December 2013 - Vintage Sailplane Association

B C
ungee
ord
Volume 39 No. 4, Winter 2013
The Voice of the Vintage Sailplane Association
$10.00 U.S.
Vintage Sailplane Association
A Division of the Soaring Society of America
<vintagesailplane.org>
For inquiries contact the VSA Secretary
<dlschuur@gmail.com>
Promoting the acquisition, restoration and
flying of vintage and classic sailplanes and
gliders and preserving their history since 1974.
President Jim Short
<simajim121@gmail.com>
(708) 624-3576
Vice Presidents East: Rusty Lowry
North: Lee Cowie
South: John Hardy
West: Joshua Knerr
Board Members Dave Schuur, Past President
Burt Compton, SSA Liaison
Neal Pfeiffer, Director-at-large
Marita J. Rea, Corporate Agent
Secretary David L. Schuur
16705 E. 300th Avenue
Flat Rock, IL 62427
Treasurer Mary Cowie
31757 Honey Locust Road
Jonesburg, MO 63351
<maryask18@gmail.com>
Classics Chair Josh Knerr
and VSANews! <vsanews@gmail.com>
Webmaster Arthur Scott
<icelandairwaves@gmail.com>
Archivist- Lee Cowie
Documents <lkcowie@gmail.com>
Archivist- Neal Pfeiffer
Drawings <nealpfeiffer@sbcglobal.net>
Archive Mid-American Air Center
Location Lawrenceville-Vincennes Int'l Airport
13610 Hangar Road
Lawrenceville, IL 62439
Editors Simine & Jim Short
<simines@gmail.com>
Art Director and JoAnn Dawson
Assistant Editor
Legal Disclaimer
The VSA has made every effort to insure the
correctness and completeness of material
published in this issue. However, use of any
material published herein will be deemed your
release of the VSA and its personnel from liability
for any injury, damages or losses claimed to be
caused from the use thereof.
Editorial Policy and Deadlines
Articles, news, letters and calendar events must be
submitted by 15 February (Spring), 15 May (Summer),
15 August (Fall) or 15 November (Winter). Electronic
format is preferred. When sending digital photos use
the highest dpi to ensure the best finished product.
Submissions may be edited for clarity or space as
necessary.
Bungee Cord (ISSN 0194-6889/USPS 47-430) is the quarterly
publication of the Vintage Sailplane Association, Inc., a nonprofit
organization for the preservation and operation of vintage
motorless aircraft. All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reprinted without written permission from the editor.
1
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
Lunch Talk
This fall’s Wichita Meet provided one of those rare occasions where
the soul of the VSA really showed through. On a non-flying Friday
afternoon, after a great lunch buffet prepared by Sue Erlenwein and
Harry Clayton, several members happened to be sitting together
in a perfect setup for a dynamic group discussion! The ensuing
conversation stayed focused and fruitful. Here is how it went:
The first topic was “How do we help members know when they
should renew?” We recapped Bob Helland’s excellent efforts to send
renewal notices in time so that members do not lose a magazine and
to follow up with those who let their memberships lapse. That’s a lot
of work! Bob’s work becomes much easier, however (and costs about
$2 less per member), if he can send renewal notices by e-mail; so
the consensus was that we should HIGHLY encourage members to
give us e-mail addresses rather than just snail mail addresses. The
savings from e-mail renewal may help us avoid a membership price
increase for another year or two.
We discussed the arrow on the Bungee Cord mailing envelope that
points to one’s membership expiration date, a quarterly reminder
of when to renew! We also decided to post a notice in Bungee Cord
stating that members can contact the Treasurer or any VSA Director
to check when their membership will expire. There is nothing like
asking directly! We are not a high budget association that can send
out multiple renewal notices.
Then we discussed: What will make folks join VSA in the 21st century?
After all we don’t want gliding to be thought of as a great 20th century
sport. One popular thought was affordability. Vintage sailplanes
and projects sell for a fraction of the cost of more modern sailplanes.
Many people starting out in soaring can afford a vintage or classic
glider, good-flying planes for building a lot of soaring time even
though one may need to substitute elbow grease for bucks invested.
Another attraction is the group participation of those who enjoy
flying, maintaining and collecting vintage gliders. A unique part of
VSA is the comradeship and information sharing among those
involved with restoration projects making beautiful and unique old
sailplanes. Finally, if you like soaring history, where else would you
want to be than the VSA? The group agreed we should push these
attractions as we try to increase VSA membership and relevance.
The last topic was one about which we need to talk more. Should
VSA move toward an electronic magazine? Currently, nearly all our
annual budget goes toward publishing our quarterly newsletter/
magazine. We could cut costs dramatically by switching to a fullcolor, electronic format and probably forego a dues increase for
several years. The group weighed many pros and cons, deciding that
it is not yet time to switch from a paper Bungee Cord to a digital
e-Bungee Cord. But everyone agreed that the time would eventually
come. “When?” was the most relevant question.
Then the weather improved and our great discussion panel broke up
so all could get out and Safely fly. Bravo to all who participated!
Jim
Front Cover: Ross Briegleb's BG -6 utility trainer flies it's maiden flight in California (see page 7). This may
well be the only airworthy BG-6 in the world. Ken Briegleb photo.
Back Cover shows a Len Niemi-designed Sisu 1a on a dew-covered Chilhowee morning awaiting the
promise of another soaring day in the hands of Dick Butler from Tennessee. AJ Smith flew this Sisu to win
the 34th Nationals in 1967. Wolf Elber photo.
VS A New s a n d U p d a t es
VSA Treasurer’s Report
We are gradually growing again, thanks to several
members getting a new member to join, but also
through Bob Helland’s efforts requesting renewals
in a timely manner and contacting lapsed
members to renew.
VSA members receive four issues of Bungee Cord
each year, so your “ending date” will reflect the
issue which is the last
due on your present
membership: i.e.,
Spring issue 04/01/14;
Summer 07/01/14; Fall
10/01/14; or Winter
01/01/15. Check
your Bungee Cord mailing envelope to see your
expiration date. If in doubt, contact me or your
Director to check your renewal date right from the
database. Just ask!
• Mary Cowie
Donations to the VSA Archive
VSA is especially grateful to the US Southwest
Soaring Museum for loaning their collection of
drawings, photos, letters and reports to the VSA,
so that they could be digitized and preserved.
These scans are now part of the VSA Archive.
The originals, along with digital copies of all the
material, have been returned to the museum.
VSA would particularly like to thank the volunteer
staff at the SW Museum, George Applebay, Kathy
Taylor, Bob Leonard, Pete Pankuch and Gene
Tieman for making this exchange possible.
The VSA would also like to thank Dan Rihn for
providing digitized drawings for the Rigid Midget
to the VSA. This is an important American
glider. Doug Fronius had the original drawings
(which however were in very frail condition) in
his collection. He allowed Dan to borrow them
for scanning. So the VSA thanks Doug for his
cooperation and help as well.
Special thanks also go to Tom King, John Mills
and Ted Teach who donated various documents
and drawings (including the Fauvel AV-36) to the
VSA Archive.
If you know of material that would be desirable
to archive, please contact Neal Pfeiffer, the VSA
Drawing Archivist, or Lee Cowie, the VSA General
Archivist, so that arrangements to evaluate and
• Neal Pfeiffer
scan can be made. Donations to the VSA
We would like to thank D G Airparts, Inc. and
Daniel Rihn for their generous donations to the
• Mary Cowie
VSA. VSA Quilt Raffle
The VSA’s 40th Anniversary Quilt Raffle will
begin at the SSA 2014 Convention in Reno. We
will display it there and sell raffle tickets. This
awesome piece of glider memorabilia was designed
and made by Dody Wyman, the brain behind this
idea. What a nice way to celebrate forty years of
VSA’s existence. Raffle tickets can be purchased
for $5 or five for $20. You can also mail a check
to VSA, 31757 Honey Locust Rd., Jonesburg
MO, 63351, but add a note that this is for the
quilt. Please provide a phone number or e-mail
address, so that we can notify you if you are the
winner. The drawing for this very special quilt will
occur in June 2014 at the Lawrenceville, IL, 40th
• Mary Cowie
anniversary gathering. Dody Wyman working on the quilt project.
