA and
VAA history is Antique Airways, created
by VAA Chapter 3 for their Carolinas/Virginia
Antique Airplane Foundation. |
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| The
newsletter was first edited by Jack and Golda
Cox before their move to Wisconsin and work for
EAA Headquarters. Later, Ray Bottom edited the
newsletter for many years, and now at the helm
of the publication is Jim Wilson. Here’s
their December newsletter. |
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