On the Ramp Right Now!

rsv1cox wrote:For some reason I can't get that incident out of my mind.  What a beautiful aircraft to meet such a fate.  We're it a model I would just fix up the tail assembly, iron out the wrinkles and put her back in the air.  Might have done the same to the full scale if no one else was around.   If she flew home, she should fly again with a little (lot) of TLC.  I have rebuilt four wheelers in worse shape.  

Bob

It was a sad deal alright, but she wasn't in any shape to be ferried.  The engines were supposedly (or suspected to be) trashed from over speeding, the fuse itself was buckled, and though not REAL obvious, the dive recovery had turned it into a Beechcraft Corsair!   Them Beech engineers sho know how to design wings !!!

We heard later that the whole mess had been shipped to Columbia, South America, so it may be back in action, hauling concaine as this is written....

The crew gave me the severed, free-falling elevator...I take a photo and post it.

It's been a while since we've had a Coo Coo running around...

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/35429822/man-accused-of-stealing-truck-rv-tried-to-steal-helicopter

Sounds like a mental illness to me.

Cribbs74 wrote:Sounds like a mental illness to me.

       yUP, looks like he might get a "5 year pin"

Cribbs74 wrote:Sounds like a mental illness to me.

Yea................ maybe or possibly an initiation-requirement to become a member of a club... Steal a pick-up truck, then an RV... then an aircraft.. then...? What? Would it stop there? Maybe..... Maybe the helicopter was to be flown to a specific clandestine location, possibly on Stockton Lake.. where a prized racing-boat was supposedly kept. Swim 1/4 mile to the location and "hot-wire" the vessel. Your GPS device will give you the ditch-coordinates.. at which point you will swim to shore.. and proceed to secure the 1st available ground-transportation.. and circum-navigate the lake; two revolutions.. and be curtailed by a woman on a motorcycle. Her bike's got a flat-tire.......

Just like people, bad things can happen to good planes.  First of all, no serious injuries were incurred during the final (probably) insult to the airframe of a faithful Cessna 182 Skylane, based at our airport for some twenty years.

Last night, N1800M experienced an engine failure (so far looks like fuel exhaustion), and punched it's nose through a fellow's shop.  The pilot apparently got it onto the ground and just ran out of space to stop.  Our sheet metal magician Todd will have a bunch more work if the Skylane is saved again.





http://www.kfvs12.com/story/35731533/fuel-issue-forces-pilot-to-make-emergency-landing-near-doniphan-mo

Years ago, it was a 'Club' plane, and experienced a lot of abuse, including a broken nose gear mount, snapped seat locks, and a double brake fire after being towed almost a 1/2 mile with the parking brake on.  The last incident got the Skylane dubbed "Hot Pants" by the line guys.

Last week, I made the run to a small, grass runway field near Brodhead, Wisconsin for the annual Pietenpol/Hatz Biplane Fly-In.

Here's a collection of photos from this great little event:

Dang these cool events Kim shows off sure do make me regret ever NOT following my real airplane desires.

Army Moral Welfare & Recreation (MWR) ran a flight school at Ft Lewis Washington, my first assignment.

Looking for something to do on weekends 1975, I signed up for the FREE fright training.

Later, the Solo and any after FAA ticket flights, required renting a plane and paying of fuel.
Next assignment was Germany and the costs were too high for a lowly enlisted man. The FAA Private Pilot license lapsed, never to be renewed in my life ---so far.

In 1982 I met a pilot who trained me to fly a Huey (UH-1D) and Cobra (AH-1F) who also sold Ultra Lite planes on the side. He hired me to help assemble the craft, test fly, and sell the brand...Rotec Ralley 2Bs

Of course I bought one for $5800...A Ralley 2B "Sport" that was some what aerobatic.....

BUT Army sent me again to Germany, and when I returned ---the stored craft now needed entire new set of cloth, replacement of many fasteners/tubes where dissimilar metal corrosion had set in....and the prop was de-laminated, too much money so it got sold cheap

I really really want to save and go to Florida for a I get to fly it ride in Crazy Horse
I have seriously considered just paying for and taking the local Community College flight school

But I have no good way to ever own a plane again...but I do want one

BTW I had a chance some decades ago to buy a very good condition H-13 for $12,500...Think M.A.S.H copter

BUT the NOT LOCAL to me at the time, Helicopter flight schooling put it out of reach

I did help a friend a few years back who bought a used UH-1H.... I was still a certified A&P mechanic at the time

He actually was able to make money by contracting to US Forrest service for Fire spotting and aerial recon or various Sherrif's Dept for lost persons recon, spotting, or deputy insertions

He grew his company and then sold it out to folks who wanted to use his fleet to do both Life Flite and Water drop on small brush fires in Texas

Way back when Bob Brockington was looking to buy the first Huey, he asked me to go in with him--- and I passed cuz kids in college were eating my savings fast

He sold for $23M....my buy in to be 50/50 partner was only $155K.....DOH!

