Year In Review 2018

This post features a 2018 year in review in photos. My family spent a lot of time together and we love to adventure together. Those adventures could be spending the day at home, a day trip, weekend getaway or a week long vacation.

Lockheed advertisement

The Another Time offices are busy scanning vintage magazines. On an almost weekly basis we comb through our collection and scan aviation art and advertisements for our library. 

Northrup F-5 

Simulator

In March we checked out a newly painted F-5 at the Fort Worth Aviation museum near Meacham Field. Our boy likes the models in the museum and enjoys flipping switches in the simulator.

Ryan ST

As often as we can our boy and I cruise the airports around North Texas. Hicks Airfield, Aero Valley Airport, Propwash Airport and Meacham. Rare vintage airplanes are always on our radar! In April we visited Propwash in Justin to check on a friends Ryan ST.

Planes of Fame in Chino, California

Record breaking Mustang "Voodoo"

Curtiss Robin at the Yanks Air Museum

Our May family trip to Disneyland and Legoland in California included a side trip to see the airplanes at Planes of Fame and Yanks Air Museum. It was a goal of mine to walk our boy around the historic airplanes at both museums. We both could hardly contain our excitement spotting the rare aircraft.

B-17 "Texas Raiders"

Grumman Duck

The very next weekend in May after returning from California we visited the Breckenridge Warbird Airshow in West Texas. It was a hot weekend but we saw some great Warbirds fly.

Invader sighting

On a tip from a friend we caught the A/B-26K on a test flight out of Meacham Airfield. "Special Kay" was about to make the trip to Oshkosh in late July.

A-26 Invader "Night Mission"

Yale tour

The DFW Wing of the Commemorative Air Force hosted an open house in September. Braving the warm temps we walked the Warbirds on display. A friend invited our boy up for a tour of the cockpit of a rare North American Yale.

Piper Cub ride

My long time friend Bill was gracious enough to give us Cub rides in Mid-September. Our boy made his dad proud by flying in the Cub with the door open and waved as he flew over!

B-17 "Memphis Belle"

B-17 restoration project

Travel Air 6000 wing

Jim, Dan and Connor in the Travel Air hangar

In October I made a trip with friends Jim and Connor to the Air Force Museum in Dayton and the Champaign Museum in Urbana, Ohio along with the restoration hangar at the Mid America Flight Museum North.

I am a very blessed man. Good times with family and friends made 2018 a memorable year.

TEXACO ad featuring Waco Cabin

We recently sorted some aviation advertisements and found this TEXACO ad. The ad highlights their products used by airlines of the day. Oil companies themselves were big customers for cabin airplanes in the 1930s too. TEXACO had a large fleet of aircraft to move their executives and workers around the country.

Champaign Lady B-17 Restoration

This past weekend I visited the Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, Ohio. My buddy Jim and family hosted our mutual friend Connor and I for the weekend of touring aviation sites. We spent one full day in Dayton at the Museum of the United States Air Force and then a good portion on the next day in Urbana.

The highlight of the visit to the Champaign Aviation Museum was seeing the progress on the B-17 (44-85813) named Champaign Lady. Below are the photos showing the progress.

Forward fuselage structure.

Wings being rebuilt.

Nose gunner.

Cowling being made from scratch.

Aileron build.

Vertical is complete

Spar detail

Visiting with B-17 tail gunner Art Kemp.

Link - Champaign Aviation Museum

Cessna 170 History

We scanned another cool advertisement for the collection. The Cessna 170 is dear to my aviation heart as I owned one for 17 years. The 170B is an outstanding airplane. 115mph cruise, 4 people could go for a local ride, 2 people could enjoy a cross country trip with bags. A nice flying tailwheel classic. This advertisement shows a 1956 170B and mine looked just like this. It had blue and cream trim with lots of polished metal. Best I can tell from the paperwork mine was the 14th 1956 model built. Great memories of a great airplane.

