5 Sept. 2001

MR. BIRDDOG REPORTS:

At the 1996 Oshkosh air show I was honored with an award that everyone, including myself, thought was impossible for a Birddog to win....Grand Champion Warbird. You could call it an exercise in redefining anal. Ronnee and I polished bugs, wiped down water spots, cleaned windows, cleaned interior parts, toothbrushed the engine cooling fins, wiped all visible grease and oil from every nook and cranny on the airplane, applied touch-up paint to the interior and exterior....and this went on for three days.

The judging of our Birddog started out very slowly, as only one judge had arrived by the end of the designated day of judging. That is another story, but to make this one shorter, by the end of the next 24 hour period 10 judges had signed our propeller cuff card. I always wondered what the judges were looking for, and exactly how they made their numerical decisions about all of the aircraft that they judge in a week’s time.

This past July I got a first hand lesson in how the whole aircraft judging process takes place. In the spring of 2001 I was asked if I would help with the judging at EAA Arlington (Arlington, Washington), the third largest air show in the US. I said I’d be happy to help, and it was payback time for me. Over the years my bug polishing techniques, similar to the Karate Kid movie "wax on" "wax off" movements had brought home a couple of trophies, and now it was my turn to give to someone else.

On the designated day and time I arrived at the Judge’s Building for my briefing. I was just one of about twenty volunteer judges who would be judging the thousands of aircraft on the Arlington airfield. Many of the judges were old "salts" throwbacks from the years of rag and tube construction, some had probably helped Orville and Wilbur with some of their designs. Then there were the middle-aged, slightly gray in the temple version who remember Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Hop-a-long Cassidy, black and white TV, and muscle cars like the Pontiac GTO. To complete the circle there were the younger generation "D" crowd that clung to the powered-parachute and ultra-light crowd like super-glue and walked around with their palm pilots compiling data from the Internet through the use of their cell phones.

The chief judge for the entire event was Mr. Bob Reece from San Angelo, Texas. Bob has worked as a volunteer judge at Arlington and Oshkosh for many years and is the Co-Chairman of the EAA Judging Standards Committee.

Bob has developed a flow chart to help guide the judges in their decision making process. Remember when you have thousands of aircraft to judge and a limited number of judges to work with each judge having only a few minutes to make his or her decision on the quality of the aircraft.

The judging system used by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is a numerical value system that places a value on eight different areas. Those areas from the EAA Judging Standards handbook are listed below:

1. General Appearance. This covers the aircraft in its entirely; workmanship, cleanliness, maintenance, and overall appeal. Paint scheme should be appropriate for type and model. Maximum of 15 points.

2. Fuselage. Cleanliness, workmanship, interior details, wiring, painting interior and exterior, control cables, safety of flight items, etc. Maximum of 15 points.

3. Landing Gear and Wheel Wells. Cleanliness, workmanship, routing of hoses and lines, condition of tires and brakes, etc. Maximum of 10 points.

4. Wings and Tail Surfaces. Workmanship, painting, cleanliness and safety of flight items. Maximum of 10 points.

5. Engine and Accessory Section. Cleanliness, safety of flight items, proper safetying, cotter pins, linkages, lines and hoses in good repair, etc. Maximum of 12 points.

6. Cockpit. Workmanship, detail, cleanliness, necessary proper and operating instrumentation, placards, markings, wiring harnesses, cockpit layout, lighting, etc. Maximum of 15 points.

7. Authenticity. Plus points only ­ primary attention to external details, paint schemes, etc. No deduction for necessary modernization of radios and systems. Points are also given for details such as guns, bombs, bomb racks, gunsights, original cockpit fixtures, panel layout, radios, etc.

Paint and Markings 1-5 points
Cockpit 1-6 points
Engine, prop, accy. section 1-5 points
Airframe Components 1-4 points
Maximum of 20 points

8. Depth of Restoration. This category will evaluate how far down the aircraft was taken in its restoration and how well this was documented. Maximum of 3 points

9. Difficulty Points. Difficulty points will be assigned as per those listed in the "Difficulty Factor" listed below.

1 point for L-1, L-2, L-5, L-18, PT-19, PT-22
2 points for BT-13, Stearman, N3N, L-13, L-19, LC-126, O-1, T-41
3 points for O-2, T-34
The list goes on through all of the warbirds until you get to the B-17, B-24 category which has a difficulty factor of 10 points.

Now that the judges know where they should spend their time while "eyeballing" your Birddog, how do they assign the values that they come up with? Bob Reece’s flow chart will lend some insight to that question.

When the judge walks up to your Birddog he or she will make an initial observation and most of this is based on CLEANLINESS. Did you notice word (cleanliness) in the EAA Judging Standards handbook and how many times it is repeated? The judges will get the "N" number and owner’s information and then the "down in the dirt" inspection starts. They will want to look in the cockpit, under the belly, in the engine compartment and anywhere else they can stick their head. All of the items mentioned in Bob Reece’s chart will be looked at and graded.

Can a judge’s decision be helped? I’m not talking about multiple $100 bills here....I’m talking about educating the knowledgeable judge with more information than he had when he walked up to your airplane. Even though many of the warbird community are informed about different warbirds they can’t be "all knowing" about your Birddog, so it is your job to inform them of what is correct about your Birddog.

This "correctness" information can’t come out of your butt either. It needs to come from recognized sources, i.e. flight manuals, old military photos, blueprints, etc. If you rebuilt your Birddog, show them the photo album that you assembled while you had the propeller stored in your bedroom at home. If your paint scheme is "different" from most, show them the blueprint of the paint specs, or photos from one of the wars that the Birddog participated in. Type up a short biography of your Birddog. When was it manufactured, did it serve with the active Army, Air Force, Marines, National Guard or was it a civil Birddog?

The attention to detail all over your airplane is reflected in the minutest of items. Did you use wire ties? If you did, are all the ends trimmed out smooth and flush or did you just cut them off with a pair of side-cutters? Did you use hand-tied wire bundles and waxed string? If so, are all the knots identical? How about those wire bundles. Do they run parallel with the natural lines of the aircraft, or do they look like a spider weaved a web with your wires? Did you round off that bolt head using a crescent wrench when you could have taken the time to get the proper tool? You get the idea. It takes tons of attention to detail to make the final product look better than the factory floor.

The L-19/O-1 Birddog fought in two US wars, served in the military with a host of foreign nations, then went on to serve the Civil Air Patrol, law enforcement agencies and a host of other jobs. Not many of the other warbirds can say they have done the same thing or have served so long. Take pride in your old Birddog and go out there and polish some bugs!

Fly safe,

Mr. Birddog, AKA Minard Thompson