Jim,
Today, I received the latest Bungee Cord and was
quite pleased (as well as informed) with the LO
150 piece. I knew Harald and Svend pretty well
- both gentlemen of the highest order - and Jon
Slack. I am renewing my membership for another
year, just because of the magazine.
• Eldon “Gene” Hammond
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 2
2014 Glider Calendar
Take a look at the cover of this calendar from
Japan, showing Burt Compton flying his colorful
ASK-13 over Harris Hill at the last IVSM. Vincenzo
Pedrielli from Italy submitted this dramatic photo!
If you are interested in a calendar, please contact
Mr. Yasuhiro Yama at <m-wave@nifty.ne.jp> or
2-15-13 Funai, Iwatsuki-ku, Saitama City 339-0042
JAPAN. The price is $10 plus $3 postage.
Women Soaring Pilot Association Raffle
The 2014 WSPA raffle will feature a wire sculpture created by George Popa. Raffle
tickets will go on sale on 1 January 2014 and the drawing will be held during the
WSPA seminar in July. Raffle tickets are $5.00 each. To order tickets, please
contact Frauke Elber at <fandw_elber@cox.net>.
Dear Jim:
This is to let you and VSA members know that we will have a nine-day RC soaring event next year at
Montague, CA (7 through 15 June). I’m calling it The Montague Glider Festival. Because this will be a
great time to host a vintage glider meet, full-scale vintage/classic sailplanes are invited as well. Hangars
and tie-downs available. We have plenty of space for visiting sailplanes at two airports, at Siskiyou
County Airport (KSIY) and Rohrer Field (Montague Soaring). More information will be available at the
• Dean Gradwell
Reno convention. The VGC’s 40th Anniversary Book.
Published by the Vintage Glider Club, Ltd., printed by
EQUIP Werbung & Verlag GmbH, available from Paul
Remde <www.cumulus-soaring.com/books.htm>.
ISBN 978-3-9814977-8-6.
This impressive, hard cover, large format book was
published as the VGC celebrated its 40th anniversary. The
book gives an overview of the club’s history, written by
some of its senior members, a nice tribute to the founder,
Chris Wills, who ran the club almost single-handedly until
his untimely death in 2011. Twenty pages of the book deal
with the club history and the remaining 330 pages are
written by club members from various countries. Fortyone of these members live and fly in the US.
VGC members describe their own special vintage
gliders. Some descriptions are not in English, but most
of these are accompanied by an English summary.
Several excellent color photos accompany each story.
Unfortunately, the accompanying photos do not always
relate to the stories, but they are nevertheless spectacular.
Anyone who has ever attended a VGC International Rally
will enjoy looking through the pages of this book. The
input by the many members around the world gives it a
nice international flavor. • Jan Scott
3
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
Oktoberfest
at
Chilhowee.
Wolf and I
just spent
a week at
Chilhowee
helping
Sarah and
Jason Arnold
around the
airport and with the Oktoberfest activity. At this
year’s Oktoberfest we had more vintage gliders than
at the vintage meet last May. The star this time was
Dick Butler, who attended not with the Concordia
but the Sisu, formerly owned by A.J. Smith.
• Frauke Elber
Wolf Elber photos.
The vintage meet
at Massey
“It was a dark and
stormy night” — and
day — and another night. As a matter of fact it
was about four dark and stormy days and nights
in a row thanks to an old fashion Northeaster
that settled in over the mid-Atlantic States for the
Columbus Day weekend and effectively wiped out
the Fall vintage meet at Massey Aerodrome. With
the forecast being simply “no flying” and having
no other scheduled activities arranged, meet
organizers attempted to call everyone who had
expressed an interest in coming and wave them
off before they made the trip.
A few dedicated souls decided to come anyway
and enjoy a long weekend on Maryland’s Eastern
Shore. They included Marita and CB Umphlette
from Virginia, Mary and Lee Cowie from St. Louis,
and Paul Rabourn from Kankakee, IL.
Marita and CB lodged in
Chestertown and
relaxed with some local
sightseeing. In the
meantime Paul and Lee visited the US Naval Test
Pilot School, after which they were pressed into
service to retrieve a ‘new’ Schweizer 1-23H from
New Jersey to add to a growing collection of 1-23s
at St. Mary’s County airport. This proves again
that VSA people are always up for an adventure
and pretty flexible when it comes to unpredictable
weather options.
Massey remains a very vintage glider friendly site
with a newly acquired Cessna 182 tow plane and
ample outside tie-down space awaiting the vintage
glider enthusiast. They have added a Schweizer
1-26 project to their recently completed 2-22 and
are looking forward to a successful 2014 soaring
season and hopefully less rain in October!
• Rusty Lowry
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 4
The Schweizer SGS 1-23 Project of 2011, to commemorate the
50th anniversary of Paul F. Bikle’s world record altitude flight.
Simine and Jim:
I was quite surprised, and very honored, to receive
the very first VSA Journalism Award. Thanks for the
Bungee Cord write-up with the photo of Rusty Lowry
presenting me the plaque that goes along with the
award, while I was seated in the famous Schweizer
1-23H “eBay Glider”. It brought back great memories
of the Schweizer 1-23 Project of 2011.
So many people helped with the various parts and
pieces, and many may not know the extent of what
was created in that effort, or more importantly,
where to find it. Below is a list of the products that
resulted from this effort.
Cam Martin
--------------------Soaring magazine, February
2011
Cover: painting “Flight Level
460” 1-23E N91893 by artist
Mike Machat, who created a
special version of the artwork
specifically for this cover. Page
22: “Fifty Years Ago, Wave
Flight to 46,267 Ft.” by Paul
Bikle, reprinted from the April
1961 issue of Soaring; Page
23: sidebar “Researching the
‘Flight Level 460’ painting”
by Cam Martin; Page 25:
“Paul Bikle’s Record Setting
Schweizer 1-23E N91893
Serial #30” by Cam Martin;
Page 26: color 3-view drawing
of Bikle’s Schweizer 1-23E
as it appeared in 1961 by
artist Tom Martin (no relation
to Cam Martin), created for
this special issue of Soaring;
Page 27: “Paul Bikle: His Aerospace Career” by
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center; Page 28:
“The Schweizer 1-23 Series: America’s Premiere
Production High Performance Sailplane 19481967” by Cam Martin; Pages 32-33 (Centerfold):
Schweizer 1-23H N3908A, air to air photo by Cam
Martin with pilots Rusty Lowry and Ian Cant; Page
35: “Schweizer SGS 1-23 Model Types”, new 3-view
drawings of the 1-23, 1-23D, 1-23G, 1-23H-15 by
artist Tom Martin, created for this special issue;
Page 36: eBay Glider - or “Be Careful What You
Look For” by Rusty Lowry.
50th Anniversary NASA Colloquium Lecture, 25
February 2011: “Paul Bikle: Into the Stratosphere
with No Engine”. NASA Dryden Flight Research
5
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
Center Auditorium. Featuring Speakers Einar
Enevoldson, John Bikle and Hugh Bikle.
50th Anniversary Static Display of N91893, 25
February 2011. The restored Schweizer 1-23E was
rigged and placed on static display by the Bikle
family. NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Hangar
4802, Edwards, CA.
