QuickTalk 1 - PILOT PROFILE

(Meet Bob McFarland of McFarland Aero Services, the Quickie dealership in Pennsylvania. His following description of his own homebuilding experiences should be of interest to us all:)


"I got involved with homebuilts in 1972 when I bought a BD5 kit and joined our local EAA Chapter 122 at Jim Bede's suggestion. Since then I acquired another BD5 and completed both as far as possible when I read about the Quickie, and since I'd been in the boat business for nearly thirty years I also liked the foam and fiberglass construction, so I bought a Quickie kit and flew N33RM for the first time Sept. 1, 1979. Gene Sheehan asked me to exhibit my Quickie at a Do-It-Yourself show in Baltimore late in 1979, which I did, and later when they decided to set up a dealer organization they asked me to become one, which I did also."


"My Q2, no. 2071, is now about half finished, with the wing and canard assembled to the fuselage. The only major innovation on mine is that I am hinging the canopy at the front rather than the side. Before Quickie (Aircraft) decided on the single brake lever and hydraulic brakes, I designed and built a dual pedal and brake system which is now installed along with a dual lever system incorporating a ratchet parking brake, retaining the mechanical brakes. If it all doesn't work, I'll be able to rip out what I don't need and still have dual rudder pedals with the lever hydraulic brakes."


"You may be interested in a Quickie accident I was involved in. I was heading for Oshkosh in July 1980, was having frustrating delays, stayed overnight in Wadsworth, Ohio and woke to a violent thunderstorm. After it cleared and I called the FSS to find the weather improving to the west, I started my takeoff. I noticed my RPM, which normally was about 2900 on takeoff, was only about 2500, but it did lift off, only to come back down when it got above ground effect. That's when I should have aborted, but I let it lift off again, and again came back on the runway. By then there wasn't room to stop, so I again lifted off, and came to a bit later with a bunch of people around the plane trying to get me out."


"I was taken to the hospital with a broken left wrist and cracked right heel bone. The Quickie had a broken prop, smashed lower cowl, right wing buckled and fuselage broken ahead of the fin, as well as numerous stress cracks at the wing and canard junctions and a ruptured fuel tank. Sitting in gasoline is not comfortable! To cut a long story short, I called home, a friend brought a pickup and trailer, and we brought it home. Repairs took a couple of months, but it's hard to see now where it was damaged; however, I still have a slight but persistent fuel leak."


"When I tore down the engine the cause of my troubles was evident, for the marks of blow-by showed up prominently, and then I realized that when I had installed high compression heads Gene had said something about using gasket compound. I had torqued everything precisely as specified, but had neglected the vital step. So I bought Coppercoat, applied it by the directions, and have had no further trouble - in fact the RPM on the first flight after repair was 3150, although I suspect that the new prop, although stamped the same, is actually lower pitch."


(As one sage put it, "Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first and the lesson afterward." We appreciate Bob sharing this information as a service to us all. -JM)



You can order a PDF or printed copy of QuickTalk #1 by using the Q-talk Back Issue Order Page.