Calling All Pelican Pilots - Show Us Your Planes...

[Seahawk]

I have hours in over forty different aircraft of all varieties (jet, prop, helo) and am looking forward to getting back into general aviation after I retire.

My 12 year-old loves to fly as well and, after much searching and pondering, we have decided to go the homebuilt route.

When Jack turns 14, we're going to purchase the extremely well sorted Vans RV-8 quick build kit. Based on our research, we think it will take four years to build. We plan on building the tail dragger version since I already have a permit to make a grass strip on my farm. (I worship on the Tim Hancock altar!)



It's got all the things I want: low wing, stick, speed and the capability for gentleman's acro.
Our hope is that by the time we are ready for engine install, a heavy fuel engine will be certified for this class of airplane.
Plus I'm 6'4'' and actually fit!

[Grezdlitn]

Haven't posted in awhile. Here is my toy.

[Tim Hancock]

Grezdlitn, I briefly looked for your plane at Oshkosh agian this year...No joy... Were you there this year? Just for fun I re-read the feature article on your plane in Sport Aviation recently. It is a small world (especially in aviation).

T6, A local "imfamous" pilot in our area named Tony Barnum (I used to keep my planes at his strip prior to getting my own), donated his yellow ('38 I believe) Staggerwing to the museum a few years back. Maybe you know him?

[84porsche]

Scott (450knotoffice), thanks for the heads up on this thread. Great pics BTW. That is one hell of an office you guys have.

[Grezdlitn]

Tim, Didn't make it to Oshkosh this year. Local weather did not cooperate. My autopilot was inop due to a bad molex connector and grexdlitn is a little work on long crosss countries without georges help.


This is a pic of my 46' Aeronca 11AC 'Ole Chief'. Won grand Champion Custom Classic a Sun-n-Fun in 96 and a Lindy at Osh the same year. A handfull to fly and not near as much funas Grezdlitn.

[Joeaksa]

Very nice looking Chief. Do you still have it? Mine is a '47 BC model,

If so I am the webmaster and admin of the National Aeronca Assoc, so would love to have you on our bulletin board if you are not now.

Joe

[Grezdlitn]

Joeaksa,

Yes, I still have it. My dad and I restored it from a basket case so it's hard to part with. Send me a link to your bulliten board and I'll sign up. This picture doesn't do it justice. I was aware that you owned a Chief from previous posts but couldn't locate a picture of mine till now.



This is a picture of a RV-10 that I recently got to take to Portland Oregon. Very nice aircraft and it performs extremely well for a four place.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by Grezdlitn
Tim, Didn't make it to Oshkosh this year. Local weather did not cooperate. My autopilot was inop due to a bad molex connector and grexdlitn is a little work on long crosss countries without georges help.


This is a pic of my 46' Aeronca 11AC 'Ole Chief'. Won grand Champion Custom Classic a Sun-n-Fun in 96 and a Lindy at Osh the same year. A handfull to fly and not near as much funas Grezdlitn.

Your Chief and my Pacer are in the same league. My Pacer won at Sun & Fun in the late 80's and somehow I got a bronze Lindy (150hp custom classic) in '98 at Oshkosh with it. I can't take any credit other than upkeep though, as the Pacer was restored by a couple from Florida in the mid 80's.

My Minimax got "honorable mention" in the ultralight category in the late 90's at Oshkosh (which was not bad considering I built it from scratch instead of from a kit like the others it was competing against that year).

[t6dpilot]

Seahawk, great choice on aircraft. I love the RV-8. I have a friend in the DFW area that built one and I have flown it for several hours. It is a great flying ship - responsive, great for formation, acro - and fast. We would just cruise up to a cumulous build-up, pitch up about 30 -40 degrees, hold that line, roll over the top, level out and still be at 120 kts! Put a smile from ear to ear every time I did it.

Grezdlitn, love your RV-8. It looks a lot like a Harmon Rocket, is it?

