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[Bryan Austin]

vh20,

I spent a lot of time at both Prattville and the Wetumpka airports in the 80's. My dad's brother lived in Prattville and I flew my J-3 and PA-22-20 over there from Columbus, Ga quite frequently. Had a cylinder overhauled at the Wetumpka shop once and watched a guy rebuild a Rearwind Cloudster there for years. There used to be a twin bonanza that sat out by the road...and back in the 70's I remember a few Beavers there as well.
I mainly spent time in Prattville...purchased the derelict Cal-Air open cockpit A-5 duster that sat in the open T hangars.

At Eufaula, (fuel pumps, facing the runway) there was a single row of hangars to the right. We were in the last hangar facing the south. Huddleston's hangar had just burned down and I remember a Stearman fuselage use to sit behind that hangar. A Lear Jet was in the taxi-through hangar by the FBO. I never did eat at the restaurant that was a tad south of the field. May be the one you are talking about....but this was in the 80's.

Good times!

This was my hangar in Columbus, Ga when I got married...moved shortly afterwards. A CalAir A-4 is hanging from the ceiling...and the A-5 under the left wing of the Fairchild 24G...sorry, my wife snapped that shot! There is a PT-19 fuselage under the right wing I got from Ozark, Al when I started college there in 90'.

 

[vh20]

vh20,

I spent a lot of time at both Prattville and the Wetumpka airports in the 80's. My dad's brother lived in Prattville and I flew my J-3 and PA-22-20 over there from Columbus, Ga quite frequently. Had a cylinder overhauled at the Wetumpka shop once and watched a guy rebuild a Rearwind Cloudster there for years. There used to be a twin bonanza that sat out by the road...and back in the 70's I remember a few Beavers there as well.
I mainly spent time in Prattville...purchased the derelict Cal-Air open cockpit A-5 duster that sat in the open T hangars.

At Eufaula, (fuel pumps, facing the runway) there was a single row of hangars to the right. We were in the last hangar facing the south. Huddleston's hangar had just burned down and I remember a Stearman fuselage use to sit behind that hangar. A Lear Jet was in the taxi-through hangar by the FBO. I never did eat at the restaurant that was a tad south of the field. May be the one you are talking about....but this was in the 80's.

Good times!

This was my hangar in Columbus, Ga when I got married...moved shortly afterwards. A CalAir A-4 is hanging from the ceiling...and the A-5 under the left wing of the Fairchild 24G...sorry, my wife snapped that shot! There is a PT-19 fuselage under the right wing I got from Ozark, Al when I started college there in 90'.
View attachment 8361648

Only have a minute, so I will come back to this. The gentleman with the Rearwin Cloudster was Col. Ed Hora, and he became a dear friend. He fought in the Navy during WWII, and became career Army after the war. The Cloudster was immaculate when he finished it. More when I have time to add.

 

[Bryan Austin]

I just looked at the Eufaula airport and everything there has changed...nothing is where it should be.

 

[vh20]

vh20,

I
View attachment 8361648

That hangar is righteous!! Love it.
Here’s Col Ed (who rebuilt the Rearwin), circa 2012 holding the M1 Garand he brought back home with him from the Battle of Peleliu:

The engine shop where your cylinder was rebuilt was run by Mac McCune, a grumpy old guy (unless he liked you), who flew for the State flying Govs Folsom and Wallace before retiring and opening the shop.

All the folks from Prattville and Wetumpka were part of the same “family” (EAA Chapter 822) and hung out/flew together all the time. I know William Hobbie had a Call Air at Prattville at one point, don’t know which model, so might not have been yours.

The Stinson 10A, as I recall, sat in the grass across the taxiway from your hangar. The restaurant you have labeled was there, but never open when I was there. We went to the Sunday buffet at Eufaula State Park, operated by the State Parks. They had a shuttle to the airport. It was about a 5 minute ride.

I should add that most of your experiences pre-date mine just a little bit. I came on the scene around ‘93.

 

[Bryan Austin]

Small world!!

Yeap, Hobbie had a place east and another crashed CalAir was in the hog pond. I have photos somewhere of my dad digging out some parts.

The 10A must have been after we left.

Here are some photos of the Cloudster.

1980

1983

1991

 

[Bryan Austin]

Playing with the Cub, Prattville 1987

 

[vh20]

I was wondering if you ever got to see it finished. I’m glad you did (there’s only 5 left). I was going to see if I have a pic of it somewhere but not sure I do. That’s a vintage Porsche 911 under the cover on the right. I helped him with some issues he was having with it near the end of his life (helped, meaning crawling into tiny spaces he couldn’t reach anymore).

So, the biplane in your post about the foggy flight has been bugging me. Definitely not one of the usual suspects. Maybe one of the many variants of the Waco 10 series??

 

[vh20]

Is that Gentry Smith pumping the gas, or you?

 

[Bryan Austin]

My cousin snapped the photo of me pumping gas. She took several rolls of film of me flying that day. They lived there in Prattville. With no cell phones, I used to fly over their house and put my shadow over the kitchen window to let them know I was in town!
Yeap, the WACO was purchased from SC as a duster, moved to Georgia/Alabama. Originally a 1928 Hispano-Suiza powered DSO, then to an ASO (Wright J-5). Although still registered as an ASO, it has the 220 Continental engine which should make it a USO! Currently being restored in NC.

U - Continental
S - Straight Wing
O- Open cockpit

 

[vh20]

In that picture you look remarkably like the current FBO operator at 1A9 (Prattville) who also runs his own aerial application business with a couple of Air Tractors.

