VA Vol 27 No 4 April 1999 - Members Only

74 Echo Charlie was built
in Hatfield, England, in 1938
and first flew on July 9 of that
year. It was the third to the
last one built by the deHavilland
Aircraft Company. That
same month, it was crated and
packed for export to South
Africa. Arriving in August, it
was reassembled and flown
on August 23 at Johannesburg.
It was registered as
ZS-AOA to John R. Paget.
Several years later, in
1940, it was impressed into
the SAAF (South African Air
Force) as #1584. It was used
for communications work and
during its five years in the
SAAF service, clocking about
600 hours.
In April 1959, she was reg­
Roland Schable of Janesville, WI flies Walt Kessler's DH.87 Hornet Moth over the shore of Lake Geneva, WI
istered with C. F. Strecker at during a glorious Wisconsin fall season. This shot by Ted Koston was taken from a Stearman flown by Tom
Rand . Then it was sold to Foreys of Woodale, IL.
several other owners (here it
gets a little sketchy): a Mr.
Malherbe, then J. D. Haupt and W. C.
Whitfield at Benoni in 1968.
The original Gipsy Major 130 hp engine
was replaced with a Gipsy Major IC
engine rated at 145 hp. The newer engine
had been in storage for some time and then
installed in the Hornet in April of 1968.
During April of 1973, the engine had 312
hours since a major overhaul. On October
5, 1978, the registration was canceled as
ZS-AOA and the Hornet Moth was exported
to the United States. She spent
considerable time in storage in California
after purchase by her new owner. Robert
McJohnston, who subsequently sold her to
Ed Clark of Hawthorne, California, in Au­
14 APRIL 1999
gust of 1985. Clark completely overhauled
the engine in September of 1986.
New guides, sodium filled valves, cylinders,
rods, pistons and rings were installed,
plus accessories and many other parts.
Sixty weight, straight mineral oil is
used in the Gipsy engine during the summer
months. The airframe has 1,600 hours
and is covered with linen. Paint is Delstar
blue acrylic enamel and Fleet white with
Midnight blue for the striping. The linen
was put on about 12 years ago and the fabric
still passes the punch test. Although
I've had lots of experience in taildragger
aircraft, including 17 years in the Tiger
Moth, flying the Hornet Moth proved to be
a real challenge for me. When I first got in
the left seat, taxiing proved to be a chore.
I was not familiar with the full castering
tailwheel or the Bendix mechanical brakes
and their idiosyncrasies.
Needless to say, my first few takeoffs
and landings on Hawthorne's hard surface
runway reminded me of some of my first
flight lessons years ago. They weren't that
great! I also heard all these wild stories
about the Hornet being tail heavy, which
she isn't, and how bad she is in a crosswind,
which she is. Several years before I
bought the aeroplane, Ed had wiped the
right gear out at Mojave Airport in a strong
crosswind that caught him off guard . I
was prepared for the worst.
After all, this was a 56-year-old beautiful
antique airplane. To make
matters worse - and to my knowledge
- it is the only Hornet Moth
flying in North America, so it is a very
rare airplane, indeed, and I didn't want
to bend it. Plus, I was to fly it back
from California to Illinois.
In addition to the normal pre-flight
and walk around, there is one very important
check we make. The wings on
the Hornet Moth fold back for storage.
Both sets of wings are hinged to the
fuselage. The hinges are located three-
With its left wing folded for storage, ZS­
ADA rests on the airport at Lake Geneva,
WI. That's not an extra pair of wings
behind the Hornet Moth - Walt enjoys
British aircraft, and his Tiger Moth sits
awaiting a flight.