SULLIVAN TRAIL A s NEWS

Transcription

1 SULLIVAN TRAIL A s NEWS Newsletter of the Sullivan Trail A s Model A Ford Club - Founded Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. - Henry Ford October Volume 12 Issue2 Where Friends & Model A s Meet - Northern Tier PA & Southern Tier NY President Jim Morris jim.morris2831@aol.com Vice President Don Bushart dbjb806@icloud.com Treasurer Mark Harth bearfarm14818@gmailcom Secretary Gary Ford gford5@stny.rr.com Solar and Interstellar Rocket Car Rocket Car Competes With Model A s? Daniel D. Hungerford and his brother Floyd S., of Elmira, NY, in 1929 built their Solar & Interstellar Rocket Car, dubbed the "Shirley Lois Moon Girl," after Daniel's daughter. Made largely of cardboard and linoleum, a 1921 Chevy chassis, and powered by a set of gasoline-burning rocket motors, the thing must have been a fearsome sight on the back roads of rural New York. The lightweight building materials were a safety consideration. "In case of trouble," Daniel said, "I wanted to be able to kick my way out." Amazingly enough, they got the thing registered and licensed in the State of New York. Director At Large Bill Haag fingers5n5@aol.com Newsletter Editor Jim Morris Website Liaison Jerry Wilcox jerrywilcox55@gmail.com Webmaster Nathan Reimer nathan@reimerconsulting.com Sullivan Trail A s Meetings: Monthly 2 nd Tuesday Sept- June 7pm United Methodist Church 1034 W Broad St Horseheads, NY livan-trail-model-a-ford-club / More on this non-model A story which is, nevertheless, a fascinating piece of automotive history from the A era is in the Do You Know section of this Newsletter. In This Issue From the President s Garage Meeting Minutes Member Spotlight.. Ginny Bruckner Upcoming Events Tech Tips.. Steering For Sale & Wanted Odds n Ends Do You Know.. Elmira Rocket Car Images Behind Us MAFCA, MARC, MAFFI Membership

2 FROM THE PRESIDENT S GARAGE So here we are, car shows behind us, post-hershey, Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year s ahead of us, and soon snow on the roads. What changes we do see in Upstate New York in what seems is ever-shortening time. I think that one trick to not watching time zoom by so quickly is to plan for the next event, to anticipate another day in the garage or yard or theater, and to reframe the past as something that holds fond memories that we can access any time we want when we need just a moment to smile or share a fun time with a good friend. So let the planning begin for 2019! We have a special meeting coming up in November so I hope we have a good gathering on November 13 th. We have an election of officers for the coming year, not the special focus of the meeting by the way, so that s another reason to attend. If you want to nominate yourself or nominate someone else for an officer position.. this is your chance. Bruce Bruckner is also obtaining a DVD from MAFFI for our viewing pleasure. Best wishes are sent to Steve Organ and Barb Haag who are tackling some health issues, we re thinking of you. I m assuming that everyone else is reasonably healthy! See you at the November meeting, and, oh, we ll also be discussing the Christmas dinner for December. All for now, Jim October 16, 2018 Meeting was called to order at 7:07PM by Club President Jim Morris with 15 members present. Motion to approve the September meeting minutes was made by Monty and second by Rich. Motion was carried. Motion to approve the September treasures report was made by Monty and second by Larry. Motion carried. This Saturday is an auction in Geneseo. Be thinking of a fall tour and send your suggestions to Jim. Thank you to Larry and Bonny for a wonderful picnic and time to celebrate International Model A Day. Lake George event was very nice. Harold is taking orders for a brake adjustment tool. Bruce will bring a video for next month. Thank you to Julie for this month s refreshments. November refreshments will be provided by Steve Smith. Motion to adjourn by Monty and second by Steve. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Gary Ford

3 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT By Ginny Bruckner I was introduced to the old car hobby when I married Jerry Hendy in 1962, who was a Model A owner and then became very active in old car activities. We initiated the forming of the Twin Tiers Vintage Car Club in We went to Hershey yearly and some national car meets. When Jerry died in 1986 our daughters, Beth & Joan, became the owners of the 1928 roadster and a 1928 Tudor. When Beth was born she came home from the hospital in the 28 Tudor which she stills owns, now fully restored. Joan has the roadster and plans on having it on the road again in In 1988 I married Bruce Bruckner, another owner of T and A Fords. I have been active in the TTVCC holding many offices over the years. The Bruckner s still drive two Model A s. Stitches In Time

