Q-talk 59 - Sep/Oct 1996 - index

Details

Category: Q-Talk Index

Published: Thursday, 31 October 1996 06:11

Written by Tom Moore

Hits: 2710

	SEP/OCT 1996 ISSUE NUMBER 59
QUICKIE BUILDERS ASSOCIATION

6TH ANNUAL CAROUSING INNA CORNFIELD (a.k.a. Ottawa '96)

by Jim Masal

You coulda seen bedda wedaa, but then it's been a lot worse! Viz was relentlessly poopy (wicked haze), but the sun was out both days of our event with no TRW's. The field looked good with its fresh "haircut" and eager to accommodate the 19 showplanes, smattering of spamcans and the over 100 participants. And, BOY, did we get an interesting variation among the showplanes. To wit:

You won't ever see 9 Dragonflys at OSH or Sun 'N Fun nor 3 Quickies either. Two of the Quickies, by Welsh and Crouch, were a real treat for the eyes. We've already extolled Terry Crouch's workmanship ad nauseam, so it was great to see yet another fine piece of work in N494K. Both of these guys (in fact all 3 Quickies) were running Onan powerplants. Keith is utilizing essentially a newer "Performer Series" Onan P220, which was designed from the get-go as a 20 hp motor, unlike the kit supplied engines. Keith says the internal components of the performer series are beefier and may prove to be more durable. Keith and Terry both flew in together and reported that the aircraft are virtually equal in performance. Keith has the original GU canard while Terry is one of the few with the LS spars. Keith noted that his plane suffered in rain until he added some commercially available plastic vortex generators with which he is very happy. He didn't apply quite as many as factory required.

Engine lovers had a lot to see. Note that there was an actual Q-2 in from Montana as well as other Revmasters in the Dragonflys. Several HAPI's and a Limbach rounded out the VW clones. Reg Clarke brought his Subaru bird in from Canada. I always say about alternative engines, "put it in an airplane and get a hundred hours on it and THEN I'll get interested but not before". Look at his hours. He's got me interested now. Spurling had an interesting installation of a 110 hp Hirth in a Q-2. This engine wasn't fully broken in but he was very satisfied with it and the 95 hp Hirth that he operated prior to this engine. There is plenty of room left under the cowl with the Hirth installation with another bonus: it weighs 100 lbs less than the Continental.

Missing on the flightline this year was "Calamity Joe" Hardy who usually "entertains" us with some stroke of bad luck (he'd gotten that done a couple months earlier by thumping his Q-200 over at the finish of a road landing at home in Colorado ... after shedding a prop blade).

Fear not however for we did have a couple of contenders for what we may have to call "The Howard Hardy Black Cloud Award". Ernest Martin had a fender-bender on arrival from N.C. Martin's wife reported that hubby made a nice landing in the TriQ until she noticed the nose going much lower than normal. Turns out the nose wheel sheared off at the end of the gear leg. The three prong bird skidded to a straight stop while making some nice toothpicks out of a very $$$$$ German-made, electric, controllable pitch prop (Ouch! even my wallet winced).

And then there was a hot landing by a Mark II Dragonfly which floated a while then ran off the end of the 4,000 ft. runway. It was slowing fast in the grass when a ditch loomed, the pilot kicked hard left and the side loading collapsed the right gear leg as the plane skidded to a sudden stop.

No injuries either time and surprisingly little collateral damage to either airplane. The Dragonfly was home the day after Labor Day while Martin expected to take a couple weeks to round up parts. It's a good thing we have this uncontrolled field all to ourselves. Another good reason to be in Ottawa.

Also missing on the flightline was Robert Bound's sissy pink Quickie. He brought a beautiful replacement (I mean besides his wife Deb, who hasn't been able to come before) ... his recently completed VARI EZ. Nope, not a Long EZ.

Almost missing was Fisher who snapped a tailspring attempting to leave home but who, due to the wonders of fiberglass & epoxy, was able to repair it overnight and arrive early Saturday. The repair was wrapped over with duct tape, causing a number of snide remarks.

