Two Experts Give their Input

After the clean-up the Skycoupe is in a decent shape to be examined by the experts: Tom Malechuck and Jack Phillips. They provided us with a long list of valuable "to do and to not do". New marching orders will soon be concocted based on their input but the good news is that there is nothing wrong with this airplane! (although for the engine we will need to have a closer look inside).

Tom explaining how to "undress" the fabric off the elevator while Kent takes notes


Jack, a Pietenpol builder is comfortable with the wooden wing's ribs and spars


Conclusion: After being forgotten and almost lost to the elements, this Skycoupe could find its destiny, soaring, sooner rather than later...

Team SA7 Visits Mud Flats International

On Saturday, May 28th, 2011, Terry Gardner, Kent Misegades, Noel Fallwell, Konrad Schoen, Niels & Judy Nielsen and Sam Arbes traveled to the Johnston County airport where they met EAA506 president Joe Mancusi and mechanic Mr. Lee. Their mission : locate an inspect an early Skycoupe owned by its co-builder, Mr. William Talton of Smithfield. The photos below show what we found. Here are a few specifics:

1. The airplane was built by a group of four men from Smithfield in the early 1960s. It was completed around 1963-1964 and is one of the oldest Skycoupes in our area.
2. The builders started their work prior to building the airstrip where it is located, known simply as "Mud Flats International". You won't find the airstrip on the charts, but it is easy to see on Google Maps (satellite image), just south of the I-95/US70 interchange, off Mallard Rd. It is a well-manicured, 3,000+ foot turf runway surrounded by collapsed hangars and a variety of interesting old machines, vehicles, and airplane parts.
3. The only surviving hangar housed a recently restored Super Cub, and, in the back corner under a thick layer of dirt and dust, the Skycoupe we came to see.
4. Our host, Mr. Lee, had maintained and flown the aircraft up to 2005, when an engine fire on a cold morning grounded the airplane indefinitely. While the engine would need major work to get running, the airframe suffered no damage from the fire and could probably be restored/rebuilt.
   
5. A number of pictures were taken of various details, which will serve us well in the restoration of our own Skycoupe.
6. The engine is the same as ours, a Lycoming O-290-D. Mr. Lee reports that the plane gets off the ground quickly and he had only good things to say about it.
   
7. The airplane' prop, undamaged from the fire (we think) was a Sensenich 72 X 50, Model M76AM4, Serial Number 140006.
   
8. As far as handling is concerned, Lee noted that the thin ailerons result in a fair amount of adverse yaw - pilots need to use the rudder. We believe that our Skycoupe incorporates ailerons of larger chord, one of the improvements made by Stits in the early 1960s after this plane in Smithfield was built.

We learned a great deal from this trip, and it was sad to reflect on what must have been a very active airfield in our area at one time, now essentially defunct. The fellows who built this airplane a half century ago were true pioneers, with little more than a set of plans and their own mechanical abilities to rely upon. Ray Stits was known to have skimped on detailed builder directions in his designs, believing that a builder who needed these probably shouldn't be constructing an airplane. How times have changed!


















The best part of Mud Flats International: 3000 feet of smooth turf.














Talton's Skycoupe uses the same Lycoming O-290-D as in ours. This one suffered a carb fire 6 years ago that grounded the plane.














Close-up of the 125 HP Lycoming O-290-D. 12V generator can be seen behind gear on prop flange, same as on our engine.














Talton's Skycoupe must have had a fairly advanced panel for a homebuilt from the early 1960s.














Original, hardware-store wheels and tires, typical of a Stits design, all known for being low-cost and simple. Note brake line along front tube, an advancement over the simple mechanical "friction band" in the original plans.



















Mold used for canopy. The last builder of our Skycoupe, Mr. Oppegaard from Garner, borrowed this mold for his work in the 1990s according to the records we found.














Terry Gardner checks out the remains of a Stinson 108 at Mud Flats International. He was heard to mutter, "Looks nearly complete! We can get it flying again, no problem."



















This is the original-style nosegear, all scratch built. Later versions, like ours, use components from production aircraft.














Terry takes some pictures of the interior.














This simple strap is one of the hinges for the ailerons, themselves little more than formed aluminum riveted to a half-span torque tube. Simple, cheap & effective.















This is what we found upon arriving at Mud Flats International - a boneyard of machinery, equipment, rusting vehicles and airplane parts. 40 years ago this was a bustling airstrip with 20+ airplanes in hangars and a large grassy tie-down area, back when the local tobacco industry was thriving and allowed local farmers to pursue their aviation interests.














Agent Konrad Schoen, who found Talton's Skycoupe through masterful sleuthing. In his younger life, Konrad made a living finding old Gypsy Moths and similar aircraft in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Oh, the stories he can tell!

Below: this recently-restored SupeCub was in the front of the hangar, and is now for sale.

To-Do List

I made the following To-Do list at our airplane clean-up session last week.

1. Research history of plane - Terry Gardner has done a good job of this, see other postings here. Our plan started life in 1961 as a set of plans, Serial # P-445. The engine was purchased by the first builder in 1961, and was first run (again) on March 15th, 1994, by Mr. Oppegaard from Garner.
2. Research FAA Records - Noel Fallwell will contact the Greensboro FSDO and request all documents on our airplane.
   