This is a fun ad. The big flaps are shown to scale with a finely dressed man and the little girl sleeps in the back seat! It was a nice quiet airplane but not really quiet enough for napping children!

We will keep scanning ads just like this one for our Classic Cessna collection to be offered in the next month or two on our Patreon. Join us on the journey in aviation history through vintage advertisements! Link to Patreon here.

1956 Cessna 170B N3467D

For more history on the Cessna 170 read the article below by my late friend Bob Baas with edits by George Horn.

The History of the Cessna 170

Early in 1948, aviation publications across the country were publishing press releases similar to the following, which appeared in the February issue of FLYING magazine:

Wichita, Kansas - A full line of Cessnas will roll off the lines this year. Deliveries of the new 1948 model Cessna began early in January ... The big news in the way of completely new aircraft at Cessna this year is the Model 170, a four-place plane powered by a 145 hp Continental engine. Selling at $5,475, this new 170 is the low-cost four-placer to complete Cessna's full line. Deliveries are expected to begin in March ...

During the late 1940s through the mid-1950s over 5,000 Cessna 170s were manufactured and well over half that number survive today. This alone should indicate that this aircraft has certain qualities that make it a desirable aircraft to own and has also gained it recognition as a Neo-Classic in various aircraft organizations.

The Cessna 170 began its life looking much like its little brother, the Cessna 140. In fact, the 1948 C 170 is quite often mistaken for the smaller two-place C 1 40 by the casual observer. In 1948, Cessna expanded and stretched the 140 to make it a four-place aircraft and called it the 170. It had no dorsal fin, had fabric-covered wings, vee-type wing struts and three C140 fuel tanks to give it the necessary range for its larger engine. The engine used was a Continental C145 (later designated the 0-3 OOA) and would be used throughout the entire production run of Cessna 170s.

The First Production Model

The first production model was serialed #18001, but both it and #18002 were experimental and eventually scrapped by Cessna. The first C170 produced for sale to the public was SN18003, which rolled out of the factory doors on 6 February 1948. She made her first trip on 27 February. From Wichita, she made demonstrations for Cessna dealers across the United States .... Little Rock, Orlando, Miami, Birmingham, various cities in Texas, Salt Lake City, Boise, and on to Bozeman, Montana on 5 May 1948. She bore the numbers N2500V and was based in Montana until sold to a dealer in Calgary, Alberta in 1973. The plane was purchased by Mr. McNiven in that year, and he flew the plane approximately 75 hours until he was involved in a landing accident in 1976. The aircraft is rebuildable, but the owner feels that the plane (in it's current condition) is worth $7000 due to its historic significance.

Beginning very late in 1948 with SN18730, Cessna began producing the all-metal, slicked-up version which we recognize today as the 170 - single strut and with a dorsal fin identical to the one used on the C195. The price new was $5,995, and it was called the Model 170A. The plane had an all-metal wing (actually saving 10 lbs of weight over the "ragwing" by doing away with internal bracing no longer needed with all metal construction-gh) with slightly larger flaps which ran from a 0 degrees setting full up to a full down setting of 50 degrees. The 170A, which was produced through 1951, is commonly called the 'straight wing' model because, unlike later 17OBs, the C170A has no wing dihedral. There were very few changes made in the C170A in its three years of production. The chief difference lies in the cowling. The 1949 model used the same fixed cowl flap on the cooling air outlet as the Ragwing. In 1950, the cowl flap and rear cowl opening were changed to the configuration used on all subsequent models. Incidently, the first production model of the C170A series, SN18730 N3843V, is still flying, and is featured later in this book with articles on rebuilding and updating of the Cessna 170 series in the Modifications Section, page 89.