Hi Kim,

Next time give me a heads-up, you probably drove right by Rockford!

What's the photo about carving your own prop the easy way? Was it a video?

N3844????

roddie wrote:N3844????

Doesn't expire until 2018-31-01........
http://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N3844

Marleysky wrote:

roddie wrote:N3844????

Doesn't expire until 2018-31-01........
http://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N3844

SoOo CoOoOoL!!

Are these pronounced Pete & Pauls? If not, I'm in deep trouble calling them that among friends for years.

Fred and others:

When stationed in Pensacola my wife and I used to visit the outlying fields surrounding mainside, easy to do with my base pass on the windshield. Most were deserted being used as storage areas for damaged and obsolete and obsolescent aircraft. On one of these visits there was a line of four or five F4U Corsairs I climbed up on one, slid open the cockpit canopy and sat in. Wow, all those dials and stuff. I was 19 at the time. Next time I sat in one I started it.

Usually there was an airplane or two for sale. One caught my eye, a 1947 Stinson Voyager for $750. But as $750 was about our net worth at the time I had to pass. Things that stick in your mind.

Bob

Try this, Bob.
The first USA pronunciation is useless, but there are several clearly spoken examples that pretty much agree.

http://www.pronouncekiwi.com/Pietenpol%20Aircamper

Good story Bob, good luck getting away with that now. Nowadays F4's are used as target  practice over the ocean.

Pete n' pole is how I pronounce it. I suppose pawl or paul would work. Probably doesn't matter unless you are in the "club"


Edit: I should read closer. You said F4U not F4... we aren't blowing up Corsairs.

Hey Guys,
Yeah, it's pronounced Pete&Paul...or Pole. Mine is actually a "Grega", for the guy that took the Piet's design and changed it to specifically take an aircraft engine. It's generally considered inferior to the 'real' Piets, but has served me well.

Thanks for posting the photos of Ole Yeller Roddie. Hope to have it airworthy again this Fall.

Yeah Mark, I promise to give you holler next time through-I was pretty spent by the time I got to that part of the trip, and took another round-about route home. I've not sure about the prop offer, but DO think it's a video offered from the guy's business: 'Loensloe'.

fredvon4 wrote:

I really really want to save and go to Florida for a I get to fly it ride in Crazy Horse
I have seriously considered just paying for and taking the local Community College flight school

Yeah Fred.that's a 'Core Item' on my Bucket List. A long-time dream to crank up a Merlin and actually fly this legend.

Gonna happen...as with all such things...just a money/numbers situation.

Dreamer Kim

So, here we go. After a bunch of good-natured harassment by my old flying buds at the Brodhead Piet Reunion, I've decided to commit a considerable wad of cash to getting my old yellow pal flying. It's been parked for a long time, and not regularly flown for several years before that.

My first order of business was simply getting the hangar from looking like an episode of the 'Munsters', by cleaning and shop-vaccing the layers of cobwebs, 'barn dust', and general debris that accumulated over the past years. This alone used up a big chunk of the day. No evidence, so far, of any brown recluse bites or such, and rallied by this, my next assault will be aimed at my younger brother's 'Divorce Furniture' which I'm sure is acting as a Deluxe Spider Resort. He also has a hangar, across the way from mine, where he stores his 1969 Chevelle...so I'm gonna drag the furniture over there for him to deal with.

While some expected effects of long-term neglect were present, I'm looking to come out pretty good as far as real damage goes. The cylinders had some internal rust, but it's workable with a little honing, the cam looks good, and the airframe is in generally good shape, though loaded with squatter arachnids. All the jugs are off and being attended to by a mechanic bud, and I'm tracking down some hardware that was misplaced during an ill-advised engine switch that happened several years ago.















On the other fronts, I've got a shop full of Ringmasters in various stages of completion, and it looks like they're gonna be ready for the Fly-a-Thon in October.





I've started a series of classes to address the Type-2 Diabetes that I managed to give myself, and has been a constant irritant to my moods for the past six years. This dovetails into renewing my Pilot Medical Certificate, so that I will also be able to rent the newly arrived Cessna Skyhawk at Cape Air Charter...lots more opportunities to put a dent in my fixed income !!!

So, my venting ends...the next report on Piet will hopefully be a successful engine test, and another step toward getting it airborne, and back to it's former Glory.

Well "shucks".. that's all really encouraging Kim! I'm wondering if I "too" might have a type II condition going on. My diet sucks.. and I'm a moderate consumer of alcoholic-beverages. I have a physical-exam coming-up on the 23rd.. (been 2-3 years since I've had one.. ) My dad (80 years old now) had type II diabetes years ago.. and just kept snacking on "crap".. until it progressed into full-blown diabetes. He now has neuropathy in his feet and can't stand on them for more than a minute. He's still pretty active.. but too proud to use a walker. A "shopping-cart" serves as his walker.. He shouldn't be driving a car in his condition.. but he putters around in it daily; visiting, shopping and goes out 2-3 nights a week to sing karaoke. His sister is 90.. and still golfs frequently...

