4560 Flightline Drive

EAA Chapter 765                  June 2006                       Kingman, AZ 86401

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Meeting Notes                               

Date: Tuesday, May 9^th, 2006

Time: 7:00 pm

Place: EAA Hanger

Present: 

John Pool, Harry May, Scott Brackett, Dennis Macklin, Bill Aronson, Malcolm Hart, Mike Finnegan, Carlos Hernandez and guest Joe Cervantes.

Meeting called to order:

            John Pool, President

Secretary’s Report:

            Motion made by Scott, to approve April 11^th minutes, seconded by Harry.

Treasurer’s Report:

No report

Old Business:

Young Eagle day was a big success. Flew 44 young people with 22 left to fly at special Young Eagle Day on June 10^th.  We discussed ways to better organize the event and prevent delays due to requirements of scouts seeking merit badge. More volunteers would help a lot.

John Pool will send out letter of thanks to those groups and organizations participating.

Still need cooling and insulation for hanger. Mike F. mentioned possible acquisition of gas heaters for hanger. He will check into it.

New Business:

The next regular semi-annual Young Eagles Day will be Sept. 16^th.

Our quarterly potluck is scheduled for June 13^th after regular EAA meeting.

The offer previously made by Paul George has been rescinded. Chapter may have to reimburse Mike F. for Ebay ad.

New format of Flypaper discussed. Additional information and calendar of events added. Request made for interesting articles from members. Tell us what you’re working on.

John received an email from Jim Moss, EAA 538, requesting our Young Eagle credits earned by us in 2005. This is to help send 3 young people to the Air Academy Camp this summer. Those with credits felt this was a good idea and would be willing to donate them.

Adjourn:

            Motion made to adjourn by Scott, seconded by Carlos; adjourned 7:50 p.m.

My Introduction to C. G. Taylor, Designer of the Piper Cub and Taylorcraft Airplanes            3

by T. W. (Bill) Aronson

When I met C. G. in 1959, he was involved in the modification of the Monocoup Meteor, which became the Saturn Meteor.

A friend of mine named Slim Hammet was part owner in the Meteor Co., and they needed some help with sheet metal work. Slim asked me if I would be interested in doing some sheet metal work. I just happened to have two months off while working at MGM Studios in special effects, so the timing was perfect. I flew my Stits Playboy down to Oxnard Airport and Slim introduced me to C.G. and I went to work for himf or two months.

C.G. invited me into his office and showed me a model of a two-place, side-by-side canard with a ducted prop, aluminum and fiberglass construction. He asked me if I felt capable of designing the structural components of the canard. I was happy to get the offer and I started on the project along with four helpers within the week.

Some of the features on the Canard were what we called a ring wing. We mounted an engine and propeller on this flap and faired the lower portions of the duct into vertical surfaces which included a slot on the back of the wing in the flap area. When we rotated the wing down 15 degrees, the static thrust increased 115%. We ran a 2-inch tube to each wing tip where we installed a valve manifold, which gave us differential lift on the wing tip. This was tied into the aileron linkage. This gave us boundry layer lateral control along with the ailerons at low speed. The University of Mississippi Aeronautical Lab used this boundry layer system on their Marvelette. (See photos and three-view drawing.)

Strato Engineering checked my structure design and found I was a little light in the spar webs structure. We re-worked the spars and correcterd the error. Eleven months later, the airplane basically was finished. C.G. named the plane the C.G.-11.  The plane had a design empty weight of 390 lbs. Our prototype weighed in at 410 lbs. It was powered with a 2-cylinder 60-hp Franklin engine. We built all the parts for the brake system and wheels and had special oval-shaped tires that were light weight and low drag.

C.G. got in touch with Goodyear by phone and asked them for a special tire for the C.G.-11. The guy was kinda rude and said, “We can’t built tires for anyone who calls in and requests a special tire.” C.G. replied,”How many million 800x4 cub tires and how many 600x6 tires were manufactured since I designed the wheels for them?” The guy said, “I will call you right back.” When he called back, he said, “How many tires do you want,  in what shape and in what color?”

We rolled the C.G.-11 out in October 1961. We had vibration problems with the C.G.-11. The two-cylinder Franklin engine ran very rough. We had to make a dampner to put on the prop hub and it would idle down to about 1000 rpm pretty smoothly.

They rolled out the Meteor Twin about 2 months before we did. It was flown about 20 hours in a 2-month period. It had a buzz in the rudder and turned into a flutter at 180 mph. Two Douglas test pilots came and flew the airplane. They were told not to fly over 150 indicated; they did, and the rudder fluttered and buckled the fuselage behind the rear window. It was pretty easily repaired and the rudder was modified which eliminated the problem.

