Bacon super 6

[steve dickey]

I remember a while back I think I heard(read) that it was being restored? Am I right or wrong? Or does it still exsist?

[Alan Brooks]

Hey Steve!.... Last I had heard was that the Super 6 was still going down hill at Van Nuys(?)..... but that was several years ago...... I hope that someone was able to acquire the bird and put it back in the air..... It is a most unusual looking bird..... Alan

[stumac]

The airplane is still rotting into the ground at Whiteman Airport and is probably still owned by the cop who is in jail (and he aint getting out any time soon), his wife from what I have heard will not sell the airplane.

[Rob S]

Wixers, Anyone got a picture to post? Thanks, Rob

[steve dickey]

Thanks everybody, I was begining to think I wouldn't get an answer. Yes a fairly recent photo would be nice. The last time I saw it was in 89 when me and my dad took a trip to Reno via southern Ca. And all his pic's are in N.M. on slide's!

[T J Johansen]

Try here.

http://www.1000aircraftphotos.com/Milit ... AAT6-4.htm

T J

[sledge39]

_________

Wixers, Anyone got a picture to post? Thanks, Rob

...here's some archive stuff...

...Van Nuys (VNY)...Volpar/Volitan ramp...1967...











...Chino..AeroSport ramp...1971...





________

[k5083]

My photos are old, too. These are from September 1988 at Oxnard.





August

[steve dickey]

K5083, Thank's that's exactly how I remember it!! Do U know what canopy that is off of or modified from(T-33?) I wonder how that thing flew?

[Cking]

That's ORRIBLE!!!!! Was the cop put in prison for doing that to a good looking T-6? If not, he should have been! I hope that who ever does restore it, puts it back to stock.


Rgds Cking

[TEXANTOMCAT]

NOOOO! Its a unique survivor it should be restored as it is!

TT

[k5083]

It is worth preserving as a bit of history in its own right. The concept, iirc, was to make a useful low-cost COIN aircraft using readily available old airframes and parts. In terms of practicality it rated somewhere between the Piper Enforcer on the one extreme and the Diemert Defender on the other. Thus it is not easy to parse out to what extent it was killed by the not-invented-here syndrome versus its inherent silliness, or in what proportion of each. If it were to be restored, I would prefer to see it returned to the configuration and paint scheme in which it was presented to the military authorities. In that state I think it would be a worthwhile museum exhibit or flying warbird exemplifying the American tradition of offering homebrew aircraft and other products to the services as a low-cost alternative to the output of the estabilshed military-industrial complex, up through the Rutan ARES (which I understand is still flying at Mojave).

August

[T J Johansen]

NOOOO! Its a unique survivor it should be restored as it is!

TT

My sentiments exactly. Leave it as a Bacon T-6! Hopefully Mrs. (or is that ex-Mrs???) Leasure will let it go before it rots into the ground. I have never been to Whiteman Airpark while in L.A. Is the airfield kinda open so one can walk up to the a/c and look at it? I plan to visit CA in Sep. and I'd like to see it.

T J

[bdk]

I fail to see how with an extra retractable landing gear it could have flown any better than the T-6 it was made from. They must have moved the wing forward to accomodate the weight and balance because of that nose gear unless they put a lot of lead in the tail. I suppose you could move the battery and oil tank in back, but that creates some other challenges.

[Matt Gunsch]

the main gear was moved aft, the wing is in the same place. The reason for the nose gear was modern pilots have forgotten what thier feet are used for.