C-FWOL back into the air again!

[Ollie]

I test flew the plane this morning, first flight since November 2003 and she got her annual this week.

I'm pleased to report that all is clear with her! Now, Operation "Clean Wings" shall begin!!

We modified the floors to make them more resilient to feet abuse...

Before :



After :



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[Al Moore]

Looking very clean Olivier. Post some more of her.

[Ryan Keough]

Holy katzenjammer Ollie! Is that a GNS 430 I see there? Us New Englanders know who to call on frequency in case we get lost on the way to Canada!

I am guessing that is a non-original panel though... must be a blast to fly!

What was the history of the bird if I may ask?

Ryan Keough

[Ollie]

She's from the Luftwaffe, been out since 1983 if I remember correctly. Came to the USA in 1989, we bought her in 2000 from Georgia.

Complete rebuild, but it was mostly cosmetic as the structure was top on it. REbuild the engine, the prop, put new instruments, avionics (GNS 430, wink-wink) and paint.

The dash is mostly original, it has the same shape and instrument location as per origin, only new stuff in there.

I'll try to upload some shots of her for you guys....

[Gregory]

Good to see you are keeping the old Piaggio in the air, Olivier!
From the photos it seems the cockpit is still fitted with the spring-type fire alarm. Is this so? It is exactly thes ame system used on all Italian aircraft of WW2, including combat types ... une petit piece d'histoire de notre technologie aerienne!

Aerophilement

Gregory

[Ollie]

Spring type fire alarm??

The fire alarm on this one is a metal contraption that dilates with heat to make a contact and lit a red light on the dash.

On the floor, in the middle, there is the fuel selector, the handle are the flaps and the thing with the red strip on the other side of the central console is the mechanical gear extension indicator.

There are old gizmos in there, like a magneto key just like the one on a Fw 190!!

[Ollie]

Oh, forgot to tell.

Flew 5 hours with it today, all went well, that's a very good bird.

Solid and all.

Airshow season, fire one!!!

[Gregory]

It sounds like les Boches changed the original Italian design at some point - and probably for good reason, too. On the Piaggio P.148, which is essentially a fixed gear, tailwheel P.149, the fire alarm is a spring wrapped in red cloth and held compressed by a spot of soldered tin. In case of fire, the tin melts, the spring extends by a few inches and its end dangles at about the level of your belly button. If you are looking inside the cockpit, you might even notice it before you smell the fire or breathe the smoke ...

This same contraption was used on all Italian interwar and WW2 aircraft I have worked on, including the Macchi fighters, Saiman and Nardi trainers and so on. Postwar it was still found on the Macchi M.416 (a licence built Fokker S.11, as Cees could tell us) and the Piaggio P.148. I am pretty sure it was fitted to the Italian built P.149 prototypes, but I guess the Germans adopted something less antique on the FWP.149.

Gregory

[Ollie]

Yes, they changed a few things, mainly exterior stuff.

- Rudder is squarer, especially at the bottom of the trailing edge.

- Fin fairing is longer and higher.

- Larger window at the rear of canopy.

- Rear of canopy different shape.

- Windows on top.

- Gross weight is augmented to 4002 lbs!!

- Some of the FwP.149Ds have a thrid seat belt at the rear...

Focke-Wulf did a batch for Swissair with electric flaps and a stab higher on the tail. They are called FwP.149CH.

Uganda bought a bunch of refurbished German ones, FwP.149Us they are...

It's very interesting to learn about this little aircraft!