Q-talk 13 - LETTERS

CHECKING IN WITH THE HOME OFFICE

Most of you have been thoughtful in sending in brief reports on your progress (or lack thereof). This correspondence is very helpful to me in understanding you guys better, keeping me motivated too and giving me info on how to aim the content of this thing. A few of you are, however, pressing your luck by your lack of communication (ain't that right George Harris, Jerry Barker, Jerrell Cook, Mike Dohring, Joe Reindl and a few others to be named later. HAH! You didn't think I was REALLY paying attention, did you? Lemme hear from you guys, OK?) Here's what's been going on with some of our buddies:


I read with great interest about the Quickie builders gathering in Springfield, MO. I'll certainly plan to attend although N53BW is now hanging from the rafters of our garage awaiting more of my time and money - and probably a Rotax engine. I began building my Quickie in the Springfield area and knew of 3 others that were completed and flown along with mine. Now I see there are 5 Q-2's, so that area has spawned a lot of Quickie types - Eugene Word, MO.....I have my Quickie back in the air using the Kawasaki TA-440A engine package from AED. I'm seeing 135 mph IAS at 6,000 rpm. My Tri-Q with extended tips is at the proverbial 95% completion phase and should be flying some time "next month this year". - David Fulper, MS.....I bought a Q-1 last summer and am just now getting started building it. Can anyone give me any info on the Citroen engine or new canard QAC was experimenting with before their demise? - Dwight Brewer, IL (618) 667-2959.....I have made another move. Old #2531 has more miles being moved around than any other vehicle I know that doesn't have any wheels. It's very discouraging sometimes looking at all the work that is required to get this bird in the air, but, alas, just at the darkest hour, another issue of Q-TALK appears to fire me up with inspiring discussion and great pictures! - Larry Kehler, MO.....Tri-Q project progress has been slow the past year due mainly to pressure of work, but I now have a Limbach L2000 engine complete with mounting hardware so there's no excuse for getting on with it! The arrival of Q-TALK every 2 months is a great morale booster. - J. C. Simpson, England.....This henpecked husband, (I was once told by a car rebuilder that one gets a diet of cold shoulder and spiced tongue) took the suggestion of Bossy and we looked at airplanes which seated more than one. She picked out a Warrior and we are living more happily thus far. When we flew from Chicago to Kentucky for a wedding, she had time to have her hair done the morning of the wedding. You have no idea how important that can be to a woman and only flying allows such a privilege. - Bob Beaupre, IL.....I flew N29BD some 109 hours as a tail dragger then began conversion to the Tri-Q. I landed it as a conventional 300-400 times yet I never got the hang of it. Every now and then, for unknown reasons, a beautiful landing would occur. Most landings, however, gave no satisfaction, only relief. I'm a moderately high time pilot, but also coming up on 68 years of age. The Tri-Q retrofit will give me more margins for error. - Myrl K. Bailey, CA.....I am working on rebuilding a Corvair 140 hp engine. This can be a good powerplant for my Q-200 as it is the same weight as the 0-200. I'll see how it looks when I get done throwing money at it. I don't count the time as I enjoy working on it, besides, if we had to pay for our time it would be cheaper by far to buy a factory built. We only learn that AFTER we begin building a "kit" airplane - Bernie Pohl, NY.....My plane, N82YL has been in my garage for 2 years now. I was hoping to mount a Subaru engine but it fell through - too heavy, no electric start and no dealer help. I am now examining the 2-stroke, 122 hp Suzuki snowmobile engine that has been out 3 years now. I'll keep you posted - Steve Kuhns, KS.....I had to load test Brock McCaman's engine mount and firewall to 617 lbs load with a torque load at the same time of 56 lbs on a 2 ft. bar. And the little Quickie survived! Now I'm on my way to certification with the Rotax 503. It flies just like Brock said it would, "fast and eager to go". - Gordon Laubsch, South Australia.....You may remember I broke the canard on my first flight as a tail dragger. I rebuilt as a Tri-Q and now have 65 successful hours on N31BS. - B. J. Stark, FL.....I haven't been working too fast this year. I blame last summer's heat. Of course I'm not getting any younger and working all alone takes longer also. I found out that my chain saw got dull in a hurry sawing off the old wheel pants from my canard, but it's starting to look like a plane sitting there in my garage on its new tri-gear. I stopped off at EAA last summer on the first Saturday and liked to have burned up. I got myself so dehydrated I had to drink beer all night to get back in shape! - Dale Johnson, OH.....I was going to use a 4-cycle, 2 cylinder Citroen for my Quickie but it would only give me 25 hp. I don't feel this is enough power to fly off my 1700 ft. strip. My Quickie is in storage until I can afford a 2 cyl. 4 cycle that will give me an honest 30 hp. - Bill Rice, Canada.....I have been flying my Q-2 "The Cloudhopper" for 2 years now. I have only 90 hours on it and since I am not giving it the