Cape Girardeau

Glad your OK Kim ,man I feel for those people under water like that . Did I miss something ? You have a life size airplane? getback

Man.. that's reminiscent of the New Orleans/Hurricane Katrina flood of 10 years ago.. terrible. Glad you're OK Kim.

Looks like Cape has crested. Cairo is cresting. We're expecting KY and Barkley Lake to rise another 5 feet as they hold water out of the Ohio until the crest moves farther downstream. KY Dam was dumping 300,000 cubic feet per second earlier last week in anticipation of holding water for the next 7 to 10 days.

andrew wrote:Looks like Cape has crested.  Cairo is cresting.  We're expecting KY and Barkley Lake to rise another 5 feet as they hold water out of the Ohio until the crest moves farther downstream.  KY Dam was dumping 300,000 cubic feet per second earlier last week in anticipation of holding water for the next 7 to 10 days.

Yeah, got myself an open day today, so probably gonna head over toward Cairo to see if I can get into my hangar (the door lock was messed up, and was supposed to get fixed Saturday) and maybe get a plan if things go bad.  The threat is still real after the Olive Branch levee breach, though it DID give some relief to the one surrounding Cairo's airport.
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by roddie on Sun Jan 03, 2016 11:33 am
Man.. that's reminiscent of the New Orleans/Hurricane Katrina flood of 10 years ago.. terrible. Glad you're OK Kim.

Hey Roddie, thanks...I've got it easy compared to some of my buds, with no threat to my home or property other than the hangar I rent at Cairo.

The floods are bad, but we were spared the violent weather of Katrina, and just had to deal with the high water, which is somewhat a way of life for those living on flood plains.  It's a 'slow-motion' disaster, compared with the tornadoes we dodge, with people watching the levels and hoping the levees hold.  I've got several friend whose properties are on surrounded high ground and are holed-up, waiting for the waters to drop.
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by getback on Sun Jan 03, 2016 9:42 am
Glad your OK Kim ,man I feel for those people under water like that . Did I miss something ? You have a life size airplane? getback

Hey Eric!

Yeah, in 1985, right on the heels of my first divorce, my fellow R/C bud, Al Painton sold me his Grega/Pietenpol Aircamper.  It came to be called Ole Yeller, and next to my beloved Sportster is my most cherished possession.



Just a few years previous, I'd latently discovered the books and stories by Richard Bach, and immediately set about to have my own similar adventures with my little yellow plane.  It turned out to be the only thing I ever tried that came out WAY better than I'd even imagined.  In those days before our country was lost to the muslims in the 9-11 attacks, I free-ranged across my country, and met more great people than I can remember.







The front cockpit was loaded with tent and camping gear, with no flight plan, and often no real idea of a destination, decided only when the fuel tank's level called for it.

We've flown into Oshkosh 4 or 5 times, along with yearly summer pilgrimages to the Pietenpol reunions at Brodhead, Wisconsin.  The reunions were great for a 're-charge of the spirit' that every slightly weird person needs to continue with the stuff they love....and Ole Yeller and me flew hundreds of passenger rides for 'similar minds' over the years.














My longest planned cross-country was my flight to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in 1990.  I camped there for only two days, and got to meet Cole Palen, but had to hoof it back home early because bad weather delays (three day's worth) had used up my vacation time.  I highly regret now that I didn't just stay longer and deal with the problems of getting back to my job later on.

I missed the weekend show, but got to see Cole Palen and his pilots do some flying for a TV Magazine crew, and got to talk to him as he rigged some exploding flour packs for the flights.
















It's now waiting for some engine work, and me to get in the mood to have it done.  Hope to have everything going this Spring.



Sorry for the gushing...you caught me with a full coffee pot and time on my hands...