NASA Television 2-minute Video Feature Bikle Altitude Record, NASA - This Week @ NASA,
11 March 2011. <www.nasa.gov/multimedia/
podcasting/TWAN_03_11_11.html>.
NASA Web Feature Article,
2 March 2011, with photos
& video, “Bikle’s Altitude
Record, a Testament to
Perseverance ...” <www.
nasa.gov/centers/dryden/
Features/bikles_altitude_
record.htm>
Bungee Cord, June 2011,
Pages 4-7: “The 50th
Anniversary of Paul F. Bikle’s
World’s Record Altitude
Flight” by Hugh P. Bikle,
with photos by Tony Landis.
Centerfold: Schweizer 1-23E
N91893 by Cam Martin.
DVDs were prepared for The
Smithsonian Institution’s
National Air & Space
Museum and The National
Soaring Museum Archives.
Disk 1 Contents: Edited
& produced video of 25
February 2011 Colloquium
Lecture featuring Hugh P.
Bikle, John Bikle and Einar Enevoldson; produced
video feature “This Week @ NASA”, NASA Television
- Bikle Altitude Record; edited video “Rigging 1-23E
N91893”; edited video “Static Display Walk Around
of 1-23E N91893”. Disk 2 Contents: Transcript of
Bertha Ryan’s December 1964 interview with Paul
F. Bikle; Hugh P. Bikle, 25 February 2011, lecture,
presentation, transcript & PowerPoint illustrations;
25 February 2011- Event Poster Artwork by David
Faust; 28 still photos by photographer Tony Landis
of 1-23E N91893 static display; 34 still photos by
photographer Tony Landis of Auditorium lecture
presentations; NASA Web Article “Bikle’s Altitude
Record a Testament to Perseverance ...”; PDF copies
of Soaring magazine dated February 2011.
V-Tails everywhere. Matt Gonitzke photos.
8 th Wichita V intage/Classic Regatta
This year’s Great Plains Vintage Regatta was held
at the Wichita Gliderport, northeast of Wichita on
20-22 September with more than a dozen vintage
gliders in attendance.
Friday began slowly, with much catching up
amongst the attending pilots. Dave Schuur
from Illinois trailered Harry Clayton’s new-tohim Laister LP-49, and Harry was hard at work
with several helpers fixing minor things hoping
to fly it. But a thorough check for corrosion
prevented it from flying. Hank Claybourn came
from Oklahoma City without a glider but lent a
hand or story wherever needed, and so did Paul
Rabourn from Illinois. Tony Condon pulled his
newly acquired Fauvette glider project from its
trailer and did a first assembly to check it out.
It was neat to see it along with Matt’s SH1 and
John Wells’ modified Schweizer 1-34R, each with a
V-tail. There were a number of flights in the local
2-33 and Neal’s Ka-2b. Jim Short and Bill Jokerst
from Lawrenceville, Chad Wille from Iowa, Dave
Ochsner from Michigan, and locals Bryan and
Charles Pate all made flights. They were not long
soaring flights, but fun ones under blue skies and
the early evening glow from the sun. Highlight of
VSA Brains at work. Jim Short photo.
the evening cookout was our own Charles Pate
receiving an FAA Master Pilot award for more
than 50 years
of flying and
dedication to
general aviation.
Saturday’s
festivities
began with a
safety/airport
familiarity
discussion,
followed
by several
presentations,
Charles Pate receiving the FAA award.
including
Paul Rabourn photo.
SH1 Austria
restoration by Matt Gonitzke, wizard-of-wood
Harry Clayton’s report on his various projects,
and Dave Schuur’s discussion of the repairs
to the IOC’s Olympia. The soaring forecast was
promising, with lift to ~5000’ MSL. Jerry Boone
flew his Duster ABB, capturing some great inflight videos with his GoPro camera, Matt flew
his SH1, Dave Schuur flew Harry’s Standard
Cirrus, Tony Condon and Wick Wilkinson flew
Wick’s 1-26, Chad Wille flew Tony’s NG-1, John
Hardy his Ka8 and John Wells his 1-34R. Dave
Ochsner flew Neal Pfeiffer’s Ka-6BR, Jim Short
the Ka-2b, and Neal flew his own Ka-6E. Nearly
everyone flew at least one hour, but no one
ventured too far from the gliderport, as good lift
wasn’t widespread. The grill was lit after the lift
abated and everyone enjoyed brats and burgers.
Sunday brought high winds, resulting in no
flying but lots of glider disassembling. Everyone,
particularly the northerners, enjoyed the nice
fall weather, and we all look forward to next
year’s Wichita vintage meet.
Matt Gonitzke
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 6
You r P r o j ec t s
A Brand-New BG-6
Ross Briegleb and his son Kenny showed
off their stunning BG-6 utility glider at
the Memorial Day 2013 vintage sailplane
regatta at Tehachapi, CA. At that time the
plane was almost ready to fly.
Now Ross reports that this BG-6 has flown
and all went well. Ken forwarded photos
from the very first takeoff and landing on
Saturday, 9 November 2013. Ross intends
to write an article and send it along with
some construction pictures for a future
issue of Bungee Cord.
This particular ship is the last of its type,
built in the Briegleb factory. According to a
company flyer, the Briegleb BG-6 proudly
wears her Type Certificate No.6 and her
Production Certificate No.21.
Josh Knerr photo.
The wings and fuselage of this
particular glider had been
partially built by employees
working at Gus Brieglieb’s
factory in the late 1950s. Ross
put in about a thousand more
hours to complete it.
All the work, from start to
finish, was done using original
drawings.
Ross assigned SN 36 to this
ship, because he did not
know how many BG-6’s were
ultimately built from the
numerous sets of plans sold by
his father Gus Briegleb.
Ken Briegleb photos.
7
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
Dean Gradwell from Oregon reports that his TG-4A with its new flying surfaces is looking better and
better every day. Dean’s goal is to display the completely assembled glider in an uncovered stage at the
SSA convention at Reno at the end of February 2014. Here are two photos taken a few weeks ago.
Look at all that new wood!
Sports canopy anyone?
Pilots of the 1920s and 1930s were wild for fresh
air. Most cars were
open “Touring” style,
and airplanes had open
cockpits. People knew
what motorcyclists know
today, that being out
in the breeze is simply
great fun. Schweizer
manufactured an optional
open canopy for their
1-26, and Schleicher
offered plans for an open
canopy on its Ka-8.
I found an uncompleted
frame at Lawrenceville in
June, and brought it to
my shop to build the open canopy version. In mid-
November I installed it in the Wabash Valley Club’s
Ka-8, and tried it out. It performs wonderfully.
Wind flow is minimal,
with no backwash
on the shoulders
or in the eyes. Sink
rate seems as low as
with a closed canopy,
and the fun factor is
priceless.
Many old gliders
listed their records on
the fuselage side, so
why not do this here
as well? After all, Karl
Striedeck flew a Ka-8
for 767 km in 1968.
What, you didn’t
know a Ka-8 could fly that far?
Chad Wille, St. Croix Aircraft, Corning, IA
Tony Condon from Kansas provided a
brief report on progress toward restoring
and recovering the Ames Soaring Club’s
Schweizer 2-22 from Iowa, which he
discussed in detail in the last Bungee
Cord. With Matt Gonitzke’s help, the
left wing is almost entirely primed “with
only a few runs”. The attached photo of
the wing shows their progress.
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 8
Bernie Harrigan from Wisconsin writes that he is making good progress on his newly acquired
Schweizer 1-19 N91808 and that the wing repairs are nearly complete. He still has lots of sanding
and varnishing to do but expects to be covering “before we know it.” He also mentions that the ship’s
somewhat “worse-for-wear” enclosed trailer is also making progress. We hope he can join us and fly the
ship at the VSA 40th anniversary party at Lawrenceville, IL, next Father’s Day weekend (June 2014).