Remember my editorial about single data point thinking? We now have a couple more negative data points on the mix-it-in-your-chili-and-eat-it System 3 paint process. Jerry Marstall who was very high on the process last year is having a lot of trouble with it now. He reports trouble getting the stuff to stick if he sprays it on a vertical surface and is experiencing some clumping. Spud has talked to a couple of other unsatisfied users. Marstall has talked to the manufacturer without a solution yet. I think it's time to back off and do some more detailed investigation before committing to this product. To be sure, there are many satisfied users, but something isn't right and we ought to know what it is before committing bucks.

Alan Thayer is still consulting with an experienced engineer who plans to use graphite rods from Aircraft Spruce in a hand lay-up spar on his Q-1. If successful, the scheme should be functional for the Q-200 as well. More later.

For a variety of reasons the hardcore leaders of last years' "Wives Revolt" did not appear at Ottawa. Consequently, after the ladies' van left for a Kansas City shopping junket on Saturday, nobody commandeered the bus and re-scheduled the route as last year. And nobody hogged time at the banquet podium to take gentle swipes at fragile male egos. Whew!

Spud got a little torqued at the University food service contractors last year, and so the banquet was moved to the Ottawa Country Club. A nice move indeed. The atmosphere was cozier and these people were all over us with service. For starters, we had a cash bar. If you are one who imbibes, boy was it nice to come inside after a long, busy day outside and have a cold beer with friends before dinner! And the staff laid out a nice array of pre-dinner munchies to nibble while we cooled down our jets.

Dinner was excellent: ham steak, chicken, two kinds of potatoes, corn, salads, etc.; all tasted fresh and home made ... worthy of a repeat performance.

We lollygagged around eating and talking so long that it was nearly 10 p.m. before we started the program. But we got through the introductions, awards, a pile of door prizes and "The Steward Family Gag Awards" in a little over an hour. That also included some discussion (again) about changing the date of this meet or even moving the site to the Cooperstate Fly-In near Phoenix in mid-October (consensus was that it's fine as is. While that doesn't please everyone, it doesn't seem to be killing our turnout ... 89 adults at the banquet).

An awards panel of 36 judges representing 16 nations deliberated for 3 hours 18.66 seconds to present award plaques as follows:

Best Overall Q2/200 ..... Bob Malechek, TX

Best Q2/200 Cockpit ..... Spurling, OH

Best Overall Quickie .... Keith Welsh, IL

Highest Time Aircraft ... Malechek, 800+ hrs.

Longest Distance ........ Dave Hudak, MT

And get this, the highest timer of all 19 aircraft was 1200 hours in a clipped wing, O-200 powered, Dragonfly with a bow-style landing gear built by Gene Arthur of Brownwood, Texas.

After a ridership slump last year, Spud Spornitz reorganized, resulting in a load of rides given this year. Malechek and Hildebrand really lit up some faces. Participants who sought rides this year were asked to purchase fuel coupons (chits) at $1 each. These they would distribute at their own discretion to the pilots in order to defray the cost of giving rides. This worked well, some folks even passing out chits without rides just to thank pilots for bringing their planes.

Don and Debbie Stewart were on hand for the third year to professionally videotape this event. If you weren't there (and even if you were), you should strongly consider purchasing this reasonably priced tape. It's several hours long and will give you face time with the names you read in Q-TALK. And then the flight sequences are inspirational too. Don's a Dragonfly builder, and he's so busy all over the event taping it that even he has to view a tape himself to enjoy the show.

OTTAWA 1996

(Notes: ENG/HP = engine type and horsepower, REV=Revmaster, LIMB=Limbach, E WT = empty weight, CRUZ=usual cruise speed, TT=total time as of show, YEAR=when acft first flew)

RENEW FOR 1997

U.S. RATE = $20

CANADA RATE = $22

OVERSEAS RATE = $26

Make checks payable to the: QUICKIE BUILDERS ASSOCIATION

Other Articles In This Issue

You can order a PDF or printed copy of Q-talk #59 by using the Q-talk Back Issue Order Page.

• Prev
• Next