THE BIRDMAN

The Birdman was quite a project. It resembled a large model airplane kit with hundreds of small pieces of wood to be glued together. Randy and I both worked on various parts of it. Before we were finished, Randy sold me his part so He could build his own ultralight. We finished the Birdman and hauled it out to the airport for testing. At the time, I was taking flying lessons, and the people who were at the airport really got a laugh out of my attempts to get off the ground. The little engine was just not strong enough, and I would buss up and down the runway, almost, but not quite, getting airborne. I was able to find a larger engine, and finally got into the air. I don't think I can describe the feeling of actually flying in a machine that you have constructed yourself. It is just magical. Seeing the earth far below you, every glue joint, every bolt, and every nut is questioned in your mind. But, it flies! That little airplane scared me plum white on three different occasions, twice while flying on Sunday's. I was climbing out after takeoff, and was about a hundred feet high when the engine quit cold. I was too low to turn back and land. I wasn't high enough to make it to any good place to land, so I just put the nose down and went straight ahead. That put me into a fence and the highways. The fence tore off the landing gear and then the tail. I sat in what was left on the side of the road, brushing off the dirt and waiting for Lilly to come pick up the pieces. I was unhurt, but very humble. On another Sunday, I had taken the outfit up to Carefree Arizona, where I entered the Greater Arizona Ultralight Air Race. About a hundred planes were entered; it resembled a circus, Airplanes and people everywhere. The racecourse was out over the desert, in a big triangle. I took off around 10am in a cloud of dust and into a swarm of little buzzing airplanes. For a few minutes, it was The Magnificent Men and their Flying Machines, all over again. About a mile or so out, I flew into turbulence. I bounced so hard I hurt my back. I was also sure that I had damaged the airplane. I tried to look back and see the tail, I wasn't sure it was still attached, but I couldn't see it. After limping on around to the runway, I landed. The only thing broken was my pride, but I was very happy to take every thing home in one piece. Another Pilot was killed that afternoon when he crashed trying to land.
After finally selling the Birdman, I started looking for bigger things. During the time that we were building the ultra light, I took the training, and was able to obtain a pilot's license. I had made a good friend, Don Wilcox, who was a airplane mechanic at the Safford airport. He had a WW! Military trainer known as a PT-19. He let me become a partner in the restoration project. I worked at the college teaching electronics in the evenings to make extra money. This, and many hours spent on old airplane parts, finally produced a beautiful low wing cockpit airplane. I was able to fly it once before it was sold to an airline pilot in St. Louis. Working with Don on that airplane gave me many building skills. I then saw an add in the paper for an Aeronica Champ two place airplane project for sale in Phoenix. I checked it out, and found that I could, with some scraping, possible afford it. The old Champ was bare bones and in pieces scattered all over the Man's backyard. The engine was sitting on an old tire, and many parts were missing. It had also been in a wreck, which had bent up the sheet metal parts badly. Shades of the old Model A project, but it was love at first sight. I proudly hauled it home on a trailer and just looked at it for a while. Once again, I began a massive research project, finding plans, pictures, and catalogs pertaining to the Bird. As she was a classic, I found original books on construction, maintenance, and rigging of the airplane. Don agreed to supervise the job, and I was ready to go. I was able to purchase another totally wrecked airplane for parts, and with many new parts, it began to come together. I really tried to make it as new and perfect as possible. What a learning experience that turned out to be. But, when I towed it out to the Airport for final assembly, She was beautiful to behold. It was painted all over tan with brown trim, a brand new prop was on the engine, and new windows all around. She also sported a new interior and a new instrument panel. I was as proud as a new parent. Don checked it all over and pronounced it air worthy. He also took it up for a short flight around the field. With it all checked out, it was finally My turn to fly. Now, a low time Pilot jumping into a new type of airplane, especially a airplane with a tail wheel, called a tail dragger, is a sure call for problems. But, I was a courageous, clear eyed, junior Birdman, so I proceeded to teach myself how to fly that little bird. I first tried high-speed taxi up and down the runway. This resulted in a couple of wild, hair raising, ground loops. I went screeching off the runway, one wing nearly scraping the ground, and nothing would stop it until it decided to stop About the only damage was to my pride, but that was considerable, as everyone was watching. After much practice I started to enjoy what would turn out to be hundreds of hours of pleasure.
