Vol 25 No. 1
January 2002
REFLECTIONS Ed Chenevey
We'll meet at Gero Park this year as usual on the 4th Mondays except in May when we will move the meeting up a week because of Memorial Day.
We have 12 calendars, six of the EAA World of Flight and six of the Ultralight and Light Sport Aircraft. They cost us $7 each so I propose that we charge $10 to make a few dollars. This year the EAA substantially raised their fee and the insurance rates so that we paid $130 this year vs $60 last year. We no longer have a bank account, done in by high fees, so any checks need to be payable to me. I don't want to raise the dues above the current $15, so I'm willing to make up the difference to keep the Chapter afloat.Our expenses are the meetings, EAA dues, postage, and refreshments.These costs have been $240, $130, $100, and about $60 respectively which comes to $530 for the year. This is equivalent to 35 members @ $15, so we need to make the $36 on the calendars.
Meeting programs are always a sticky issue. I don't know what you want. If you're bored or uninterested, its your own fault. It's your Chapter! I can only facilitate things. Tom Watkinson has again volunteered his father to talk about his WWII experiences. I suggest that we schedule this for February. I will continue to write things of interest to me; the rest of you should do the same. Send them to Alvin at alsag52 @ aol.com. Mike will keep us posted on State issues I'm sure. The beauty of Gero Park is that we can drive to the door so that things can be brought there for demo's etc. Think, plan, do!
I went on A/C Chapter 7's trip last week to the Air Victory Museum, Flying W, and Trenton-Robinsville airports. This was their program for the month. They are also lining up a talk by a ME 262 pilot and planning a trip to the Bradley Air Museum for future activities. They did the same trip about 3 years ago but there is always something new to see. Mike reminded me to check out the Wright wind tunnel that they have. It's simply a wooden box on a stand with a sheet metal inlet with air flow straighteners; simple, functional. It could have been made by the Wrights or anyone else in the last 100 years. Give me a year to "age" the cut ends of old wood and I could make one too. Still authenticity doesn't matter, what does is that the Wrights made and tested hundreds of samples for wings and props in a wind tunnel to obtain design parameters for their flying machine.
I did discover two gems which may or may not have been there on my last visit. First was a Martin 333 engine. Never saw one, probably made very few. The serial number was A-112 but I'll bet they started with number 100 because no way could they sell 112 engines in the early 30's. In fact, why was Martin even in the engine business. Herschel Smiths' "History of Aircraft Piston Engines" says that it came from the Chevrolair of 1929. After being the Martin, it reappeared as the Phillips in the late 30's. Anyway , this is a 120 hp inverted inline four air cooled engine which is distingished from all others by having two overhead camshafts drived by a geartrain at the rear. A very clean looking engine, the magnetos pointing forward straddling the no 4 cylinder and the camshaft housings serving as oil sumps. There were four other similarly configured engines sold into the market at that time, the Michigan Rover, American Cirrus, Wright Gipsy, and the Menasco. Fairchild built the Ranger 6. These competed with the small radials of the time, Kinner, Warner, Velie, Lambert, and LeBlond. However nobody could sell airplanes in the depression so nobody made any money. I'm sure that there were several aircraft ATC'd to use the Martin engine, and if I looked through Juptner I could find them. At that time, when you installed a different engine you got a new ATC; some installations probably were never sold, the engines
were removed and the plane sold with whatever engine the customer wanted. The Martin engine is certianly uncommon, in 50 years of wandering around airports, I have never knowingly seen one until now.
They also have a Junkers Juno 004 jet engine complete with the pony starting engine. At engine shows, I have seen a small two cylinder horizontally opposed 2 cycle engine beautifully designed and constructed which was the starting engine for the WWII German engines. Well, they have one! It's mounted directly on the front of the compressor shaft centered in the air intake. We would have used something like a big electric drill with a long shaft as used for race cars but the Germans simply put a 2 cycle engine on the end of the engine itself with a recoil starter and handle. It obviously needed a clutch, throttle, and fuel tank but I didn't have enough time last week to figure that out. "World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines" by Bill Gunston says that this was a 10 hp Riedel engine and that it was used on go carts later. Anyway, they have the whole thing.
The final stop was the hangars where Steve Pitcairin and John Turygen have their aircraft. Steve wasn't there but John showed us around. Nothing new at Pitcairins' but John has the Spartan Executive there to paint up like Mr Mennen. It is a lovely looking fully polished airplane; truly a tribute to the Golden Age of Aviation.
