Warbird Information Exchange

Very odd that a rare F-24 goes down just as I buy one. But last Wednesday we bought CF-EKC, a F24W46. It was in Brampton, now it's in Collingwood.

It was upgraded to a Warner 185 when it was a Bush plane hauling fish in NE Manitoba. I was looking at the old logs last night -- fascinating!

An old Spitfire pilot, still active but having trouble with his medical, sold her to me. (Lot's of stories in the hangar as we surveyed her!)

She needs a lot of TLC, and probably a Top overhaul, but she's flyable. So far I've fallen in love with that horse-pasture gear. Very ego-flattering!

And any radial is just cool.

Dave

photos to follow

Congrats! They are wonderful wonderful flyers....they don't do anything spectacular but they get around with luxurious style! Without a single doubt the 24 meets John Roncz' (the brilliant airfoil designer for Rutan) "Rule of Regality"......"Tall planes look regal!" The 24 has that in spades...either one the Warner or Ranger.
Take a good hard long look at that lower longeron and bulkhead truss weldment at the main gear leg attach point. That is a really long gear leg and it is only kept from folding back by a 10" section of 1" square longeron. Works well enough but make sure it's integrity is sound. May save a foldup and a wing.
Looks like it was on floats at one time with the battery back there. It is Canadian afterall and don't all airplanes up North get floats at one time or another?
Good luck with her and have some real classy fun...roll down the window, slow flight it and hang an elbow out in the breeze.....it don't get any better!

Thanks!

Yes, it spent its first 20 years hauling fish (on floats) from NE Manitoba and NW Ontario. The logbook from then is full of names of the lakes and rivers I used to canoe into.

I do love those roll-down side windows with the Studebaker gear.

Dave

Congratulations, Dave!

Scott

I got the cowls off yesterday (always interesting in a radial) and changed the oil. Got pleasantly, happily, dirty!

So, does anybody have enough experience on a Warner 165/185 to locate the oil screen for me? Very difficult to identify, and if it's where I think it is, very difficult to remove.

Lovely details...

Dave

Congrats.

She is a good airplane and almost bought it myself last year.
It's great that she is staying local.
I have a couple of Warner cylinders and maybe some more stuff but I doubt you need any thing at present.
have fun flying her and if you can, show up at our open house at Guelph next week ( Sept 20-21) We usually get between 20-30 a/c showing up each day.


Keep'em Flying

Cam(Fleet16b)

P.S. I have a package for Mike Potter , if you are in the Hamilton area.
If not I will sent it Purolator.

_________________
...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

Dave: Join up with the Fairchild Club. Lots of good info and Jamie Treat has put together a CD with all the prints for most of the single engine Fairchilds, as well as the manuals. There are a number of guys in the club running radials on their birds.

Great idea, I just did it. Thanks!

Should be able to fly it again this evening, now that Ike has passed through.

Dave

Boy, are you gonna have fun. what a beautiful aircraft. I wish you both well & happy flying.

Learning... learning...

Went to fly it last night after Ike's winds slowed down, and couldn't start it.

I thought the Intake Manifold was primed in the Warner because I saw only one primer line going forward. Turns out it's to only one cylinder. It's pretty hard to flood an intake manifold. You sure can flood one cylinder.

And then the battery, already not quite up, was too low. Oh well, learning experience.

I noticed an old-fashioned '70s vintage starter solenoid on the firewall. Rusty-looking. Just like my old '76 Dodge. I'll start with replacing that.

So the start sequence according to the Old Guy Who Knows (not kidding -- he does) is interesting.... Fuel on, pull the prop by hand 14 blades, go back inside, prime 5 strokes (on a primer that is almost impossible to tell whether it's priming or not) pull 4 more blades, take your seat, engage the started, count 2 blades, then mags on. Before yesterday it started right up. But I'm sure I flooded it while fiddling around with the primer trying to find out whether it was working. Then I didn't recognize the issue, so didn't pull it backwards to clear it.

Try again today!

Very nice Dave. I have seen that one in the hangar a few times at Brampton. I’m sure you and Robin will have a blast touring around Ontario with it. You know who wants to shoot it Back in 99 I photographed it with a pretty little low wing homebuilt painted in the same markings. Is it still there?

See you at Gatineau on the weekend.

Cheers,

Eric & Berni

_________________
The air resounds from the Rolls-Royce roar!
To an enemy the warning is dire: here only eagles soar,
and the last thing he'll see is a mirrored Spitfire!

Well, the learning curve was steep but we climbed it.

First came re-charging the battery. We waited. In the meantime Robin hung up her new checklist, which beat my own pitiful technical scribble to dust.