attention it truly deserves I am advertising it for sale. - Jim Loberger, FL.....I have 50 hrs. on my Q-2 but haven't flown much lately as the brakes want to grab one side or the other - makes a handful trying to keep it straight. I'm going to change to the system in the Sept-Oct newsletter. Otherwise, I'm having no problems - Les Robinson, IN.....Keep up the encouragement - David Smiley and I need it after redoing the brakes (times 3), wheel pants and axles - Jim Granzella, CA.....Am taking part of the bird with me to Japan in hopes of finishing by 2040. - Buzz Flye, Japan....I'm back working on my Quickie #1039 after building a new home to retire in. Without Q-TALK I would be lost. - W. E. Fisher, Canada.....My plane is as far as I can go without an engine; I'm still saving for that. - Bill Mueller, NE.....Thanks, Jim, for another great year of Q-TALK. Now go find your wife and tell her thanks from me for letting you use the time and energy to keep this thing going. I'll be waiting by my mailbox for #13 (Mary appreciated your comment. ED.) - Terry Crouch, IA.....Just a "quickie" note to let you know a friend and I flew to Iowa to visit Terry Crouch. He's probably still wiping saliva from his Quickie. Really looks nice. - Gene Comer, IN.....Keep up the good articles on engines for the Quickie. I'm anxiously awaiting an installation as trouble-free as possible before continuing on #516. - Bruce Voigts, IA.....The 503 Rotax conversions have rekindled my interest in finishing my project. Send me a membership list so I can contact some of these guys for more data - Ray Shapard, MD.....I have Quickie N45BT at home now and plan to do a complete inspection. It has been flying almost 9 years now and I have accumulated nearly 200 hours on the Konig. - Bill Thurman, TN.....My conversion to a Rotax 503 is almost complete, I still have to do the finish work on the cowling. I'll let you know the numbers after I've gotten some time in the plane. - Howard Hardy, CA.....Quickie #85 is still sitting in my garage, but neither it nor I are ready to go. I'll need a waiver to get my medical renewed (I'm taking a Beta blocker). - Adrian Weigart, CA.....Photos from the Wine 'N Cheese party were great, but next time avoid my profile -- it even scared me! - John Touchet, WI.....I spent 2 days in OKC in early December testifying at Dan Duncan's trial. There were about a dozen of us and we discussed forming a temporary EAA chapter then and there. The trial was not interesting and no fun, but the conversations among us "aggrieved" were great. The U. S. Attorney was very optimistic. They had 13 counts of mail fraud on him. Results should be known soon. - Jack Soules, OH.....It's taken 2 years since retirement to get all the "honey do's", traveling and excitement of my own C-150 over with. My shop should be reworked soon, THEN back to work on #2435. - Frank Wilcox, GA.....Good news, I got my plane on its feet this fall! Looks good sitting at the 7.5 degree angle of attack! I really think that reading all of the different ideas from your contributors helped me a lot. - Ed Krantz, CO.....Well another year has passed - a little closer. Hopefully I will be done in '89. Just got word from builder Bob Last of Fairfax Station, VA that his Q-200 passed his FAA inspection on 12/6/88. I believe he is doing taxi tests. - Richard Kautz, NY.....Q-2 N2390V (Lil Hummer) has 28 hrs as of this moment. After I hit 40 hrs, I'll send a photo along with a progress report. - Bus Schuckler, MD.....N2AM, kit #228 converted to a Q-200 at the 90% stage has left its nest and now has new feathers (white) and resides in Bowman Field here in Louisville. - Art Jewett, KY.....After reviewing many of the QBA newsletters, I reinforced the tailcone on both upper and lower shells with 6" wide KS-400 Kevlar from A/C Spruce. I am still evaluating the various tailwheel configurations for a solution as close to plan as possible but with greater damage resistance. - Brian Martinez, CA.....I've finally got my behind mobilized, cut off the GU canard, and moved GVZP indoors. I plan to start cutting foam for an LS canard using Dragonfly layups and I still plan to install a Lycoming 0-235. I have written to Larry Weishaar requesting his plans since they sound similar (using 5" carbon fiber) to the Dragonfly plans. By the way, I was going to write this letter on Revmaster letterhead but my supply ran out (chuckle!). - Kimbull McAndrew, Canada.....Just a "quick" note from a Dragonfly builder. I very much enjoy reading Q-TALK and getting different insights into this equal-area canard business. I have cut the outboard gear off my plane and am debugging the inboard gear legs I installed. My hat's off to you and the Q-bird builders for keeping the faith under very trying conditions. I am not sure we D'fly builders are in much better shape. There seems to be little or no promotion of our type anymore. - John Owen, NC.....I have Quickie #342 on indefinite hold. My blood still runs hot thinking about it but I'm afraid that thinking about it is all I'm able to do about it right now. - David Kirby, TX.....Jim, I want to thank you for all your time and effort that goes into each newsletter. I've read all the issues and have learned a lot. It is my belief that we have the best builders association of all the sport airplanes. - Robert Bone, IN. Amen! - ED.


