Page 9 - TNT Dec 2017

operated routinely using the opposite equation. Time had run out to bring a truly standardized production version of the HW-500 to market. The process did provide the HW-500 one distinction it is likely to retain forever: it was the last radial-engine, passenger aircraft to be FAA-certified in the Transport Category. In future ventures, Dee Howard and Ed Swearingen would both continue to leave indelible impressions in the aircraft design, modification, and manufacturing fields for decades to come.
Some purchasers wouldn’t accept their plane until the design was officially certified as an HW-500, which didn’t happen until February 1963. Buyers who’d taken delivery upon completion, received a “Pressurized PV-1 Ventura” conversion. The assumption being that once certification of the Howard 500 was complete, re-certification as HW-500’s would be a simple paperwork exercise. In most cases this happened in 1963-64, but in at least one case, it never happened.
N500LN (Howard 500 Serial #500-113)
Most of Howard Aero’s PV-1 donor aircraft were ex-South African Air Force (SAAF) aircraft (some with actual combat histories). The 13th PV-1 to morph into an HW-500 was Lockheed serial No. 5560, which began its military life in September 1943 as SAAF ship #6417. It accumulated only 827 total airframe hours before acquired by Howard Aero in late 1959. Its transformation was completed in Nov. 1962. Five owners and registration numbers later, it was exported to England in 1978, where it remained under the U.S. registration N500LN for 30 years. Today, it is one of only two Howard 500’s still airworthy, both owned by Tony Phillippi of TP Aero in Minnesota. Both are still actively flown as corporate aircraft, supporting Phillippi’s equipment and export businesses.
The first operator accepted delivery before Howard Aero officially achieved certification of the HW-500 type. So, it was delivered as a “Howard Super Ventura” (in Howard Aero’s marketing lingo). Apparently, the original buyer (nor any subsequent owner) felt the need to complete the paperwork after the HW-500 type certification was completed. Thus, when it returned to American soil in 2012, it did so still officially designated a Pressurized PV-1 (L-B34) in the FAA records. TP Aero has owned and actively flown the only other flyable Howard 500 (N500HP, the fifth of the 17 HW-500’s) for the past 15 years and employs the only active, type-rated, HW-500 pilots in the world. In order to fly both aircraft using their existing HW-500 type ratings, they successfully convinced the FAA to allow N500LN to be operated as a HW-500, based upon the fact that (official certification notwithstanding), the aircraft conforms to the HW-500, rather than the PV-1/B-34 it was derived from.
Since its purchase in 2009, N500LN has been thoroughly restored. While still in Europe, it received new engines and extensive mechanical work before touring parts of Europe and crossing the North Atlantic. The restoration was completed in the United States, concluding with new paint and a brand-new interior (that exactly matches the original and retains that Art Deco style). Attention to detail is apparent everywhere you look and stepping aboard is like walking into a time warp. N500LN personifies the belief that the journey is more important than the destination.
December 2017
The Howard 500 was unique from its Ventura lineage right down to the rudder pedals.
High Pilot Workload: The Cost of Going Retro
After walking through the long, stand-up cabin and stepping over each of the three beefy wing spars, I climbed into the cockpit and sat for a long time. Taking in the placement of controls and instruments, I tried to imagine workload flows for various phases of flight. Buttons, knobs, levers, and switches blossom like wildflowers on a prairie. The workload in the ergonomically-designed, glass-cockpits of today is laughably simple in comparison.
Ryan Mohr was instrumental in the acquisition of N500LN. While he currently flies Boeing 737’s for an international airline, he is also still a current HW-500 captain. Mohr soon arrived to help me better decipher the checklists and preflight items. At times, the uniqueness of each Howard 500 would present itself as we’d reach an item on the checklist that caused a pause. Mohr commented that some items only applied to
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TWIN & TURBINE • 7