4 Sullivan Trail A s regular meeting November 13 7PM, 1034 West Broad, United Methodist Church, Horseheads. November 27 - December 1, 2018 MAFCA, 2018 National Awards Banquet, Tucson, AZ Fall Tour for Sullivan Trail A s??? The Newsletter will have more events when more events are scheduled for either the remainder of 2018 or next year as we get closer to Two-Tooth Steering Column One day while I was at Snyder s Antique Auto Parts, a fellow asked me how hard it was to adjust the steering box. It seems he was rebuilding a two-tooth box. I told him, There s nothing to it. Just follow the directions in the Model A Ford Mechanics Handbook. This brought laughs from those in the showroom, but there is a very understandable chapter on assembly and adjustment of the two-tooth box on pages Sect through Sect If you just want to tighten up your steering, you can make three of the four adjustments without removing the steering column. First adjustment: Start by loosening the upper race jam nut on shaft end play bolt. Tighten end play bolt until snug and then back off 1/8 turn. Then tighten the jam nut and upper race locking bolt. Second adjustment: Start by loosening the jam nut on sector shaft end play screw. With a stubby screwdriver, tighten sector end play screw and then tighten jam nut. Third adjustment: This is the most critical and delicate. Jack the front end of your car up until both front tires clear. Spin steering wheel to make sure it spins free. Then with a 5/8 wrench, loosen the four housing cover nuts about one turn each. With a 7/8 wrench, turn the eccentric adjusting sleeve nut clockwise to tighten. Careful, a little bit goes a long way with this adjustment. Spin the steering wheel lock to lock in place, making sure you don t have a high spot. If you do, you will know it. Turn it counterclockwise to loosen. With the steering aimed straight, wiggle the steering wheel while watching the front tires for play. When satisfied, tighten the four housing nuts and recheck your adjustments. [Thanks to the The Penn-Ohio Model A Club for this Tech Tip by AJ Pennington printed in the June 2002 A Quail Call.]

5 Nada, zilch, zero, absent. ODDS n ENDS -From the A Era-

6 News Of The Era Do you know that the Sullivan Trail A s covers a large area in PA and NY whose central point is about where Elmira, NY is? We have members who live in Elmira. Furthermore, did you know that in 1929 a pair of brothers in Elmira built a rocket car that is today on display in the New York State Museum at Albany? Read on for a fascinating story... The 1929 Rocket Car of Upstate New York The 1920s were a heyday for rocketeers, who were attaching rockets to just about anything. Austrian space travel promoter Max Valier was pretty much the champ at this, creating everything from rocket powered sleds and boats to rocket-propelled railroad cars and the first rocket airplane. Work like Valier's led to real advancement in rocketry and public appreciation and support of space flight. Then there were inventors like Daniel D. Hungerford and his brother Floyd S., of Elmira, NY. In 1929, they built their Solar & Interstellar Rocket Car, dubbed the "Shirley Lois Moon Girl" after Daniel's daughter. Made largely of cardboard and linoleum, a 1921 Chevy chassis, and powered by a set of gasoline-burning rocket motors, the thing must have been a fearsome sight on the back roads of rural New York. The lightweight building materials were a safety consideration. "In case of trouble," Daniel said, "I wanted to be able to kick my way out." Amazingly enough, they got the thing registered and licensed in the State of New York. Daniel Hungerford was a glider pilot, inventor, lecturer and promoter of some pretty interesting ideas, such as the one he and his brother had of flying a rocket to the moon. He and brother Floyd operated a shop where they repaired cars and aircraft. They had been fascinated by aviation even before the Wright Brother's first flight. Probably no surprise since Elmira was then -as it still is today -a hotbed of glider enthusiasm. The Hungerfords were inspired by the successful rocket car experiments of Valier, which were making news around the world. "...we couldn't see why it couldn't be tried here," Daniel said, "so we decided to build a working model." Their plan was to build a prototype and then a second model if that worked. The idea was to go into business building rocket cars in a big way. "We never drew any plans or diagrams for this," he said, "because we never got as far as the second prototype. We simply spent all our time trying to promote the car we had," which included making exhibition appearances at fairs and airports. But if they had gone into full-scale manufacturing,

7 they would have produced a rocket car about the size of a Buick, "with the rocket exhaust pipe or pipes running under the frame of the body..." An ordinary gasoline engine was used to bring the car up to speed, after which the rocket motor would take over. In one of the rocket car's first tests, it achieved a speed of 70 mph with a 20-feet sheet of flame trailing behind it. It got 2 miles to the gallon. The brothers had very high hopes. "Then we considered trying to build a rocket ship which might reach the moon, but we never got any further on this than having a picture painted by a sign painter we knew." Amazingly enough, the Rocket Car survived and is on exhibit at the New York State Museum in Albany. It was rescued in the 1960s by Ralph Hodge and Keith Marvin from the back yard of the inventor, who had retired it in 1932 after failing to generate any interest from sponsors or backers (Hungerford died in Elmira in 1968). They had it restored and placed in the museum, where it remains to this day. Source: Images Behind Us

8 ~~~ MEMBERSHIPS ~~~ SULLIVAN TRAIL A S: MODEL A RESTORER S CLUB [MARC]: MODEL A FORD CLUB OF AMERICA [MAFCA]: MODEL A FORD FOUNDATI0N [MAFFI]: MAFFI: