VA Vol 4 No 6 June 1976 - EAA Vintage Members Only

FIFTY YEARS APART - Two pilots stand beside their planes illustratingthe Similarity between a historic flight made in 1926and a re-enactment flight made April 6, with the Swallow biplane.STURDY SKELETON - Waiting to be covered is the fuselage ofthe Uptown Swallow. E. E. "Buck" Hilbert kneels on the frontseat while Edward E. McConnell, who is restoring the old planehands him the instrument panel.The J-4 engine was something of ahistorical item in its own right. It wasone of three that powered the Fokkertri-motor monoplane flown by Adm.Richard E. Byrd and Fl oyd Bennett May9, 1926, when they became the firs tmen to reach the North Pole by air. Hilbertsaid his research on the serial numberof the J-4 e ngine showed it to bedelivered to Byrd for installa tion on theFokker airplane, the "Josephine Ford",for the historic Polar flight.Although there is no record of whatfinally happe ned to th e " JosephineFord", the engine turned up with a private a ntique a ircraft owner in Cali ­fornia, from whom it was obtained byHilbert.13Hilbert h ad located o nly three J-4stha t were o perable, and two o f the mwere in the Smithsonian Ins titutio n .He said the J-4 was origina lly manufacturedfo r the U.S. Navy and thatonly 199 were built. It also was the forerunner o f the engine tha t Charles A.Lindbergh used to fl y solo across theAtla ntic.Hilbert had said a t tha t time that heconsidered himself ex tremely fortunateas he was not aware of a ny o ther fl yableJ-4 e ngine in existence. Acknowledgingthe historical value of the J-4, theSmithsonian loaned the e ngine restorerThis photo at Seneca shows United pilot E. E. " Buck" Hilbertwith a restored Swallow that made the Pasco-Boise re-enactmentFlight April 6.