A significant front with rain will arrive tonight. The daytime forecast portends marginal conditions. Nonetheless, our second-in-command (“SIC”) B-25 pilots are ready to go and arrive early to review procedures prior to their first flights in the right seat. Two flights are planned but the second has a special mission. An HFF member and veteran, Athal Williams, was buried yesterday at Tahoma National Cemetery. Today friends gathered at the Museum of Flight for a memorial service and lunch. At the family’s request, B-25 “Grumpy” made its initial pass down Boeing Field runway 13-right at 1 p.m., bomb bay door opening at the south end where the guests were assembled on the Skydeck. “Grumpy” flew a left pattern in view of the crowd prior to a second pass, this time closing the bomb bay door and climbing to the left (north), suggesting ascension. This provided a poignant opportunity for the SIC pilots to share the magic of vintage aircraft. Athal had been a member of a bomber crew during his Air Force career and was beloved in pilot circles.

And back at the hangar, Santa arrived to the delight of many children, young and not-so-young. His fans waited patiently as the appointed time-of-arrival (1:30) passed. Word came from the tower that Santa had suffered an in-flight emergency when two reindeer on the same side became ill causing asymmetric thrust and serious sleigh yaw. He made a smooth emergency landing on runway 16-left with recovery by the valiant members of the Paine Field Fire Department who then transported him to HFF in style, in an airport emergency truck. Santa offered good wishes and individualized behavior counseling to those small enough to sit on his lap. HFF fed him and filed his IFR flight plan to his next destination. While two of the reindeer remain somewhat under the weather, Santa solved his thrust problem by moving Donner to the starboard side.

Deliver Santa pictures to the kids, debrief the B-25 pilots and arrange Christmas Ship Beaver flights for next week… and to all, a good night.

Many of you recently have visited the restoration hangar and enjoyed the company of engineers from Historic Flying Ltd., Duxford. These lads have assembled a special Spitfire, SL 633. The process began in October but was suspended after test flight two. The prop blades had more “play” than expected despite a snug master nut and no serious vibration in flight. The chaps concluded all was not well with the gear reduction box. Indeed, when it was removed (after the hub and prop) for inspection, master bearings needed to be replaced. An expensive correction to be sure as not only parts but personnel had to be returned from England for the final work and completion of the test flight profile. This was followed by first flights by yours truly, bringing to conclusion a three year partnership with Historic Flying Ltd. to return to the skies this magnificent, historic aircraft. Let me share some of its history.

Among the most famous squadrons of the Royal Air Force during World War II, the 312th Squadron consisted of Czech pilots who fled their homeland during the Blitzkreig. Karel Posta helped establish the squadron and rose to leadership. Flight Lt. Posta survived the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain and an operational career with the 312th for the entire war. This Spitfire, produced at the Castle Bromwich factory of Vickers Supermarine, flew in the 312th until the end of the war when it was conveyed with a total of 54 machines to the newly re-formed Czech Air Force and assigned to Karel Posta. Through the balance of 1945 and 46, Posta performed solo aerobatic demonstrations in this aircraft for hundreds of thousands of people at significant national holidays, such as National Day (October 28, 1945); this, in an effort to raise the self-esteem of a vanquished nation. Indeed, one might say this is the first “air show” Spitfire. The “K” on the nose is the unique identifier of an aircraft flown by Karel Posta.

With a coup in February, 1948, came Russian domination of the Czech political system. Britain discontinued the flow of necessary parts and supplies. In that transitional summer, Czechoslovakia recognized a young Jewish state and provided Spitfire fighter planes. In September the Avia Kunovice Aviation Repair Shop of Moravia undertook overhaul including, in an irony of history, modification to receive ME 109 extended range fuel tanks. Once placed in service, our Spitfire continued its combat record with over six years of operational flying in the only war to pit Spitfire against Spitfire. With the conversion in 1954 of the Israeli Air Force to turbine power, our Spitfire was sold to Burma where it served in its fourth air force. The combat records from Burma were sparse at best. When “discovered” in a Mandalay museum, our poor Spit had sustained a “wheels up” accident and featured a T-6 tail and cellophane windscreen. After a series of private transactions, the essential components returned to Duxford as an inventory project of Historic Flying, Ltd.

In 2007 Historic Flying undertook restoration of SL 633, returning it to its 1945 specification as the Czech Spitfire flown by Karel Posta to raise the spirits of the Czech people. Come see the most recent addition to the collection.

With any luck (substitute “weather” for “luck” and it makes sense), next week I will fly HFF’s restored Staggerwing from Rare Aircraft in the greater Minneapolis area, to Paine Field. What follows is a brief history of the aircraft.