Tim, I do know of the Staggerwing of which you speak. I actually was lobbying to keep it, an early Model 47 (V-tail), and a Twin Beech airworthy to take to airshows and promote the museum/club. I do not know the donor, though. She is a beautiful bird. I took some dual in a C model Stag a couple of years ago - man is that a squirrely mother. They say it is nothing like the D model, which has a slightly wider gear and longer wheelbase.

So, I think I am sensing an OSH gathering of Pelicans! I attend every year and fly with the T6's although I flew the P-40 in the show in 2005. I think that I will have to start a "Pelicans to OSH" thread next year. Sound good to everyone?

In the meantime, here are more of the same...


Cheers and happy Monday!

[widgeon13]

Is the P-38, Glacier Girl?

[lendaddy]

I don't get to fly her as much as I'd like to, but I still enjoy it when I get the chance.

[Tim Hancock]

T6, I probably drank a beer with you at the Warbird picnic two years ago and did not know it. I work on a T-34 (as a home side business)owned by a couple local guys that do the whole Oshkosh warbird flyby thing every year. They also are members of I believe the "Confederate
Airforce" where they occasionally fly a C47 and maybe a Hienkle or something like that.

The guy that donated that Staggerwing, even though he rarely flew it, was unbelievable with it. Once when attending a fly-in his tail wheel would not extend properly so he landed on the mains and calmly kept the tail off as he taxied to the grass and gently set the tail down resulting in very little damage. I bet he had less than two hours of flying that entire year before he had that incident. He used to land it on his 2000' grass strip using barely half of it and would make the first turn off taxi way every time. The years have taken there toll and he his health is not good now.

[charleskieffner]

that p-38 is AWESOME!

[wludavid]

Lots of Pelicans are commercial pilots. I bet some of us have been passengers on some of your flights and not even known there was a Pelican at the yoke.

[Seahawk]

Originally posted by t6dpilot
Seahawk, great choice on aircraft. I love the RV-8. I have a friend in the DFW area that built one and I have flown it for several hours. It is a great flying ship - responsive, great for formation, acro - and fast. We would just cruise up to a cumulous build-up, pitch up about 30 -40 degrees, hold that line, roll over the top, level out and still be at 120 kts! Put a smile from ear to ear every time I did it.

Since my son will be flying with me, I did A LOT of homework on Van's: factory tours, demo flight, visits to other owners and builders with RV's in various stages of build and flying.

Given the incredible quality of the kit, your paragraph above was echoed by all I spoke with and was the deciding factor!

All the best and wish us luck and perserverance!

[air-cool-me]

heading into SNA on Sunday.... trying to dodge all the flipping jets..

[304065]

[bigchillcar]

i'll have to post pics tonight. like my siggy says: owned a '67 cessna 150 and a '69 cessna t-210. worked many years in the cockpit of 20 and 30-series learjets.
ryan

[Grezdlitn]

Grezdlitn is not a Harmon Rocket but a highly modified RV-8. I found a link to the original article in Sport Aviation.

http://www.eaa.org/benefits/sportaviation/grezdlitn_0402.pdf

I hope this will work. You will have to paste it into your browser.It appears that there are alot of Pelicans with aircraft that we are very proud of. I think a Pelican gathering in Oshkosh is definately in order.I'll be watching for the thread.


My office away from the office.

[t6dpilot]

John_Cramer, is that a Citabria you are flying? I flew a Super Decathalon Sunday to go look at a '69 RGruppe car in MI. Great flight and pretty nice car. I will have to post pics of the Decathalon later as I was more interested in shooting the car.

Yes, that is Glacier Girl with Steve Hinton at the controls. I had just come down from a photo shoot with Paul Bowen (famous air-to-air photographer) and I was talking about doing a mission with Glacier Girl. I thought it would be cool since she and the P-40 have flat olive drab paint and almost exact markings. Would make a great two ship photo. Well, Paul knows Steve well and we put the flight together along with another P-40 and two Mustangs. That picture actually was on the cover (and inside) of a recent copy of Warbirds International.

I feel extremely honored to have had the opportunity to fly Steve's and Glacier Girl's wing - not many pilots have had that honor.