Candler Field Museum Where Old Aeroplanes Still Fly

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1 NEWSLETTER ~ FEBRUARY 2014 NOTE: The new look of this publication is the result of the efforts of Dave and Jan Moffett. They will be helping put the news together each month. Jan is a graphic designer and Dave is a great writer. Thanks for your help! Candler Field Museum Where Old Aeroplanes Still Fly

2 We are in full swing (so to speak) preparing for our annual dinner/dance. We have almost sold all available tables. There are still some general admission tickets

3 remaining if you would like to attend. This is going to be a really great event. We are excited about presenting it. Members of the Candler Field Museum Ladies Auxiliary have been very busy preparing for this event and promoting it. All of the benefits will go directly to the museum. To purchase tickets online please CLICK HERE. The museum is also hosting a dance class for those of you who would like to "brush up" on your dancing skills. The class will be held at the Candler Field Museum on February 22nd from 3 PM until 5 PM. Cost is $50 per couple. Call to reserve your space. ATLANTA JOURNAL ARTICLE On January 2, 2014, the Atlanta Journal - Constitution printed a great article about Candler Field Museum. The article was written by Helen Cauley. The museum has received a tremendous amount of response from the article. If you would like to read the article please CLICK HERE. CANDLER FIELD MUSEUM VIDEOS The Candler Field Museum website now has a video section. We have added a number of videos taken over the past several months. Topics are DC-3 flights, Veteran's Day, and JN-4 Jenny flights. To access this section of the website please CLICK HERE. YOUTH PROGRAM

4 The Candler Field Museum Youth Mentorship Program is off and running. Pictured above are young people and their mentors covering the controls of a Piper J-3 Cub. The Cub will be recovered and then flown by the young people and their instructors. This is a really unique program that will provide young people with the necessary skills to do aircraft maintenance in addition to providing them with the opportunity to learn to fly through the Candler Field Flying Club. We currently have over 20 young people enrolled in the program. In addition, we have over 30 volunteers who are alternating sessions to oversee the project. Our next project will be the restoration of a Kinner powered biplane called a Brunner-Winkle Bird. FLABOB UPDATE Each month we provide an update from Flabob Airport located in Riverside, CA.

5 Flabob Welcomes Gregg Landolt Gregg Landolt recently retired from an active aviation life; Flabob is most fortunate that he wound up in Riverside. Gregg grew up in general aviation in New Jersey; he says that aviation saved him from a rudderless youth. He obviously figured things out since he was eventually admitted to the Air Force Academy where he graduated with a degree in Aero Engineering. USAF pilot training followed, he was competitive enough to win a fighter assignment which led to a long career in the F-111 fighter. After a successful series of assignments in fighter squadrons, Gregg was chosen to be an instructor in the prestigious Air Force Fighter Weapons School where he taught the best of the USAF how to optimize their fighter pilot skills. He went on to an exchange assignment with the German Air Force flying their PA-200 Tornado fighter bomber; again he was selected to serve as a Luftwaffe fighter weapons school instructor, this time speaking German! After retiring from the Air Force as Director of Operations at the USAF Warrior Preparation Center, he went on to seek an airline career with a variety of outfits both in the United States and abroad. Gregg flew the Canadair CL-65, Boeing B-737, 757, 767, and 747. Most interestingly, he flew cargo 747s with Jade Cargo in China. Gregg remains an active general aviation pilot flying his own Comanche 250, as well as a Citabria, and a Cub. When Gregg arrived at Flabob, he immediately rolled up his sleeves to volunteer for anything needed. His infectious spirit and enthusiasm took him straight into our youth education programs, we could not ask for a more qualified or well- spoken instructor. From the start, his rich background allows him to teach any skill related to aviation, he didn t need to prep much, just relate to his 40 plus year aviation experiences. Happily, Gregg has volunteered to be the Director of Education and Programs for the Tom Wathen Center, as such he will head up all our youth education and outreach programs.

6 We are delighted to welcome Gregg and his charming wife Patti to our Flabob community. FIRST FLIGHT IN A Dr.1 Chris Hill getting ready for the first fight! First Flight Story by Chris Hill It is 45 degrees outside. The sky is clear, and the windsock confirms the cold breeze down the runway. Taking a lesson from the pilots of World War I, I have dressed in multiple layers topped off by a leather flying jacket and a white silk scarf wrapped snugly around my neck to keep the 100 mph winds from blowing through my layers. As I put my left foot in the stirrup of the Fokker Dr.1 and grip the side of the cockpit with my hand in preparation to climb inside, a surreal moment suddenly becomes very real. I must take this airplane, which has a reputation for being exceptionally unstable, both in the air and on the ground, into the sky with no prior training and bring it back again in one piece. Up to this point, I have flown many different types of aircraft, to include helicopters, but this will be the first one I take to the sky without any dual instruction. I exhale and hoist myself up and over the side of the cockpit, much like mounting a horse, pausing momentarily before I settle into the cockpit and begin fastening my parachute. I have taken a Strong Enterprises backpack style parachute along on this flight in case some

