Antiquer July-Aug 07

Volume 49-Issue 4

ANTIQUER

Chapter Officers

President

Bob VonWiller

Vice President

Donna Smith

Treasurer

Chris Overson

Secretary

Emidio DelConte

Membership

Len Buckel

Activities

Steve Byers

Past President

Glenn Cruz

Newsletter Editor

Bob Blanchard

ANTIQUE AIRPLANE ASSOCIATION - SAN DIEGO CHAPTER

July—August 2007

Inside this issue:

Chapter meeting. . . . . . …1

Event Calendar . . . . . . . . 2

Al Long—Gone West . . . 2

Prop Wash . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Creedon’s Luscombe . . . 4

Wings over Gillespie . . . .5

Len Buckel’s Incident . . 6

Columbia Fly-In . . . . . . . 7

Chapter Information . . . 8

Feature Photo . . . . . . . . 8

Photo Appendix . . . . . . 8

Chapter Meeting at Travelair—West . . .

A general chapter meeting was held on

Thursday, July 26th, at the hangar facility re-

ferred to as Travelair West. (Does that mean

there’s a Travelair East somewhere?) This is

the abode of Mike Ferris and Jim Ward who

were gracious enough to allow their territory

to be invaded for the evening by about 60

chapter members and guests. But the piece

d’resistance was the Italian dinner prepared by

Rich and Mary Ann Tomasello. The food was

outstanding, and definitely a treat for all those

attending. The hangar doors were open, front

and back, in the two hangars used which pro-

vided a fresh breeze during the evening and a

very pleasant environment for the meeting.

The meal service spanned the better

part of an hour and one half since many of

our members are “early eaters” and others

have to negotiate I-52 eastbound which

means they eat later. But the time was well

spent by attendees in conversations at the

many tables arranged by Bob Von Willer

and his set-up crew.

Bob Von Willer has emassed quite a

collection of aviation books and materials

which he holds ready for fund-raising auc-

tions. Ten to twelve books, thought to be

“best sellers” were displayed on a table

where members could place “silent” bids.

This approach avoided the time consumed

by an “open” auction and still got the mer

(Continued on Page 3)

Forming the “chow line” were Duane

Shockey, Aleta Pharris, Wayne Gibson

and Emidio Delconte.

Ron Attig being “sauced” by

Rich Tomasello

Mary Ann Tomasello serves Bob Von-

Willer a meat ball.

Shelly Healy serves Lonny

Bosselman while Donna

Smith waits patiently.

Event Calendar. . .

Page 2 Volume 49-Issue 4

AL Long . . . “Gone West”. . .

Prop Wash by Bob VonWiller . . . .

Aug 18-19—Camarillo, CA Air Show, 9:00—

5:00. See www.camarilloairshow.com

Aug 25—Big Bear Air Fair, Big Bear, CA.

Call 909-585-3219.

Sep 15—Hesperia, CA Air Show, static dis-

plays, fly-bys. Call 760-247-6171.

Sep 29—Chapter Tour, USS Midway,

CVA-41. Navy Pier, San Diego Harbor.

Sep 29-30 — Charity fly-in at the Polo Field,

Fairbanks Ranch , Del Mar, CA. (See article)

Oct 12-14—Air Show, Marine Corps Air

Station, Miramar, CA.

Oct 13—Annual Airfare & Fly-In. Corona,

CA. Call 951-736-2289.

Oct 18-21—Western Waco Assn. Fly-In.

Pioneer Airport, Chino, CA.

Oct 25-28—Copperstate Fly-In, Casa

Grande, AZ. See web page.

Oct 27—Annual AAASDC Halloween

Party, Allen Airways Hangar. (Details Later)

Nov 10—Veterans Day Fly-In, Flabob Air-

port, Riverside, CA. Call 951-683-2309.

Dec 20—AAASDC Annual Business Meet-

ing, BarnStormers Hangar. Dinner. More

later.

We recently got the sad news from

Esther Long that her husband Al died

on August 3, 2007 in Parker, CO. He

was 84. Al and Esther are long time

members of the AAA San Diego

Chapter. Al was born in California,

and attended San Jose State College.