3. Schedule Inspection - Jack Phillips will tentatively look at the plane next Tuesday evening, May 31st. We are hopeful that Tom Malechuk can be present, too.
4. Obtain PolyFiber books - Kent ordered four copies of the POLY-FIBER "HOW TO COVER A/C" book. These will be given to the chapter Tool Bin that Terry has established.
5. Bill of Sale - Konrad Schoen has created a bill of sale that will be sent to Tom Hall. Kent will assure that we have a formal transfer of ownership to Tom, who will later sell the plane to a new Club that we will form.
6. Club - I have contacted Brenda Anderson of the EAA's Chapter Office, who confirmed that the EAA currently does not allow chapter ownership of any flying aircraft. They have recommended the purchase of a book written by member/lawyer Bruce Luedeman, "Keeping the Peace in Partnerships - A Guide to Aircraft Co-Ownership." I have also obtained a copy of the Wings of Carolina's Handbook, which includes its Bylaws. The WOC is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, so they must be doing something right. Once we learn the recommendations from Jack and Tom, we'll all meet and decide on the next steps, which will include formation of an Aero Club that will own the aircraft.
7. Insurance - I have contacted AUA in Greensboro for advice on insurance. AUA is well-known for providing insurance to non-certificated aircraft, warbirds, vintage aircraft, etc. I have had my insurance with them for many years.
8. Other Skycoupe at JNX - Thanks to Konrad Schoen, we'll be having a look at this other plane today at 3PM when we'll meet at the FBO of the Johnston County Airport to travel to the airstrip where the other plane is located.
9. Post articles on Skycoupe - I think I have a fairly complete archive of all articles, in PDF form, that the EAA has ever published on the Skycoupe. Terry Gardner has hardcopies.
10. Project Blog - JP Bernoux was way ahead of us on this, which is what you are now reading!
11. Plans - Konrad and Joel McLaughlin checked both sets of plans and found that we have all but two, #7-2000 (Instruction List) and #7-7000 (Empennage Details). I have contacted David Doherty, EAA32 president and owner of a Skycoupe (in pieces) in St. Charles, MO, who has kindly offered to scan and send us these two missing pages.
    

Thanks to everyone's help!

Kent

SA7 Assembly Instructio​ns

Terry took time to scan the following instructions from the documentation retrieved with the Skycoupe. You can click on the images to enlarge them.

A brief history of our Skycoupe

Thanks to Terry Gardner, we now have a more complete understanding of the 50-year history of our Skycoupe project:

A number of folks are curious about the lineage of our Skycoupe. After combing thru the existing records here is the story!

Stits SA7 Serial Number P-445 began its life in 1961 with:

1^st Owner: Paul Schauber, Baltimore, Md

Mr. Schauber started the project no sooner than 1961, based on the latest revision date found on the plans. No builders logs exist for this period

Terry discovered Mr. Schauber spoke to the Eastern Region FSDO on 18 March, 1963 before starting a project. So that means we now know he started the SA7 after this date!

Built fuselage (unclear if he built the complete fuse) acquired O290-G engine and parts to convert it to a aircraft D Model. The fuselage welding was signed off on 8 June, 1964 by FAA Eastern Region GADO Inspector T. Johnson.

Parts for the O290G were magnetically inspected by Mertz Aviation, West Chester, Pa. on 31 October, 1961(complete list is available). This inspection was done for Walter Szymczewski, Severn, MD. We don’t know if Mr. Schauber bought a started kit from Mr. Szymczewski or just engine parts.

2^nd Owner: Lawrence Oppegaard, Garner, NC

Mr. Oppegaard acquired an incomplete fuselage assembly, engine / engine parts and plans on 7 September, 1991. He had previously attended an EAA Meeting on Experimental Airworthiness with Jeffrey Halliday FAA FSDO Morrisville speaking on 8 March 1991. Is this the spark that jumpstarted Mr. Oppegaard’s desire to build an airplane? Mr. Oppegaard then completed the lion’s share of the work on the Skycoupe which became our project. (Minwax Spar Urethane was used on the wings.) He worked on the project until abruptly ceasing 4 years of work on 23 September, 1995.This was the last work performed on the aircraft, as it over time passed thru others hands.

Spring 2011 – Chapter member Tom Hall discovered the airplane in the back of a hangar at Triple W airport, part of a collection of derelict aircraft projects owned by Tom's friend, Bill Amos. Bill offered to give the airplane to Tom, who has since donated it to the chapter.

May 19^th, 2011 – A crew of chapter members moved the airplane from Triple W to Cox Field where it was displayed at the annual family picnic on May 21^st. Later that same day, it was moved to Terry Gardner's large hangar shop at Eagles' Landing, where the restoration has begun.

May 25^th, 2011 – A dozen chapter members played hooky, working all afternoon disassembling and cleaning the airplane in preparation for a thorough inspection by IA Tom Malechuck and chapter Technical Counselor Jack Phillips in the coming week.

Stay tuned for more!

Tips on removing old covering

My son Tim just called. In the course of chatting about the 'Coupe, he advised that when we remove the cloth from the fuselage, we cut it in large pieces that will serve as patterns for the new cloth. If access panels are on it (I did not see any), this will also allow for easy repositioning of new access panels later. He said we'll need less cloth as a result, and make our lives easier.

Wood varnish

Chapter TC Jack Phillips passes along the following comments about the wood varnish he used on his Pietenpol:

"As for varnish, the best (and what I used) is PolyFiber Epoxy Varnish. It is impervious to any of the PolyFiber solvents and will not "lift" when polyTak or PolyBrush is applied as regular spar varnish or one-part polyurethane varnish will. Only problem with epoxy varnish is it is very expensive."

Thanks, Jack! He will meet us at EL next week to inspect the airplane, as will Tom Malechuk. Stay tuned for dates and times.