Bartlesville '98 Report

Here is a quick preliminary report from Bartlesville '98- IT WAS GREAT!!

The weather was perfect, Friday was overcast and cool (jacket weather),
Saturday was clear/partly cloudy, little wind and very comfortable
temperatures, high around 85 or so. The weather was very cool for this
time of year here. Just the week prior we had 100 degrees and high
humidity, very uncomfortable.

There were 81 bi-planes (mostly Stearmans) and around 273 other types of
planes for a total of 354 in attendance. As far as the Hatz, 5 were
there. The only incident that I am aware of is a Quickie that taxied
into a hole or somthing and broke the nose wheel off and shattered the
wood prop.

The American Hatz Association tent was the most active group tent there.
During the Hatz forum Saturday morning, there were about 30 Hatz Nutz
under the tent. The tent was busy the whole time. Lorin Wilkinson is a
heck of a nice guy, as well as Billy Dawson and the new newsletter
editor, Sylvia Shoemake and her husband, Jeff.

Jeff's fuselage and wing he had on display would just make you drool.
The workmanship was outstanding and was a good chance to see the inner details of a first class Hatz.

I was fortunate enough to get a ride in the front cockpit of Billy
Dawson's green Hatz, NX51WD. Billy's red Hatz, NX45WD, was in formation with us with another Hatz nut, Jim Oakley, as passenger and piloted by Billy's friend John Benham. I was surprised at how fast it cruises, about 115-120MPH. It handles great!!

One thing I was curious about was how different a "stock" built Hatz
cockpit compared to Billy's "customized" cockpit modifications. In a
nutshell, I am going to build mine like Billy did. The seat bottoms are
in the same place as the plans, only a little lower (I may not lower
mine), the top of the front seat was moved back 2", the top of the rear
seat was moved back 4". The front rudder pedals were moved forward I
think 2", the rear rudder pedals moved forward 3". I am 6'-1" with a
34" inseam and this seemed to fit just fine, front or back. The front
hole on a "stock" Hatz is a little cramped for me, the back is probably
OK, but the mods are sooo much better.

I have about 5 rolls of film I will process, the good photos will be
sent to you in case you would like to put them on the website. I took
photos of other biplanes and will send some of those too.

I will give you more details on the fly-in when I send the photos.

Take Care!

Todd Chisum

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Comments and suggestions are always welcome

Email Doug at thayer5@mindspring.com

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