The C.G.-11 was taxi-tested, working up to high speed runs and low flights down the runway.      

The man who backed the construction of the C.G.-11 turned the project over to his son who was a playboy. He played more than he paid attention to the project, and they stopped backing the project.

Slim Hammet talked about building an airplane, and I had the opportunity to lease a little airport in Lancaster, California, with a 60x80-foot hangar which would have been big enough for our project. Unfortunately, Slim died of a heart attack in his sleep about a month after I quit working for  C. G. Taylor and moved to the deseert. Fortunately, I brought enough work with me to last a year. Also I started a flying school at the leased property which was known as Miller Ranch.

I stayed in touch with D.G. and he built another airplane. A Mazda-powered mid-wing pusher, two-seat tandem airplane called the Taylorbird. The cockpit had a unique way of entry and exit. The fuselage split in half vertically, even with the rear seat.

C. G. Taylor and the Taylorbird (1980-81)

Another interesting thing came up in the conversation with Paul Bikle. When Paul graduated from college with his engineering degree, his first job was working for C.G. Taylor on the Taylorcraft airplane. It was powered with a 40-hp Continental. Continental had come out with a 50-hp engine, and C.G. told Paul to get the Taylorcraft 40-hp model approved with the new 50-hp engine. Paul worked on the design and took the recommended changes to C.G. Taylor. He hold him two tubes had to be enlarged in the fuselage. C.G. blew his stack!! He said, “I didn’t ask you to re-design the airframe; I told you to get it approved like it was.” Paul just knew that the Taylorcraft would be falling out of the sky with two weak tubes in the fuselage. C.G. went to 65-hp and then to 100-hp with the same tubes, and no Taylorcraft fell out of the sky.

It’s ironic that my last job was working for C.G. Taylor and Paul’s first job was working for C.G. Taylor.

It’s a shame that the C.G.-11 and the Meteor Twin were never finished to type certificate. C.G. owned 51% of the Saturn Meteor Company and the Japanese owned 49%, and when Slim died the Japanese picked up his 17% which gave them control of the Saturn Meteor Company. The Japanese investors were not successful in finishing the type certificate on the Meteor Twin.

                                                                                                                                                         6                                                                                                                                                            

C.G.-11

Saturn Meteor

KINGMAN CHAPTER 765               

POT-LUCK DINNER

TUESDAY, JUNE 13^TH  2006

6:30 P.M.

DON DOWNIE MEMORIAL HANGAR

4560 Flightline Drive

Kingman Airport

Summer Get-Together

!!Bring the Family – Friends Welcome!!

Call Harry May (718-5896) or just plan to join!

    Come out and bring a dish to pass.  Think Cooool!!    

 The Airline Transport rated pilot;

Leaps buildings in a single bound.
Is more powerful than Concorde. Is faster than a speeding bullet.
Walks on water.
 And discusses policy with God.

The Multi-Engine rated pilot;

Leaps short buildings in a single bound.
Is more powerful than a Boeing 767.
Is as fast as a speeding bullet.
Walks on water on a calm day. And talks to God.                      

The Instrument rated pilot;

Leaps short buildings with a running start and a favorable wind.
Is almost as powerful as a Boeing 737-200.
Nearly as fast as a speeding bullet.
Walks on the water of a deep puddle. And talks to God if specifically requested.

The Commercial rated pilot;

Leaves fingernail scratch marks at the top when trying to leap a short building.
Loses a tug of war with a BAE 125.
Can fire a speeding bullet. Swims well.
And is occasionally addressed by God.

The Private pilot;

Rarely clears a Scout camp tent.
Is run over by a single-engine aircraft.
Sometimes recognizes a speeding bullet.
Can dog-paddle. And talks to animals.

The Soloed student pilot;

Runs into buildings.
Recognizes a Cessna 172 two out of three times.
Has never seen a speeding bullet.
Can stay afloat under instruction. And talks to the wall.

The Non-Soloed student pilot;

Trips over door sills on entering buildings.
Says "Gosh, look at the airplanes" a lot.
Does not know what a bullet is.
Only stands in the shallow end. And mumbles to himself.

The Licensed Aircraft  Mechanic;

Lifts buildings and walks under them.
Kicks aircraft out of hangars.
Catches speeding bullets in his teeth and chews them.
Freezes water with a single glance. And talks to every body.


The Licensed Aircraft Mechanic IS God.

Calendar of Events

(Note:  This is another feature requested for the newsletter.  Feel free to notify the Editor of any events you would like included.  A membership roster is planned to be included in next month’s newsletter.)

EAA Chapter 765

4560 Flightline Drive

Kingman, AZ 86401