AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 58

Instead of being
a victory lap,
flying a DGA-15 is
likely to be
a challenging
and humbling
gut check.
Former air racer Benjamin O. "Benny" Howard, the scrappy,
obsessive founder of the Howard Aircraft Corp., was at the epicenter
of this tumultuous time-and the DGA-15 was his commercial expression of it. The self-taught pilot and designer got his start in aviation
by helping Prohibition-era rumrunners modify airplanes to distribute
liquor-and one of the plainspoken bootleggers called an early Howard
creation a "damned good airplane." Howard carried that moniker
proudly, and every subsequent model carried the DGA designation.
The DGA-15 was introduced in 1939 at the very end of the
golden age, and it's strikingly true to the brawny 1935 Mister
Mulligan racer upon which it was based (see "Big, High, and Fast,"
p. 63). The hulking DGA-15 is physically imposing, unapologetically
luxurious, technically sophisticated, and extraordinarily demanding of both the craftsmen who built it and the pilots who flew it. The
airplane's 175-knot top speed could match the airliners of its day,
and its 800-mile range helped establish what's become the multibillion-dollar corporate aviation industry.
Howard Aircraft on Chicago's south side had produced about
90 DGA-15s when the United States entered World War II. The
company was pressed into military service and built a total of 520
DGA-15s that served as VIP transports, air ambulances, and instrument trainers by the time the assembly line stopped in 1944. The
U.S. Navy was the most enthusiastic Howard customer and used its
450-horsepower, Pratt & Whitney R-985-powered P models in all
three of the above-mentioned roles.
After the war, DGA-15s went back to civilian owners-but their
heyday as aerial status symbols was over. Some were pressed into hard
labor carrying parachute
jumpers, hauling freight,
or even moving supplies in
and out of remote air strips
in Canada and Alaska.
In the 1980s and
1990s, a few of the lucky
ones became objects of
affection for restorers.
Some were laboriously
recovered, repainted,
and, with new panels and
interiors, brought back to
their art deco glory.
But it takes a special
kind of owner to take on a
Howard restoration. The
58 | AOPA PILOT July 2018

wood wings are made of spruce, plywood, and mahogany, then
wrapped in fabric; the steel-tube fuselage is hard to reach, let alone
inspect, or repair; the spring/hydraulic landing gear is unique; rigging is a black art; wiring the electric flaps, swing-down landing
lights, and instrument panel is complex; and simply gaining access
to things such as the roll-up side window mechanisms requires
removing front seats and interior panels.
Add to this the fact that a restored Howard is about as much
work as-yet doesn't command anywhere near the finished price
of-other golden-era legends such as the Beech Staggerwing or
Spartan Executive, and it becomes clear that a Howard restoration isn't a rational economic decision-it's an emotional siren
song. Owners buy in knowing that a restoration is going to be
costly and time consuming; parts will be difficult or impossible
to find; and even when the airplane is finished, it's never finished. The airplane is going to require nearly constant attention
and expert care. The Howard Aircraft Foundation (www.howard
aircraft.org) helps by holding an annual fly-in, sharing technical
information, and even fabricating rare parts.
The payoff for owners and pilots comes when all these myriad
hurdles are cleared, and they get to fly a Howard. Instead of being a
crowning victory lap, however, flying a DGA-15 is likely to be challenging and humbling gut check.
BAD REPUTATIONS

"I'd flown many other radial-engine, tailwheel airplanes with bad
reputations by the time I got to the Howard," said Mike Merritt,
a former U.S. Air Force
F-117 Nighthawk pilot,
who has owned and
flown a Howard DGA-15
for six years. "I was current in a Stearman, T-6,
and Beech 18, and those
airplanes are known for
being somewhat difficult on the ground," he
said. "I hadn't really had
any trouble learning to
fly them, though, so I
looked at the Howard
and thought, 'How much
different could this thing
really be?'"

http://www.howardaircraft.org http://www.howardaircraft.org

AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018

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