Page 14 - World Airshow News Q3 2024

...A tREASuRE OF tHE GOLDEN AGE.

The original Howard DGA-6 “Mister
Mulligan” after the 1935 Bendix
Trophy victory (photo courtesy of
Doug Rozendaal).

of COVID, so I flew it some at home, and then I put a smoke of the lack of yaw stability. The rudder is so effective, I’ve landed it
system in it. Last year, I added it to my aerobatic card and flew in some pretty significant crosswinds. It is a little short on nose-up
my first aerobatic performances at SUN ‘n FUN 2023.” trim, so I’m pulling about a half stick to three-point it on at 73 to
75 mph.”
FLYING MisTer MuLLiGAn Since the original Mister Mulligan was an air racer, Doug’s air-
Doug enjoys flying Mister Mulligan cross-country because show performance centers around an air racing theme. Back in the
it’s fast and comfortable. For SUN ‘n FUN, he made it to Lake- day, the pylon races were usually scramble starts, with all of the air-
land, Florida from his home in Iowa in only five-and-a-half planes taking off at the same time from a standing start, headed for
hours of flying time, with just one fuel stop. the same pylon. That’s exactly how Doug starts his performance.
“It’s very stable in every axis except yaw,” explains Rozendaal. As the airshow announcer sets it up, Doug’s “co-pilot in life and
“If you take your feet off the rudder pedals, it has no yaw stabil- flight”, Kim Pardon, drops the Green Flag and Doug shoves the
ity, so when you’re flying cross-country, you have to keep your throttle forward. Mister Mulligan leaps into the air after a short
feet on the rudder pedals and put pressure on both of them takeoff roll and flies three laps around the airshow box at 200 to
all of the time. That gets a little fatiguing on a long flight, but 250 mph. On the third lap, Kim waves the Checkered Flag as Rozy
other than that, it’s very comfortable. The seats are comfortable, turns on the smoke and pulls up into a victory roll. He then follows
it’s got adequate legroom, and it’s a very comfortable traveling with a few more aerobatic maneuvers – a barrel roll, an aileron roll,
airplane.” a photo pass, and a final maneuver which is half barrel roll and half
Just looking at the airplane sitting on the ground, someone ballistic roll that he uses to dissipate energy for landing.
might conclude it would be a beast to fly. It just has that look “I’m here to show off the airplane, but I don’t want to put any un-
of a big intimidating taildragger. While Matt Younkin says necessary Gs on it,” admits Rozendaal. “My name’s on the title, but
Mister Mulligan is the only airplane he knows of that has no I’m really just a custodian of this historic airplane, so I need to fly
estrogen, only testosterone, Doug says the airplane is actually it that way. Even though it’s not the original, it still has an incred-
very straightforward to fly in every aspect except the aforemen- ible story to tell.”
tioned yaw axis.
“The stall characteristics are very docile and honest, and it Author’s Note: You can read about what it’s like to actually fly
compares to any big, heavy taildragger,” Doug continues, ex- in Mister Mulligan in Denise Decker’s “Stick Time with Doug
plaining what it’s like to fly Mister Mulligan. “It’s got a good Rozendaal” elsewhere in this issue.
roll rate, and the rudder’s actually incredibly effective because

www.airshowmag.com 14 Quarter 3, 2024