D.B. Mathews
Flying for Fun
909 North Maize Road, Townhouse 734, Wichita, KS 67212
The Real Story
Several columns ago I related the "Wrong Way" Corrigan legend, based on what I have read throughout the years and seen in the newsreel coverage of Corrigan's "westbound" flight from New York to Ireland. I described his Curtiss Robin as "derelict." Many people probably believe that the CAA's refusal to allow Corrigan to cross the Atlantic was based on the poor condition of his aircraft. Well, it's not so!
A letter from Charles V. O'Donnell (Eugene, OR), who has long held interest in this subject, took us to task for "parroting" information without researching the facts. Charles wrote:
"Doug Corrigan bought NC 9243 in 1934 in upstate New York and flew it home to California, stopping along the way to sell rides and pay for the trip. He then flew the Robin regularly for two years while he earned a living as an instructor and mechanic. In 1936 the Robin was stripped down and completely refurbished. A Wright J-6-5 engine was installed, long-range tanks of his own construction were added, and the Robin was repainted silver with black registration—simply because he could not afford more expensive color dope.
"Corrigan then embarked on an extensive and careful series of test flights to determine the best throttle and mixture settings for optimum range. This included flying the plane, in 1937, coast to coast nonstop and then back, after which he added even more fuel and oil capacity. Right about then, he ran out of money and had to take a job at Northrop (ironically) welding fuel tanks.
"Interestingly, after Corrigan added the auxiliary tanks, the license went to NR because he had deviated considerably from the original ATC. When Corrigan added even more tanks the local inspector wouldn't pass it at all; thus the 1937 transcontinental flights were actually made in an unlicensed aircraft.
"In the Spring of 1938, with the money he'd saved at Northrop, Corrigan appealed to the district inspector, who told the local man to look over the Robin, and if it qualified for an NX license to issue one. This was done and Corrigan then applied for permission to make a nonstop flight to the East Coast and a nonstop return. Note that he did not apply to fly the ocean, since he had done so in 1937 and been turned down in the wake of the loss of Amelia Earhart, for one thing. So without clearance an Irish/American lad flew nonstop from the East Coast to Ireland and became an instant celebrity when he told the press he thought he was flying back to California and must have gone the wrong way."
At no time was Corrigan's Robin labeled unsafe or not airworthy. It just did not meet government rules and regulations. Perhaps related to the CAA's lack of cooperation are a couple of facts gleaned from an unrelated article in the October 1996 Skyways.
Juan Trippe (founder of Pan American Airways) was a personal friend of Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt, and was well-connected in government circles. PAA and the other major airlines had convinced Congress and the general public to prohibit the use of single-engine aircraft for passenger-carrying commercial use because it was unsafe and unreliable. This put many of the smaller Caribbean and Hawaiian carriers out of business. You fill in the blanks.
O'Donnell also wrote, "Doug Corrigan did not go unpunished by the bureaucracy. The CAA sent him a cablegram in Ireland the size of War and Peace and suspended his pilot's license. This suspension ran out on August 4, 1938, which happened to be the day the ship returning Corrigan docked in New York. Bureaucrats or not, the CAA was not going to mishandle a popular folk hero."
All of O'Donnell's facts are documented in Ken McDonough's Atlantic Wings. I wish I had documented my facts before writing a piece.
Worth Considering
The Curtiss Robin has been a popular Free Flight (FF) and Radio Control (RC) scale model for many years; its wing and tail volumes, force moments, and eye appeal make it a stable and attractive subject. Comet produced a six-foot gas-powered version in 1935, which was one of the first scale gas-powered FF kits.
Almost all of the kits and published designs are of the inline Curtiss OX5 version, rather than the radial-engined prototypes; the reason lies in the difficulty of reproducing a round uncowled engine in model size. Several lovely multicylinder four-stroke power plants are available, and the Robin would be a dynamite way to show off one of them in a scale model.
An excellent source for several Robin photos and a 17-page packet of three-views and information is Bob Bankas's Scale Model Research (3114 Yukon Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626). How excellent? The Robin photos are from a series that Bob took at a 1988 Hawthorne, California fly-in, where Corrigan's aircraft was displayed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his New York-to-Dublin flight.
The Curtiss Robin shown has not been restored; it's just 50 years older than when Corrigan flew it to Ireland. It is hardly derelict, even now! A good bath, fresh paint, some rust removal, and some engine work would have it in top flying condition in less than two weeks.
One of the photos prompts the question, "Is the aircraft currently on display at the Western Museum of Flight?" If someone knows, please share the information.
Wheel Collars
Many modelers who build a lot usually end up with a batch of wheel collars rendered useless by the loss of the tiny Allen-head set screws—at least I do. I've never been able to find them in hobby shops; however, by accident I've discovered a source of replacement set screws of appropriate sizes.
Micro Fasteners (110 Hillcrest Rd., Flemington, NJ 08822) carry a full line of bulk nuts, washers, bolts, etc., for modeling use; they list set screws in sizes as small as 0-80 x 1/16-inch and up to 10-32 x 3/8-inch. Most wheel collars use either 2-56 or 4-40, but one needs only to trial-fit stock bolts to determine the proper size. Thread pitches match.
Standoffs
Matching engine length to proper propeller/spinner location has always been relatively simple when using beam engine mounts: you can select approximate mount length, then adjust fore-and-aft before drilling the required holes. On the other hand, radial-mounted power plants are more challenging; if the engine is too long, you are pretty well stuck, but if it's too short you must somehow fill between the engine and firewall.
Fixes can range from:
- laminated plywood disks,
- custom-made plywood boxes,
- machined metal standoffs.
One kit manufacturer suggested drilling needed length and diameter holes in the center of dowel sections. There is a challenge: drilling a straight hole in a large dowel requires a special tool. From my experience, anything superior to extension shafts is preferable, since I find those difficult to balance or to keep the prop tight.
Photos illustrate a set of machined units available from B&B Specialties (14234 Cleveland Rd., Granger, IL 46530). The original intent is for the old-style Zenoah G-23, but they will work with other engines.
A less-expensive alternative, which is easy to use and available in an assortment of lengths and hole sizes, are nylon standoffs. I find them in the specialty hardware section of a local Ace Hardware store. I have no idea what their intended use is, but they work well for modeling. Rather small sizes are available, which would be excellent for use with radial-mounted Cox and other small engines.
Clarifications
My December column featured ignition systems by Bill Carpenter's CH Electronics. No address was given, since I knew that the company would have an ad in the same issue (page 138).
My May 1997 column centered on micro electric models, with photos and information submitted by D.K. Rice (4557 Swallowtail Drive, New Port Richey, FL 34653). Apparently I failed to make it clear that the expertise was all his, since several readers wrote to me asking for more detailed information. I thought a column was a venue for sharing other modelers' activities and did not mean I knew anything about the subject, because I do not.
Even wilder was a letter inquiring how the battery eliminator circuit (BEC) was incorporated. I should have more clearly explained that the models were R/C, not RC, but I thought it was evident, since the models were so tiny and had no movable surfaces.
You should be reading this in March, which means that the renewal rites of spring are beginning—raking the yard, weeding the planters, trimming the bushes, painting the trim, washing the car, and other delightful projects. Hopefully those rites also include flying for fun!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