At the height of the Depression, the Beechcraft Aircraft Company of Wichita, Kansas gambled by designing a high-speed, comfortable business airplane. The first Model 17 flew in November 1932. It was popularly known as the “Staggerwing” because the upper wing staggered behind the lower wing (a negative stagger). This unique configuration gave the pilot good visibility while minimizing the tendency to stall. The construction of the airframe was unique as well. The fabric-covered fuselage was faired over wood formers and stringers over a welded, steel tube frame. Each Staggerwing was built by hand and could carry up to five passengers in a cabin trimmed in leather, mohair and wool. You could purchase a new Staggerwing in 1933 for $14,000 to $17,000. Only 18 Model 17s were sold in 1933. When production ended in 1949, 781 Model 17s graced the skies.

During the production life of the Model 17, it was powered by radial engines ranging from 225 to 710 horsepower. In its first year, a Model 17 won the 1933 Texaco Trophy Race. Two years later Captain H.L. Farquar flew a Model B17R around the world from New York to London. Aviatrixes Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes won the 1936 Bendix Trophy Race in a Model C17R, which was the first time a woman won this race. In 1939, aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran flew a Staggerwing to an altitude record of over 30,000 feet. Cochran later established, with Hap Arnold, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (the WASPs).

Our Staggerwing comes with a rich pedigree. In 1944, the Navy took delivery and assigned N35JM to the Sandpoint Naval Air Station in Seattle for service as a reconnaissance aircraft. Prior to its acquisition by Historic Flight Foundation, the Beechcraft Heritage Museum featured N35JM at its Tullahoma, Tennessee facility. Rare Aircraft Ltd. of Faribault, Minnesota completed a comprehensive restoration in October 2010. It is presented in its post-war civilian livery.

The Princeton, B.C. air show featured wonderful hosts, beautiful terrain, a short runway and density altitude. It was hot and high. And just before reaching the runway numbers on landing, several of the pilots felt rather sharp downdrafts, perhaps caused by the confluence of two river valleys. So this was what you might call a “country” air show. Fast forward to the stir on the tarmac as I left the pilot briefing. A line of hostpitality-room cheese squares was carefully placed from my Mustang’s tail wheel to the woods next to the parking area. And the access panels near the wheel had been removed in the hope of encouraging a “bushy-tailed rodent” to egress prior to my departure. Several of the air show patrons swore they saw the squirrel go in and none could attest to his departure, so I treated the fuselage like a conga drum creating a racket no squirrel could endure, not even with a noise-canceling headset. When it was time to fly, I returned the access panels to their proper places and hoped that the squirrel had a recently packed chute. Happily, the absence of odor in the HFF hangar since our return confirms a safe escape.

Contrast Princeton with an equally wonderful but enormous air show at Fairchild AFB in Spokane last weekend. In excess of 100,000 people attended each day. There, the problem occurred during a performance flight when a bolt and nut broke at the end of the propeller governor linkage. By design, the propeller speed defaulted to high rpm which works well in flight maneuvers and a “go around.” But it is disconcerting to adjust propeller pitch and have the lever travel full-length with no change in rpm. Fellow pilots produced a replacement bolt and nut such that the Mustang could fly each performance on schedule. However, efforts to locate and remove the broken pieces of the original bolt and nut proved unsuccessful. After a search of the engine compartment, we test-ran the Merlin with the new bolt installed. The broken bolt had lodged in the propeller hub and was slung out at the base of a blade. Not friendly pieces of metal, but everyone was clear.

We’ve agreed to fly a rather full schedule of air shows. Our B-25 “Grumpy” performed well on Sunday at the Arlington Air Show but by this morning, could not muster power from the master cylinder on the right engine. Consequently we’re replacing the cylinder prior to departure for Princeton, BC this Friday. Grumpy will be joined by P-51B “Impatient Virgin” in a particularly scenic part of Canada. The flight plan calls for Customs and Immigration clearance at Abbotsford, then a trip through the mountains at Hope, provided there’s hope, for the weather. Web cams have made the crossing decision much easier. While all of this is underway our Grumman Bearcat will perform at the McChord Air Show near Tacoma. This is the first time HFF has dispatched aircraft to two shows in one weekend, a “twofer,” so we’re hoping it all works out. Thanks to a wonderful corps of volunteers and pilots, it just might. Lance and Nancy Robertson will fly Grumpy, Carter Teeters, the Bearcat, and I will try my best to honor the Mustang.

Please come see us if you can.