His P51 looks about the same as when I last saw it though he is still gathering parts. There was a new wing leading edge fairing which was formed by someone in California. It is 0.050 aluminum with all the curves to enclose the three machine gun muzzles which protrude about an inch beyond the leading edge. He has six guns, ammo, belts and all the feed chutes, mounts, and parts to complete one wing. Some parts are still missing for the other. I should have spent more time examining his zero time engine. There are also new prop blades to go with it.
Incidently, those of you who read Sport Aviation know that John is the pilot of Mr Mulligan. He says that he has about 100 hours in it.
On Jan 26 and 27, the 6th Cabin Fever Model Engineering Expo will be held at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center in Lebanon Pa. I've gone every year and Art Valand has attended several. You will see all types of gas and steam model engines; machine shop tools, equipment and supplies; books; plans and kits to construct engines; brass and aluminum pieces; and God knows what else. Lots of neat stuff. All for $5, 8 to 5 on Sat ,9 to 4 on Sun. Take Rt 72 south through Lebanon about 2 miles to Rocherty Rd (traffic light) turn left, go through the next light and you are there. Voice directions at 717-228-2828 or website cabinfeverexpo.com.
Since the last Newsletter I have purchased plans for the Banty, an all wood ultralight which is constructed like a large model airplane. As I said in my last article, plans let you discover the methods the designer used to integrate and adapt various systems into his aircraft. In this case, the drawing showing the fuel tank and plumbing alone is worth the cost of the plans, not to mention his wing folding system. What you get is 62 pages of plans and instructions BUT you have to know what you are doing since he doesn't lead you by the hand through every building step.
ELECTRIC
AIRPLANE MAY DEBUT IN 2002
Commercial and private interests are moving toward the
development of a piloted general aviation aircraft powered by an electric motor
that derives its electric current from fuel cells. The questions are which will
be first and when the first flight will occur. Advanced Technology Products, a
Worcester, Massachusetts, firm that makes battery packs used to start aircraft,
has received a $100,000 grant from NASA for a study of how to design and mount a
fuel cell-powered electric motor onto a small aircraft. The study might pave the
way for a $500,000 NASA grant in 2003 to build the aircraft. The company needs
$600,000 to test-fly the aircraft, and has about half that amount now. The
airframe to be used for the test is available--a French-built DynAero Lafayette
III AGA--and
was donated by American Ghiles Aircraft of Dijon, France. Another candidate is a
motorglider that is already in testing using an electric motor. Early stages of
the research call for the aircraft
to be powered by batteries alone, but the goal is to have fuel cells--devices
that combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, such as those in space
vehicles--power an electric
motor.
..AND BOEING GETS A CHARGE OUT OF IT
At nearly the same time as the NASA grant was received by Advanced
Technology Products, Boeing announced that it, too, wants to build
and test an electrically powered demonstrator airplane at its new
research center in Madrid, Spain. The goal is to test the technology
on a small aircraft and develop it for large jets. Fuel cells and
electric motors will not replace jet engines, but could one day
replace gas-turbine auxiliary power units. Auxiliary power units
are typically located in the rear of the fuselage and produce
electricity and air for airplane systems while on the ground and
for backup use in flight. Boeing's efforts also have NASA support.
Test flights are expected to begin in early 2004.
Aviation Wisdom
A thunderstorm is nature's way of saying, "I
win!"
Never trade luck for skill.
The three most common expressions in aviation are,
"Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" and "Shit!"
Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers.
In aviation, gravity is a law not subject to repeal.
Airspeed, altitude or brains: two are always needed to
successfully complete the flight.
A smooth landing is mostly luck; two in a row is all
luck; three in a row is prevarication.
I remember when sex was safe and flying was dangerous.
Will Rogers never met a fighter pilot.
We have a perfect record in aviation: we never left
one up there!
If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage
it's probably a helicopter - and unsafe.
Federal Aviation Regulations are written by lawyers to
promote violations and lawsuits.
Flashlights are tubular metal containers kept in a
flight bag for the purpose of storing dead batteries.
Navy carrier pilots to Air Force pilots: Flaring is
like squatting to pee.
Flying the airplane is more important than radioing
your plight to a person on the ground incapable of
understanding it
An accident investigation attempts to place blame on
the hapless for brief lapses.
To err is human; to forgive divine - neither of which
is FAA policy.