Dear Jim,

I'm too downhearted to make a contribution - lost my medical and turned 74 on Nov. 18th. Still hope to put a decent (more than 18 hp) engine in Quickie #49 and do remaining work. I have 5 grandkids, maybe one of them will fly it.

George Edwards, Saratoga, CA

ED. NOTE: When I was a boy I was angered that my Grandfather and other older family friends died just before or after retirement age - they didn't get a chance to enjoy it. Today, more and more of my friends (including my father and father-in-law) are comfortably into 70's. Half of them are couch potatoes in front of the TV and half are very active (one I know of, until recently, even stood at the helm of a major world government). Sometime in the next 20 years you'll be wearing angel wings but in the meantime, wouldn't it be nice if you put aside thoughts of "not flying" for awhile and concentrate on: 1. Finishing the bird and 2. Personally putting on 10 hours of taxi test time? The FAA can't deny you taxi time, and these are 2 very worthwhile goals to reach in your lifetime. After that, you may be one of less that 15,000 humans in history to see your handiwork fly - at your hands or not!


Dear Jim,

Project Q-200 #2265 was started and restarted many times over the last 5 years. For instance, when the new canard came out, partner Mike Messina and I tried our hand at construction of a fiberglass spar made from a foam core and linear fiberglass layup designed to match the bending characteristics of the carbon spar. Something went wrong because a simple center-beam load test with supports at the end and 200 lbs in the center results in an 8.5" deflection. Later we assembled the kit carbon filament spars and did the same test with only a 1/2" deflection...and the carbon spars were 3 lbs. lighter.

We are approaching the completion of our Tri-Q configuration now. Our 0-200 oil tank filler neck was extended 9" for easy access via the cowling door. Later on I will try to give some details on our special features such as a landing light in the canard, electric trim for ailerons and elevators, control cables all in the center console, electro luminescent instrument lighting, etc.