Grunau Baby Restoration
Preliminary fitting in Fighter Factory Hangar. Wedged
sawhorses provided a temporary brace until George
Kickhofel (facing camera) built a clever fuselage support.
Greg Reese is helping. And yes, that is a Curtiss Jenny in the
background.
In the last issue of Bungee Cord we mentioned
that the Virginia Beach Military Aviation Museum
(MAM) in Virginia had acquired a Grunau Baby.
In an unique arrangement, half a dozen members
of the Tidewater Soaring Society (TSS) formed the
“Keep Them Flying Club” (KTFC) to do the “grunt
work”, thus assisting the technical staff of the
Fighter Factory (the restoration and maintenance
branch of the MAM) in restoring the glider to
flyable condition. We have plenty of space in a
heated hangar. An additional aid to restoration
is the nearby Fighter Factory staff, an immediate
9
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
source of expertise. As the logbooks were not
shipped with the glider, its history was pretty
much guesswork until a team from Germany
arrived here to assist with a WW2 fighter project,
bringing the books along. The glider is a Grunau
Baby II, Werk-Nummer 030 340, built in 1942. It
will have its glazed canopy replaced with an open
cockpit cover. The question is whether to modify
the existing cover or build a new one. The KTFC is
also looking for plans for a ground/launch dolly.
Work has begun with stripping off the fabric; so
far the structure seems in very good condition.
As other restorers know, there’s a lot to be done
before flying.
Robert “Boom” Powell
GB in its allotted spot in The Fighter Factory. An added
benefit is that visitors ask about gliding in general, so fliers
for SSA, VSA and TSS are available.
Trailer “Trash”
It was a beautiful day in St. Louis when the call
came that a tornado had blown through the
airport of the Wabash Valley Soaring Association.
After my original panic that one of the glider
hangars might have been demolished (fortunately
it wasn’t), I discovered that a glider trailer should
be tied down in three places: the tongue, the
rear and the axle. But, if the neighboring trailer
isn’t tied down correctly, then . . . Now we need
to decide what to replace and what to change for
the better while everything is wide open. We can’t
procrastinate much longer if we hope to travel to
vintage glider meets in 2014.
Mary Cowie
Winter Flight Instruments
Now that winter is here (no pun intended!),
many pilots will utilize the time to overhaul
their gliders and also take a critical look at their
instrumentation, which may not operate as
perfectly now as in the past. If instruments were
made by the Winter Company, it is easy to ship
them to the factory in Germany to be overhauled.
Winter can also change the calibration units,
for instance from meters/second to feet/minute
or from miles an hour to knots. They also have
various instrument faces, so ask what is in stock.
We have shipped several instruments to Winter in
the past few decades and were always happy with
the results.
Brothers Eugen, Heinrich and Willi Winter formed
the Gebrüder Winter Company in October 1931.
Their goal was to design, develop and build
aeronautical and meteorological instruments.
Today Winter instruments are used world-wide and
everyone, manufacturers and owners of
planes alike, appreciates the reliability of
the instruments and the prompt service
in regard to inspection and overhaul.
Winter now accepts Pay-Pal, making
payment very convenient without bank
drafts or wires.
Several years ago we inherited a nonworking Winter airspeed indicator,
perfect for our Schweizer 1-21. We
asked Winter if they could overhaul this
particular instrument. They responded
quickly, so we shipped it to Germany.
The repair quote came a few weeks later.
The instrument was returned with the
proper certification papers, ready for
installation in the glider.
Simine & Jim Short
Contact information:
Gebr. Winter GmbH,
Hauptstr. 25, D-72417
Jungingen, Germany.
Phone: 011-49-7477 262;
<Info@winter-instruments.de>;
<www.winter-instruments.de>.
The original face plate (top) and
now back in the Schweizer 1-21.
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 10
A Rotisserie for Gliders
Not everyone has access to fancy equipment to
rotate the glider when working on it, but everyone
surely would like to have something to help keep
the glider in a rotated position. So Neal came up
with a “rotisserie” design that you can build from
plywood, to make hard work of sanding, etc. much
easier.
The drawing below shows how to make a wooden
ring from a single 4x4-foot sheet of plywood. Six
120-degree segments may be cut from the sheet
with material left over to build a roller base. The
segments are glued together in two layers so that
they overlap by 60 degrees. The layers are shifted
slightly in the figure to highlight each ring. The
resulting ring has an outside diameter of about
54” and inside about 48”.
Above: Neal Pfeiffer sanding the nose
of the Ka-6BR fuselage, held tightly in
position in a ring, similar to those used in
the Schempp-Hirth factory.
Right: The Ka-2b is shown installed in a
wooden ring or "rotisserie" with additional
supports made from 2"x4" lumber.
Artwork supplied by Neal Pfeiffer.
11
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
SH1 Austria Restoration
In early 2012 I seriously looked for my first
glider, as I would soon have my glider add-on
rating. My original plan was to buy an airworthy
glider that didn’t need much work.
But then Tony Condon persuaded me to buy
something needing some work so I could have
a better performing glider for less money. I felt
comfortable with this, as I have been building
and repairing things since I was old enough to
hold tools. However having just moved to an
apartment in Wichita, this didn’t seem like a
practical option. Tony countered my arguments
of not having the means to move the trailer or
a place to work with “but I have a truck and a
garage!” I will probably be forever in debt to Tony
for graciously allowing me to take over his garage
for many months.
It is probably safe to say that neither of us knew
what we were getting me into when I bought a
Schempp-Hirth SH1 Standard Austria from Steve
Leonard in March 2012. It hadn’t flown since
2004 and the tail needed new fabric. Six weeks
would be needed to recover and paint the tail
and the glider would be ready once I finished my
rating.
However, what began as a simple tail recover job
turned into a full refinishing project.
As best I can tell, the glider was last painted
in the late 1970s and the finish had become
extremely brittle. Large sections of paint on the
wings and fuselage had cracked and started to fall
off. The glider, however, had almost no damage
to the wood; only a small piece of plywood on one
of the tails needed to be replaced. Wanting to do
things right, I decided to strip both wings of all
layers of paint (at least three!), plus some really
strange white filler. Most of May and June was
spent removing old paint with chemical stripper.
Numerous dates and signatures are written on the structure.
One interesting thing I discovered was a bunch of
dates, signatures and other things handwritten
in German in various places. In the interest of
preserving those, I masked off a couple on the tail
root rib and false spar ahead of the aileron before
painting. Since the factory filler on the mostly
plywood-surfaced wings was not completely intact,
I decided to fill and sand until the wings were nice
and smooth again. After applying three tubes of
West System 410 micro balloons, nearly a gallon
of West System epoxy, and about 80 or so hours of
sanding, I was finally happy with the smoothness
of the wings. I used three pieces of 2”x2” square
extruded aluminum tubing for sanding blocks,
one about four feet long, one about two feet long,
and one about 14 inches long. I mixed up the
epoxy, added micro balloons, and tried to spread
it as evenly as possible over the entire wing. I then
would sand each wing with the four-foot sanding
block, moving the block at a 45-degree angle to
the length of the block, while trying not to spend
too much time in any particular spot. I would
continue sanding until spots of plywood started
to appear through the filler. Then, more filler was
added to each low spot and the process
repeated, using the shorter blocks to sand
off high spots between two areas that were
correctly contoured. Eventually, all of the
low spots were gone, and the wings were
nice and smooth. An experienced wooden
glider restoration expert in our club
warned me not to try to turn it into a glass
ship, and I tried my best to disregard his
advice. There are a few defects here and
there, but for the most part, the results
were great. The wings are much nicerlooking than those of many other wooden
gliders I’ve seen.