Man.. you sure know how to live Kim! I'm glad you had that full pot of coffee.. because I really enjoyed the reading and photos. Thanks for sharing.. and best of luck!

roddie wrote:Man.. you sure know how to live Kim! I'm glad you had that full pot of coffee.. because I really enjoyed the reading and photos. Thanks for sharing.. and best of luck!

Thank you Roddie...I AM one lucky sucker...

Thanks Kim , Man that's one nice looking plane and a great story to go with it , nothing like reliving the good ole days when things seemed so much simpler and hearing the way you live brings that out in me . Thanks , Eric

Great pics, Kim. I like your style of flying. Take a handful of maps, pick a general direction and fly until the fuel runs low. Although this country has seen its share of troubles over the years, the folks you meet in grassroots America remain good, decent people that are a joy to run across. You need to get that old girl back up on her legs and head out on other adventures. Your new found semi-retirement affords a little more time and should you ever decide to cross the river and head east, we've got an excellent airport and I've got a bed, board and a beer waiting for you.

Looks like the river levels are stabilizing -- if the levees continue to hold, maybe we'll escape some of the devastation of the 2011 flood.

andrew

I'll take you up on it Andrew!

One of the hindrances (beside some health situations) has been getting a stash of cash put back, so that the deal can be bankrolled on through once I start.

I'll be turning 62 here before long, and have decided to just go ahead and start drawing Social Security. I'm PRETTY sure I won't be going full time at the airport again, though there are worse things that could happen, and I'll still have a buffer of $15k I could earn without getting clobbered, so...

A long time ago, I used to make a yearly fly-in to a field south of Murray, Kentucky, hosted by a guy named Brandon. Figure he passed by now, but seemed to enjoy himself collecting all kinds of antique airplanes and cars.

Anyway, we'll see...

Howard Brandon is alive and well and still occasionally flys. Our club field is adjacent to his grass strip. If you have Google Earth, you can see our strip. They've updated the flyover pics, but the previous pic on 9/13/2013 actually shows a model on the ground.

I bought a set of full scale plans and have a good start on a 'Pete' RC model. It has cable runs with pulleys for everything just like the 'real' one! The AMA/FAA debacle has me not wanting to commit any more time on these bigger RC models, though. It doesn't look good. I do like yours and just might 'copy' the colors and 'N' numbers and turn it into a scale CL model!

ARUP wrote:I bought a set of full scale plans and have a good start on a 'Pete' RC model. It has cable runs with pulleys for everything just like the 'real' one! The AMA/FAA debacle has me not wanting to commit any more time on these bigger RC models, though.  It doesn't look good. I do like yours and just might 'copy' the colors and 'N' numbers and turn it into a scale CL model!

Man, I hate that you won't finish it up R/C just because of those losers, but DO understand.  It'd be an honor to have Ole Yeller modeled either R/C or C/L, let me know if you need some photos for documentation.

One thing though, my plane is not a true Pietenpol, even though I call it that when I'm NOT at the reunion.  It's a Grega GN-1.  In the early 1960's, a guy named John Grega took the Piet design and changed it's dimensions to accommodate off-the-shelf Piper Cub fittings and components.  The easiest give-away that it's a Grega is that the aft gear leg and aft wing strut do not meet at the same fitting.  I still have a ton of photos of real Piets if you could use them.

I didn't know all this when I bought the plane, but received a 'fairly powerful' education when I first hooked up with the Pietenpol folks.  There had been a LOT of bad blood (seems there ALWAYS has to be SOME kind of bad blood with everything) between the two groups for decades, and I really put my foot in it by calling my plane a 'Piet'.  

They came to tolerate myself and others, eventually, and even let me fly into Oshkosh with them for Pietenpol Anniversary flights.  

My plane was supposed to be inferior to the 'real thing' in just about every way, but I hauled some real bruisers that couldn't get a ride in the true Pietenpols.  We also played 'camera plane' for a lot of special flights, and even hauled a camera man with a big video camera for a German Documentary called 'Mein Amerika'...a segment of which, portrayed three Pietenpols and their pilots flying to Oshkosh.