After the experience of building, or restoring, the Aeronica I was looking for a new project. Don suggested that a Piper Tri Pacer might be an interesting project. Now, that Tri Pacer is an older, four place, airplane with a nose wheel. The aircraft Don suggested had a 150-horse power engine and he thought it was in a hanger at the Douglas Arizona Airport. I took Ronald with me and we flew down there in the Champ. We found it in the very back of a big hanger, all dusty and neglected. The fabric was old and torn in several places. We gave the Man a deposit and flew home with dreams of what a wonderful little airplane we would make of her. I finally drove back to Douglas with Lilly, pulled the plane out of the hanger, gassed it up, quickly read the manual, and took of for Safford. With Lilly following in the car, I flew to Wilcox. Over the airport, I switched fuel tanks, not trusting my knowledge of the valves. It seemed to work, so I set my course for Safford. Arriving over Safford at 9000 fee, I thought it would be a good idea to practice making an approach high above the airport just to get a feel for how the airplane would behave. Arriving opposite my intended touch down point while on downwind, I reduced the throttle, but, as I put the flaps down, it was apparent I was going down quickly. Much quicker than in a Champ. As a matter of fact, as I turned on to final approach, I had to add power just to make my touchdown point. I learned that one of the characteristics of a short wing Piper is coming down like a rock without power. I was mighty proud that I had made it without indecent, and taxied it over to a tie down space for the crowd's appraisal. We took the wings off and hauled it home on the back of our old Ford pickup. In our garage, all the covering was removed, along with every other part needing attention. One of the major jobs was converting it to a tail dragger. The old gear was removed and new gear legs were welded on. Rudder pedals with dual brakes were installed in the front cockpit. Instruments were sent away for overhaul, seats were re-upholstered, the windshield was replaced, a new interior with headliner was installed, and finally, it was completely recovered and painted. When we finally hauled it back to the Airport, she was, for all intents and purposes, a new airplane. I now had two airplanes in my hanger, but I tried to be humble while facing the big question, which airplane do I fly today?
I did enjoy the Piper project, it's four-seat capacity allowed me to take the whole family then at home, on trips, but it was just not an enjoyable airplane to fly. It flew fine, but ground handling was always a problem. The brakes were not very good, and it was so short couped that a ground loop was always a possibility. I joined the Short Winged Piper Club, a national organization, and flew to several interesting field trips. One was to Holbrook and the Painted Desert. Another was to Fort Huachuca and it's many historical sites. I flew Lilly to Springerville for a funeral and my brother Gary to work at Fort Grant. Lilly was never very comfortable flying, but she bravely went along. While flying high over Alpine, a side window suddenly popped open with a very loud noise and rush of air. It scared both of us, but Lilly nearly got out and walked. Gary, my brother, has a substantial girth. When I flew him to work at Fort Grant, the take off and flight were no problem, but the landing was very exciting. There are dual controls in the Piper, with a steering wheel on both sides in the front. When I pulled back on the wheel to flare out near the ground, the wheel in front of Gary hit his belly and I could not pull back nearly enough for the landing. Gary screamed as we hit hard and bounced high into the air, but the second touch down was all right so all ended fine. Gary never would ride with me again, and I'm not sure the airplane could have taken another landing like that anyway, but it does say something for my welding skills. We finally sold the Piper to a man from Texas. With that money in my pocket, I again began looking around for another project. During the time we were working on old planes, I also got interested in old cars. While traveling around in my work, I often saw remains of old cars lying down off the road. When I found an old Model A Ford up at Grays Peak Highway Maintenance yard, I was hooked. I borrowed a trailer and searched among the pine needles for any remaining parts, I hauled it home. There was no motor, no axles or wheels, and very few body parts remaining. What I had was a 1929 Sports Coupe. I straighted and cleaned what I had, and then began an epic search for parts. At first, we hauled home parts from old wrecks all over the country, discovering that there were many brands of automobiles besides Fords around in those days. I drug home mashed fenders from dry washes, gas tanks and doors from old dumps, even parts from out on the Indian reservation. I purchased a transmission from a place in Phoenix. I bought an old wagon for the Model A axles it had. I traded radio work for a really worn out engine, which had to go to a specialist for overhaul. Old, worn out junk from all sorts of places returned to it's source, an old Model A Ford. I obtained catalogs specializing in old Ford parts, and using these like a kid at Christmas time, I ordered goodies for my car. It slowly came together. New body wood, paint, glass, seat covers, and canvas made it a car again. I had a stack of invoices and bills of sale two inches tall to prove it was mine, but was required to get a warranty and title. We put the kids in the rumble seat, Lilly and I got in the front, and away we went. We drove it in lots of parades, and cruised around town just enjoying the attention we received. Finally sold it to a man from Scottsdale to get money for an airplane project. Around 1989 I restored another Model A Ford, a 1930 two-door coupe. With previous experience and lots more parts, it went together pretty quickly. This one was sold after my blindness made it impossible for me to care for it. Many enjoyable hours spent doing things that I loved. Not a bad way to spend life.
One of my friends, George Mace, told of a wrecked Piper Cub for sale at Globe, so Lilly and I went to take a look. There wasn't one piece that wasn't broken or badly bent. Even the fuselage was in two pieces. I bought it on the condition that the fuselage be welded back together, and George did a fine job. All of the pieces came to our home on the back of a truck, and with a vision that only I could see, I began. Each part was carefully hammered or bent straight. Many pieces had to be purchased new, but once again, an airplane began to emerge. It was a 1941 airplane, with much history behind it. It had been all over the U.S. and had probably trained hundreds to fly. It had been rebuilt and recovered many, many times. I tried to figure out all the owners but had to give up due to missing logbooks. I finally pieced together enough paper work to get it properly registered and licensed. This was nearly as big a job as rebuilding the airplane. I finished all except for a few final touches when I went blind. I never go to fly it, but fondly remember that pretty little yellow airplane.