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 12
After the filling and sanding, I applied some Stits
EV-400 epoxy varnish to the exposed wood on
the wings and control surfaces. I was very lucky
to have a nearly 50-year-old wooden glider with
essentially zero water damage, and I wanted to
make sure it would stay that way. Surprisingly,
none of the wood on this glider was originally
varnished at the factory. Tony and I assembled
the wings to the fuselage for the first time after
the varnish had cured, and we temporarily
reinstalled the ailerons to check the deflections,
as any adjustments would be far easier before
the fabric would hide the control linkages again.
This check is rather difficult on an Austria, as
the deflection is measured with respect to a point
floating in space behind the trailing edge of the
aileron.
The deflections appeared to match the
specifications within the margin of error of our
measurement method, so we proceeded with the
fabric covering. We used Superflite 2.7oz. certified
fabric and the Stewart Systems STC for the fabric
recover. All of the non fabric-covered parts were
also painted with the Stewart Systems paint. It is
expensive and a bit tricky to spray, but it seems to
be pretty durable. I had some orange peel issues,
but from a certain distance it looks great.
The new fabric was installed with much help
from Tony and Harry Clayton. Without their help
the tails never would have looked as good as
they do. The seam at the tip is nearly invisible.
After a series of late nights, several coats of
EkoPrime were applied to the wooden parts of the
wings, and EkoFill to the fabric. It was now midSeptember, and I had hoped to unveil the Austria
at the Wichita vintage rally in late September.
Unfortunately I ran out of paint two weeks before
the rally.
This gave time to determine what to do with
the seat belts; they were original and mounted
rather strangely, with two bolts going through
holes punched in the belt webbing itself. After
contacting other Austria and SHK owners, I
determined that no two of these gliders left the
factory with the same seat belt mounting, or so
it appears. I had my belts rebuilt by Wag-Aero to
match pictures from another Austria. The belts
weren’t ready in time for the rally either, so even
if the painting was done I still wouldn’t have been
able to fly it. But attendees could see the ship
at Tony’s pre-rally cookout, and I discussed the
restoration work at the rally.
At this point, I wondered if I’d even be able to
fly at all in 2012, as there was only one month
of soaring left. Further complicating things was
my decision to begin night classes to obtain my
Airframe & Powerplant mechanic certificates’
in addition to working full-time during the day.
The night before my classes started, Tony and I
finished painting the wings, and I spent the next
couple of weekends getting the Austria ready for
its first annual inspection in years. We re-weighed
it and discovered that it was nearly 15 pounds
lighter after the wing and tail refinishing!
Then all the local towplanes were down for
maintenance, but another club member offered
his Cessna 172. Since Tony is a far more
experienced glider pilot, he did the first flight.
He landed after 12 minutes grinning from ear to
ear. I then took three tows, staying up for half
an hour on my longest flight, with no good lift on
this late October
Partway through the paint and filler removal process on the wings. day. It was so
wonderful to finally
fly it after spending
nearly 350 hours
refinishing the
wings and tails.
It handles quite
nicely, and the
cockpit is very
comfortable in
comparison to
other gliders I have
flown.
In early January
2013 we returned
the Austria to
Tony’s garage with
the intention of
refinishing the
13
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
Progression of the paint removal process with the Peel Away 7 stripper,
with some VERY careful sanding here and there.
The fuselage was broken in a bad landout over 30 years ago, and whatever
filler was used was tough to remove.
Very, very carefully I sanded most off,
leaving behind only what I knew didn’t
contain that badly deteriorated white
lead filler. After spending far more
time than planned removing old paint,
I began filling it all back in much
the same manner as I did the wings,
using West System epoxy and micro
filler. I bought a 3-piece “Ultimate
Flex Sander” kit from Eastwood (Item
#20328Z) that included 15”, 21” and
27” adjustable-stiffness sanding
blocks, enough 120, 220 and 320 grit
sandpaper to do an entire 15m glider.
The nearly $300 cost of the sanding
fuselage before the 2013 soaring
season, or at least that was the
goal. I removed the main wheel
and tail wheel and made some
wooden stands to elevate the
fuselage such that the underside
was no less than 2½ feet off
the ground. This worked, but
if I ever do this again I’ll make
a rotisserie. I decided to try
some different paint stripper on
the fuselage; the KleanStrip I
used on the wings worked fine,
but it was messy and required
a lot of safety equipment.
Also, it was not safe to use on
Fuselage after peeling off the masking tape from the stripe and N-numbers.
fiberglass. Since the forward half of
block kit was well worth it, as it worked great for
the fuselage on the SH1 is fiberglass, I needed to
both the straight and compound-curve surfaces. I
find something else. Fellow VSA member Pete von
am very happy how smooth and nearly ripple-free
Tresckow used Peel Away 7 on his Ka-6 fuselage,
the fuselage now is.
so I bought a sample can from the manufacturer
to try it. This stripper is much nicer to use, it is
In much the same way that I filled and sanded the
safer and more environmentally friendly. It only
wings, I applied filler to the entire fuselage, then
has a slight smell (which is not unpleasant) and
sanded it down until wood or fiberglass was about
won’t burn your skin or clothes if you brush up
to poke through, then kept filling in low spots
against it. It is applied and covered with a special
and pinholes and sanding them down. Mixing the
paper for 24 hours, allowing you to theoretically
last few coats of filler a bit more runny helped
‘peel away’ layers of paint. This actually works to
fill in the pinholes and made for less buildup to
some extent, depending on the type of paint. The
sand off. This is where the rotisserie really would
outermost paint layer on the Austria came off with
have been nice, as I spent much time on my back
the paper, but we tried it on the 2-22 that Tony is
on the ice-cold garage floor, sanding above me,
refinishing and it wouldn’t touch the Aerothane.
getting covered in dust. Finally in early May I
My advice is to buy a sample can first. The gallon
was satisfied with the fuselage and sprayed all
cans of Peel Away 7 don’t come with anywhere
exposed wood and original filler spots with Stits
near enough paper, but ordinary wax paper
EV-400 Epoxy Varnish. I hadn’t done a good job
seems to be an acceptable substitute. Numerous
sanding the wings uniformly with 320-grit-paper
applications were required; I think I used about a
before priming, so I made sure to do better with
gallon and a half of stripper on the fuselage.
the fuselage. I sprayed the entire fuselage with
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 14
Stewart System EkoPrime, sanded it smooth with
320-grit paper, and then added a coat of EkoFill
to the fiberglass portion of the fuselage and
tailcone per their refinishing manual. I’ve found
the EkoFill sands strangely on hard surfaces,
and I had to touch up some areas where I sanded
through it and then peeled up the edges. Stewart
System Randolph White was applied as the base
color of the fuselage to match the wings. I learned
a few more things about the Stewart System
paints, namely:
a) Make sure the viscosity cup is calibrated
before each use. Water should run through in
14.5 to 15 seconds. I had a disaster the first
time I tried to paint the fuselage because the
hole in the cup was restricted.
b) Using the gun Stewart Systems recommends
is helpful. I bought a DeVilbiss FinishLine 4
gun to do the fuselage. When the directions
are followed it works great.
c) There is a fine line between applying not
enough and too much paint. I found that
applying more than I thought was needed
provided a smoother finish. There are a couple
of spots where I crossed the line and got a sag.
d) When removing masking tape after spraying
trim colors, wait a little while, but not too
long- it makes it easier to clean up the little
strings of paint that result when you remove
the tape. A rag dampened with isopropyl
alcohol will remove the strings and other areas
where paint seeped under the tape at this
time. As long as you don’t get carried away
with scrubbing, the base coat is not damaged.
I decided to use 12-inch N-numbers, even though
the FAA only requires 3-inch numbers, but I think
the larger numbers look better on a glider of this
vintage. The stripe and SH1 under the canopy
were last-minute ideas. I played with the masking
tape for the stripe until it looked right and then
sprayed the paint. For some reason the Sea Blue
Metallic paint sprays much easier than the white.
It was easy to get a nice, even coat without orange
peel. I will also note that anything more than
N-numbers should not be attempted in 95-degree
heat; the required 4 cross coats each tacked up in
about 2 minutes. I was going as fast as I could to
get all of the coats of paint for the N-numbers and
stripes before the preceding coat became too dry.
In addition to refinishing the fuselage, I had to
work on the instrument panel. That is another
story.
Finally I trailered the glider to Sunflower for a
weight and balance at the end of June.
All along I had hoped to fly the Austria in the
Region 10 Low Performance Contest hosted by
our club, but with each passing weekend it looked
more unlikely. I missed many weekends for
various reasons, and then lost another weekend
when I had to sand off my first attempt at painting
the fuselage. Despite all of this, I flew the Austria
on 29 June, and then flew five consecutive days to
prepare for the contest, including a 100km flight
and a 4.2-hour cross-country flight, my first “real”
cross-country flight in a glider.
We had only one contest day due to weather, but I
flew in it and was very happy to do so. I am pretty
comfortable in the Austria and have really enjoyed
flying it. Now that I’ve spent 550+ hours restoring
it, I hope to fly it at least that many hours before
I move on to something else. As of this writing,
I’ve put 15 enjoyable hours in the Austria and am
looking forward to many more.
Matt Gonitzke
My first flight in the Austria after completing the fuselage restoration: happy to be flying instead of working on it.
15
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
Gliding History
In the mid 1980s Ernest Schweizer, eldest of the three Schweizer Brothers,
Chief Engineer and retired President of Schweizer Aircraft Corp., began a draft
of the gliding design philosophy and history of the company he co-founded.
Grandson Kyle Schweizer recently discovered this unfinished first-person
manuscript and thought Bungee Cord readers would like to read Ernie’s own
words. This is the first of two installments.
Design History and Philosophy at
Schweizer Aircraft Corporation
Part 1: The First Decade: Learning to Fly.
It all began about 1929, in the Lindberg era, when
my brothers Paul and Bill and I became interested
in flying and aircraft. We formed a model airplane
club. The average age of the members was about
15. While model building was interesting, we
kept looking for ways to fly since powered flight
was beyond our reach financially. Around that
time there was a sudden rise of activity in gliding.
The National Geographic magazine had a great
article on gliding in Germany in 1929, and other
magazines also gave coverage.
We decided to build a glider and started a search
for the necessary information. No plans were
available, but we gathered enough information
to cover the typical configuration. This began our
original design effort.
The design was rather crude. My engineering
knowledge was limited to simple mechanics in
high school physics. Information on ribs was easy
to obtain, and the spars were Sitka spruce, which
we felt was the only material to use for wing spars.
1
Ribs were made of white pine with /16 mahogany
plywood for gussets. We used casein glue for all
the structure.
The fuselage was made of aircraft grade Sitka
spruce and birch and some ash. Some of the
plywood used on the forward fuselage was
commercial and proved not to be resistant to
water, resulting in various problems. The typical
glider in those days used hard wire for wing
bracing, sometimes only single wires. Good
airplane practice called for two wires, as the single
strand wires were prone to sudden failures at
the terminals, which consisted of loops and wire
ferrules. We used single hard wires in the internal
drag bracing which was less critical. We decided to
use struts for the wing bracing, because they were
more reliable and made assembly much easier.
We also admired the efficient Bellanca Airplanes,
using airfoil struts, so we made our struts as
airfoil sections. Our first flights were made without
the airfoil fairing, which was added shortly
thereafter.
We had financial
limitations, as well as
minimum equipment,
so we had to design
in a way we could
fabricate. Our budget,
including the shock
cord, was about $200.
Most of the metal
fittings were cut and
formed by a local sheet
metal shop, which
also did some welding
on the fittings. A few
fittings were made
from a discarded kick
Ernie Schweizer in 1937.
plate from our father’s
Fred Loomis (NSM) photo.
restaurant in New York
City. We bought hardware, steel tubes and wire
from Karl Ort, a famous junk man, who had lots
of supplies from World War I and the late twenties.
We made pulleys from shoe sole leather riveted
between two aluminum discs. Control wires were
single strand hard wires, but we used short pieces
of stranded cable where the wire ran over a pulley.
Our model airplane club was called the Mercury
Model Club, so the first glider was designated
HG-1. Being optimistic we set up a design
identification system, which is still in use today.
Thus our first glider became the SGP l-l.
My father had a restaurant in New York City
and came home only one day on weekends. He
considered bicycles too dangerous. So we kept the
glider project a secret from him. He first saw it
when it was ready to fly and did not stop us.
We were concerned for safety and since we
had no instruction, we read up on how to fly a
primary glider. We were lucky and had relatively
few accidents. Only four or five members made
enough contributions of work and cash to get
flying privileges. Some were, we felt, too young to
fly. There were two brothers in the group. One was
conservative in his flights and the other was less
so and needled the first “Come on-pull it up”. He
did, stalled it and hit the ground, breaking off the
front part of the fuselage and damaging both wing
tips. He was not seriously injured. We learned that
the glider would fall-off in a stall. It was repaired
and we continued flying. The big problem was the
shock cord launching system that soon used up
all the volunteer manpower and our field was too
small for anything but short straight flights.
About a mile and a half away was a farmer’s field,
which was occasionally used by barnstormers.
We received permission to use this; we repaid the
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 16
compared with the SGU 1-3,
which we started in 1931 and
flew in 1932.
In 1930 I started engineering at
NYU and Paul started in1931.
I promptly bought a book on
airplane stress analysis by
Alexander Klemin. We applied
this engineering knowledge to
our design work.
Members of the Mercury Model Club and their first glider.
Schweizer Archive photo.
farmer, Les Sebalt, by helping him hay. To move
the glider to the field we built a two-wheeled cart
using old motorcycle wheels. We had to push it
by hand since no one had a driver’s license and
we had no car. The day after Thanksgiving 1931
we went to fly. The wind was very strong with a
full crosswind so we flew across the field. On one
flight, Paul got too slow and stalled. He hit the
ground in a pile of debris but was unscratched.
Over the winter the glider was rebuilt, and to get
more performance we enclosed the fuselage. It
made quite a few flights, but we gave up flying it
after two encounters with the stone wall at the end
of the field.
When we got our driver’s licenses and a Model
A Ford, our flying activity increased. Due to the
short field, we continued to use shock cord, but
added 100 feet of manila rope on both ends. The
Ford kept going after the glider broke ground so
that we could achieve longer and higher flights.
On one launch the shock cord
finally gave up and I could see it
coming back at me. It smashed
the nose fairing and the fairing on
one strut, but did not hit me. We
bought a bargain shock cord from
Karl Ort, but after attempting a
launch, we had a long cotton tube
filled with walnut sized lumps
of rubber - this ended the use of
shock cord.
Our next glider was the SGU
1-2, which had more wingspan
but basically was an enclosed
primary. Being impressed with
the German plywood construction
we overdesigned it. It was not
flown until 1934 and we were
disappointed in its performance
17
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
We started the much better
engineered SGU 1-3 in 1931.
Its span was about 35 feet,
braced by steel tube struts. It
had a basic primary fuselage
faired with wood and tubular members and fabric
covered. The 1-3 flew very well and we operated it
using regular auto tow and made our first 360°
flights around the field, still with no instructions.
The 1-3 was turned over to the Hudson Valley
Glider Club, formed about 1935. It made a lot of
training flights, but due to some unusual flight
characteristics it was christened the “Brick”. The
airfoil was a Durrand 24 propeller section, a 15%
airfoil with no curvature on the lower surface. It
had a very high lift coefficient and was reluctant
to stall. Our student members could level off 10
or 15 feet off the ground and still make a soft
landing. If the student came in high the glider was
aimed at the ground, it landed and did not float.
As a result the club flew it for quite a few years
with no incidents. It proved to be a good trainer for
single place operation at a time when no two-place
trainers were available.
Design numbers 4 and 5 were assigned to studies
for trainers. These never progressed beyond the
preliminary stage. There are no drawings, but I
The 1-3 at Peekskill. Schweizer Archive photo.
found some data and sketches in my old design
notes. The SGU 1-4 had a wood 2-spar wing of
about 40 feet and wood fuselage. The SGU 1-5 had
a wood wing of 37 feet span and its fuselage was a
welded steel tube structure.
became available in warehouses. The 1-6 fuselage
consisted of an aluminum sheet front structure
with enclosed cockpit. The wings and struts were
attached to this structure by a series of steel tube
braces.
The tail surfaces were attached to the aft end of
In the mid 1930s, we were busy getting our
the boom and control cables were run through
engineering degrees and were short of funds. I
the boom. The landing gear consisted of a skid
graduated in 1934 and Paul in 1935. Our design
and two wheels about a foot apart width-wise
efforts continued. It became apparent to us that
and slightly aft of the CG. There was an auxiliary
wood and glue aircraft designs were not the best
skid further aft. The gear worked beautifully for
for American aircraft. Aluminum technology was
landing and take-off
expanding and we
as no wingtip runner
studied it carefully.
was required. However
We started design
the ground towing
work using aluminum
characteristics with
in 1935. We also had
no pilot on board were
to find out how to
very odd. It waddled
fabricate aluminum
right and left like a
structures and acquired
duck or penguin so
some equipment
that it was necessary
including drill presses
to hold the wing tip for
and brake and shears
ground towing.
and designed a handoperated blanking press
The 1-6 was somewhat
and a drop hammer
overdesigned due to
to form curved and
our learning process in
contoured parts. The
metal design. The use of
hammer was an iron,
5052 alloy proved quite
which we had cast and
efficient. Parts could be
machined by a local
hard formed on hard
foundry and machine
wood blocks using ¼ H
shop. The drive
alloy. The leading edge
mechanism was built
could be formed out of
using a retired Briggs
½ H and skins were ½
and Stratton engine
H and full hard. The
and a Chevy rear axle
52 alloy worked very
and brake drums. We
well and was fairly
also had to contrive a
corrosion resistant.
foundry to pour lead
We had a problem
and zinc dies.
though one time when
The SGU 1-6 at the 1937 National Contest at our St. Bernard dog
The SGU l-6 project
Harris Hill. Fred Loomis (NSM) photo. lifted his leg against a
was started at this
sheet leaning against
time. The availability
the wall. Alclad alloys were becoming available
of aircraft aluminum alloy in warehouse stock
about then but were still relatively expensive.
was limited, but we were able to get very small
Rivets fastened all joints, except bolts were used
orders from Alcoa. We were able to buy a tubular
in higher load locations. The Parker-Kalon sheet
tail boom and two struts of 53st alloy and about 6
metal screws were used in skin to joints and other
gauges of aluminum sheet, 52s ¼ hard to full hard.
locations with difficult access. The P.K. screws
Rivets were 53sw and required no heat treat.
were tested in various combinations and were
The SGU 1-6 had a single spar wing with formed
considered satisfactory since little vibration was
fore and aft ribs. The spar was a formed channel
involved. We did not have pneumatic riveting
1
with cap strips of /8 x1½ 5052 sheet. The main
equipment at that time.
joint was made by riveting through the leading
edge skin, cap and spar flange. This was a simple
design, but not very efficient and all subsequent
designs used flat welds and 17st cap angles, which
The 1-6 flew quite well and was entered in the SSA
Eaton design competition. We were awarded third
place at the National Soaring Meet with a cash
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 18
The 1-7, dubbed “Pterodactyl”, was sold to the Altosaurus
Soaring Club. Eliot Noyes and club members. Margaret
Noyes Knowles photo.
prize of $300, a great help in our efforts to produce
gliders. The 1-6 did quite a lot of flying and several
of our group got our C-badges, including Paul and
me. The 1-6 was later sold to the Harvard Glider
Group.
on the 1-7 was a fraction of the time. The flight
characteristics were quite satisfactory. We
concluded that an approximately 10% larger size
would have been better. The 1-7 weighed about
225 pounds and with an average pilot, the wing
loading was less than 3.00 pounds and with a
light pilot about 2.5 pounds per square foot. A
230-pound pilot had difficulty in getting airborne.
We made our first sale when the Altosaurus
Soaring Club in Massachusetts purchased the
second 1-7.
Ernest Schweizer
(To be continued)
About this time Paul and I founded The Schweizer
Metal Aircraft Company. Looking critically at the
1-6 design, we decided that the design was too
expensive to get much market, but we had learned
a lot in the design and building process.
We proceeded with the design of the SGU 1-7.
This was a more compact and simpler design.
The advantage of the tail boom structure was
outweighed by the installation complexities and
we were now in a position to produce welded
structures. The fuselage was steel tube structure
with fabric covering. The wing was a single-spar
D-tube structure with higher aspect ratio, braced
by a single strut. The spar used 17st extruded cap
angles with sheet aluminum web. The wing was
fabric covered aft of the spar. The aileron control
was differential. The empennage used a trailing
horizontal surface, a configuration used in quite
a few subsequent designs. The horizontal tail
surfaces had a 7-foot span, so were not removed
in trailering.
The wings were equipped with spoilers for glide
control. Drawing on previous structures and
experience with the 1-6, the engineering time
19
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
The restored “Pterodactyl” flies again. Irene Cannon photo.
2014 Calendar of Events
February 27-March 1 • SSA Convention
Reno-Sparks Convention Center, 4590 S Virginia St, Reno,
NV. Information: <www.ssa.org/convention>. On display:
TG-4A and TG-2 exhibits and the completed VSA Quilt.
February 28 • VSA Luncheon
Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, 3800 S Virginia St, Reno,
NV, during SSA Convention. Information: Jim Short
<simajim121@gmail.com>.
May 24–26 • (Memorial Day Weekend)
Eastern Vintage/Classic Regatta
Chilhowee Gliderport, Benton, TN. Tows and flying
operation provided by Chilhowee Soaring Association,
Inc. Visit <Chilhowee.com> or call Sarah Arnold
(423) 338-2000 or (423) 506-9015. Information: Rusty
Lowry (240) 925-5683 or <Lowry94@verizon.net>.
May 24–27 • (Memorial Day Weekend)
Western Vintage/Classic Regatta
Mountain Valley Airport (L94) Tehachapi, CA. Tows, flying
operations and camping facility provided by Skylark North
(661) 822-5267. Information: Josh Knerr (661) 912-2102 or
<VSANews@gmail.com>.
June 7-15 • Montague Glider Festival
Siskiyou County Airport (KSIY) and Rohrer Field (105),
Montague, CA. Nine-day RC soaring event. Full-scale
vintage/classic sailplanes are also invited. Hangars and
tie-downs available. Hotels nearby. Information: Dean
Gradwell (541) 944-6446 or <Dean@xcsoaring.com>.
June 11–15 • (Fathers Day Weekend)
18th Annual Midwest Vintage/Classic Regatta,
celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the VSA
Expanded meet and party hosted by the Wabash Valley
Soaring Association at the Lawrenceville-Vincennes
Airport (KLWV), Lawrenceville, IL. Camping on field,
motels and lodging nearby, hangars available by prior
arrangement. Insurance requirements stipulate that tows are
available only to members of an SSA chapter (or WVSA)
unless prior arrangements have been agreed. Information:
Dave Schuur (618) 584-3328 or <dschuur@frtci.net>.