7 circumstance should arrive in which I find it necessary to take the silk elevator back to the earth below. Most people will find a backpack type parachute to take up too much space in the tiny cockpit; however, at only 5 8, I fit in the Dr.1 almost like it was made especially for me. I finish strapping in, going against the techniques of combat savvy fighter pilots, and tighten the shoulder harness until my face will no longer reach the cross bar which would normally hold the Spandau LMG 08/15 machine guns that I removed for this flight. After performing the engine start procedure on the Lycoming O-320, my ground crew gives the propeller a swing and the engine comes to life. The engine run up shows everything in working order, and it s time to taxi out. As I push the throttle forward, the plane begins to roll with 1200 rpm showing on the tachometer. At this point, there is a significant departure from modern tail wheel aircraft training techniques. This particular Fokker Dr.1 has no brakes, true to the original, and a steerable tailskid which provides about 10 degrees of travel to the left and right. The steerable skid also has a skeg which is very similar to a boat keel and provides some lateral friction to help steering. Typical tail wheel instruction will tell you to hold the stick all the way back to hold the tail down. However, with a tailskid, that is the equivalent of putting on the brakes. When it is time to turn with a tight radius, I push the stick full forward, add throttle to reduce the weight on the tail, and apply rudder in the direction of the turn. A winding, snaking path allows me to peek through the wing cutouts and clear the way in front of me as I make my way to the end of the runway. Forward stick, throttle, and rudder again let me turn around without wing walkers. Lined up with the runway, I push the throttle forward with my left hand until the engine is at its maximum output of 128 horsepower for takeoff and push the control stick forward with my right. I am not overly eager to raise the tail as the skid is helping to track straight down the runway. With no forward visibility, I use the sky in front of me to keep the airplane pointed where I want it to go. This blind flying lasts only seconds as I gain enough airspeed for the tail to lift up, and I make short stabs at the rudder bar to keep the nose straight down the runway. The first sensation I have is a feeling like I m sitting on top of the world, both figuratively and literally. For such a small airplane, I now find myself sitting very high up in the air with an excellent field of view in front of me as I accelerate. She would have flown off earlier, but after holding her on the runway until almost 70 miles per hour indicated, the Fokker simply levitates and flies off the ground on her own. The slight bouncing as I am rolling down the runway stops immediately as the 28 inch tires leave the earth, and I feel for the first time the yaw instability for which this plane has earned a reputation. Even without attempting to turn, I am forced to make small corrections with my feet on the rudder bar in order to avoid even the smallest chance of a stall and spin at low altitude. At 800 feet above the ground, I make my first turn to the right and the adverse yaw tries to drag the nose to the left. I push the rudder bar to the right, centering the ball momentarily before it slides out the opposite side. There is no feedback to my feet from the rudder bar. I can move it freely to the left and right with no perceptible resistance from the wind pushing on the rudder. Fokker certainly has it well balanced, and it occurs to me that this plane is seemingly ready to go at once in any direction I command. I continue my climb up to a safe altitude where I will check the stall and handling characteristics of this little Fokker. I begin with some slight turns to the left and right which the airplane critiques with a cold blast of wind to the side of the face and large increase in noise in my ears. Gaining a feel for the rudder authority now at my disposal, I gradually slow the aircraft in an attempt to check the stall speed. The airspeed indicator creeps back through 50 mph as I slowly and continuously add back stick pressure to maintain altitude, and

