O
ne of the latest technologies
used in the sixth-generation
“stealth” military aircraft these
days is the use of “composites” in their
construction, an idea born in a hangar
here in West Texas more than half a
century ago.
Leo Windecker created the single-
engine, four-place Windecker Eagle in
the hangar that now houses the air
museum at the Midland airport, using
a fiberglass-epoxy material similar to
plastic.
The new material reflected much
less of the aircraft surface to radar,
helping make it virtually invisible to its
enemies. It also is lighter than alu-
minum and twice as strong.
Only nine Windecker Eagles were
built of the new material before a reces-
sion in aviation halted progress. But
one original Eagle was restored and
returned to flight about a year ago.
The first flight was in 1967 and, two
years later, the Eagle received the first
certification as a composite aircraft and
the first certification under FAA’s then-
brand new Part 23 for “normal, utility,
acrobatic and commuter” aircraft.
Early in its career, the new “plastic
airplane” set five trans-Atlantic speed
records, including 194.31 miles per
hour from Paris, France, to New York
that topped that of the popular Beech
Bonanza by 13 mph.
And the Bonanza was one of the
fastest general aviation aircraft of its
day.
4
Cenizo
Dr. Leo Windecker, a dentist at
Lake Jackson near Houston, was a
beginning pilot in the 1950s, who mar-
veled at the sometimes-flimsy construc-
tion of some light private aircraft of the
time, and wondered if there might be a
better material than aluminum for air-
plane construction.
Riding with him on his first demon-
stration flight in Cessna’s newest entry,
the 172, was son Ted, who later partic-
ipated in the design and construction of
the first FAA-certificated composite
airplane.
Windecker Eagle tail number N4198G has been
restored and first flew about a year ago.
It will be used in constructing a new iteration of
the composite aircraft in China.
Photo courtesy of Ted Windecker
“All the way back [home] he kept
saying these airplanes were so flimsly,
so cheaply made compared to the
Oldsmobile we were driving, yet they
were so expensive,” Ted Windecker
told the Cenizo Journal. “So he started
brainstorming, started experimenting.”
A military medic in the South
Pacific in World War II, many of Leo
Windecker’s patients worked for the
First Quarter 2017
Texas Division of
Dow
Chemical
Company in Lake
Jackson,
where
glass fibers mixed
with epoxy had
been developed.
He
began
experimenting
with fiberglass com-
posite materials with
the idea of making airplanes “stronger
and safer,” and came up with a materi-
al he called Fibaloy. Today, Dow owns
17 of Windecker’s 22 patents.
Windecker was awarded a Dow
research grant and, together, they pro-
posed an airplane “invisible to radar”
to the John F. Kennedy administration.
But the administration showed little
interest at the time.
They tried again nearly ten years
later and, with the urging of
Congressman George Mahon of
Texas, the U.S. Air Force agreed to test
it at Holloman Air Force Base, NM.
The airplane fuselage disappeared to
radar but metal structures like the
engine and landing gear still stood out.
So that airplane was modified and
became the YE-5, and testing contin-
ued for many years thereafter.
Today, composites are present in
everything from light private aircraft to
the giant B-2 Spirit bomber. In the gen-
eral aviation fleet (all flying except the
military and commercial airlines), the
best selling light airplane today is the
Dr. Leo and Fairfax Windecker posed in the 1960s.
Photo courtesy of Ted Windecker
all-composite Cirrus SR22.
The composite material eliminates
the rivets and seams in aluminum air-
craft skin, which can cause drag and
slow the airplane down.
But military aviation saw the great-
est benefits. Today’s fighter aircraft,
like the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-
35, are supersonic attack and air supe-
riority aircraft with a radar cross sec-
tion “not much larger than a bumble-
bee.”
Lockheed Martin had acquired
some of Windecker’s patents for com-
posite construction, which found its
way into their product lines.
Composites are “a great way to
refine the manufacturing process,”
Lockheed spokesman Ken Ross said.
“As the technology advances, it plays a
big role in providing better equipment
for the men and women who fly these
aircraft in harm’s way.”
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