June 26-28 • Historic Schweizer Sailplane
Homecoming
Flying, history and nostalgic fun at Harris Hill Gliderport,
Elmira, NY. Early reservations are recommended as this is
the “high” season in the Finger Lakes region. Information:
Ron Ogden (607) 734-3128 or <rogden@soaringmuseum.org>.
July 4–6 • 2nd Vintage/Classic Regatta
Tidewater Soaring Society
Join TSS at Garner Gliderport in southeast Virginia for
a 3-day fly-in. Tows, hangar-space, camping available.
Temporary TSS membership ($25.00) and SSA membership
required for tows. Please check out <tidewatersoaring.org>.
Information: C.B. Umphlette or Marita Rea (757) 925-4945
(evenings) or <skysailor282@earthlink.net>.
August 30–September 1 • (Labor Day Weekend)
Experimental Soaring Association Western
Workshop/Vintage Sailplane Meet
Mountain Valley Airport (L94), Tehachapi, CA. Tows,
flying operations and camping facility provided by Skylark
North (661) 822-5267. Information: Josh Knerr (661) 912-2102 or <VSANews@gmail.com>.
September 2014 (dates tentative)
9th Great Plains Vintage/ Classic Regatta
Wichita Gliderport, two miles east of Jabara Airport in
Wichita, KS. Hotels and restaurants nearby. Saturday
features vintage topics colloquium. Information: Neal
Pfeiffer <nealpfeiffer@sbcglobal.net> or Tony Condon
<abcondon@gmail.com>.
October 12–13 • (Columbus Day Weekend)
Massey Aerodrome Rally
Massey Aerodrome (MD1), 1.5 miles east of Massey, MD.
Airport information: (410) 928–5270 or <masseyaero.org>.
Information: Rusty Lowry (240) 925–5683 or <Lowry94@verizon.net>.
June 13 • VSA Annual Meeting
Lawrenceville-Vincennes Airport during 18th Annual
Midwest Vintage/Classic Regatta at 8:30 AM. Information:
Jim Short (708) 624 3576 or <simajim121@gmail.com>.
The Vintage Sailplane Association is pleased to print notices of events and
meets that it receives from its members. VSA does not sanction or sponsor
events or meets or accept any liability for them. VSA urges event sponsors and
those submitting notices to provide as accurate information as possible and
to indicate any restrictions or special requirements regarding participation in
their events. Please contact the sponsor with any questions.
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 20
Visit the 15th National
Landmark of Soaring
Flying year-round
with "slow tows" available
for your classic or vintage sailplane!
Marfa Gliders Soaring Center:
www.flygliders.com
Call in advance:
Burt Compton (800) 667-9464 or
<marfagliders@aol.com>
VSA / VGC / OSC / NSM member
K & L Soaring, LLC
at Marfa
in southwest Texas
5996 State Route 224 Cayuta, NY 14824
Phone (607) 594-3329 Fax (866) 408-1416
<sales@klsoaring.com>
Classifieds
VSA Members!
K & L SOARING owns the Type Certificates
for all Schweizer built sailplanes and provides
spare parts and technical support to owners and
operators of Schweizer gliders.
FOR SALE: Niedrauer NG-1. Excellent L/D per dollar, based on
Briegleb BG-12 design. All paperwork back to original receipts.
See Fall 2012 Bungee Cord. Enclosed Schweizer Trailer. $7000.
Tony Condon <abcondon@gmail.com> or (515)-291-0089.
FOR SALE: Antique glider winch with flathead Ford engine.
Needs restoration. Has new tires, bearings, hitch, so it can be
towed. Located Scottsdale, AZ. $2,700.
Curtis Clark (602) 710-4494 or <Azskybum@aol.com>.
Do You Need Help With Your Glider?
Forty-five years experience of building,
restoring, and inspecting wood aircraft.
Borescope inspections of wooden wings as
per British Gliding Association procedures.
Annuals to full restorations.
Chad Wille, A&P, I.A., St. Croix Aircraft,
1139 State Highway 148, Corning, IA 50841.
(641) 322-4041 or <stcroixair@frontiernet.net>.
Bungee Cord Advertising Policy
Advertisement Rates: Full page $100, ½ page $60, ¼ page $40, 1⁄6 page $25. Classified Rates: $10 for 25 words. Members
are allowed one free ad per issue. Submit electronic files to the editor and mail check or money order to the VSA Treasurer.
21
Bungee Cord • Winter 2013
VSA BLUEPRINTS
The following drawings are available as full-size custom printed copies from the digitized originals:
Hütter 17 (20 drawings)... . ....... . ... ... ..... ..... .. . ...... $135
Grunau Baby II (12 drawings).. ............ . ... .. .. ...... $115
SG-38 Schulgleiter (30 drawings).. ... .. ... . ... ... $150
Franklin PS–2 (62 drawings)............. ....... .......... $225
Bowlus BA-100 Baby Albatross (92 drwgs).. $350
Bowlus BA-100 Instructions. ... ... ... . ... ..... .... $70
Bowlus Standard Design Parts... ..... ..... .... $35
WACO NAZ Primary (20 drawings).. ...... ..... .... .... $90
Ross R-3 (13 drawings).......... ..... ............................ $135
Mead Rhön Ranger Primary (6 Drawings). . . $75
CONTACT
TO PLACE
AN ORDER
POSTAGE: $6 for first
shirt plus $2 for each
additional shirt. No
postage for misc items
when ordered with shirts.
Leah & Tony Condon
911 N. Gilman Street
Wichita, KS 67203
(515) 291-0089
<abcondon@gmail.com>
THE SHIRT FACTORY
VSA T-SHIRTS
Long and short
sleeve...$15-$22
CONDOR IV POLOS
Embroidered...$30
POLOS
Long and short
sleeve...$30
HATS
BASEBALL CAPS
Tan or blue ... $15
BUCKET HATS
Colors: Khaki or
faded denim...$15
MISC
APRONS
Navy with embroidered
VSA logo...$17
PINS...$5
STICKERS
Large...$10
Small...$3 ea. or 2 for $5
PATCHES...$5
HOODY SWEATSHIRTS
Schweizer Safety
green...$30
PAST PRESIDENT
Long sleeve, button
up, emboidered VSA
logo...$35–$37
MARQUE T-SHIRTS
Schleicher, Schweizer and
Wolf Hirth
Long and short sleeve
$15–$20
Call for print options and size and color availability
FOR SALE: Schleicher Ka-8B with Gehrlein-built all metal
enclosed trailer. Flying condition, needs paint. Logs available.
Asking $7,200. Contact D.D. in NJ. (973) 923-1795.
The VSA Store
For domestic shipping, including mailing tube, please add $20 per order. Other drawings will be added as they become
available. For questions and to order please e-mail Jeff Stringer at <jstringe@mail.nysed.gov> or call (518) 772-9603.
VSA MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Name:
Address:
<esoaring.com>
E-mail Address:
Phone: ________________
Gliders Owned:
Enclosed is $ ________ for _____ years membership and $ __________ donation.
<vintagegliderclub.org>
• Please make check or money order payable to VSA or use PayPal on
<www.vintagesailplane.org>
• Rates are $30 for 1 year, $55 for 2 years, $135 for 5 years.
• Canadian members please add $9 per year for additional postage. Other
members with mailing addresses outside the United States, please add
$18.00 per year.
Mail to: Treasurer, Vintage Sailplane Association
31757 Honey Locust Road
Jonesburg, MO 63351-9600
<vintageglidersaustraliaorg.au>
Winter 2013 • Bungee Cord 22