During WWII, he served in the Pacific

Theater flying Corsairs off the USS

Bennington. He was among the 1,500

carrier planes that flew over the USS

Missouri as the Japanese signed the

surrender documents in 1945 to end

the war.

Al served with the Military Air

Transport Service from 1951 through

1964 flying DC-6’s and Constellations

around the world. After retiring from

the Navy after 22 years, he worked as a

pilot/check airman for United Airlines.

He retired in December, 1982 after

logging about 26,000 total flying hours

in his career.

In 1986, Al and Esther moved to

El Cajon to help care for Esther’s ag-

ing parents, Elmer and Violet Drew.

For several years, Al flew Elmer and

his friends to Alaska in Elmer’s King

Air on Salmon fishing trips.

Al and Esther owned a 1946 Cessna

140 and 1994 Bonanza which they flew

out of Gillespie Field One of their

favorite trips was a 60 day flight in

1991 to Canada and Alaska in the

Cessna 180 that Elmer had purchased

new in 1955. Esther commented that

they had some incredible years flying

together after Al retired from United

Airlines. Esther still has her father’s

Cessna 180 which she and Al flew to

Alaska. Al and Esther were married

for almost 30 years and enjoyed a lot of

flying together.

Military services for Al will be

held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August

11, at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo

Alto, CA. Esther requests that dona-

tions in Al’s memory be sent to the

AAA, San Diego Chapter’s Aviation

Training Scholarship fund.

(Ed. Note: Bob has requested that we re-title his

column, “Prop Wash” rather than “Prez Sez”.)

In July, we had a fly-out to Columbia,

CA with 38 members and friends participat-

ing. Members did all the cooking. It was a

real adventure with white water rafting, gold

panning and riding an old train. (See Page 7)

Our July general meeting was another

good one with a lot of fresh faces and good

food along with a little show and tell on

how to do metalworking. (See article)

Remember that the annual AAA Fly-In

happens at Blakesburg, IA at the end of this

month. September 27th is our tour on the

USS Midway, so be sure to keep checking

your e-mail for more details as the date ap-

proaches.

The Halloween party on October 27th

is shaping up with more details later. VP

Donna Smith is taking the lead on this one.

Tickets will soon be on sale for $15.00. No

tickets will be sold at the door.

We will have our annual business

meeting on December 20th. This will

be a potluck dinner, a Christmas Party,

and other good things. We will be elect-

ing a board of directors for 2008. The

meeting will be held at the Barnstormers

Hangar. More details on this one later.

An important flying event coming up

is the antiquers fly-in to the Polo Field

at Fairbanks Ranch scheduled for Sep-

tember 29-30. Fly-ins are restricted to

AAASDC members. The procedure is

to arrive after 4:00PM on Saturday, Sep.

29th. Use a left hand pattern and no

fly-bys, please! Bill Allen is usually on

the ground to provide guidance. There

will be a cook-out at the clubhouse on

Saturday night for fly-in personnel,

ONLY. The Spreckels Cup Polo Event

will be held on Sunday. You can buy

lunch at the polo field on Sunday

for $35.00 (it’s a fund raiser). Or,

most bring their own lunches,

camp under the wings of their

aircraft and enjoy the matches.

Departures are usually not before

5:00PM on Sunday. Check with

Bill Allen for details.

Bob VonWiller

President, AAASDC

Page 3 Volume 49-Issue 4

General Meeting at Travelair West —- Continued . . .

chandise before the public. Following the

meal, Bob checked the various books and

about half of them sold. Some bids were

made from the audience for books not re-

ceiving a bid in the silent auction. The

whole episode took less than 30 minutes

and produced a nice sum to be added to the

Chapter’s scholarship coffers. Madison

Butler, was helpful by delivering the books

to Bob VonWiller during the auction.