8 again, the well balanced controls make it effortless to pull the control stick aft. I am maintaining altitude until 44 miles per hour at which point the airplane wallows slightly and develops a descent rate. There is no nose drop. I am simply descending in a level attitude as if I am in a parachute, though the descent rate is probably too high to make a safe landing. The wide stagger of the wings prevents them from stalling at the same time, and I suspect at least one of them is still un-stalled which provides me with the gentle descent which I am experiencing. I dump the nose, push the throttle up, and she accelerates quickly to 80 miles per hour. Wanting to know how she will handle under landing conditions, I slow down to 55 miles per hour in level flight. I initiate a turn to the right. The adverse yaw is so great that I make no progress in my attempt as the nose swings aggressively to the left and the admonishing wind slaps me in the face. More rudder. A lot more rudder. I roll back to the left and counteract the adverse yaw with a push on the rudder for what feels like an equal amount of both rudder and aileron input. After a few more turns, I have the hang of it and decide that it is best not to roll left or right very much on landing. I accelerate to 65 miles per hour now to explore the rudder authority. Legend has it that this plane will make a flat turn using only the rudder. I am not ready to fully explore this on my first flight, so I give the rudder a short push to see what happens. The response is immediate as the nose swings left about 20 degrees, and I counter the rolling tendency with only a slight amount of aileron. I swing the nose to the right, and again, she responds immediately by pointing 20 degrees to the right. Confident that I can easily bring my guns to bear on anything within 20 degrees of the nose, I continue my test profile. For its time, the Fokker Dr.1 was an important leap in combat aircraft technology. The welded steel tubing fuselage is a significant departure from the wire and wood used on its contemporaries. The wing has a cantilevered spar with all of the bracing hidden neatly beneath the fabric on the wings. Unlike its contemporaries in WWI, the Fokker Dr.1 is really a very clean design, and it shows on this flight. Despite the high drag of the three wings, this plane is surprisingly fast. I push the throttle to the full forward position where my engine now produces 145 horsepower, and she accelerates without hesitation. The airspeed indicator swings through 80 miles per hour with haste followed by 90 and 100. I look up at the ailerons and they are steady. To my left and right the airplane looks solid and feels up to the challenge of this airspeed. I maintain the acceleration in level flight until it becomes pointless to continue as the airspeed indicator passes off the scale at 120 miles per hour (subsequent flights show that the airspeed indicator is showing miles per hour too fast). I try to look at the elevator to see how much forward stick pressure I have to apply, but as soon as I turn my head 90 degrees, I feel the wind change as I am no longer making corrections to keep her flying straight through the sky. Quickly looking forward, I find that I am now flying sideways in a slip and a continued rudder correction is required. I ve had enough fun patrolling the Georgia skies, and decide it is time to figure out how to land this ground- loop queen. The reputation this airplane has for ground looping, not to mention the axe handles which are attached at the wing tips to help prevent damaging them during such an event, has both me and my insurance company on edge. I enter the pattern at 1,000 feet and slow to 75 miles per hour. Pulling the throttle back until my rpm is at 1,200, I let the nose drop to hold 70 miles per hour. The descent rate and pattern profile feel very much like a Piper Cub. I line up on final and set 1,000 rpm which I maintain all the way through touch down. I have chosen t o do a wheel landing on this flight, so I level off only inches above the ground and slowly ease her down to earth. I can feel the grass grab at the large tires as they overcome the friction of the brass bushings and begin to rotate. A little forward stick pressure and she is rolling along the ground under control. Having already decided that I would perform progressively slower touch-and-go s to get a feel for the landing roll-out, I push the throttle forward and take her back into the sky. I have only one landing

9 which results in a slight bounce. My intent was to perform a full stop landing on that attempt; however, hours of watching Triplanes land on YouTube has told me that bouncing, no matter how small, is the best way to ground loop this tricky airplane, so I go around. My full stop landing is smooth and I hold 1,000 rpm all the way through tail skid touch down in order to maintain some rudder authority. The landing roll wa s a little longer than it could have been, but I never questioned my ability to keep it pointed straight down the runway. I taxied her back to the hangar with one of the biggest grins I ve had in a long time and a feeling of triumph that I didn t let her take advantage of me today. For a video of the Triplane flight please CLICK HERE. STEARMAN FLYBY Great picture of Jim Ratliff and his Stearman. Photo taken by Dean Wingard. CIVIL AIR PATROL DINING - OUT

10 Lieutenant General Ronald Bailey was one of the featured speakers at the annual Civil Air Patrol Dining - Out held on January 25th. Over 150 people listened intently as General Bailey delivered a motivating talk. He is pictured standing above. General Bailey is the Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies, and Operations for the United States Marine Corps. PICTURE FROM CHINA

11 Hello everyone from Jiamusi China! I see where you guys are getting some of the weather that I have been experiencing. Here in Jiamusi the temperature does not get above 0 degrees. Most days it is about -15F. We are assembling 5 Thrush aircraft for the Chinese. It is my 2nd trip here. I have never been this cold in my life. I do like the Chinese people. They treat me like royalty. Here is a picture to share from half way around the world. Take Care Mike Cochran Editors Note: Mike is from Americus, Georgia and is one of our mentors in the Youth Program. SPECIALS FOR FEBRUARY You and me for dinner, Valentine Be Mine! Celebrate Valentine s Day all month with these feature entrees!! FEATURING Certified Angus Beef PR & RI for Two - Two 8 oz. Certified Angus Beef Prime Rib or Rib Eye steaks, cooked to your perfection with your choice of four sides Steak & Lobster Tail- 4 or 6 oz. Certified Angus Beef Filet Mignon grilled to your liking and paired with a 6 oz. lobster tail. 4 oz filet with house salad, with soup and salad bar 6 oz filet with house salad, with soup and salad bar Steak & Shrimp 4 or 6 oz. Certified Angus Beef Filet Mignon served with one (1)skewer of our wild caught shrimp grilled, fried, or sautéed 4 oz filet with house salad, with soup and salad bar 6 oz filet with house salad, with soup and salad bar Steak & Crab Legs 4 or 6 oz. Certified Angus Beef Filet Mignon served with one cluster of snow crab legs 4 oz filet with house salad, with soup and salad bar 6 oz filet with house salad, with soup and salad bar Still Available! Stuffed Flounder our very own mushroom pecan stuffing seasoned with parmesan cheese and garlic. With soup/salad bar With house salad For more information go to

12 Candler Field Museum Copyright Phone Located on Peach State Aerodrome in Williamson, Georgia