Cessna Introduces The 170B

The Cessna 170B was introduced in 1952 and continued in production with several changes until production on the series ended in 1956. The most obvious change from the 170/170A is the large Semi-Fowler flaps similar to those used on the L-19. (Note: Actually the L-19 wing and the C170B wing are essentially the same except for military hardpoint/hardware, and the flap hinges/tracks.-gh)The flaps were labeled'Para-lift'by Cessna, but the term "barn door" is the more common description. The flaps originally had four settings: 0, 20, 30, and 40 degrees. Beginning in 1955, Cessna added a 10 degrees flap setting. The 10 degrees position is probably the favored setting for normal take-offs since there is a very slight pitch change with flap retraction compared to 20 degrees.
The dihedral angle was increased to 3 degrees (Note: 2 degrees, 8 minutes actually-gh) on the 1952 and all subsequent models (the C170A wing was flat) and more twist was given to the wing between the strut and the tip. The stabilizer and elevator shape was changed and the aerodynamic balance area was increased. A mass balance, enclosed in the aerodynamic balance section, was added, requiring less control pressure. The C170B elevator, when raised and released, simply floats to the down position, whereas a C17OA's falls with a bang.

In 1953, the engine cowling was changed from the center-hinged type with an internal air box to a full- pressure cowl. Cabin heating was also improved by replacing the single outlet with a manifold-type that runs across the firewall with outlets for both front seats, a windshield defroster, and ducts to the front doorposts for heat to the rear seats. The instrument panel was extensively reworked. The small T-shaped floating panel was replaced by a full-width floating panel indentical to the one on the C180. Piano key type switches were replaced with push/pull type and space was provided for side by side radio installation in front of the pilot. Overhead panel lighting was also introduced.

Until mid-1953, the C170 had spring steel landing gear legs that were interchangeable between right and left side of the aircraft. These are readily apparent by their thick ankles and outward bow. This system was changed in niid-1953 with SN25612 (in other words, SN25613 and subsequent had the later gear.-gh) to the non-interchangeable right- and left-hand narrow-ankle stiff gear.

Changes in the 1954 C 170B were removal of the fuses from the lower instrument panel to a separate fuse panel below the panel on the left side, placement of the battery on the left side of the firewall, and the flush riveting of the wing struts at the lower end.

There were two major changes in 1955. The most obvious one is the shape of the rear window, as it was squared-off in the rear instead of being elliptical in shape. The other change was to the tail wheel steering by the use of a cable running through a pulley system to the tail wheel instead of the previously-used rudder horn spring system.

The Cessna 172 was introduced in 1956, and tricycle gear took over the general aviation scene. Since Cessna had parts left for some C170s, they continued to produce the C170B with a few changes. To keep costs down, the interiors were changed to the molded type like the C172, the window on the right side was fixed in place instead of swinging out, and brakes and flight controls were made optional on the right side.

Performance
The stock Cessna 170 will pretty much do what the Owner's Manual says. It will get into a much shorter field than it will get out of at gross weight. It will cruise in comfort at about 118mph at 65% power at 4000'-7000' and burn about 8gph with engine properly leaned. Some people say a C170A is faster than a C170B due to less wing dihedral and flap drag, but it's really the individual airplane that makes the difference: how it is rigged, the number of antennas and other drag-inducing obstructions, overall condition, etc.
Most C170s will take two adults, two children, 100 pounds of baggage and full fuel, 37.5 gallons total, 33.5 gallons useable,( A&B models, 42 gallons total, 37 gallons useable) and still be legal for a gross weight of 2200 pounds. The C170 will climb 500- 700fpm at this weight and land at about 52mph.
The Cessna 170 is a good, honest taildragger and has had very few AD notes or problems with maintenance.

There you have it, a picture of the Cessna 170.

(This article was taken from "The 170 Book" available from The International Cessna 170 Association. It's original author the late Bob Baas and includes edits by George Horn)

XP-82 Twin Mustang Nears First Flight

A North American XP-82 Twin Mustang is nearing is first flight after a ten year restoration. EAA has produced a video that is worth watching. I am beyond excited to hear of its first flight!

