We will start with my son running to me with Orange Co. Recycler
"Airplane For Sale"fresh annual $6500.
To good to be true and in the Recycler? Why not, it's Sunday and you
haven't been flying in 4 yrs' and it's time to stop itching and take a
look.Dialed the number and got a helloooooo we'll be at the airport in
five
minutes. I said "it's 45 minutes to Corona (AJO) from the house." His
reply
"she'll be warmed up waiting to go up." I drove all the way to the end of
7
looking for a moving prop. The active was 25! Well there she was, sort of
like the dog lucky,one ear gone,tail cut, had been fixed,and was standing
on
three legs.As soon as my hand ran down it's tail cone I could feel that it
had a warm heart,and it's all mine.It had been outside for three years
,the
owner was going to paint her ,so it was sort'of stripped,she had real rag
wings, really ragged wings .You could inspect the fabric under the hanging
tape.
She flew like a dream.I was an old glider pilot who's glass slipper was in
the box for over 4 yr's.now and even Lucky looked good ,it even has an
engine/w three wheels.
Heck ....fixing up 99089'er should only take a few weeks (really it took
8mths.).
On that first flite she shook on take off (a real short take off)and
shimmied
on 50mph landing (not much) but all Aircoupes do that,even/w low air
pressure.
Like I said before" "G" pilots like to fix things",how else do you get a
plane without an engine stay up and fly all day? And if I can build one
from
prints in 6yrs.this shoud be duck coupe soup.
Lucky liked to shake,and it was'nt wet.It sat with it's tail down like a
proud bird with its head high . In fact it's tail feathers drouped to 58",
That dam bird dog would not behave in any kind of cross draft, almost eat
up
a couple of lights.
Lets put it this way,I am going to "house brake" this plane if it
takes
the last dime I have.We will start with
1- New tire&tube
2- Front wheel bearings w/balance
3-New lateral control and endbearing
4-Nutcacker Bushings
5-Floor boards up,mast bearings check
NO LUCK
I have off field landed sailplanes,crisscrosswinds, dwn.winds,up winds
and
motorcycle trails ,nothing puts The Fear of God into you like a floating
coupe in a x wind. On a flight to Camarillo,on final ,a HOT BURNING
FEELING on my left pant leg got my attention real quick, I look down and
saw
a stream of fuel from the header tank.I put my finger over the
rupture,landed,an taxied to the F.B.O. reached back and turned off the
main!!!, fast or slow, I don't remember . NO FIRE!!
My passanger the privious owner got some 5 min. epoxie,put a goub on the
paper
wraper and I pressed it over the hole till it set, on landing at Crona
(AJO}
I made the descision to rebuild NOW. NO MORE FLYING!
In removing the tank, I thought removing the mast would help.The strut
supporting the mast showed elongated 1\4" SLOTS causing all these
problems,gas leaks, and the front wheel shakes. I also installed
1.125"spacers on the mains and raised the tail to 70 1/2". These changes
have
completely solved all the hang ups in this coupe.
Landings are crisp and short,even in good cross winds. I have not had any
sign of a shimmy even an 80 mph touch down's. Air pressure on the front
tire
is 17 to 20 p.s.i.. On take off's it will not rotate until I want it
to,and
lift off's it can exceed 70m.p.h. with a smooth and gentle turn in to the
cross wind.This delay to fix the problem could have really caused me and
my
passenger a lot pain before that big crash. I no longer have to wonder if
there is a 10 knot x wind on the way home, that landing should be under 50
m.p.h. and keep the nose up till 30 m.p.h.. so it won't shake the engine
from
its mount. Sorry about the length of this tale, I just wanted to stress a
point.
Happy Flying
99089'er Charlie
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