With the help of our local FAA office, Historic Flight Foundation has been authorized to offer rides in some of its aircraft. This weekend we will launch this program at our Restoration Hangar, 10719 Bernie Webber Drive in Mukilteo. It is expensive to offer these opportunities and consequently, expensive to participate ($125-$450 depending on the aircraft), but some will participate themselves and some will give the gift of flight to others. One group waiting for this opportunity since General Aviation Day on May 15th has pooled its resources to send a friend, a Boeing engineer, on a ride tomorrow. Our guest is an avid pilot, student of history and cancer patient in chemotherapy. We hope that whatever challenges he faces on the ground can be left behind during our sojourn around Puget Sound.

As a follow-up to the Tigercat brake test, the brakes worked fine. So at long last the Tigercat is operational without asterisk or footnote, right? Well, that was true for a few moments until I hit a bird. RIP fellow aviator. The impact occurred just outside the port oil cooler intake creating a shallow depression about the size of a cantaloupe. Some rather tricky metalwork will be required. I didn’t notice the strike until a visual wing check before folding the wings during taxi. The first clue was an area of paint undercoating and feathers.

Also this week our DC-3 was flown from Victoria to Campbell River, B.C. I’ll share the story of our DC-3 in a later post.

Thanks for your interest.

HFF is operational Wednesday through Sunday, 10-6, and participates in air shows or other demonstrations about once a week. Please forgive my absence.

Today we changed springs in the master brake cylinders of the Tigercat to provide enough pressure for proper run-ups and taxi steering on one engine. The brake and wheel systems were replaced earlier this year due to a dearth of original magnesium Tigercat wheels. The remaining world supply is worn out or cracked. So we replaced our wheels with ones used on the S2 Tracker as these are one-piece wheels (Tigercat wheels have two pieces with one becoming a ballistic frisbee when the metal fatigues.) of aluminum. The brakes and all the parts worked well and the engineering justification passed muster. Flight test was uneventful except for one problem. I couldn’t stop. This may sound dramatic but really isn’t since what slows down a twelve-ton aircraft is “dynamic braking” or the flow of air against the fuselage when cocked in the landing position. That said, it is nice to have brakes at the end of the roll-out to steer the free-castering nose wheel into the parking area. Without brakes, differential engine power is the only way to steer and as some of you already have imagined, can add to speed and excitement. So after years of restoration and months of wheel and brake work, we replaced two springs, one in each master cylinder, and voila, saw 800 psi in the lines putting the brakes back in business. Tomorrow I will flight test the Tigercat to make sure that upon reaching rotation speed (about 100), I can apply the brakes and bring the aircraft to a safe stop before the runway transitions into grass on its way to trees.

Also tomorrow we’ll try to find someone to fly the Bearcat as it needs to be exercised. The large Pratt & Whitney radials do very well over the long term if run at least every two weeks. Last weekend we featured our Mustang and Mitchell at the Olympia Air Show, so it’s time to give the Pratts some love.

On Sunday, we will host two different film crews, one planning to shoot a commercial in front of the Waco, and the other planning a WWII documentary including shots of the Mustang and Mitchell. With mischief in our hearts, we’ve arranged to have the models do their makeup in the mechanics’ rest room.

Hope to see you soon. JTS

Check back here regularly for John’s new blog!

Hello. John, here. I will try to make this worth your time.

Beginning this Friday, the 16th, three of our talented pilots (Lance and Nancy Robertson and Carter Teeters) will learn to fly B-25 “Grumpy” from the left seat as “pilots in command.” The following weekend they will fly a “check ride” with an FAA examiner. I have no doubt all three will achieve their “type ratings” for he B-25. This will allow HFF much more operational flexibility for air shows and other demonstrations. Eventually, we hope to support an ongoing “ride along” program. For those around Paine Field this weekend, there will be many opportunities to watch our B-25 take off and land. By Sunday the landings will be as smooth as silk.

While the B-25 training is underway, I will flight test the F7F Tigercat’s new wheel and brake system. Like many old warbirds, the original wheels were made of magnesium. Over time, these cracked and in two cases lead to rather catestrophic failures when one part of the two-part wheel broke loose. So our Bill Ashworth and Jim Martinelli devised an alternative wheel and brake system using components from more recent warbirds. Machine shop work adapted brake fittings and spacers, but for the most part, the new system represents a clean substitution with a single-piece aluminum wheel. We have shared our engineering with the owners of the other four flying Tigercats and offered to provide machined parts. This weekend we will perform accelerate/stop tests to validate or challenge our system. Assuming the brakes work well on the ground after takeoff speed has been achieved, I will let the brakes cool, taxi back and fly the Tigercat around Puget Sound. For Grumman fans, this likely will occur on Saturday.

Hope to see you at HFF, Kilo-6, Paine Field.