To conserve aluminum during wartime, hickory was used for the pilot’s control stick; ‘friend or foe? signal lights indicated enemy aircraft, and scantily clad pinup girls painted on the engine cowl reflected the youthfulness of the men who flew the warbirds.
Like other aircraft of the era, the Vultee SNV-1 is a piece of flying history, and for Goodrich resident Bruce Koch, the WWII airplane has been a lifelong ambition that’s simply fun to fly.
‘This plane is not about me, rather, those who once flew it,? said Koch, 50, an experimental prototype process engineering technician for General Motors Warren Plant, longtime pilot and a major for the Civilian Air Patrol.
‘When I meet veterans, I thank them for their service to this country’I guess the Vultee is my way of preserving those memories.?
Powered by a 450 h.p. Pratt & Whitney nine-cylinder rotary engine, the basic trainer was constructed about 1942 by Vultee Aircraft, Inc. in Nashville, Tenn. The basic trainer was used to train Naval aviators in the second stage of three training programs for military pilots’primary, basic and advanced.
‘These trainers were not easy to fly,? said Koch. ‘During wartimes, new pilots would come out of either civilian pilot training or one of the academies, like Annapolis. This would be the first military aircraft new cadets would have a chance to fly. Many would start with only 70 or 80 hours of flight time. That’s why they would nickname these aircraft, ‘Cadet Killers.??
The SNV is the Navy version: S stands for Scout, N for Training and V for Vultee. As a patrol plane, most of them were stationed in California to fly long missions out over the ocean and cover the west coast of the United States. It can reach a top speed of about 180 mph, and burns two quarts of oil per hour, said Koch.
‘If it’s not leaking oil, then it’s out of oil all together,? laughs Koch.
The plane holds about 120 gallons of 100 octane low-lead gasoline in two wing compartments. About 10,000 of the low-wing, radial engine taildraggers were built to have a 24-month life, or 3,000 hours of service.
‘That’s why there’s only about four of this type left today,? he said. ‘Most of the parts just rotted away.?
Koch’s Vultee was used during World War II at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., a key hub of air activities training about 1,100 cadets a month during wartime. In 1944, the plane was relocated to Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas, where, says Koch, the plane crash landed, causing damage to the landing gear and cowl.
‘As far as we know, the plane was repaired, but was never put back in service after that,? said Koch. ‘The Vultee was relocated to Clinton Naval Air Station in Clinton, Oklahoma, but at that point the war was over.?
In the late 1940s, the Vultee was sold to a cropdusting company for $600 and used to transport pesticides out in the farmland around Grass Valley in the Sierra Nevadas.
‘The Vultee was just too fast to be an effective cropdusting plane, so it was equipped with a 300 gallon tank in the front compartment and transported bulk pesticides out to rural airports,? Koch said. ‘The chemical was then pumped to the bi-wing cropdusting plane.?
At some point in the mid-1960s the Vultee was retired to a field somewhere in the western United States, until California resident Richard Empy purchased the plane, restoring it to flyable condition.
‘So I purchased the plane in 1994 and had it flown back to Michigan,? said Koch. ‘It was in pretty rough shape. I had to replace just about every instrument.?
From a hangar at Bishop Airport in Flint, Koch spent more than 1,000 hours restoring the vintage aircraft using manuals or copies of manuals from the Smithsonian Institution, the Air Force Museum, the Yankee Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps.
Koch offers rides in the Vultee to help maintain the plane. Along with his wife Cheryl, Koch visits airshows throughout the area. Details:(810) 636-7120.