Dan Strohecker, Galena, OH


Dear Jim,

I would like to commend you on the excellent job you are doing (I'm sure most of your readers would agree) without which most of us would be up s---- creek without a paddle. Since I live in an apartment with no garage or workshop, I have done all Q-2 work since May in our backyard (it was in a friend's garage. He's started a Cozy). With our New England winter, I'm desperately looking for a place indoors. No luck so far. I may settle for a tarp, but it's already been flipped over by the wind with minor seatback bulkhead damage. I'll probably accomplish little work over the winter, but I intent to read much of the published literature by Tony Bingelis: Firewall Forward, etc.

Jerry Jerome, Cohasset, MA


A MAN AND HIS QUICKIE (Q-2) AIRPLANE

People will say as it sits on the ground,

It surely is going near the speed of sound.


In the air it flies like a dream that it is,

Response by the pilot is "gosh and gee whiz".


Controls move easily with a finger tip touch,

Maneuvering and cruising doesn't take much.


The Quickie is as slick as an aircraft can be,

Its shape is different as you can readily see.


Who built it, what's it speed, what engines installed?

The viewers all listen, completely enthralled.


When it flies past, with the engine full out,

Excitement is evident, as the viewers all shout.


The climbs and the turns are done with great ease,

The Quickie responds like it's trying to please.


You return to the ramp to the admiring crowd,

You're glad that you built it and you're feeling quite proud.


Flying your Quickie will quicken your heart,

Your spirit seems free from the moment you start.


Where else in this world can you get such a high,

As flying your Quickie in azure blue sky?



Jim,

The QBA newsletter is a great piece of work, one that you and all the contributing QBAers can and should be proud of.

My 2 year old Tri-Q project is about 70% complete. My choice of powerplant may be of interest to some of the fellows out there in Q-2/200 land. I'm in contact with Ross and Sons (auto engine conversions) out of Tucson, AZ about adapting a Subaru for me. Mr. Ross feels that this liquid cooled, opposed cylinder, 85-90 HP engine would be a very good choice for this application. I will provide more details as this project develops and I hope to be in the air this time next year (with a little luck and a lot more spare time maybe earlier).

Terry Reckart, Painesville, OH


Dear Jim:

Just finished the Nov./Dec. issue. Each time I devour a new issue I appreciate the effort my fellow builders and you go to provide useful information. THANK YOU!

During a period of boredom on my Thanksgiving visit to Missoula, MT, I drove out to the airport to see what experimentals might be sitting around. Only a junked out BD-4. I hung my head and headed home. On a hunch though, I made a left instead of a right turn and saw the distinctive tail of a Quickie/Q-2/Dragonfly sticking out of a hangar a few blocks down the road. The boredom had lifted.

With FBO permission, I peered into the T-hangars and found a Quickie stabled with a Tri-Pacer (the Quickie would not quite fit so the ingenious owner cut a hole in the back of the hangar.

Opening the hangar door enough to emit a fair measure of light, I delighted to see one of the most beautifully finished Quickie models I had seen to date. Rudely, I opened the canopy and saw that Tony Kohler of Missoula built the craft. The wing and canard were flawless, the cowling had Dzus fasteners and the panel was covered with a sturdy black leather-like material.

I found Tony listed in the directory and called. We had a very pleasant visit for about a half an hour. He explained that he had about 120 hrs. on the plane but had not flown it in about a year. The aircraft was simply too much effort to land reliably. He had decided to put it up for sale (about $5,000) and use the proceeds to finish the RV-4 he had since started. I was surprised that the 22 hp Onan was not a major factor in his decision as he reported pretty fair luck with it.

We got to talking about other Quickie builders in the state and the progress of each. He was surprised to learn that you were still publishing Q-TALK. I suggested he renew just to keep up and perhaps have knowledge that would aid selling the Quickie. Contributors are adding to our knowledge on such a regular basis.

Dan Judge, Cut Bank, MT


Jim,

WOW! 7 years of QBA, 9 years hammering out my Quickie. It is with great regret that I ask you to print a FOR SALE ad in the next newsletter (see Classifieds - ED.)

Steve Hickam, Tucson, AZ

ED. NOTE: S--t Happens. It ain't fun making this kind of decision. I only hope someone recognizes this good value and gets this Global into the air (and sends me the details!)


