This is just wrong to be posting this **** in a car forum, LOL,..but this is what I have to wallow around in to finance my car addiction. Good clean work to say the least, but I would rather be covered in axle grease, and motor oil,
The Bi-Plane was one of my own,..fully aerobatic ,...the green and white " clipped wing cub " is one that a buddy and I built up from scratch for our own personal use,..it too was very aerobatic,..and a fun little airplane. The bi-plane had extremely sensitive controls,..in flight if you coughed or sneezed and your wrist on the hand that you had on the control stick happend to flinch 1/4 inch,..you were automatically Inverted,...it was also very short coupled and would kick your butt in a heartbeat on landing and takeoffs,..and one had to fly it onto the ground with power,..there was no gliding that thing,..it had the glide ratio of a simonized crow bar,...the airplane that they refer to as being the one that a pilot can run out of, " airspeed,..altitude,...and ideas ",..all at the same time in,...had a lot of respect for that one,..but it would sure get you through the aerobatic maneuvers in a hurry. :>) :>)
Hi Cheyenne. Great stuff ..Hot-rods and hot-rod planes are just fine in a hot-rod forum..They are very, very cool. My next door neighbour, He has passed on now.. But he used to build plane's in his home garage.. I don't know how long you have been doing that but his name was Bob Ratcliffe .. He had a Yale that he restored, and a tiger moth..(spelling ?) and either a mustang or a spitfire .. I can't remember.
When Bob was alive they used to have a fly-in breakfast once or twice a year. It was very cool as a couple guys with by-planes used to come in and do some arobatics..That old yale, every time it went up it used to rattle every window in the house..He had a little cesna for his daily beater . Quite often him and his wife would take one of my kids with them on sundays. Seemed like they were always flying off somewhere on a Sunday to a fly-in..
Old Bob was quite a guy, he had an old lathe and made about everything for them right at home.. I can remember spending time there helping him with running the all the cables to work the wing flaps and tail ..It seemed for every thing we did before we could go to the next thing we had to wait for the engineer to come and certify what we had done..
I kinda miss old Bob he was an Amazing guy.. My son-in-law whom lives in a small tourist town Merrickville Ont.. Has a guy next door to him that builds helicopters.. I have no idea what his name is.. I will have to scoop a couple pics next time I down there..I love your stuff. You are very close to me ..I would like to come by some time to look at your stuff up close and personal..I am just over by Kirkton.. probably a 1/2 hr drive.. Thanks for the pictures.. I love them..
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There is no elevator to success — you have to take the stairs.
Hey Wayne, you still owe me a ride in a spits, or.. or .....
John,..a friend of mine just built a huge hangar / shop at Tillsonburg airport,...he is a licenses AC engineer,..and has access to some of the Harvards out of Dunville,...plus he is a good aerobatic pilot. As soon as I can get out to the airport and catch him there,..I will have a chat with him, and see what we can do.
A Spits,...????,...as in Spitfire ??,..where in the sam hell ya gonna sit,. on the pilots lap ??...hahaha,..or did you mean Pitts,.( tandem seat ) .as in Pitts Special aerobatic aircraft ??
Hi Cheyenne. Great stuff ..Hot-rods and hot-rod planes are just fine in a hot-rod forum..They are very, very cool. My next door neighbour, He has passed on now.. But he used to build plane's in his home garage.. I don't know how long you have been doing that but his name was Bob Ratcliffe .. He had a Yale that he restored, and a tiger moth..(spelling ?) and either a mustang or a spitfire .. I can't remember.
When Bob was alive they used to have a fly-in breakfast once or twice a year. It was very cool as a couple guys with by-planes used to come in and do some arobatics..That old yale, every time it went up it used to rattle every window in the house..He had a little cesna for his daily beater . Quite often him and his wife would take one of my kids with them on sundays. Seemed like they were always flying off somewhere on a Sunday to a fly-in..
Old Bob was quite a guy, he had an old lathe and made about everything for them right at home.. I can remember spending time there helping him with running the all the cables to work the wing flaps and tail ..It seemed for every thing we did before we could go to the next thing we had to wait for the engineer to come and certify what we had done..
