| May 2009 - Museum Newsletter |
 |
By Chief Pilot- Ben Davidson (recently returned from a year deployment in Iraq. Ben serves as a pilot in the Army Reserves)
A short storey about getting the 1929 Arrow Sport from Nebraska.
It must have been March or early April, when Terry Brandt called me and said...... "We've hmmm umm acquired an airplane, in Nebraska. Maybe you could run over there and take a look at it. It'll need an annual as it hasn't flown for a few years." So I'm thinking, Nebraska is just the next state over I'm check this old girl out and have a little fun flying her back to Oregon. Well if you have ever driven across Nebraska, you know it is a little wide and mind numbing.
Before I headed out, I was able to talk to the son in law of the previous owner, who was settling his estate, he had flown in the airplane a few times, ridden through a forced landing or two in her, and had been running the old 5 cylinder Kinner on her once in a while. He also mentioned in passing, he though the wings may be a little out of rig..... Anyway I jumped in my old truck, with a few basic hand tools, a couple of plumb bobs, measuring tapes, levels, compression gauge, and a bunch of string. Several hours later I arrived in Nebraska, I pulled up the local FBO, and called the son in law on the cell. He said he reckoned, he could be down to the airport in about half an hour with the keys to the hangar.
So I wandered in to the FBO and talked to the nice lady behind the desk, and told her that I was picking up the old Arrow, and that I would be doing an annual inspection on it for the next couple of days so, I would be in and out. She said, maybe I should talk to the airport manager, as he may have some information that I would like to know, as his father in law was the last guy to fly the Arrow, a couple of years ago, for the local fly-in events. I wandered around until I found this fellow out in an old hangar full of old crop dusters, an old straight tail 172, and a mostly disassembled tri-pacer. Well this fellow said he knew the airplane I was there to get. But maybe we should get his father in law on the phone, and get the first hand information. We finally got the old chap on the phone, he told me in no uncertain terms that he would never fly that old plane again; it flew so badly it took both hands to keep it upright.
By now son in law number one shows up and we go out to the hanger, slid open the door and I got my first look at the Arrow. My first impression was "what a cool plane, look at those elliptical wings!!" We pulled the old bird out of the hanger and #1 shows me their usual starting procedure and 15- 20 minutes later, she roars to life. I ran her up good, checked out the mags, pulled back up to the hangar and shut her down.
Next on the agenda was to check out the wing rigging. I hung some plumb bobs off the leading edges and found the top wing to be 6 inches further forward on one side compared to the other. The wings on the Arrow Sport are one piece. One wing for the top, and one for the bottom. Check it out next time your out at WAAAM. Anyway with a reasonable explanation for her bad handling characteristics, I set to work rerigging the wings, completing the annual inspection, and generally entertaining all the ball scratchers who would stop by the airport over the next couple of days I was finally ready to fly. I'm topped off with fuel, have a tank full of clean new oil and #1 is positioned in front ready to pull the prop through. A Kinner will start just as happily with a nice slow pull as with a big yank, so he set to work and pretty soon she roared to life again, and I was slowly taxiing to the far end of the runway. After a careful run up and getting the oil temp. Nicely in the green. I pointed the old Arrow into the wind and give her full power. After a few quick corrections with the rudder pedals the tail comes up and finally I get some meaningful rudder, she just doesn't get a good bite on the air when blanked out by the whole fuselage. Soon the Arrow is the air, as I look down to see where #1 ran off to, I see he must have called everyone in town as it now looks like 25 or more folks have gathered along the runway to see what was going to happen to the kid from Oregon after their local seasoned spray pilot had declared the old girl unfit to fly. As soon as the Arrow lifted off I knew the measuring tapes and plumb bobs did their job because she was perfectly balanced, and I could easily take my hands off the stick, and with a quick adjustment of the trim on horizontal stabilizer, another cool feature worth a peek while you're checking out the one piece wings, which by the way do not need the N struts that are near the tips for strength, they were just put there to keep the pilots happy. I immediately pulled the airplane up did a quick 180 and came right down the strip, waving at the small crowd that had gathered with both hands. I could hear them hooting as I buzzed down the runway. After a couple of patterns, three take-off and landings just to make sure I was current, I taxied back in, shut the old girl down, pulled off my cloth helmet and enjoyed the smell of burnt avgas and oil drifting by on a very nice spring day in Nebraska. The saga doesn't end here, you'll have to ask me what happened next, on the journey of the Arrow Sport from Nebraska to Oregon.
PS:Jimmy Doolittle is rumored to have flown this exact plane on test flights to hook up to a derigible in flight. More on this later...... | |
Newest Members
WAAM would like to welcome the newest members to our family. Since January first of this year we have had 37-new members sign up. We greatly appreciate their support and hope to continue our relationship for years to come. WAAAM depends on it's members to keep the doors open. A big thanks you to.
|
|
April Newsletter
There was no April newsletter.
I have a great excuse! Ben, my husband and WAAAM's chief pilot just returned home from a year deployment in Iraq. With his homecoming and the death of his father, I had put the newsletter on hold. I am back at it now.
Sincerely,
Donna Davidson |
Sky View of The Museum by Volunteer Roy Petit | |
|
|
|
Murphy's
Restoration Report
The TG-6 glider is really taking shape.
Volunteer Katie Miller has finished one of the seat cushions and is working on the second of three.
The wings have been test fitted and the glider should be ready to cover in Mid May.
You should be able to see it by the first of June in the museum.
Tom Murphy
|
|
Mark Your Calendar!
Memorial Day Parade
5/25/09
WAAAM CAMP
6/22/09 -6/25/09
7/20/09- 7/23/09
4th of July Extravaganza
7/4/09
9AM - 5PM
2009 Ring Kings Custom Car Show
7/18/09
7AM -3PM.
2009 WAAAM / HOOD RIVER FLY-IN
|
|
"Bite of the Gorge"
a Big Hit!
The annual Bite of The Gorge was once again hosted here at WAAAM on the evening of April 11 th.
With 400 supporters in attendence, more that $22,000 was raised to help support the Columbia Gorge Arts in Education Program.
Twenty-one restaurants, vintners, breweries and other culinary purveyors donated their food and drink to the event along with live music by a variety of acts, a silent auction and the traditional selection of plates created in the past year by local artists all showed how community supports community!
A job well done!
Contact WAAAM to discuss your event and "Make it Your Best Event Ever " |
** Link the WAAAM web page to all the sites you can.
** Add the WAAAM link to all e mails you send out.
|
|
Groups visit WAAAM
WAAAM continues to attract groups.
Auto Tours
Schools
Military units
Senior Centers
Fly-in groups
We have small and large meeting areas
If your group would like to visit us, please contact us. | |
