Warbird Information Exchange

'EKC is such a pretty machine Dave, I always love seeing photos of her!

_________________
Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22

Our 1947 F-24W46 used to fly in the Bush, 1948-52, hauling goods and medicines and supplies -- even vaccines, I imagine!



I bought it in 2008 from an ex-Spitfire pilot who had flown one in Italy, 1944 -- which would have looked like this:



Here's a helmet-cam video of how I start the engine and fly a leg: just released.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/QCmwwwYYrWk [/youtube]

[video=youtube_share;QCmwwwYYrWk]https://youtu.be/QCmwwwYYrWk [/video]

Just sharing my photos of Fairchild F24-W-41A VH-AZL, taken at Tyabb VIC in April. Bonus Robin J-1 in the album too.

Classy F-24 by Errol Cavit, on Flickr

Here is an old favorite. Had lots of fun.

Thanks! Some beautiful Fairchilds there!

But HUBRIS just struck me! On the same day I put up that video, I flew to Stan's and there we found a hairline crack in the crankcase.

So, I've found an overhauler, and am sorting out the details now.

Too bad of course, but it's well past time to do it. And we've had a good run.

Dave

Dave, I was really bummed to hear about that crack.
That sucks.
Hopefully a solution will be attainable.
It's easy to see how much you've enjoyed that Fairchild.
I've been happy to share a bit of that journey with you.
Fingers crossed.

Andy

No progress on the engine repair yet, but I had a great summer sailing and flying warbirds. Wonderful self-isolation!

Here's an interview about the Spitfire, recorded on a rare quiet day in the hangar.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Ud6rvICM1zI[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/Ud6rvICM1zI

My Dad has been flying this Stampe SV4B, off this farm strip, since 1977. At one time he won the Canadian Intermediate Aerobatic Championship in it. We grew up wiping oil and bugs off it; that and a Citabria 7ECA.

Anyway, he asked me what kind of helmet-cam I've been using lately, and went and bought one. This video is from his first flight with it the other day.

For the pilots here, it's an "interesting" airstrip...

https://youtu.be/9TZmcfTqbKw

[VIDEO]https://youtu.be/9TZmcfTqbKw[/VIDEO]

Dave

I love that video of your Dad flying the Stampe! It's so great to see him still aviating!

I hope you're able to get your Fairchild up and running again soon!

Cheers,

David

I haven't posted much in the last couple of years on this thread. Too busy with my own life, and social media promotions of VWoC and our activities.

But this event occurred recently, as an out-of-the-blue surprise: a meet-the-pilot session with Aeroplane magazine's editor Ben Dunnell. http://hadfield.ca/bio-aeroplane-monthly-feb-2022/

It's amazing what can unfold if you volunteer, and keep volunteering -- keep showing up, and working within the programs. New and unlooked-for opportunities, and incredible events that it's a privilege to be a part of...

Thanks for sharing that Dave. It was a very enjoyable read.

_________________
Share your story: Rutgers Oral History Archive http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/

Thanks!

This was also a pleasant surprise in today's FB feed. A video from 2008, during which I flew a family's Grandad in the ECAF Tiger Moth -- and he'd trained in them in WW2.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/2yMrWOv3l44[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/2yMrWOv3l44

You're most welcome, Dave! Aviation makes a small world that much smaller!

_________________
Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22

I'm so way out of date on this thread...

Anyway, re the Fairchild, the long-story-short is that I found a Holloway Eng. zero-timed W-165 that had been a crate for a few years. It was being sold by a couple of fine gentlemen from S. Carolina. I then spent an embarrassingly long time swapping the engines.

It wasn't a plug-n-play. The engine had come off an Australian Wackett trainer, and the ignition distributor blocks had a different orientation from that of a Fairchild installation. So I had to string all new leads through the old conduit. Then, the baffles were all different so I had to repair many cracks and dents in the ones I had used on the W-185. Fortunately they fit, and so did the exhaust manifold.

Eventually I got flying again just before winter clamped-down up here. BIG victory!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6e8Vd730N8&list=PL1lWkd855FsxCRYKfVUg5AYGbjgggq5fe&index=7[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/C6e8Vd730N8?si=5PgnaZOnPR_2_36e

I'm so way out of date on this thread...

Anyway, re the Fairchild, the long-story-short is that I found a Holloway Eng. zero-timed W-165 that had been a crate for a few years. It was being sold by a couple of fine gentlemen from S. Carolina. I then spent an embarrassingly long time swapping the engines.

It wasn't a plug-n-play. The engine had come off an Australian Wackett trainer, and the ignition distributor blocks had a different orientation from that of a Fairchild installation. So I had to string all new leads through the old conduit. Then, the baffles were all different so I had to repair many cracks and dents in the ones I had used on the W-185. Fortunately they fit, and so did the exhaust manifold.

Eventually I got flying again just before winter clamped-down up here. BIG victory!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/C6e8Vd730N8?si=qZnMHlOdVhMTd0oT[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6e8Vd730N8&list=PL1lWkd855FsxCRYKfVUg5AYGbjgggq5fe&index=7[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/C6e8Vd730N8?si=5PgnaZOnPR_2_36e