New member here. Live in the desert of Southern CA between San Diego and Yuma AZ, Imperial Valley. Just started a Hi Max build. I am new to aviation and this is my first aircraft project so get ready for some what may seem like elementary questions for most of you!
Just joined a few days ago. Have two projects working on , one 1030 max and a 1100 to be N numbered. Anyone around Parkersburg WV. ? Bill Smith , Hales Landing ,Elizabeth WV. (2WV3).
Getting cash together to purchase welded Airbike airframe. Plan to use Valley Engineering Big Bad Twin because I already own the engine. 116lbs/50hp/2gall/hr.
I plan to build a three-piece composite wing, with a fixed central section, and folding outer sections. Flaps and ailerons.
I just acquired a project the guy started in 1985, he was going to make it a HiMax, had it done through partial boat stage, I am going to do a mid wing, he was going to do a 447 and I want to do my Global engine, so I have to change the front end mount section. I am in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire Kim Brown
I'm John from Smyrna, GA. I'm an A&P mechanic, Private Pilot, and I used to fix big planes, but love little planes. I normally fly an friend's AA-1A out of lovely Cartersville Airport. We have an arrangement - I help him fix it, he let's me fly it. But I still want my own plane, and I have wanted to build one for a long time.
I have a Hirth 2702 and would like to attach it to a Hi-Max. I think a High Wing would be best for ground reference navigation, and for the occasional slow flight over beaches in the summer
I already have a project plane (CGS Hawk), but I'm not looking forward to the FAA adventure I'll go through to get it all registered and legal. I really like the Hi-Max, and the fact that TEAM is in Niles, MI is pretty cool (I grew up in MI). I figure I'll do the unexpected and start with ribs. I'll build a small table, watch Star Trek, and crank out the ribs for my wings.
Anything ya'll might care to tell me would be great --- other than "get lost", I guess...
Home phone 602-999-3715/Mini-max with Hirth 2704 Ace
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Welcome John. Feel free to asked questions. I think everyone in this group is willing to help or at least give it a try so clear the bench an get started. From your avatar picture I take it that you worked on the OV-1's. Dick
Yeah... The BING translator is not so great - and I am no where near fluent (I lost my old Klingon language tapes about a decade ago).
"Once you have tasted flight, you shall forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you shall long to return." - Leonardo DaVinci
Also, it's not a complete language yet. I heard about a Klingon language baseball game. As it turns out no one had come up with the Klingon word for "OUT" (as in out of play), so the umpire would shout "He is DEAD!". Which I find oddly appropriate for Klingon baseball.
but maybe we are devolving into a different thread...
Leonardo said something else that seems to apply to the Min-Max and Hi-Max: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"
Abraham Cardenas III Del Rio, Texas Mini-Max 1600R, built by the late Harold Acheson (see reply #26 on page 1 of this thread)
This ship and its Rotax 447 are taking me to school. I have a passion for the Golden Age of Aviation and the Golden Age of Piracy. The Max is airworthy, but needs TLC to make me more confident.
Home phone 602-999-3715/Mini-max with Hirth 2704 Ace
Posts: 755
Time Online: 40 days 13 hours 26 minutes
Quoted from 437
Yes I did. 224 MI in Savannah, GA, and 3rd MI in Anjong-ri, Korea.
You?
John, I was with the 55th Avn Company at K-16 in 1975 and 76. We had OV-1's, UH-1's, Oh-58's and U21's. I flew the U-21 and Huey. I had a good friend killed in a Mohawk during his transition training at Rucker. Dick
For those who don't know, the Grumman OV-1 Mohawk was an Army observation plane. It was used for Photo recon (day and night), IR imaging (at night... at 300 feet AGL), Ground scanning Radar (SLAR) for finding vehicles on the ground or upon the water. A variant, the RV-1 was used to pinpoint radar transmitters, like those used for AAA or SAM sites. The plane had two 1,400 HP Lycoming turbine engines, each driving a 10' dia Hamilton Standard propeller. Total wingspan on the "long wing" "B" and "D" models was 48 feet (20 of that was covered by the props), and weighed in at 9 tons. It had a two man crew in a bubble cockpit with EXCELLENT visibility.
It was an really great plane - when everything went well, but every airplane is a series of compromises. On compromise was a wing loading of 50 lb/sq foot. Another was all that of torque form those engines. I worked on these planes for four years, and we had a few accidents and incidents, but no loss of life (thankfully). We had a plane lose an engine on take-off at max gross weight. The checklist says to eject all wing-mounted stores, but that would have dropped 600 gallons of JP-4 on the Savannah, GA Toys-R-Us. The pilot managed to bring the plane back to the runway and land without further incident. The engine locked so hard that it actually twisted the propeller shaft. He said the plane tried to roll over on him, and I believe him. It was the only time I ever saw that pilot smoke.
Another plane lost an engine on landing. The turbine blades exited the engine, went through the cowl, over the top of the plane, and set the grass next to the runway on fire.
A plane on a ferry flight across the Atlantic lost the elevator trim tab, unfortunately the bonding jumper held on for a few seconds, sending the plane into an inverted flat spin. After the tab finally departed, the pilot was able to right the plane, after falling about 5,000 feet.
Aircraft 68-15938 (mine) suffered a hydraulic line failure and lost all of it's hydraulic fluid. On final approach to Osan Airbase, the pilot pulled the Emergency Stores Release instead of the identical Emergency Gear Extension, thus dropping approximately 200 gallons of JP-4 into a rice paddy. He managed to get the gear down and land safely. I was sent to fix the plane (took me a half hour, then another hour to clean up all the fluid). The plane was dubbed the "Osan Valdez".
One of our planes got shot up over Guatemala. Lost one engine due to a freakishly lucky shot. The pilot turned around and made a photo run so he would know who jacked up his plane before returning to base. The plane was ferried back to Savannah where it was repaired and returned to service after a couple of weeks.
We lost two planes in Desert Storm. Both on the same day, both due to the oil field fires. Smoke had obscured the runway. One plane had a hard landing when the pilot tried to land blind, the crew was injured and the plane destroyed. After that, the crew of the other plane (too low on fuel to divert) ejected.
The Mohawk was a very tough, rugged plane. It was a lot of fun to fly, and all of our pilots liked it. It was also, however, a very unforgiving plane, and it was certainly no Cessna. Add that to the missions it flew, and you can see the risk. Still, some of my best flying memories are from the right seat (no controls, sadly) of a Mohawk.
I'm currently flying a Fisher Classic Biplane that I enjoyed building so much that I'm starting a MM Eros (just finished rib #1, LOL). Would love to connect with some MM builders/flyers in my area.
Thankyou John for the cool video on the Mohawk...living in Australia Ive never seen one before and I love almost all aircraft...LOL..and the Mohawk is on the good side of the line...LOL
If it flies, floats or fornicates.... rent it! Flight Leader
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Hi, I'm from Cornwall, UK. Sold my Taylorcraft BC12-D after 24 years and many many adventures last year. I've also just today sold my Jodel Bebe D9 Project to fund a Minimax to fly under the UK SSDR rules (Part of pensioner flying economics!). I have two in my sights right now so I should soon be flying again
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