Aerocraftsman

Another Recent Arrival

Mark — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:44:24 +0000

Another TravelAir project showed up last week. NC3823 belongs to Glenn. He bought it some time ago out of Seattle and flew it home to Florida with his buddy Rich. Just a couple of months later it wound up on it’s back after a weld gave way on a landing gear fitting. Fortunately neither Glenn nor his passengers were seriously injured but the same couldn’t be said for poor NC3823. Glenn felt really bad about his TravelAir getting all banged up and wanted to make things right. All of his friends tried to talk him out of it,” just go out and buy another airplane” they told him. I even tried to talk him out of it, but Glenn wouldn’t have any of it. Glenn is the kind of guy who understands and appreciates old airplanes and the history that goes along with them. He couldn’t bear the thought of being the guy who’d “killed” a TravelAir, so he gathered the pieces, loaded them in rental truck and hauled it from Florida out to Flabob. NC3823 is now stored safely here at Flabob patiently waiting it’s turn. When it returns to the sky it’ll be better than ever and ready for years of fun.

I got here early this morning and had to get something out of the hangar where it’s stored. It was really quiet and I thought I heard something so I listened. I’m still not sure exactly what I heard, but it sure sounded like NC3823 saying “Thank you Glenn…”

Congratulations Pops!

Mark — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:07:32 +0000

Even more great news this week. After 4 1/2 years of dedicated and detailed restoration, Don “Pops” Newman made the first post restoration flight in his PT-19.
This airplane had not flown since 1965 and was covered with inches of dirt and dust when hangar doors were pried open several years ago. After being signed over to the airport, it was awarded to Don under Flabob’s “homestead” program. Don went through every inch of the airplane including the engine in the ensuing 4 years. Now that’s a pretty good pace but even better when you consider that this was all after hours and weekends after he was finished helping here in the shop! At any rate, Don’s stubborness paid off and he made the first flight look easy, like he’d done it before. Oh yeah, he had done it before. This is his second Fairchild project. I guess practice makes perfect!

Nice job Pops!!!

Here’s a link to Keith Folkert’s Picassa gallery that has some really cool pictures of Pop’s project before, during and after.

Congratulations Walter

Mark — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:00:39 +0000

Yesterday was an exciting day. Hualdo “Walter” Mendoza took and passed his private pilot checkride with flying colors. The day didn’t start out looking very promising with low ceilings and drizzle all morning long, but after lunch things started clearing up and he was able to meet with the examiner and make us all proud.
Great job Walter!!

Caudron Article out

Mark — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:35:27 +0000

Back in May we pulled all the Wathen racers out for some photos and flying. Eric Presten and Mike Shreeve took turns with Jim Ostrich in Jim’s T-34 for some stunning air to air shots. Eric wanted pictures of the Caudron for his upcoming book and Mike for a magazine article he was working on. Well, the October 2011 issue of Aircraft Magazine is now on the stands and Mike did a terrific job.
Sorry, no autographs……..

Waldo Wright’s TravelAir

Mark — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:14:25 +0000

Last weekend I flew up to Portland to help disassemble and load one of our next projects. This TravelAir was purchased by Waldo Wright’s Flying Service and will be added to their lineup of interesting biplanes available for rides at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City Florida.
Another TravelAir giving rides is a good thing, but this airplane will be going on floats which is a great thing. Guess how many biplanes on floats are available for rides. Give up? None until this one goes into service.
Start saving up your pennies, you’re gonna want a ride in this one!
We’ll start the work later this year and like always, you can follow the progress here.

N3N to LAX

Mark — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:36:43 +0000

It’s not everyday you have the chance to fly an open cockpit biplane into LAX, but I had just that opportunity last Friday. FedEx was having their annual Family Day/Open House and wanted some vintage airplanes for the event. The Flabob Express DC-3 went over Thursday afternoon and I took the N3N the following day. Despite some challenges with the radio, everyone was very patient and understanding and the flight was without incident. My appologies to the American Airlines flight that had to hold and hold and hold while I was on an extended 3 mile final! Somehow 80mph approach speeds just don’t fit into today’s world.
Quite a lot easier to leave. Maintain runway heading to the shoreline, turn North, go away!!!!!

Bye Bye YMF

Mark — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:11:15 +0000

We had to say goodbye to the YMF recently. Got it all finished up, rigged and test flown. What a sweet flying airplane. After just a few hours of test flying, Clay Hammond came out, made a few passes around the pattern and launched for Georgia the next morning. He left on Saturday morning and made it home just before sunset on Sunday evening. 19 hours flying time in two days. That’s a guy who likes to fly.
The airplane is now back to doing what it does best. Working for a living giving rides. If you have a chance to stop by the PeachState Aerodrome, stop in and take a ride. It’s a great airplane. I just wish I could have come up with an excuse to hang onto it a little longer….

Racer Week

Mark — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:14:23 +0000

We thought it sounded like a good idea to get several of Tom’s racers up for a group photo session. Persuading 3 high performance airplanes to all cooperate at the same time is quite a challenge. We got the Firecracker ready to fly again after being dormant for several years and Christophe took it up for a nice 30 minute flight. After landing, we found some metal in the screens so further inspection is required. The Comet and Caudron however cooperated nicely, as did the weather. We met the photo plane in Hemet on the 5th and got some great air to air shots. (Sorry, no sneak peeks) You’ll have to wait until the magazines come out. We got some great group photos on the ground back at Flabob after the photo shoot. We also got some fun video that Christophe shot from the back of the Comet. The clips are available for viewing on the motion pictures page.
Enjoy

New Spray Booth Update

Mark — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 20:30:07 +0000

We’re up, we’re running and boy is it nice. We passed the inspections with no problems and immediately got to work with a couple of Waco elevators. No trash, no overspray, just beautiful results.
Nando is one happy painter.

New Spray Booth

Mark — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 22:51:13 +0000

We’ve been busy for the last couple of months and not just building airplanes! For quite a while (years) we’ve been working with the Airport, City building department, Air Quality agencies, etc to get a spray booth licensed and installed. Patience and perseverance usually have a way of working things out and this case was no different. Our new booth is installed and it’s a thing of beauty. Just a couple more inspections and sign offs and we’ll be ready to go. We don’t do a lot of painting by industry standards, but when we do, we want it to be perfect and that will be much easier now.
Can’t wait to crank this baby up and see what she’ll do.