2 Attachment(s)
Historic EAA fly-in aircraft
This summer Frank Pavliga and I are planning to fly his 1925 Waco 9 and 1934 Pietenpol Air Camper to Oshkosh. The Waco is a fresh rebuild, but the Pietenpol is a very well know aircraft, and a long time resident of Wisconsin. It was bought in 1940 by Allen Rudolph of Juneau, Wisconsin (EAA 159), and he owned it until 1995, 55 years!
Attachment 2896
I knew that Allen's Piet had been at many of the Rockford fly-ins, and since 2013 is the 60th birthday of EAA, I started to wonder when it first appeared at an EAA fly-in. A little internet searching turned up this index of Experimenter/Sport Aviation, http://www.cozybuilders.org/ref_info/sportavi50.html , which lists participants at the early fly-ins. I discovered that Allen's airplane was not one of the 21 airplanes at the first EAA fly-in at Tinnerman Field in Milwaukee in '53, or at the '54 event, but was at the third EAA fly-in in '55 at the same airport, and attended the 1956 fly-in which was the first one held at Oshkosh (they went back to Tinnerman in '57 and '58, Rockford in '59, and Oshkosh in '70). The index does not list participants after 1956, although presumably EAA has those records.
I also noticed a familiar N-number listed at the '54, '55, and '56 fly-ins, N431K, the "Ollenburg Fleet 2", this is of course the Fleet that was at Oshkosh last year (56 years after it first attended an EAA fly-in at Oshkosh,must be a record), now owned by Stan Sweiker in Maryland
Attachment 2897
Does anybody know who Ollenburg was?
This got me to thinking, how many of the 21 airplanes at the first EAA fly-in are still around? The index doesn't list all of the N-numbers, but does list most of them. Here's the list:
Woodard Thomas Morse S4-B Scout, N74W; Tallman 1918 Curtiss JN-4D Jenny;
Pitt Yellow Jacket, N5745N; Lundgren modified Taylorcraft Poopdeck I;
Miller Belly Flopper; Ollenburg Heath Parasol; Anderson[/Babcock
Sundelin] Knight Twister, N979;Wittman Flying Carpet [Tailwind],
N5747N; Poberezny Poopdeck II, N19003; Owens Rose Parakeet,
N14842; Cole Stearman 450, N53234; Kensinger/Korkell Tater Chip
#88, N31E; Timm modified Waco F-2, N144; Gruenberger modified
Piper Cub Cruiser, N30850; Tietz modified Piper Cub Cruiser PA-12,
N4333; Cole clipped wing Piper Cub; Myers clipped wing Piper Cub,
N42963; Gordonier Piper J-3 Cub amphibian; clipped wing Piper Cub;
and True Slow Poke, N7M)
Here's what the current FAA registry says about the ones still registered:
Thomas Morse N74W is at the Old Rhinbeck Aerodrome in NY, hasn't flown in many years
http://www.skytamer.com/2002/250/2388.jpg
http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/index.ph...-s4b&Itemid=87
Wittman Flying Carpet (Tailwind) N5747N is in the EAA Museum
http://www.airventuremuseum.org/imag...d%20W-8C-2.jpg
http://www.airventuremuseum.org/coll....asp#TopOfPage
Owen Rose Parakeet N14842 is registered to Dom Pellegreno in Rhome, TX.
Here it is in the old days:
http://www.roseparrakeet.org/AQ_NC14842-001b.jpg
http://www.roseparrakeet.org/more_ph...__nc14842.html
http://www.roseparrakeet.org/nc14842_n89n.html
Myers Clipped Wing Cub N42963 is in the EAA Museum
http://www.airventuremuseum.org/imag...0Special-1.jpg
http://www.airventuremuseum.org/coll....asp#TopOfPage
If any of the others are left they have been de-registered, or changed N-numbers. Anybody know any more?
There are two Poopdecks listed, here's a relevant article on N19003:
http://eaavintage.org/wp-content/upl...aylorcraft.pdf
Was the other Poopdeck actually Little Audrey N27B?
http://www.airventuremuseum.org/imag...20Audrey-1.jpg
Also now in the EAA Museum as N111PL
http://www.airventuremuseum.org/coll....asp#TopOfPage
in any event, accepting the challenges of flying 550 miles each way (from Ohio) in a 79 year old airplane with an 84 year old engine (not to mention bringing along an 88 year old airplane with a 95 year old engine), we hope to have Allen's Pietenpol back at Oshkosh this summer. We tried to get it there in 2009 but the crankshaft broke over Momence, Illinois, so no luck, although no damage resulted from the forced landing in a bean field. So I think the last time it was at Oshkosh was 1999, for the 70th anniversary of the Pietenpol Air Camper.
I wonder if any of the surviving 1953 (and other early years) aircraft could be pursuaded to attend.
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