Dear Jim:

Before reading this letter, go grab your June, 1987 Sport Aviation. The cover photo and story on page 13 deals with Robert Beard and his beautiful 4 place Eze.

Bob commuted to his job in Palo Alto every day, bringing either his Varieze or the four-place Two Easy. On Tuesday the 13th he brought the Varieze. He didn't make it; some sort of power failure on final. He retracted the nose gear to increase the glide ratio, but was too low. He landed in the duck pond at ow tide, just short of the runway. During low tide the pond consists of 2 feet of water and about 3 feet of the thickest, gooiest mud you ever saw. The plane inverted, the canard ripped off and smashed the canopy, there you have it; upside-down, in 2 feet of water with absolutely no way to wiggle out. People waded out and tried to lift the plane to no avail. As they would lift up the wing, their legs would sink into the mud.

I am a long-time X-ray technician at Stanford Hospital. I was called STAT to the operating room "for a plane crash victim". I took his chest X-ray, and his lungs were just opaque with water; his head and upper body were encrusted with goo. They worked on him for awhile then gave up.

After work I went over to the field for a look-see. The wreckage had been helicoptered out of the water. The canard was missing and still has not been found. Now you'd think it would float, but that mud is just like glue. It will probably be down there for a while.

Other than the canard and canopy, the plane was in remarkably good shape. A few minor dings in the fuselage, and none at all in the wings. Even the prop was OK.

My purpose in sending this information should be clear: if any of us are faced with a water landing, we should be prepared to deal with an inverted aircraft! Those outboard wheels are going to dig in, the tail will come up and over, and, let's face it, breathing water is kinda hard to do.

Since my trip 30 miles out to sea 2 years ago, I've turned into a real coward. I'll go off shore, but only within gliding distance of the beach. That way I can still go whale watching.

Robert Godbe, Palo Alto, CA

ED. NOTE: I reported earlier on a water landing in a Dragonfly which did just what Bob suggests..only the canopy did not break and there was a survivable air bubble.

A disturbing footnote to the Beard crash is that newspaper accounts report that rescuers arrived quickly and stood around for awhile trying to organize themselves (even a witness report that a policeman threatened bystanders with arrest if they went into the pond to help!).


Dear Jim,

I got my Quickie kit from my brother-in-law who just HAD to have it after seeing the prototype fly at a demo weekend at RAF in Mojave. It has rotted in his house ever since. The engine was stolen and the resin is bad but the price was right. Did QAC ever put out any updates that were mandatory changes (like Rutan did for the EZ)?

A quick story you might enjoy. I am a past President of Chapter 40, EAA, in the San Fernando Valley. During my second month, I got the late Tom Jewett to be a guest speaker at one of our meetings. He flew in, I picked him up and we had a very nice dinner. We then went to the meeting where Tom gave a grand talk on the Quickie then opened the floor to questions. Almost the first question was "When will there be a two-place version of the Quickie?" Tom very firmly stated that there was not and would never be a two-place version. He stated that they had no interest in producing a two-place version and would NOT either then or later. At that time the Q-2 had already completed its first flight in Canada and he KNEW IT!!! The man stood in front of 100 or so EAA members and lied through his teeth!! I never had much use for Jewett after that.

Gene H. deRuelle, Studio City, CA



Dear Jim,

Just a short update on the "Quickie Gathering" planned for the first weekend in June. I have had several people call and they were very positive. So looks like it is a go for June 2, 3, 4.

I have heard of two other Tri-Q's that have broken props from the nose wheel pivoting all the way around. I would recommend that a stop be installed on the nose wheel pivot. This may save you the price of a new prop.

I will be going to Florida after Xmas and will return after Sun-&-Fun. Anyone wanting information on the "Quickie Gathering" can call Ron Whetsten at (417) 887-5960. Hope to see some of you at Sun-&-Fun.

James H. Langley, 245 E. Kimberly St., Republic, MO 65738 (417) 732-1143




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