Some Headwind Photos
Here are some of the Headwinds that have been built over the years.
NOTE: Some of the photos will go larger if you click on them.
Here below it is on a trailer at Rockford, IL EAA flyin in the 1960s
This photo below was taken in 1969 at the Rockford EAA flyin
Don says about this photo below taken at the Rockford EAA flyin in 1968
"That's an original Headwind built from my early plans. It was one of the first finished.
The "B" model looks somewhat similar. Al's airplane had Luscomb wings. Several other builders used Luscomb wings. Lots of them being built now with quite a few in foreign countries." Thomas Lewis wrote- "
Marve Zuckerman at the 1968 EAA Convention at Rockford, Illinois. The plane is a 1966 Main Headwind CAM Experimental"
Don V. Headwind built by Dave Rigotti
Armando Escalante in Calif flys this one with Don's Maximizer unit to give the VW engine some thrust!
This one is in Argentina!
Khalid Khan commented on the Stewart Headwind Facebook Group page.
I have an old Kitplane Magazine Jan1986 in which this headwind above is featured.
The builder is listed as Donovan Gregory of Granada hills California.
Aircraft based at Mojave.1834cc vw direct drive with a 54x32 prop.Cruise
85mph@3000 rpm burning 3.3 US gallons per hour.
A nice red one..
Below - Don says this is the prototype Headwind B model with a Maximizer prop drive.
Wayne Walton won a lot of trophies with it.
Don says this about the photo below-
This Headwind B was built by the Hall brothers who sell Vortex generators. In Utah I think."
On wonders how the Vortex generators changed the performance?
Don notes the difference on this Headwind below- "Ford Martyn, the builder, and I talked about wires vs struts and Ford decided on wires. New England area."
Above- Headwind A with wire bracing powered by a Continental A-40.
Built by Terk Williams of Hartford Connecticut
The one below we don't know much about. Don says the A-40 Continental would be perfect on the Headwind.
This one below from South Africa we think.
This one below we wish we knew more about. Obviously VW power.
Below an A Model Headwind FAA records it is in Canby Oregon now but was built by Allen in 1971
Don says about this one below- "that was one of the very first Headwinds built. I've forgotten the builders name. It had to have been in the early 60s"
Below is the Hall Headwind
Below is the Brandt built Headwind
Below Armando's Headwind with the Maximizer prop speed reducer
Don says this Headwind below was built by Jack Roberson near Phoenix, Az.
Looks like it has the Maximizer on it. Don says he flew it and it flew nice.
Photo below shows a 6ft 3inch guy in Michael's headwind.
Above- Headwind Model B - Owner Robert J. Ellefson of DeSoto, Iowa
Bob Benveniste's Headwind B
Don Heferson's Headwind above
Below-
Headwind built by EAA Chapter 145 of Wayland,
Michigan in the 1960's
Photo by Ron Fritz
Below- El Piolín
This was sent in about the above red and white Headwind. "
The Headwind you see on my web-site was built by Virgil Z. Standerfer and the number is/was N17VS. Originally powered by a Continental A-50-1, the aircraft flew in its original configuration for many years and accumulated several hundred flight hours.
It was flown by many pilots, including myself. I flew the initial flight restriction off when I was 17 years old as I recall. I’m 45 now!
It had a “Cub” type shock system originally which over time proved to be too soft. So the gear was rebuilt using a strut location as shown on your later “B” plans, but we used coiled die springs which seem to work well. The aircraft was built using stock Luscombe 8A rag wings. As I recall, several of the early ships used Luscombe wings either stock or shortened somewhat. This prompted Mr. Standerfer to use them as we located a set with a total expense of about $75 back in the mid 70’s. The aircraft was sold to a man from Washington State, but he never picked up the aircraft. The local airport authority eventually sold the aircraft at a sheriff’s sale to pay for the several years of accumulated tie-down fees. Gene Bassett from another small local town was the lucky guy who bought it. Gene contacted me to restore the aircraft as he had heard that I had been party to the original building of the ship.
Gene wanted a dual ignition engine so it was up graded to an A-75. We added a trim tab like an early T-cart under the horizontal, changed the shock struts, recovered it and then came up with a paint job that fits the airplane well (I think anyway). The cowling is from an early Piper J-5 cut down to fit the firewall location. We also added a shoulder harness. Gene flew the aircraft for a short while before he lost his medical. He sold the aircraft to somebody from Modesto, California who damaged the aircraft when he stalled the girl from about 10 feet. I understand that the aircraft was repaired using slightly heavier struts and I saw it in a magazine article at the Evergreen fly-in several years ago. I have since lost track of it. It was a great flying aircraft. The 4412 airfoil of the Luscombe wing and the additional area seemed to work quite well. I have never flown a standard wing but since just about everybody that flew it while we had it weighed in at over 200 lbs, the added wing was probably a good thing. It would have been great if it was a little wider but I really couldn’t complain at all. It was great fun flying open cockpit for just pennies in cost.I appreciate your contribution to homebuilt aircraft. The Headwind provided many hours of fun for me as a teenager.
Regards,
Ty Sundstrom (sadly Ty passed away a couple years ago)
Below-
Here's an in-flight shot of Wayne Walton and his Headwind B flying over the countryside near Salem, Ohio
Below-
Photos of Bobby Capozzi's Headwind B showing the latest progress. Many good views of the structure and details of Bobbies Franklin 2A-120 installation. The Franklin 2A-120 should be a good choice for those of you looking for an alternate to the VW. That's Bobby's Piper PA14 Clipper in the background.