I kinda miss old Bob he was an Amazing guy.. My son-in-law whom lives in a small tourist town Merrickville Ont.. Has a guy next door to him that builds helicopters.. I have no idea what his name is.. I will have to scoop a couple pics next time I down there..I love your stuff. You are very close to me ..I would like to come by some time to look at your stuff up close and personal..I am just over by Kirkton.. probably a 1/2 hr drive.. Thanks for the pictures.. I love them..
Yes Chuck,..I knew Bob well. Actually I went to his place one time and fabric patched an elevator,..or maybe the rudder,.. on his Harvard that got damaged. I used to see him over at Bob Spence's strip all the time, Bob was a great guy !! If you are near Kirkton,..you must have seen the Yellow and Blue Piper Pawnee crop duster around there that is in the above photos,..( Jims Flying Service ). Jim flew off a strip around Kirkton,..and also hangard his airpane there for a couple winters at someones airstrip. Or it may have been in the factory colors red and white when it was at Kirkton. For sure Chuck,..if I take in some work ( aircraft ) this fall,..I will get in touch with you and you are more than welcome to drop by anytime, by all means !! That Pitts Special that's in the photos is one that I rebuilt for one of our Canadian Astronauts ( Bjarni Tryggvason ),..I was just a tad over two years getting that one out the door,...something like 33 coats of Buterate dope on that thing by the time the finish coats were all applied,..wet sanded between coats, and hand rubbed finish,..and what a nightmare masking and painting, and re masking,..no end to it !!
Here is a pic of Jims Pawnee Crop duster that you more than likely seen around the Kirkton area Chuck,..before we cut the rag all off and recovered / rebuilt it, and painted it blue and yellow.
Hi Wayne: I gather that Bob told you the story of how the Yale got that wing damage... Yes I see the crop duster around all the time flying over my place .. That looks like dangerous work to me with all the hydro wires and bush to be dipping in and out of..He gets pretty low..I live just on the opposite corner to where Bob was. He was quite a guy.. He ended up with Dementia for the last couple years of his life.. Jean his wife just passed last year.. They were really good people. Bob was born in the house he lived until he Died and Jean was the school teacher here in Anderson..I have some good memories spending time With Bob. Pretty smart old guy..
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There is no elevator to success — you have to take the stairs.
Thanks Wayne, nice photo's. Always wanted to be a Pilot.
Funny you should mention that. I actually went to sign up to the military to be a pilot. When they told me that I needed a university degree for that, I turned around and left, cuz school and I did not agree with each other. About 25 years ago, I did go for my private pilots licence, and got as far as soloed, but the economy went south, and figured that my suppliers wouldn't appreciate my sense of priorities, if I didn't pay them.
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if you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk.
Thanks Wayne, nice photo's. Always wanted to be a Pilot.
Funny you should mention that. I actually went to sign up to the military to be a pilot. When they told me that I needed a university degree for that, I turned around and left, cuz school and I did not agree with each other. About 25 years ago, I did go for my private pilots licence, and got as far as soloed, but the economy went south, and figured that my suppliers wouldn't appreciate my sense of priorities, if I didn't pay them.
So is it like an apprenticeship where you still have that time in the "BANK" or do you loose it?
Wayne.................ya, meant Pitts. I'll blame fat fingers, or sometimers, or....
Hahahaha,..I've noticed my fingers have been gaining weight lately too John,....
Haven't been out scoping out the airport in Tillsonburg for awhile John,.or talking to anyone that frequents there often..so don't know if there are any Pitts drivers around there anymore or not. I heard that Bjarni sold the Pitts that I did up for him and his son Mike,..and I heard that Mike bought a single place, Red Bull type aircraft. I am going to make it a point to go out there and have a look at Larrys new shop / hangar one of these days ( soon ) though,..and I will have a discussion with him about a Harvard flight for you. You are a pretty good size fella,..so you would probably appreciate the room that the Harvard offers, more so than a Pitts,...the Pitts is really cramped,..and especially in the front ****pit, where you would be seated. The downfall of the Harvard is,..they are like sitting inside of a steel culvert,..with a 600 HP P&W engine and Hamilton standard prop churning away at one end of it,..( Super Noisy ),..and they vibrate, shake, and rattle constantly. Hicks and Lawrence had one at St.Thomas airport back in the '60's,...and I got around 9 hours flying time in that old relic,...but the engine was getting pretty tired in it, and any aerobatics (at all) were very limited,..rolls were not too bad,..and on a good day one could coax a loop out of it,...and one definitely wanted some altitude when attempting either one. They are a heavy old airplane and if that engine packs in when your in an inverted position,....the ground rush that one experiences is extremely unnerving.