The final event for the evening was

a demonstration of the use of an Eng-

lish Wheel by Bob VonWiller and Bill

Simmons. Bob had brought his

“Wheel” purchased at Harbor Freight

(where all good tools at reasonable

prices come from) for the occasion. He

had two samples of .045” aluminum

about a foot square for the demo. Bob

stressed numerous times that a funda-

mental rule of using an English Wheel is

to keep you fingers clear, unless you

want them also to be reduced to .045”.

After Bob’s demo, Bill Simmons was

called forward to change wheels and

demo his new found

expertise. A flat wheel

was used to remove a

series of small dents

from one metal sheet,

which it did very nicely.

Next, Bill changed

wheels for a curved

one, and began to work

the second metal sheet

into a curve. Actually,

an expert with the

“Wheel” can work

compound curves into a sheet of alumi-

num. Bill seemed to grasp the technique

fairly rapidly and the demonstration was

completed. Use of the English Wheel is

indeed an art form, with the operator

more an artist than sheet metal worker!

Dessert was next

on the agenda, which

consisted of several

sheet cakes of vari-

ous flavors. The

prospect of more

food aroused the

attendees from their

chairs and resulted in

another queue at the

serving table. Shelly Healy served up,

in some instances, multiple pieces of

cake which indeed, put the “icing” on

the evening’s excellent meal.

Our sincere thanks to Jim Ward

and Mike Ferris for use of their han-

gar, to Rich and Mary Ann Tomasello

for preparing and serving the excellent

meal, to Shelly Healy for helping

throughout the evening. And our

thanks also to Bob VonWiller for stag-

ing the affair and providing all of us an

opportunity for good food and con-

versation with the good people of the

San Diego Chapter. Thanks to all

who attended. See you for the next

party on October 28th to celebrate

Halloween, 2007!

The “Butler’s”, Tommy, Andy & Madison

Bill Simmons tries his luck with

the English Wheel. .

Bob VonWiller demonstrates the art of

metal work using an English Wheel

The “big eaters” table . . . .

Len Buckel with Lonny Bosselman & Aleta Pharris

Page 4 Volume 49-Issue 4 Page 4 Volume 49-Issue 4

Will Creedon’s Polished Luscombe 8A

They may involve extra work, but pol-

ished airplanes with shinny-bright alumi-

num are simply works of art. Will Cree-

don has such an airplane in his 1946 Lus-

combe 8A. This airplane caught our eye

when looking for a certified airplane that

is in compliance with the Light Sport Air-

plane (LSA) specifications. It “makes

sport” but Will has no need to fly it in that

category or to sell it for that use, either.

Will happened upon the airplane dur-

ing a visit with his good friend Barry Bro-

cato at Brown Field. Brocato had done a

lot of work on the aircraft including pol-

ishing the fuselage, but agreed to sell it to

Will in 2002. Appreciate, that at that time,

Will did not have a pilot’s license! At first,

he couldn’t find anyone who could or

would provide him flight training in the

Luscombe. Finally, he came upon Bob

Snow, who had flown almost every air-

plane you could name, and Will was able

to get his private pilot’s certificate. Now,

he could enjoy the gorgeous bird and get

some return for all that polishing in the

interim!

Will set about to renovate certain

of the aircraft’s systems that were in

need of attention. He tack-

led the fuel tanks which he

overhauled and improved.

The brakes are mechanical,

and were in need of major

overhaul, which he accom-

plished. The tail wheel

assembly was less than

desired, so he installed a

Scott tail wheel assembly.

Finally, although Brocato

had done some work on

the interior upholstery,

Will set about extending

his work to the seats and designed sev-

eral supporting pillows which were up-

holstered by the workman who had done

the original work using fabric remaining

from that job. Hence, the aircraft at this

time is in outstanding mechanical condi-

tion with exterior and interior rating

about a 9 or better.

The aircraft is fitted with a A-65

engine which delivers about 85 mph in

cruise on around 4.5 gallons of fuel an

hour. A real economy ride! Will

commented that with two aboard,

the Luscombe will climb about 400

fpm near sea level. At altitude, one

to two hundred fpm is about all

that can be expected. In climbing

from the desert floor east of San

Diego to overfly the coastal moun-

tains, a long climb gradient is

needed to climb to the altitude nec-

essary to clear the granite.

