It has been a busy summer and I finally got around to posting about the new acquisition/restoration project. My brother and I purchased the C-195 that used to be in the family. Our family had it from 1964-1979. Mom sold it and almost all the other airplanes after Dad died in a C-170 crash. My brother had hundreds of hours in it, as did I. It was the family truck/camper/cross-country machine. My first flight was in this airplane as a two month old baby. I went to OSH in it.
It was in an accident in PA in May 2012. My brother stumbled across the news doing a N-number google search of the airplane, just to see if there were any pictures to drool over. (I have done that now and again myself and sent the links on to my brother with the teaser, "we should buy it.")
We immediately contacted the owner, who said wasn't going to repair the airplane, and he put us in contact with the insurance company. After a bit of research, determining the ship was rebuildable, we did the deal.
A friend did the recovery and brought the airplane back to Oregon last month. Along the way he picked up some spares we will need. Tom is our hero.
It was really neat to see this airplane as it was from my youth. Our dad had it painted the current paint scheme when we moved to the West Coast. He did not want to polish it anymore. The interior was the same as I remember. I recall my dad landing in the grass between the runway and taxiway at Pt. Angeles, WA and a rock was kicked back by the tire and dinged the horizontal stab. When it got here I looked at the horiz stab, and the ding was right there.
It is a huge project, no question about it, but doable. I have it stored in my hangar and have been tearing it apart to examine all the fuselage damage so we can figure out what we will do ourselves and what we will farm out. We have picked up some replacement parts already and are on the lookout for some tail feathers and a left wing tip.
I told my brother at the onset that this is definitely not the cheap way to get into a 195, he said it is part of our family history and how do you argue with that. It is a full circle thing. We are committed.
Besides, I don't have to google search any more to see the airplane that I really loved, now I just go out to the hangar.

http://www.backcountrypilot.org/gallery ... pos=-16204
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http://www.backcountrypilot.org/gallery ... pos=-16205
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Very cool! I've always loved 195s. Good luck on the project.

Great project! Your Father would be happy it's back in the family.

Great story Dogsbody. I just attended the C195 fly in at Frankfort, KY late last month. Lots of eye candy and motivation. My friend was the club organizer for this years fly in. It was a good place to view all the airplanes without all the other issues that come with a big fly in. Met a lot of interesting folks that have owned their C195 for decades. Loyal bunch.

That's just awesome! I've always thought that if I show up somewhere, sometime in a 195, I will have "arrived".

Pretty cool, D. Maybe I will stop in next time I'm near your hangar to take a peek.

Sorry to hear that backstory on your dad...

Dogsbody, Hey I live on the other side of the little rocks on the dry side
Will be home in Jan. I happen to have both wing tips, ailerons and a few other left over parts.
I got rid of most of them when I traded N1LE for the Broussard.
PM me some time and we'll talk 195's
Good onya for going back to the future with your dads bird.
I have an M4 that my Dad wrecked and I'm going to use a couple of parts just to say I did.
GT
PS if you look in my gallery you can see that about all that's left is the wing tips and tail feathers, I still havem

Very cool, Dave. I esp like photo #2 from back in the day, with the trusty C120 standing by. You're kind f cornering the market on nostagia. You flying Ken's old J5 much these days?

Eric from PT

That's awesome

Congratulations on getting that 195 back!

Had a chance to look over a 195 undergoing repair/restoration with it's interior removed a few years back. Amazing how much structure, the number of rivets, and how many man hours must have been invested in building it. While nowhere near as much time and love as went into a Staggerwing, it's still good to appreciate the many skilled craftsman who invested so much of their lives and took pride in building those planes . . . and sad to think all but a few have passed on . . .


bumper

Very cool ....
Congratulations on getting your family airplane back!
Sorry for the loss of your dad.....
Dads are (obviously and completely) irreplaceable.

Thanks for sharing,
lc

Very cool!

Thanks all for the nice words. The whole family, flying and non-flying is into helping get the ship back in the air. My one sister told little Seb (our nephew) about it and he said HE wants to fly Grandpa's airplane when he grows up. I took Seb for his first GA flight in the C-140 on his 4th birthday, the same age I was when I first flew in it with my dad.
My brother and I have said from the beginning that it belongs to everyone in the family.

It was strange to see the POH with my dad's handwriting all over it, and his notes inside the various chapters. It left me thinking he was still flying in it all these years later. It may have belonged to someone else, but he was still part of it.

Whee and Crazy Canuck- thanks for the encouragement

Kevin- my dad was in the 195 Club back in the day, I wonder how many of his generation are still flying, they'd be 60-80 y.o.'s

Mepps1- I don't know about arriving, I'm just trying not to get run over with this project.

ZZZ- she is spread out between my hangars at Lenhardt's and my garage. Let me know when you are around.

GT- PM sent! I have followed you 195 exploits as has my brother.

Eric- Still flying the C-140. Still flying the J-5. She runs like a top. Just flew her the other day with my 14 month old son. It will go away at some point just to keep the peace. Nostalgia should be a controlled substance! It's expensive.
If you are ever down this way let me know.

SoyAnarchisto- thanks.

Bumper- You mention the Staggerwing as being a true piece of craft. I have worked on a C-Model and an E-model, they are beautiful inside and out. I guess my dad thought the same thing, as we also had an ex-USN D-17S, N9405H. I remember flying in that as well. I also remember when my dad punched the fabric on the wings with a tester and it punched in the RED- bummer! That grounded it. It was going to be Dad's retirement project.
I am convinced there is an alchemy of sorts when you combine a round engine, a biplane, dope and fabric, old leather, and class. N9405H is now in England. I have been in communication with 2 of the last 3 owners. An acquaintance who flies in England is going to visit Great Oakley, where it is based, to see if he can get a few pictures of her.


LC- thanks. You can't replace a DAD!

58 Skylane- thanks

It post updates as the work progresses. Right now I am cleaning up and organizing my shop. Then the fun will start.

Cheers,
Dave