Thanks Wayne, nice photo's. Always wanted to be a Pilot.
You should have went ahead with it John,..nothing like it !! Every flight is a learning experience, ( some good,..some bad ) depending on the individuals respect for an airplane. I first soloed back in 1962 and I can remember it like it was yesterday,..it's an experience one never forgets.
Thanks Wayne, nice photo's. Always wanted to be a Pilot.
Funny you should mention that. I actually went to sign up to the military to be a pilot. When they told me that I needed a university degree for that, I turned around and left, cuz school and I did not agree with each other. About 25 years ago, I did go for my private pilots licence, and got as far as soloed, but the economy went south, and figured that my suppliers wouldn't appreciate my sense of priorities, if I didn't pay them.
So is it like an apprenticeship where you still have that time in the "BANK" or do you loose it?
TMJ
When you begin a flying course at a flight training school,..they issue you a Log Book TMJ,..any flight time at all,..regardless of time passed, is credited to you. In John's case, if he decided to start over,..and still has his old log book,... he could void one blank page and then start logging his new time accordingly. Flight experience is just that, experience,..nobody can take it away from you,..the only thing that is required is, if one is not a frequent flier and fails to keep up the required number of hours one must fly in the period of one year to maintain their proficiency,..they are required to undergo a " check ride ", by a licensed flight instructor,..and it would be up to the instuctor to decide if the individual is proficient or not,..and / or if the person needs more dual instruction before they turn them loose with an airplane on their own. It's a good system,..and has probably saved a lot of lives. I have over 2000 flying hours logged,..and I haven't flown an airplane in 7 years,.. therefore I would be required to take a check ride,..and that check ride also includes " Aircraft Type " ,...90% of my time was flown on ( tail draggers ) tail wheel aircraft,..if I wanted to fly a " tricycle gear " nose wheel type aircraft,..I would have to take the proficiency check ride with an instructor,..and if it was a 4 place airplane ( pilot and 3 passengers ),...then I would be required to take another proficiency check ride with the instructor and two other passengers on board to prove my proficiency/ capability in flying a loaded ( heavy ) aircraft. As long as one stays current at flying,..no check rides required unless you are going to an aircraft type that you have no time in whatsoever,...then it becomes a check ride including familiarization of aircraft type.
When the economy turned around, I was going to get back into it, but wanted to get my own plane with one or two partners, because renting one sucks. Couldn't find anyone, and so got busy doing other stuff. Now I'm too old, and decreped (miserable).
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if you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk.
There used to be an airplane junkyard up on #6 hiway going out of Hamilton.
Dayuuuum,,,that was a close call for both partys involved. Good thing the plane didn't hit some turbulance right about then it could have been a real disaster. The old airplane grave yard on # 6 belonged to ken Gamble,...Ken passed away awhile back,..and I was talking to a gentleman at Guelph airport a year or so ago that told me that he was in charge of selling off all of the planes and parts for Ken's daughter,...seems to me that she is a lawyer down around that area. Ken had a lot of interesting stuff around there. We had an old gent up this way too that had a farm full of old ex-military aircraft,...motorcyles,..antique cars,..military combat vehicles,..etc.,..his name was Ernie Simmons,..became quite well known for many miles around. A recluse who guarded that stuff with his life,..( Literally ),..and it was an incident over the motorcycles that ended his life.
. Quite often him and his wife would take one of my kids with them on sundays. Seemed like they were always flying off somewhere on a Sunday to a fly-in..