I knew your engine was a W-670, but I don't know all the myriad letter combinations for WACO models. I did narrow it down to the Model 10 Series (I believe that is correct, because the original configuration you stated of "DSO" is part of that series). In any case it is a rare treat. There aren't even that many UPF-7s around anymore, but there have to be a lot more of them than yours. - I've never seen one like it. Thanks for sharing it. Are you doing the restoration?

 

[vh20]

My hangar at Wetumpka, probably around 2012. Lots of "stuff" stuffed in there. For example, there's 4 complete (but disassembled) Continental A-65s under the bench in the background.

 

[Bryan Austin]

Yes, it is a descendent of the Model 10.

To include the WACO NAZ primary gliders, there were probably close to 6,000 WACO's built of all models. I did some research, the best I could, and came up with the following results:


I became interested in the Cessna Prototypes because I noticed a pattern with the prototype N41XXX n numbers and 6XX serial numbers. Starting with the Cessna 140/120, I also did some Cessna X Models, (prototypes) here:

 

[vh20]

Cool!

 

[sandwarrior]

So, I hate to ruin a good time. But, thought I’d ask some of you who spent time in a PC-12. This is regarding the N273SM crash near Stagecoach NV. At first report the aircraft took off out of Reno in misty/ freezing/near freezing rain. It then proceeded south then east. At 2114 hrs. it suddenly dropped from FL190 down to FL111 where it was last recorded on ADS-B. Moments later it impacted terrain in a flat attitude (as would be how rescuers found it). My question to anyone who spent time in a PC-12 is how bad are the stall charcterisics really? The reason I ask is because. The. A/C seems to have a near bulletproof rep in icing. However, last month I watched a Juan Brown (Blancolirio) video showing an absolutely nasty stall characteristic. Like dumping the left wing then recovering -10,000 ft. later. Any chance icing in this case exacerbated this?

Edt: added there was known icing at FL190 where the aircraft was at.

 

[tnichols]

On a 2 day overnight in DSM. Told the boy to fly down and we would go out and work on some instrument approaches in the area. He arrived at 1130ish, took him to my favorite burger joint, then knocked out an RNAV GPS at IKV, straight up VOR at TNU, then, vectors for the ILS 13 back into DSM. Fueled him up and sent him home. Good practice in a different/busy environment. My daily driver in the background of the pic.

 

[tnichols]

So, I hate to ruin a good time. But, thought I’d ask some of you who spent time in a PC-12. This is regarding the N273SM crash near Stagecoach NV. At first report the aircraft took off out of Reno in misty/ freezing/near freezing rain. It then proceeded south then east. At 2114 hrs. it suddenly dropped from FL190 down to FL111 where it was last recorded on ADS-B. Moments later it impacted terrain in a flat attitude (as would be how rescuers found it). My question to anyone who spent time in a PC-12 is how bad are the stall charcterisics really? The reason I ask is because. The. A/C seems to have a near bulletproof rep in icing. However, last month I watched a Juan Brown (Blancolirio) video showing an absolutely nasty stall characteristic. Like dumping the left wing then recovering -10,000 ft. later. Any chance icing in this case exacerbated this?

Edt: added there was known icing at FL190 where the aircraft was at.

Impacting flat I’m guessing a stall/spin that went into a flat. Saw Juan’s video as well referencing the stall characteristic with the stick shaker/pusher off. Was surprised at the nasty stall entry for a fat winged aircraft. Some aircraft (typically swept wing types) take a ton of altitude to get separated air flow reattached back over the wing. Recent Beechjet coming out of MX in GJT come to mind.

 

[sandwarrior]

On a 2 day overnight in DSM. Told the boy to fly down and we would go out and work on some instrument approaches in the area. He arrived at 1130ish, took him to my favorite burger joint, then knocked out an RNAV GPS at IKV, straight up VOR at TNU, then, vectors for the ILS 13 back into DSM. Fueled him up and sent him home. Good practice in a different/busy environment. My daily driver in the background of the pic.
View attachment 8366702

Bomardier Challenger 6-Oh-what?

 

[lou400a]

Bomardier Challenger 6-Oh-what?

Looks like a 300

 

[tnichols]

Looks like a 300

Correct. 325 to be exact. Bombardier speak for a 300 with 350 avionics. Only 40ish made.

 

[Maciej]

Was out in Germany last week test flying my new Extra NG just as it came out of production, absolute beast compared to my old Extra 300.

 

[_Windrider_]

Was out in Germany last week test flying my new Extra NG just as it came out of production, absolute beast compared to my old Extra 300.

View attachment 8387580

View attachment 8387582

Very noce

 

[Bryan Austin]

What goes on in North Carolina, stays in North Carolina!

March 31st, 2024

 

[_Windrider_]

What goes on in North Carolina, stays in North Carolina!

March 31st, 2024

10 tanker comin in hot

 

[HPIguy]

What goes on in North Carolina, stays in North Carolina!

March 31st, 2024

Yep, some odd accidents and last weekend's winds caused a few fires in our area.

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

My very first instructor related this to me while we were flying one day. “Better to be down there, wishing you were up here, than up here wishing you were down there.”

 

[tnichols]

Boy completed his Instrument rating May22. Blustery day (290@19g24) but did fine according to the DE. Tailwheel endorsement and Commercial is next.

 

[jmp1]

Boy completed his Instrument rating May22. Blustery day (290@19g24) but did fine according to the DE. Tailwheel endorsement and Commercial is next.
View attachment 8429808

Congratulations to him!! No easy task.