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T-craft Struck By Lightning
Tribe,
I have had many people ask me,"why the the name Crispy Critter?",well here's the story and some photos.
My father and grandfather learned to fly in this old girl back in the late 1950's and early 1960's,sometime in the mid 1960's my father went to Vietnam and when he returned he and my grandfather completly rebuilt her.They flew her for almost 2 years until a mean old thunderstorm took it's fury out on poor little N96235,leaving her on the tiedowns in almost complete ruins
,it wasn't wind as most of you would have thought by now...it was lightning.A bolt of lightning was the cause,struck her down in her prime on May 6,1971.
My father couldn't stand the thought of selling her remains for scrap despite many tempting offers so he took her apart pickeled her pistons,coated her crankshaft and hung her up high in the top of his closed in garage(except the engine,it was stored in the nice dry basement).
My father was then on a search to find a wrecked t-craft to use for parts,however by now a son had came along and dad was starting to wonder if he might need to look for something with a 3rd seat....naaah,but then he was told a forth child was coming(ME
),but father was still on a quest for an affordable wreck.Then in late 1973 he found a steal of a deal on a 1948 Cessna 170($2200).He then thought,2 kids+2 adults=four seats,and this C-170,though a little rough,was flyable and close(with in 60 miles)so the little T-craft was left to rest......until.......
In 1998 I met and married(again)Marsha.Unlike my previous master she encouraged the project.Marsha would listening to me and my father talk about all the great times they used to have in the little t-craft.It was her that said to us,"I know you guys love rebuilding these airplanes so much,why don't you rebuild this one",then my father went on to explain to her the intense cost and time it would take to find everything or to make the pieces that were no longer replaceable,but Marsha was determined,she said,"but if it means so much,why should it matter...I think you guys should do it".My father and I talked about it and finally decided that Marsha was right even though we were in the middle of restoring the old 1948 C-170 that replaced the little t-craft(ya gotta love a woman like that).
So later that week I drafted some help,let her down out of the garage and took her over to my house(which is located on the airport 20 feet from the hangers)where we started going through everything to see what we had.When my wife(Marsha)came out to help she looked around and said,"boy it sure is a crispy critter ain't it".The name stuck and there you have it.
Now Crispy Critter is only a thin skin of fabric,a set of doors,and a few little other items from flying.
Here is one picture took on the day that lightning struck it and I'll include some more later this evening
I have had many people ask me,"why the the name Crispy Critter?",well here's the story and some photos.
My father and grandfather learned to fly in this old girl back in the late 1950's and early 1960's,sometime in the mid 1960's my father went to Vietnam and when he returned he and my grandfather completly rebuilt her.They flew her for almost 2 years until a mean old thunderstorm took it's fury out on poor little N96235,leaving her on the tiedowns in almost complete ruins
,it wasn't wind as most of you would have thought by now...it was lightning.A bolt of lightning was the cause,struck her down in her prime on May 6,1971.My father couldn't stand the thought of selling her remains for scrap despite many tempting offers so he took her apart pickeled her pistons,coated her crankshaft and hung her up high in the top of his closed in garage(except the engine,it was stored in the nice dry basement).
My father was then on a search to find a wrecked t-craft to use for parts,however by now a son had came along and dad was starting to wonder if he might need to look for something with a 3rd seat....naaah,but then he was told a forth child was coming(ME
),but father was still on a quest for an affordable wreck.Then in late 1973 he found a steal of a deal on a 1948 Cessna 170($2200).He then thought,2 kids+2 adults=four seats,and this C-170,though a little rough,was flyable and close(with in 60 miles)so the little T-craft was left to rest......until.......In 1998 I met and married(again)Marsha.Unlike my previous master she encouraged the project.Marsha would listening to me and my father talk about all the great times they used to have in the little t-craft.It was her that said to us,"I know you guys love rebuilding these airplanes so much,why don't you rebuild this one",then my father went on to explain to her the intense cost and time it would take to find everything or to make the pieces that were no longer replaceable,but Marsha was determined,she said,"but if it means so much,why should it matter...I think you guys should do it".My father and I talked about it and finally decided that Marsha was right even though we were in the middle of restoring the old 1948 C-170 that replaced the little t-craft(ya gotta love a woman like that).
So later that week I drafted some help,let her down out of the garage and took her over to my house(which is located on the airport 20 feet from the hangers)where we started going through everything to see what we had.When my wife(Marsha)came out to help she looked around and said,"boy it sure is a crispy critter ain't it".The name stuck and there you have it.
Now Crispy Critter is only a thin skin of fabric,a set of doors,and a few little other items from flying.
Here is one picture took on the day that lightning struck it and I'll include some more later this evening
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