The producer sent me a VHS copy of the 'documentary' which I've considered trying to copy to You Tube...don't know if I'll get bounced again for copyright infringement...

Kim-You're Grega GN-1 is a sweet looking bird. Love the Piet and Cub combo....classic! Thanks for posting all the great images.

Glad to see your place was spared from the worst of the flooding. We sure need the rain here in California and finally getting some this week.

Best,
Tony

Yes... the pics are as neat as the story! I think I have some EAA publications with GN-1 specs(?) Here are a couple of pics of the model. I can remove them and the associated text if they not with the theme of the thread. One shows basic fuselage. Its structural components are in scale locations as much as practical. The wing has compression struts and is 'trammeled' for alignment as per the full scale plans I purchased. You can almost see the cable guide pulleys. I used Proctor Enterprise parts.

andrew wrote:Howard Brandon is alive and well and still occasionally flys.  Our club field is adjacent to his grass strip.  If you have Google Earth, you can see our strip.  They've updated the flyover pics, but the previous pic on 9/13/2013 actually shows a model on the ground.

Cool!  Thank you Andrew !  All those days seem so long ago that I'd just assumed he wasn't with us any more.  His Fly-Ins were some of my first forays out with my plane, as I practiced chart and compass navigation.  

One of the modelers there even built a copy of my plane..think his name was Bob Arnold.  He'd offered to give me the model, but I was still in the aftermath of my divorce, with a lot of my stuff scattered, so I didn't take him up on his offer.  Wish now that I'd accepted it and found a place to store it.







Once we get some better weather, maybe I could load up the van and put in a flying session with you guys.

ARUP wrote:Yes... the pics are as neat as the story! I think I have some EAA publications with GN-1 specs(?) Here are a couple of pics of the model. I can remove them and the associated text if they not with the theme of the thread. One shows basic fuselage. Its structural components are in scale locations as much as practical. The wing has compression struts and is 'trammeled' for alignment as per the full scale plans I purchased. You can almost see the cable guide pulleys. I used Proctor Enterprise parts.

That's some beautiful work!!!!!!! Man, I hope you put a radio in that puppy!

I kinda took off with the Piet/Grega deal after crank's appreciated inquiry about the floods, so if it's OK with him, it's certainly good with me. I do love this stuff.

Been a great thread, love all the photos, glad I asked!!

ARUP wrote:Yes... the pics are as neat as the story! I think I have some EAA publications with GN-1 specs(?) Here are a couple of pics of the model. I can remove them and the associated text if they not with the theme of the thread. One shows basic fuselage. Its structural components are in scale locations as much as practical. The wing has compression struts and is 'trammeled' for alignment as per the full scale plans I purchased. You can almost see the cable guide pulleys. I used Proctor Enterprise parts.

Looks Good ARUP and please tell me what the wires in the wing is for ? getback

getback, the wires are attached to compression struts. They are called drag and antidrag wires. You tension the wires to keep spars in alignment or trammel the wings. Our models are small and overbuilt so this detail usually isn't needed and the ribs carry some of these loads. Full scale ribs usually don't offer much in the way of structural integrity on ragwings and are for shape only. I could be wrong but that is my understanding of their function.

Completely agree.  When the plane is flying, drag on the wing attempts to pull the wingtips backwards.  As ARUP pointed out, our wing structures are so overbuilt that we don't need to worry about lateral movement.  The compression struts are in place to keep the anti-drag wires from collapsing the wing, i.e., pulling the front and rear spars together.  The anti-drag wires form a triangle between the front spar, the compression strut and the rear spar, giving the wing stability in the horizontal plane, front to rear.  For most smaller aircraft, the ribs are either built up from 1/4" square stock or lightweight aluminum and have relatively little structural strength.

I've attached a pic of a Volksplane wing showing the three compression struts and anti-drag wire arrangement.

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