The airplane has a very attrac-

tive panel and interior, as the accompany-

ing photo will attest. Its not that hard to

mount either. Like most small airplanes,

a personalized, special technique is re-

quired. For example, put your left foot

on the foot bar on the strut, grab the

structural tube on the left of the wind-

screen, and launch yourself toward the

opposite door (this is difficult if there is

already a person sitting in the seat on

the right). The knees can easily straddle

the stick and one can settle into the

seat, which is very comfortable (with

Will’s special lumbar support roll). The

stick is close to the belt with the throt-

tle nestled against the right knee. After

all, it’s a small airplane! Having individ-

ual seats rather than the bench variety,

improves seating comfort.

Will has achieved a beautiful air-

craft, both in and out, and has every

reason to be proud of his accomplish-

ment. Just keep that aluminum skin

sparkling Will!

Proud owner Will

Creedon

through heavy ground fire for bomb

damage assessment. The enactment

was very realistic with myriad explo-

sions and thunderous sound!

One unintended bit of enter-

tainment were the grass fires

started along the side of the

runway during these events

which demonstrated the fast

response capability of the El

Cajon Fire Department! This

fire fighting display was per-

formed on both days, or until

all the grass was burned off.

Very realistic “enactment”.

There was also an impressive array

or radio controlled aircraft on hand

with a number performing aerial acts.

When airborne, it was difficult to tell

that the F-16 jet screaming by over-

head was indeed a radio controlled

model and not the real

thing! Adding to the gen-

eral melee were a flight of

trainers including a PT-19,

L-19’s, T-34’s, T-6’s and

an SNJ. Also providing

very exciting fly-buys were

the T-28’s and the WWII

re-enactment with TBM,

F6F and F8F aircraft snarl-

ing their way around the

pattern. John Colver also

gave his usual stellar per-

formance in his T-6, “War Dog”. The

show delighted the attendees and,

unlike some previous years, even re-

sulted in a neat profit for the hard-

working local CAF wing. Good Show!!

munk in the duty British primary trainer.)

The various primary aerial events seemed

to be rather loosely scheduled leaving

rather long time lapses between

events in the show. Some of the

scheduling difficulties apparently

were due some planned-on aircraft

that were unable to make the

show.

One interesting event was the

mock re-enactment of a Vietnam

close air support mission in which a

L-19 Birddog marks a specific target

with a phosphorous rocket calling in

the A-1 Skyraiders, piloted

by Bob Grondzik and Rick

Morrison with their

“simulated” bombs to de-

stroy the target. Dick Bunting

filled the role of the FAC aircraft

in his L-19A while the two thun-

dering Skyraiders delivered the

heavy ordnance. The L-19 then

followed the Skyraiders in a run

On the weekend of June 15-16-17, the

Commenorative Air Force Wing based at

Gillespie Field staged the annual “Wings

Over Gillespie” air show. Numerous

aviation events were scheduled through-

out the weekend. Friday PM was devoted

to media work, practice and to mock bat-

tle rehearsals. Early in the program,

show-stopper Craig Teft in his Pitts Special

demonstrated his aerobatic prowess

through a number of maneuvers that had

the audience craning their necks skyward.

Spectacular performance!

A formation of Beech T-34 aircraft

made their appearance demonstrating

beautiful formation flying with several fly-

bys for the audience. Very professional

performance. Bob Simon in his 450hp

Stearman trailed by Roy McCaldin in his

DH-4 replica made a few loops around the

pattern to keep the crowd occupied be-

tween aerial acts. Also serving a “fill-in”

role were Ron Attig in his TL-19A Birddog

trailed by a Scottish Aircraft Bulldog. (The

Bulldog replaced the DeHavilland Chip-

Page 5 Volume 49-Issue 4

Local CAF Wing Stages “Wings Over Gillespie”

Grumman F6F Hellcat

Grumman A-1 Skyraiders

Flight of Beech T-34 Trainers

Dick Bunting flying his L-19 in FAC re-inactment

Ron Attig in his TL-19A Birddog

Page 6 Volume 49-Issue 4

Len Buckel’s “Pecos Texas” Incident . . .

