Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Here is a picture of N18GR taken back in around 1978 at a little T-18 fly-in at Yolo County airport (KDWA). N18GR did not yet have its burgundy stripes, and still had the original O-320 engine and the original cowling, also sans gear fairings and wheel pants. Bill Cordoza's N18BC is right next to it, and there are some now vintage other T-18s, none of which I recognize. Perhaps some of the old timers know who they were, or some of the new-timers with the "vintage" T-18s (like me) will recognize them?

There are a lot of changes at Yolo County airport too since this picture was taken. Where the airplanes are parked there are now big hangars, and the sparse line of trees way in the background now have a thick line of a lot more and bigger trees. They never let the brown grass and weeds get that high anymore either.

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Dave M
Sacramento
ex-T-18 owner

That photo was taken at my going away party in 1980. I was finishing my tour in C-5A's at Travis and going back to Vance AFB, OK for a tour in T-37s. Let me see if I can name each of the planes/pilots from left to right----Gar Root, Bill Cordoza, John Purvis, Ed kempke, me (Gary Green), unknown, Paul Kellas, unknown (had Ken Knowles old plane).
As I recall, there were 16 T-18s at that event. Not all got in that photo.
That was one of only two years since 1974 that I did not make Oshkosh. The other was '99 when I busted my heel. I think this event was late July or early August because I packed up for the move to Oklahoma in August of '80 and the move conflicted with the Oshkosh dates. I did not want to delay the move----I was anxious to get the hell out of California and away from Fat Albert.

Gary Green

Thanks Gary,
I know Bill knew some of the planes, but not all, and he couldn't remember the specific year or occasion.

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Dave M
Sacramento
ex-T-18 owner

I think that Thorp on the far right in the picture may be my Thorp (N6CM), which is currently based at KAJO. The prop and spinner appear to be missing in the picture. And the log book notes a spinner problem and cowling damage early on in its flying life. Gary, do you remember what color that T-18 was? Was it bright blue with white paint with gold stripes and a bird painted on the cowling.

Brent Schultz
N6CM
KAJO

Brent; That is correct. That is N6CM which was Cliff Matthews Thorp. Cliff & John Purvis finished their planes shortly before I finished mine. Both were excellent planes. Bill and Gar finished theirs a year or two earlier. All were completed during the 3 yrs I was at Travis----August '77 thru August '80. Thorps were thick in California back then. I flew Cliff's with him once and pissed him off when I rolled it. I think it was the first time he had ever been upside down in an airplane. It was very light and responsive with a mouse motor. The plane in the photo with Paul Kellas may be the one Paul built himself or it may be the one that a retired pharmacist whose name escapes me built and Paul later purchased. Help me out here, Bill Cordoza.

GG

Thanks for the info on N6CM Gary. My Brother and I purchased the AC about 10 years ago. Other than topping the cylinders, new slick mags and carb rebuild I bet you could not tell the difference in N6CM if you saw her today. What kind of guy was Mr. Mattews. Don't know much about him other than what we see in the the logs. He did a nice job on the construction. We fly N6CM every Saturday at KAJO. I laughed when I saw you rolled her. We do that all the time. N6CM just loves to roll, bank and zoom around. We have given many rides and pilots are always impresses with the flight characteristics and speed of the AC. Do you know who built the engine. As far as we can tell it is the same engine that Cliff installed. Does not burn much oil and we are passing through 1000 hours on engine and AC. In short, we love our Thorp. I don't think we will ever sell her. Too much emotional attachment......you know!!!! I would love to meet you sometime. Trying to get my. brother to fly both our thorps to Oshkosh this year.

Take care and happy landing!!!

Brent Schultz

Brent; Bill Cordoza could give you more accurate history on Cliff. But as I recall, he crewed on PBY-5A's during WWII. He made his career with the state of California and I think he was the top game warden in northern California. Cliff was trim, fit and friendly with a lot of common sense. I don't know how he survived the moronic bureaucrats infesting California. He and Leah retired about the time I left California and moved Mokolame Hill (that may not be spelled right) in the gold country southeast of Sacremento. Last I heard, Cliff was in poor health. He may no longer be with us. There was an old timer in Sacramento that was an engine expert that built up the 0-290 in Cliff's plane. I think he built the engine in John Purvis's plane also. That was a very high quality plane when it was new. The panel may be somewhat dated now due to the heavy old surplus avionics and instruments common in homebuilts in the '70's.

When u grab the prop and turn it when hot it has very little friction or compression. My brother thinks the crank alignment in the case and main bearings were done well. We still get plus 70 psi on annuals. It really likes it at 2350 or 2450. Most people don't believe us, but it does go 160 to 170 mph at those rpm settings. And that is all grossed up with my brother and I. It weighs around 900 empty and is pretty straight. We do need to refurbish the interior a bit, which is in the works we have new articulating seats ready to be put in the AC. We will get to it after our new 180 Lycoming Thorp gets done and flying.

Brent Schultz

Got a hold of Bill Cordoza. He did the first flight in my Thorp (N6CM) on June 15, 1978. He said he also checked out the owner Cliff Matthews. Told me the whole history of the build of he AC including who did the 0-290GPU rebuild, which has been a mystery until now. Thanks for the referral Gary Green. Bill also talked alot about you, Gary, and said to get you to tell about your spin recovery you had in a wide body Thorp. It sounded like you, Bill and other T-18 owners had a lot of fun back in the day. Anyway, thanks again for the contact name.

Brent Schultz
N6CM