Warbird Information Exchange

My pleasure.

And in fact very much my pleasure this last weekend. After a very long winter of emails and phone calls and conferences and budget meetings, we had our first Event. And then later I got to fly.

The Event was called Seat Check Saturday. We lined 5 aircraft up on the taxiway, and illustrated the progression of aircraft in WWII. For $50 you could feel what it was like, by sitting in the seats, to move from a trainer (Fleet Finch), to a Harvard, then to a Hurricane, a Spitfire and a Mustang. Each person got 5 minutes in each cockpit with a qualified pilot standing on the wing talking to them about flying it.

https://www.vintagewingsmembers.ca/even ... Enc=25E4CD

It was very well run and successful. We put 200 people through during the day. And fullfilled our mandate to Commemorate, Educate and Inspire.

And later, anyone who stuck around got to watch me fly circuits in the Harvard, which may not have been Inspiring at all. This was my yearly qualification in The Big Yellow Beast. Of course it was very enjoyable. John Aitken is our Chief Pilot, and to fly with him is a privilege. We did stalls and aeros and circuits. I dusted off the winter's lethargy, scraped off 5 months of aviator's mould, and re-activated my feet and brains.



After which the airplane was pretty nearly re-useable.

Then, next morning, it was time to test-fly the P-40 after maintenance. But, as we flight-prepped, two guys walked into the hangar asking if we had a mechanic on duty. (We didn't -- it was Sunday morning.) They had blown a nosewheel tire on their Caravan, and it was stuck on the only runway.

We watched them as we got the airplanes out and ready to go, and they appeared to be making little progress. So, we hunted up a wheel-dolly and a bottle-jack, and drove out there.

They were glad to see us, and these tools. I improvised a big lever out of a 4 x 4 and some scraps of wood, and we were able to lift it up to get the jack under the rim, then get the dolly under it. After which we moved it off. Gently.





Then, the Mighty Beast!

The Allison started right up. It's always wonderful to hear and feel a big V-12 come to snorting snarling life in front of you after a winter lay-off. Never ceases to thrill.

Off we went. I'm afraid all the photos I took looked like this, for the AMEs:



Not too exciting. But then again excitement is not what you want on a first-flight after inspections and changes.

Back on the ramp again. All the big pieces still attached.



Then, Mike P asked if I wanted to come along in the Extra, his first flight also after a winter lay-up. (And THAT was a no-brainer.)



Off we went to commit inverted aviation.

I'll confess and say that my aerobatic tolerance after a winter's lay-off is usually low. Airline flying actually de-tunes it. And it's especially worse when someone else is doing the flying. But we had so much fun in the thing that queasiness was held in check by exhuberance! And we played for a solid half an hour with no disgrace.

What a sweetheart that thing is... a totally spoil-the-pilot sort of airplane.

Anyway, then it was time to drag Robin's RV6a out, and head home.



It fits right in, right? Looks at home? Well, at least it's a monoplane...

And then, not having eaten all day, while flying back to Edenvale (love these long spring days), I had my standard airplane lunch.



Yes, a 5:30 min boiled egg, grade-A Large, peeled one-handed inside a plastic bag, works perfect, and tastes delicious.

Dave

It's wonderful that winter is over. I mean, I enjoy snowshoeing, and even go winter camping ( http://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtop ... 86&start=0 ), and admire the clean uncompromising purity of a hibernating northern forest, but I relish it when the flying season returns.

Today the weather was do-able, 1500/5. Robin and I flew the Fairchild to Edenvale. As we taxyied up, David Grainger waved us over to his hangar. Inside was this...



We shutdown out front and admired each other's machines (obsessions!). Then, went into the very good restaurant there for lunch while waiting for the weather to lift.

After that, David said, "Would you like to try it?" And sat in the right seat. (Brave, trusting soul...)

It's a Waco YOC with a 270 hp Jacobs, which started perfectly....



Love that round wooden wheel. I wish I had one like that on my ketch!

And then off we went. The YOC does not have tailwheel steering. It's free-castering. So on the ground you maneuver mostly with brakes, although the rudder does have some effect. But once on the runway you line up and lock the tailwheel straight.

