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An Early Trip to Texas and a Unique Grass Seeding System
By Charlie Briggs
The year was 1946. The plane was small. The hour was early. The weather was good. The destination was Seminole, Texas. For me this was like going to another country. I looked it up on the map. It was 420 air miles. Going another direction we could have been going to Denver or Kansas City!
My father’s plane was a new Luscombe 8E. All metal and sturdy, it boasted a continental engine that purred along at a neat 100 miles per hour from the efforts of the 85 horses stored in the four dependable cylinders up front. No big appetite for fuel either, and using a miserly four gallons per hour at less than 30 cents per gallon, it was a real bargain in transportation.
The pre-flight was quite simple and took all of about five minutes. Check the controls, drain the sump, check the oil, make sure no owls made a nest under the cowl, and it basically was time to get cranking.
Tips From the Pros - December 2011
Aviators Helping Aviators
By Doug Combs
The Luscombe Endowment, Inc.
Those of us who own airplanes and fly them for recreation find the fleet is generally 30 to 70 years old. Few mechanics nowadays are familiar with these old birds, and many shops will turn away maintenance on these vintage airplanes unless that owner can provide the mechanic with reasonable technical data or parts support. This is where we find aviators helping aviators through organizations called “Type Clubs.”
Type clubs usually offer newsletters and shared owner/mechanic technical expertise. They often have rare or lost manuals needed for maintenance, or they have a tribal knowledge of problem areas in different “types” of vintage airplanes. Some have websites and blogs where one can access help in a timely fashion. A thorough listing of such organizations can be found at http://www.vintageaircraft.org/type/index.html.