1953 Howard/Poberezny Pete III 'Little Audrey' - N111PL (N27B)

Named after his wife, Little Audrey was constructed by Paul Poberezny in 1953 during the very early days of EAA. The little sport plane was actually made up of a pair of cut-down Luscombe wings, a spring steel landing gear, and a Continental A-75 engine attached to a welded steel tube fuselage. The major part of the fuselage came from a tiny racing airplane designed by the well-known Benny Howard and raced under the name Pete.

Little Audrey began testing on August 14, 1953. Paul was dogged with problems that day, quite evident when he dragged the airplane in from taxi tests several times with badly smoking brakes. In addition, the Continental A-75 engine would only turn up 1900 rpm with the original Fahlin prop. Paul quickly remedied both problems and got Little Audrey certified and in the air.

Paul logged many hours in the airplane before selling it to Joe Yutz in 1955. Little Audrey passed through six more owners and a number of modifications before EAA Chapter 1 obtained the airplane and decided to rebuild it. Jan Johnson was elected to oversee the restoration and completed the task with great enthusiasm.

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty donated the tubing for the fuselage with Bill Barlow doing the job of cutting the tubes to fit. The wings were two feet longer than the original wings on Little Audrey, and had to be cut and spliced together at the root ends. The covering was done in the chapter clubhouse using Stits fabric and Polytone coatings, donated by Ray Stits. The original A-75 Continental engine that Paul had installed in 1953 was still in the airplane and in very good shape.

Once the chapter restoration of Little Audrey was completed, Chapter 1 President and veteran pilot Pat Halloran climbed in and put the little sport plane through its paces before pronouncing it ready for delivery to Oshkosh by trailer – carefully considered to be the safest way to deliver precious cargo.

Little Audrey made several flights at the fly-in in Oshkosh in 1991, showing off for the crowd and completing an air-to-air photo session. The final flight was made during the convention with Paul watching intently as the little sport plane was taxied up for the dedication ceremony. With all participants on hand, Little Audrey was donated to the EAA Aviation Museum by William Turner on behalf of all the members of EAA Chapter 1.