On the windshield perspex, those are not cracks. David had greased the prop, and it threw long tendrils all over the airplane. No matter.

The constant-speed prop really helped with performance, and it moved quickly and got off the ground in short-order, tracking straight. And, that's a good thing, because it has the "blind-airplane" syndrome, and you can only see out one side and not too much of that before the tail rises.

We didn't have enough time for a thorough flight evaluation, but I did get a couple of circuits in.



It handles pleasantly. The control response is not crisp (the only other Waco I've flown is the very-aerobatic Taperwing) but the big wheel gives you lots of leverage, and when you move it, the airplane definitely responds. She maneuvers sweetly.

Being a biplane, you don't have to worry about getting slowed down. My first approach was a bit draggy with power. I aimed for Edenvale's 1800 ft of grass on 36, and she 3-pointed on to that with no trouble and rolled straight. With an approach speed of 80 and power right off over the end, she came to a stop with no braking required. Piece of cake.

Next was a wheeler onto the pavement.

There had been problems with the brakes on this airplane. Someone had used the wrong Dot fluid. There had been several interesting episodes and aborted flights. Since then it had been flushed and bled and flushed and bled. All seemed good on the taxi out. But no way did I want to scratch this lovely machine (which BTW used to belong to Jeff Skyles, FO on the Miracle-on-the-Hudson flight). So I was determined not to let a swerve get started.

A locking tailwheel is a wonderful thing. If it's straight, and locked, and if you set it onto the ground while you're pointed in the right direction, then not too much can go wrong, at least initially. It helps a lot especially on an airplane with a big round obstruction to the view ahead.

Anyway, all went well, except that naturally I flared at the height of the Fairchild, which is a foot too low, and bounced a bit. But in a taildragger, a bit of a bounce doesn't matter, but straight sure does. We skipped, then wheeled-on, and rolled to the turn-off on 08.

Back on the ramp, the airplane was still useable... (burled walnut and all)



... and David seemed relieved...



So we put her away.

Other aircraft in his collection: a 1936 Corben Super Ace, once used for racing (with a Ford Model A engine),



and a Meyers OTW with a Kinner R-56.



After which the Fairchild started right up (I just installed new Tempest plugs), and we flew home.

Lovely day in beautiful aircraft. I sure hope there's more of that this season.

Dave

Always enjoy your updates Dave. One of my favorite threads on all of WIX. Thanks for sharing!

Watched the interview with Chris on CSPAN, quite a fellow and probably a great brother.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?325592-1/q ... s-hadfield

Thanks, CV.

And yes, he is a great brother. (He remembered to call me from Space.)

Dave

The Lysander is out in the sunlight, getting worked-up for a busy season. We have trouble with the brakes (even in WWII they didn't like those brakes), but it's lovely to fly if you can convince it to get out to a runway.

I did a prof flight yesterday. As always, a wonderful weekend at VWoC. Lovely distractions.



The first thing about flying a Lysander is mounting the beast.



You're up so high you feel you should service the light bulbs on the poles at the edge of the ramp.

More distractions...

You are deadly serious, totally focused, no distractions allowed.


ChrisHadfield

The engine starts. In fact this one starts the instant you click the mags on. A very easy engine to fire up. (Direct drive starter.)

Here the ext power is being removed. And under the prop you can see the airplane I stole to get to CYND and back.


Chris Hadfield

The view over the nose is outstanding for a WWII taildragger.



But the brakes... it's a long story. Short version: we're working on it.

As you can imagine, it gets airborne practically before you get takeoff power applied.

And it's a left-foot aeroplane, an obvious fact which I'm embarassed to say I forgot. I wandered 20 ft to the right of centerline.

The prop is not really constant speed. It's controllable, allowing you a very fine setting for takeoff, and a coarser pitch for cruise. As the airspeed increases shortly after takeoff, you have to select it to coarse to prevent an over-rev.



And then that's it. The gear is down and welded. The flaps take care of themselves. There's only one fuel tank. All you really do is watch the engine gauges and adjust the gills.



And enjoy yourself!



Dave