On June 12th , Len Buckel launched

forth on what has become an annual

trans-continental cross country to Lock

Haven, PA, to celebrate the J-3 Piper

Cub’s Sentimental Journey. His trip there

took 4 days and 32.8 flying hours and he

arrived on June 18th. Len participated in

the usual activities, exchanged stories with

the usual cast of characters and then

launched for home on June 24th.

The flight home involved dodging a

few thundershowers and he reached the

approximate half-way point at Pecos, TX

on June 26th. Checking evening weather,

Len noted that Pecos was in one of the

counties with a warning for severe thun-

dershowers that evening. He checked the

sky, which seemed to be clear without

clouds. He didn’t hear any wind during

the night, but the next morning he noted

that there were many tree leaves on the

ground around the motel.

Arriving at the airport, Len was star-

tled when he noticed his Cub wasn’t

where he had tied it down! It was gone!

Since Pecos is staffed 24/7, it was

thought that perhaps a member, hearing

the thunderstorm forecast, had rolled it

into a hangar. However, a quick check of

vacant hangars produced no joy. At that

point, all concerned thought the Cub had

simply blown away.

Len then checked the 1800 pound

rated nylon straps he uses for tying down

the Cub and found the tail strap appeared

to have been cut and was still attached to

the tie-down ring. Later, he noted that

short lengths of the webbing also re-

mained on the wing tie-downs. Len and a

couple of airport people jumped into one

of the airport cars and started looking.

You can imagine what Len must have

been thinking, that he was going to find

his Cub in a little round ball! They drove

down runways and taxiways looking for

it, expecting the worst. Len was already

thinking that he would have to rent a

truck to take the wreckage home.

Finally, at the west end of the field

they spotted the Cub! It appeared to be

upright at least and on its wheels. They

had to walk into the high brush to get to

at the plane, but hope surged when they

found the plane in amazingly good condi-

tion! It had been blown at least a good

one-half mile from its tie-down. On ex-

amination, they found that the left wing

tip was bent but the aileron was not hurt.

Len used EMT tubing for the wing tip

bow which probably kept the wing from

being damaged further inboard. The

right aileron had been in the dirt, but

apparently was not damaged. Both eleva-

tors sustained some damage, but other

than that, there didn’t appear to be any

further damage! They also noted that the

wing tie-down straps were still attached

to the airplane and had been broken near

the ground. There were about four peo-

ple on the scene at that point, and they

were able to push the Cub out to the

nearest runway. Len said he was truly

amazed that the Cub had not sustained

more damage.

Len then took it on a test flight

around the field, but other than being a

bit tail heavy, flying qualities were accept-

able. Then, as if to add a bit more insult

to injury, when Len taxied up after his

flight, the right tire went flat! The tire

was full of thorns from the brush area

where it had ended up. When the plane

was rolled out of the brush, they must

have collected the thorns. Len took the

tire to a nearby tire shop

where the technician re-

moved the tube and in-

stalled TEN patches. The

left tire remained inflated

until Len got back to San

Diego, then it too went flat!

After installing the re-

paired tire, Len decided to

try a full-power flight test

and if successful, would

depart for home. The Cub

seemed to fly all right with-

out any significant trim

problems or vibration so he set course

for home. Len’s remaining flight took

him through Deming, NM, Casa

Grande, AZ with his third landing at

Gillespie Field at 11:30AM on June

28th. Total flight time for his trip was

68.3 hours. That is indeed a long time

to sit in the back seat of a J-3 Cub

dodging thunderstorms.

There is no doubt that Mother

Nature smiled broadly in Len’s direc-

tion during the episode. Had only one

or two tie-down straps broken with

one or two holding, the airplane

would likely have gone on its back, or

worse, on top of its nearest neighbor.

