Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Well I just flew 2 hrs with the buyer of my aeronca chief. He did ok but tended to come in a bit slow and nose high and get higher sink rate going.

Finished the sale and paperwork and watched it take off and fly out of sight.

Very sad. My daughter and wife were crying and well my darn allergies must have been acting up as my eyes were watery too

So one chapter of my life ends which means a new chapter is about to begin.

Now I have to let my wife know I'm heavily leaning to buy S18 plans. And maybe some tools and see if I really want to take on the building of an airplane.

Congrats on selling the airplane. The next decision is a tough one. There's lots of advice here on whether to buy or build. Enjoy the process.

Terry

It's really a life issue. Whether or not taking on a building project or not will "fit" into our life.

Financially I would have to build...or wait until I can get into a financial position to buy an airplane. And if we outright bought an airplane it would probably be something like a Grummun Tiger, Mooney, or a Piper Comanche or some such factory spam can with 4 seats.

I've just always thought building a plane would be such a personal accomplishment and be really neat. and I've always liked the Thorps.

I certainly like the fact that there seems to be a really supportive and knowledgable network here for the Thorps. Which is a critical component if I'm seriously considering building.

I have one other possibility. I have a friend who has an old W8 Tailwind built in the early 1960's. He is an IA and he doesn't trust the wings simply because they are fully enclosed all wood wings with no realy way to inspect them. I might be able to pick that up cheap and build new wings or find a way to rotozip some inspection holes in the wings and figure out a way to neatly close them back up. Find an Continental O-200 or something and get it flying. Not the ideal thing but would get me up in the air with a reasonable airplane for reasonable price. And get at least a partial "build" under my belt.

One thing I know for sure. I won't build any "plastic" airplanes. Anytime I work with fiberglass etc it is a disaster mess for the most part. Although I might be willing to try a carbon fiber cowling etc on the Thorp to save some weight. Or have someone else build it for me.

So many things to think about.....

There are some 'accelerated' options. Jim Grahn has a mostly completed s-18 fuselage for sale at a good price. Last I knew Les Conwell had at least the inner wing section for an S-18. You might be able to put those together for not ' a lot' of money and be ahead of the process. Just some ideas to consider.

Terry

Howard Ginn has two "quick build" T-18s for sale. He'll also be selling his flying aluminum beauty one of these days soon. It's pretty fast with no paint and a John Thorp hopped up O-290 that puts out about 140hp. Elaine Ginn will soon be parting with her 160hp T-18, as well. I'll get all the info on each. Email me if you are interested.
Tony Ginn.
Tony.ginn@nasa.gov