FWIW.. the people I've known that have been diagnosed with type II.. and committed to adjusting their diet/lifestyle, have all noticed a general improvement in their overall health. "My" worst health-vice by far is my tobacco addiction.

I'm real happy to know that your working on the Piet.. Best of luck brother!

Thanks Roddie...it IS appreciated.

I DO own it all: the acquisition and spotty treatment of my Diabetes...so got no one else to blame. Considering the health challenges of others here, I got a cake-walk (uh-oh...MORE sugar!).

I got several things working in my favor, I don't drink or smoke (got soused at a frat party in '73 and puked on myself, so that was my LAST contact with booze), and totally weening myself from sodas--drinking only water.

Chocolate is my enemy, and might as well be a cocaine addiction. That handled, and regular exercise, according to my doctor, would possibly free me from the small doses of Metformin that keep me ticking now.

So, it's my show, and I'm not ready to cash everything in yet..and the mental wrestling goes on.

Yup.. chocolate.. I love it too! I've been good lately though. I used to buy the bags of little Hershey-bars.. (no almonds..) same with the Reese's peanut-butter cups.. "snack-size".. yea.. BOLONEY! I had a chocolate ice-cream addiction too. I used to hand-pack a large coffee-mugful and eat it in bed before retiring.. several nights a week.

I LOVE milk.. and I drink a good amount of it. I'll go through two gallons of 2% a week. My wife doesn't drink milk at all. I'll usually have two big full-glasses with supper. I was never much of a beer drinker.. but I'll buy a six-pack of good lager every now and then. That can last over a week in the fridge. It's the Peppermint schnapps that I keep in the freezer.. that I have to be careful with. Some of my CEF posts have been influenced by that.. I guess it's the peppermint "sweet-tooth" thing with the schnapps.. because I also LOVE "York" peppermint patties. BAD BAD BAD!

I've cut down on coffee.. Usually I drink one 16oz. cup in the morning.. and have been drinking it "black" (with no sweetener) for decades. I drink very-little soda-pop.. My wife Lynne on the other hand drinks (at least..) x2 two-liter bottles/day of diet soda. That's a lot of soda.. and I worry about the aspartame or whatever it is that's used as a sugar substitute. It can't be good in the amount she consumes..

I'm slightly overweight.. but not too bad. I currently weigh 200 lbs. and I'm 6' 0" tall. I was 220 some years ago after I quit smoking for almost two years.. Prior to that my avg. weight was 170-180lbs. When I quit the butts.. I gained 40+ pounds.. but was also less active than in my younger years. I had to buy new pants and my neck got so fat that I couldn't button the top-buttons on my dress-shirts to wear a "tie"... Like a damned fool.. I started smoking again.. and have been for the past 5 years.

"On the ramp soon".. Roddie on a stretcher.. unless I smarten-up and quit..

I won't give you the usual sermons, Roddie.
I was a pretty avid smoker for 40yrs (Newports), and
I gave up trying to quit, because I knew it was useless
unless I genuinely wanted to. Well, the first week of
this past January, I gave myself "a good talkin' to," and
then and there I ended it. Yeah, I still crave one now and
then, but it is slowly getting better. The itch'll never go
away, but f-it, I can and will live with that.
People say nice things when they hear I quit, but I know
it doesn't forgive 40yrs of weakness.
I'm hoping the best for you. You have a bright mind with
plenty of material for distractions from the smokes.
When you're ready, go for it, brother. There's help out
there if you need it, too.
Bob

I much prefer all the alternative life style changes to fend off Type II as opposed to the various medications with anal leakage or other dire warnings

Fine one to talk but I am blessed with good genetics so still drink and smoke too much...even in my own opinion...though my doc sez I am good to go

I am much more concerned with the decades I spent with real bad solvents and asbestos, or my life long inhaling of wood dust

from what I read---- Adult onset Type II diabetes is easy to control with diet and exercise and only real bad cases require the medications

I visit the VA twice a year for general blood and urine tests and a physical....BP always good, all tests well within normal ranges but still I heed the docs chastising and we eat good, modestly exercise, and I do take low dose Asprin and simvastatin.

I did have to ween my self off the Oxy after the MC accident...but that was not real hard cuz the reduction of the bad constipation was a serious motivator

I have a "Every thing in Moderation" and it will not kill you attitude ...and have no clue what Glutten free really means

I have been eating store bought cereal and bread all my life....and while I am aware of folks with peanut, tomato or other food allergies... wife nor I or any of our kids had any food problems..... when did every bodies genetics get FUBAR or are we now so populous that the 1% with problems (genetically) are just now a big concern for the MGFs like Con Arga.... somewhat of a poster child for big bad evil food producer

If I break out tomorrow with hives from a bag of salted peanuts I would be [bleep] but NOT enough to sue Planters

Kim... I am confident you have the brain and skills to find out all YOU need to know to deal with your aging body

Live well, live long, and live FREE!