Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Hello Thorp Nation
A new member here, I'd like to introduce myself as a prospective T-18A owner ( N955K, yah the one on Barnstormers).
At the same time, I'm asking if anyone of you in the Southeast area might agree to lending a hand with a pre-purchase inspection on Tuesday PM, June 6th at KACJ -Souther field/Jimmy Carter Regional just outside of Americas GA. ?
I am happy to offer paying for fuel, a decent Steak dinner, and some maple syrup, for the hour or so inspecting. Nothing formal or written needed, just the benefit of an experienced enthusiast is all that's being asked for.
The plane had a "hard landing" when the constant speed hub lost pressure, so the engine, prop and landing gear have been replaced. The owner did the gear and engine swap, but the new Sturba prop not yet installed, he's an A&P, he says the plane is straight and in good condition, so I need this airframe looked at by a neutral 3rd person.
My A&P is a good ways away (Vermont), so any nearby help much appreciated. I'll be putting it into a U-haul truck afterwards, if it checks out acceptably.
For anyone planning on Airventure, I have a lift in a 182 from Thursday till Sunday and really look forward to meeting some of you there.
You can PM me or post reply. Thanks
Elliot Coltin
514 944 7943

Elliot : There are several things you can do to help the process along . Go to the Forum and check out the Thorp Buyers Guide and the Thorp SDR list . Some important Guano in there ! Don't take anything or what anyone sez as gospel . I've seen several T-18's on this Forum that were A & P/IA "approved" and when the new owner got home it was a wonder how the thing flew !!

RB

Rich, thanks for the input, all noted, Buyer's Guide already printed. The newly overhauled o-320E2D has overhaul logs and the prop is still in the carton, so I can deal with auditing this.
My biggest concern, and hence my appeal for help from the Southeast community, is that the airframe is square, i.e. the geometry has not been compromised during its 40+ years. There are no flaps, so one thing less to verify and I know what loose connections can feel like. Join angles in the 3 dimensions/axis are another story...
I'll keep you posted, and hope one of you guys can give me a leg up.
Elliot

Sorry I'm so busy or I head over for you. Had you offered beer I might had considered. I already have 600lbs of steak in the freezers. I have family in Vt. still that produces syrup. You can't trust an A&P from Vt. anyway.

Regards,
Dana LaBounty A&P
Formerly of White River Jct. Vt.

I went to barnstormers and looked at the pictures. Maybe its just the lighting, but there is a picture of the passenger side of the airplane, and it looks like the skin is wavey near the firewall on the passenger side. From what you said, it may be from the hard landing.

Ok Dana, a 5th of Angels Envy , has been added for anyone from the Northeast Kingdom that shows up , call it "inducement".

Ryan has a good eye ! Pic #5 on BS does appear to show some "wrinkled skin on the right side fwd of the wing LE ? Difficult to tell from a pic and the shadows . First pic of a T-18 I've seen with no flaps .

RB

My grandfather was a dairy farmer from Albany Vt. Is that northeast kingdom enough? I would of settled for a couple 40's of Genesee or Utica Club. I really am sorry I'm so damned booked as I'm just over in central South Carolina.
D.L.

Elliot, I might be able to help. I built my T-18 almost 39 years ago (started it in ‘72) and am still flying it. That does not make me an expert on T-18 but I am an A&P with IA. I live in central SC and in our magic carpets it is probably less that two hours from hither to yon. My phone is 520 237 3373.
Steve Hawley

I'm glad Steve saw this. From what I saw when looking at his Thorp I would trust his opinion. D.L. Ashwood SC.

Steve, you are more than qualified, thanks for response, I'll call you to follow up and firm up. Some kinda relief here as you can imagine.

Ryan, good eye, one sheet of aluminum and 150 rivets were already on the job list. the waviness/wrinkling on the skin were from the hard landing, confirmed. Owner explained that he took a borascope up into the cavity and the bulkhead looked OK. Further, the firewall seems still straight/maintained integrity as owner said mounting/slipping the replacement landing gear into the firewall recess and bolting was easy with no drama.
I need to dig into this all, for sure, with a borascope if possible.

Dana, To me Northeast Kingdom is anything east of I-91, most importantly far from those damm tree hugger urbanites in Burlington!, so if you're liberal, Albany semi-qualifies...I'll look forward to seeing Steve's Thorp, thanks for input

Rich, thanks for taking a look and concurring with Ryan.

Took off yesterday, 06/05/18, and flew to Albany,GA, 209nm from my home field. Met the
prospective buyer who had to much luggage from a weight standpoint to fly safely so left two bags, 70 lb. At the FBO and then flew up to America’s, GA, about 38miles. The T18 was in many respects in need of much work. Both gear legs were bent back about 7 degrees, the deck and both side skins were wrinkled, the replacement cowl was in sad shape and i couldn’t see for sure that the mandatory mod on the antiservo had been accomplished, as well as the inner sleeve of the Stabilater spar. The engine installation was very good and there were no complaints there. The plane has not been modified to the lowered deck so the canopy is difficult to open and close. I had not seen one of the s with the high deck since Dick Cavin visited me in Skiatook, OK in 1980 and we flew in my new T-18 up to Kansas to visit his brother who had his high deck T-18 in his garage. The buyer decided that there was to much work on the project and not to buy. I flew him back to Albany and then home, arriving at 5:20. My average speed over the ground was about 175mph burning 8.3gph turning 2250rpm. The T-18 is truly a remarkable and economical machine!
Steve Hawley

You are a good man, Steve. What prop are you running now?
Cubes

I flew with a wood prop made by Bernie Warnke for about 25 years but it developed a crack in one of the laminations so I had to look for a new one. I chose a Sensenich Model 72FM8S516-1-82, serial number 39123. I bought it new from Sensenich in 2006 and chose metal because of all the rain I had flown and still do fly in. No worry with the metal! I really don’t understand all the numbers in the model but I think the 72 is the diameter in inches and the 82 is the pitch. When I first flew the plane I had a prop from Santa Monica Propeller that had been cut down and repitched. It was a 68”X86” and was to much for the 180hp. My favorite is still the wood one on my wall. By the way, Bernie flew FW-190s for Adolf back in the big one. He also learned to fly in a Bucker Jungman. He was a very good man.
Steve

Steve,

With interest, been monitoring this thread on 955K condition and have a man here in Texas interested in it and has asked me to fly to Americus to do a prebuy. In your expert opinion, how much work do you believe would require to get it back in the air?

The creases on each side of fwd deck is something I can address considering my experience with mine. In order to get a good result on getting rid of the wrinkles, engine will need to come off to get load of the fuselage.

Metal has a bad tendency of developing a memory and desire to return to their last known address and after working on it, will try to go home like a stray dog going home.

_________________
In CowTown USA,
Don D-Day
NX18DD