Links - XP-82 Twin Mustang Web Site

Spartan Executive NC17662 to Texas

Spartan Executive serial number 28, NC17662 has a new home in Texas with the Mid America Flight Museum in Mount Pleasant. This Spartan 7W is a welcome addition to the impressive collection of vintage aircraft. 

Serial number 28 was built in 1940 and served as a executive transport for the Spartan Aircraft Company. Maxwell Balfour, the Spartan Sales Manager, flew this 7W all around the country to promote the aircraft and visit the Spartan Schools in Muskogee and Miami, Oklahoma. Spartan retained this 7W for company use until 1976. 36 years of service!

It would fly on to new owners based in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and California before returning to Texas the summer of 2018. One interesting add on this Executive featured in years past was wing tip fuel tanks! The only 7W to be fitted with tip tanks.

We look forward to posting more photos of serial number 28 upon our next visit to East Texas.

Links - Spartan Survivors - Mid America Flight Museum

Oshkosh AirVenture Awards 2018

For the last 18 days I have been pouring over photo feeds from Oshkosh to soak up as much aviation goodness as I can since I did not make the show this year. The weather and attendance looked outstanding this year. Too many highlights to try and list. Be sure to set aside some time to look back through the EAA Flickr albums here. If you are on Instagram search the hashtag #osh18 for loads of photos.

EAA has posted the award winners for 2018 here. It was fun to see that Rusty Morris' Cessna 170B, N2935D as the winner of the Grand Champion Classic. It is a beautiful 170B and well deserving of the award! Below is a photo of N2935D back in 2010 in VERY original condition. Not many "barn find" originals exist anymore so when I first saw it the details took me back in time. Rusty has refreshed the paint and engine over the last 8 years so an Oshkosh award is no surprise to me. Hats off to the Morris family.

Cessna 170B N2935D

Aviation Posters - Time Flies

Looking for a unique aviation gift? Check out Dylan Wreggelsworth’s creation at BVR Design - “Time Flies” Air Racer Poster:

https://bvr.design/…/air-…/products/time-flies-racer-poster…

It was designed in collaboration with Dan Linn of Fly to Another Time

http://flytoanothertime.com

BVR Design also carries unique t-shirts and patches that have graphic details only an aviation loving designer would incorporate. Watch for more upcoming designs from BVR Design and Another Time!

Vintage Lockheed Electra Junior Advertisement

My current research "dive" has been into my magazine collection. The hunt for rare aircraft featured in company advertisements. I love the art, the ad copy and the company logos. Can you imagine the conversations around the boardroom tables in the 1930s as the executives crafted their next company ad campaign? It must have been pretty exciting. The Lockheed ad above even features a comic style story! Fly along as the owner does business all over the country.

Watch this space and the Instagram page (user name dtlinn) for more of the art as I continue to scan these cool ads.

Link - Instagram dtlinn

Matt's Luscombe 8A - N71556

N71556 on the grass in Gainesville, Texas

Luscombe N71556 is a 65hp 8A owned by Matt Hood of Argyle, Texas. Matt purchased the Luscombe in 2014 from his dad in Indiana and brought it to Texas. It is not what the owner would call a show plane but a flyer. It has had some interesting adventures in its life. The logs tell the tale of an off airport landing. The metal doesn’t shine of new aluminum but that suits Matt just fine. Winning awards wasn’t in the plans for this ship even though it won a “Most Original” award at the Blakesburg, Iowa antique fly-in!

Matt flies the airplane often and loves sharing flights with others. One day I caught Matt at the gas pumps at Northwest Regional airport as he prepared to launch on a tailwheel lesson for a daring young aviator. The mission for this little Luscombe is not to gather dust. It is to introduce the next generation of pilots to cool vintage airplanes.

Based at Northwest Regional it shares a hangar with a classy Cessna 170. When not flying Boeings for Southwest Airlines you will find Matt flying various airplane types over North Texas. Most likely sharing stories of flying airplanes from another time.