Originally Posted by t6dpilot
Well RSRGUY, I like your taste! Yes, as Tim states, that is my Staggerwing restored by RARE Aircraft. And that is me flying the slot position on our departure from Tullahoma's Beech Party a couple weekends ago. The ex-Holloway G model is "above" me in the picture. The new owner is the perfect person to be the next caretaker of that plane and understands its history and strong ties to the early days of the Staggerwing Club and Fly-in. And Dreamsicle (I call it the same) is also tied to those early days of the club as my father was an early member and instrumental in its growth.
So the airplane was in the family for 27 years, left in 2001, and reacquired in 2018. So you would like a brief description of operational procedures? I'd be happy to...
Pull through the prop 9 blades to make sure you don't have hydrostatic lock in a cylinder. I just learned from an expert that I should pull through 18 blades. Mixture rich, wobble pump the fuel for 5 PSI, prime 3 shots, and leave the primer out. Press the start button and let it run through a few blades, then mags to BOTH. She'll come to life a couple cylinders at a time. DO NOT wobble, that could cause a fire - give it a slow shot of prime of its not catching. Look for oil pressure and give it time to warm up to 40 deg C. If its cold outside, you can bypass the oil cooler and/or shut the oil cooler door. Now you are safe for a runup. Nothing special here, same as any other aircraft. Make sure you are on the fuselage tank for takeoff and landing. Why? The vent tube is much larger than the wing tanks so you ensure good fuel flow if pressure drops.
Ready for takeoff, lock the tailwheel, check locked, and advance the throttle to 36" MP. Keep it straight with constant rudder dance, airspeed alive, and about time to raise the tail. Do so to get it into a flying attitude and when it comes up, be ready with a little stab of right rudder because the nose is going to go left. Keep the rudder dance going and she should come off at about 65 MPH. Climb out about 80-90, gear up and give the manual handle a tug just to make sure the gear is up and snug. Look for 100 MPH and 30" MP and 2000 RPM. Constant rudder and elevator trim to airspeed. Switch to an upper wing tank.
Cruise 26 or 27" and 1875 RPM. Lean mixture to 22 GPH and you'll get about 157kts TAS at 8500 ft. Burn 30 minutes from one upper wing tank, then switch to the other upper tank and burn until dry about 1 hour and 23 gallons. Switch to the other upper and burn the last 30 minutes until dry. You really have to watch the time because it is easy to get distracted and have the engine quit. Not fun. Do the same with the lower wing tanks. Has 23 in four wing tanks and 29 in the belly.
Landing I like to drop the gear as close to 100 MPH as possible, mixture rich, fuel on the belly tank, prop short final. Trim, trim, trim. Downwind 100 MPH, base 90 MPH and half flaps, final 80 MPH slowing to 70 over the numbers and full flaps. GUMP checks complete with multiple gear green light and manual handle checks. She will sink pretty good with full flaps and power off, so I carry some power to get the sink rate I like. Flare and touch down on the back side of the mains or 3 point. Get that crosswind aileron in and dance on the rudders to keep it straight. As soon as the wing quits flying, FULL aileron INTO the wind to help you keep it straight. That is what has gotten Staggerwing drivers in trouble over the years. Wrong aileron input with a yoke shaped like a car wheel. What do you do when your car rear breaks out? Steer into the slide. That will for sure ground loop a Staggerwing. And she will land short. Stalls about 52 MPH.
You are very busy flying one of these and sometime need three arms, but boy executing a well done mission is very satisfying.
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