Waldo Pepper J-1 Standards Question

[Chris Brame]

The 1976 TV movie Amelia Earhart had a sequence with a white J-1 being piloted by Amelia and her instructor Neta Snook; it also "became" a Tiger Moth when it crashlanded in a field. Art Scholl was credited as the pilot and Frank Tallman was credited with "aerial sequences".

[JBoyle]

Go to the library and look at Flying magazines for 1976 or 77. They had a big article on the making of the film. They mentioned the Tiger Moth stand-ins and the Chimpmunk. There was a nice photo of the plane taking off losing its wheels...tiny castors were added on the bottom of the sturts so Tallman could land w/o damaging the plane.

It was directed by George Roy Hill...of Butch Cassidy and the Sting fame. He was a pilot and knew his way around antiques. If he wrecked an Eaglerock, it was probably too far gone to save.

BTW: Charles Klessig of Fargo restored a OXX-6 powered J-1 in the early 70s: N9477 SN 2434 it was used in an episode of the CBS TV series "Bearcats" filmed in Tucson in June-July of 1971. He did some other TV/film and commercial work with it. It's now in a Fargo Museum.
He later restored another J-1..this one Hisso powered. It's now in the EAA museum.

[astixjr]

It's almost ready to fly! I got tired of sorting turret parts and working on cars and Stearmans around 11:30 PM Sunday evening and decided to see what kind of progress Glenn Peck has been making on the J-1 Standard. Wow! That's all I can say. The plane was on it's gear early this morning, a few hours after these photos were taken. Maybe Don Parsons or Glenn can post some images of it from Monday afternoon. I could not get down there today to see it but I'll make sure to do that on Tuesday. After a considerable amount of research Glenn has arrived at the conclusion that this J-1 Standard, originally restored by Ray Folsum, was probably used more as Doc Dillhoeffer's plane in the movie while Kermit's Standard was the one that spent most of it's time painted as The Great Waldo Pepper. A few people who worked on the movie set say exactly the opposite so it's possible that both planes were painted with Waldo's logo at different times. When you look back at the photos from just over one year ago, and consider how long it takes me to just do an annual on my Stearman, we probably should have painted "The Great Glenn Peck" on the side of the plane.

[stearmoth]

Hi Albert,

Great project! Could you tell me the size of those slim tyres? It seems to me they are smaller than 30". I am still looking for 24"x4" (16" rim size) for our Vintage Hatz.

Best regards, Hans, Switzerland

[astixjr]

Hans,
I think this Standard has 30 x 5 wheels/tires but I'm not sure if that is the size the original Standard had on it. I think the Jenny/Cannuck has 26" wheels? I'll have a look on Sunday and report back. I will try to find you some options for a supply of the 24" wheels/tires. I have a set of new 24" tires but I think they are spares for the St. Louis Cardinal that's in our museum. I think most of our stuff came from Coker Tire (sp?) but I'm not sure they still sell vintage a/c tires.

[JBoyle]

Where will the plane go when it's done?
Stay with Peck and be flown or based elsewhere?

BTW: anyone have a c/n for it?

[astixjr]

Where will the plane go when it's done?
Stay with Peck and be flown or based elsewhere?

BTW: anyone have a c/n for it?

It will join the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum's collection at Creve Coeur Airport and with any luck, it might make Oshkosh this year. The EAA trip depends on how much time Glenn can put on the engine before this year's convention.

[JBoyle]

[astixjr

Thanks for the info...
Can you tell us about of the history of the aircraft...
-is it an original (I'm guessing yes..put it never hurts to ask)
-any previouis owners/operators?
-and is the serial number listed with the FAA accurate or one added later?

[Jerry O'Neill]

Wow!
That looks fantastic!
I'm working on something and I'm wondering if there is any chance that they would be willing bring it east to CT for the proper fee?
Jerry

[astixjr]

Do any of your folks have any experience rebuilding or working on a Hisso V-8? Do you know anyone who has overhauled one? I'd be interested in talking to anyone what has worked on one of these engines. We are having some issues with the start up on the engine and the books are not very clear on several issues. This engine is actually an E4 model built by Wright so its a bit different than the more common 150 HP engine you find on the WWI airplanes. Not only is this Standard J-1 an amalgam of three Standards, the engine might be a bit of a hybrid also and that's what is making the start up problematic. I guess you might call this engine an "Acme Belchfire" except for the fact that it refuses to belch much of anything at this point.