There is some mystery concerning

why all three tie-down straps failed

near the bowline knot used to secure

them. Len feels that the nature of the

knot itself, may have contributed to

the tie-down strap failing. Len re-

ceived some information that knots

can reduce the effectiveness of tie-

down materials up to 40-50 percent.

Regardless of why they failed, it

was probably fortunate that they did,

since the Cub was saved as a result.

As noted in the photo below, Len is

already well underway repairing the

Cub. With any luck, it should be fly-

ing again by the end of August.

Ed. Note: A humorous cartoon drawn

by Sheldon Green depicting Len’s ordeal is

included on Page 8.

Len repairing the Cub’s left wing tip.

As he is accustomed to doing each

summer, Bob VonWiller staged his annual

fly-out, drive-out, “Escape to Columbia”,

nestled in the Sierra foothills east of

Stockton, CA. The event was scheduled

for July 13-15, but several of the 15 air-

Page 7 Volume 49-Issue 4

Escape to Columbia (California, that is . . .)

craft and 38 people that made

the trip, arrived on the 7th and

didn’t leave until the 15th. The re-

cord for attendees must go to the

Steve Byers family who had 11

members making the scene.

Bob feels that good food and

plenty of it is paramount to suc-

cess of the camp-out. The mem-

bers were treated to large break-

fasts, and creative dinners including

Mexican cuisine, and a fillet mi-

gnon repast on Saturday night.

Provisioning was done by Von

Willer with guests recruited to do

most of the cooking.

The major activity was the white

water rafting excursion on Saturday

attended by 14 guests. This is the

real deal with everyone getting wet

from the experience. The South

Fork of the American River is used

and takers are bused there with lunch

provided on the river. Some guests

commented to Bob that they were

ready for greater thrills, so for next

year, he is planning an 18-mile white

water experience on the Tuolomee

River!

Other activities included a trip to

Moaning Caverns, fishing on the river, a

visit to Rail Town, and an opportunity to

pan for gold at Angels Camp. Michael

Gretton staged a GPS Treasure Hunt

with a $5.00 prize to the winner. This

turned out to be a lot of fun and gave

guests a chance to practice their GPS

skills.

Columbia is an easy flight even for

light planes, as Martha Horvitz can attest

flying her Supercub. Von Willer enjoys

staging the event and the fact that the

people who go always have a roarin’ good

time. Plus, as Bob notes, it provides an

opportunity for members to enjoy their

planes, other than just making Sunday

morning trips to French Valley for break-

fast!

Madison Butler keeping Don Ganoe

from falling overboard.

Some of the Campers at the Columbia Fly-Out

Talk about FUN!!!

Martha and Ron Horvitz “making the scene”

Michael Gretton cooking steaks

for dinner meal.

P. O. Box 711212

Santee, CA 92072-1212

Phone: 619-449-0539

Email: Lenj3@juno.com

“Keep the Antiques

Flying”

The San Diego Chapter of the Antique Air-

plane Association holds meetings at various lo-

cations in San Diego around the Gillespie Field

area. Meetings are announced through the

Chapter Newsletter, The San Diego Antiquer.

Membership is open to all interested parties.

Dues are $15.00 per year. Contact Len J. Buckel

at 619-449-0539, or at Lenj3@juno.com for an

application and for general information . . .

Antique Airplane Association

San Diego Chapter

Unmanned Cub Flight—Cartoon depicting Len Buckel’s experi-

ence at Pecos, TX (see article on Page 6). Although his airplane

was blown over one-half mile, the damage was negligible enough

that he was still able to fly it home. (Note: Excellent cartoon courtesy

of Sheldon Green, Lompoc, CA.)

Photo Appendix . . .

Volume 49—Issue 4 Page 8

Dick Bunting with

Lonny Bosselman

Joan & Bill Loob

Bob Blanchard with

Patricia Burke

Rod Smith waiting his turn

behind the Butler kids

Our esteemed Vice President,

Donna Smith, hitting the parmesan

Sheri Lowe & Gary Butzke

Russ Clemens with

daughter Lindsey