Just in case, who to contact?

[mhorowit]

I'm in reasonably good health, although several things have happened in the last year that remind me I'm in my mid-sixties and eventually I won't be around.

And I have a Tcraft scattered between my basement and the state of Maryland!

So, I'm writing up a poster for my workshop with the heading "Where's the Tcraft?" describing where all the parts are, so if I'm not around (and haven't completed the project), my wife will know where everything is. But she'll need someone to steer her thru the process and walk her thru the workshop ("no, that not an engine, that's a drill press"; "yes, that's a Tcraft part, and those are apparently extra parts that should go with the project")

I'm a member of the local EAA chapter, so I could have her contact them.

What preparations have some of you made for selling your project in your absence? - MikeH.

[Pearson]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

Mike,

My hat is off to you for thinking about something that most of us prefer to not think about, or just don't ever get around to doing.

I have all of my Taylorcraft parts in one back room of my garage. My wife knows that anything and everything in there is part of a Taylorcraft.

If you can't keep all of it together, I suggest digital pictures. That way you can catagorize them into files such as being for a particular aircraft. You could have a separate file for spare parts, or whatever works best for you. If you want to write up a description for some of the parts, you can "insert" a photo file into a Microsoft Word document, and then type a description just below.

It is a lot of work to do it this way, but it is faster than trying to label each part with some sort of tag or group them in boxes.

[flylo]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

Mike,I understand where your coming from. I just had very serious back surgery. I'm still getting around on a walker. Anyway before surgery I thought what's my wife going to to do if something happens & I don't make it. I've got 3 hangers & a pole barn full of old parts & projects. I think the best way would get a good friend to sort & sell it all for a percetage. I've always told my kids that when I die they'll have the yard sale I've been looking for all my life.

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

I've always told my kids that when I die they'll have the yard sale I've been looking for all my life.

I have had the same thoughts, nicely put, but my yard sale will included stuff like arrowheads, old clocks, watches, Samari swords, radio active aircraft instruments, old RC stuff, old car parts, etc. It seems we are a bunch of crap collectors! However, I do have a son that has some idea of what is laying around. But not all of it, actually I think I am not on top of that would come out of hiding
Larry

[crispy critter]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

Yeah,if something happened to me and my father,my wife and mother would have a hangar sale so big it would make Sun & Fun look like a cheap road side flea market.

[gfortin]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

I already had that conversation with my wife. I told her to call my best friend and pilot friend Gerry to sell all my stuff and airplanes. Then there is my shop???????? I hope you have someone you can trust and who knows what you have. Good luck

[mulwyk]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

Hi Mike:
Your local EAA chapter will step in.
A couple years ago one of the local homebuilder guys passed away. He had airplane parts and tools scattered between his hanger, vendors, home,other peoples hangers. Like many of us, he didn't forsee his own death and had made no arrangements.
Within a day of his passing, the aviation grapevine had alerted his EAA brothers and the response was truly touching. Seemingly without anyone asking, several members took charge of funeral arrangements, one guy knew an honest lawyer (oxymoron?) who could handle the probate, others gathered the airplane pieces together and, some weeks later, sold the whole mess at a very good price.

These situations seem to bring out the best in people.

[jdoran]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

Mike,



Take it to heaven with you- just think, if you didn't have to work, and had time to go to all the yard sales that you could stand-no need for money, no FAA............................

[mhorowit]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

Mike,



Take it to heaven with you- just think, if you didn't have to work, and had time to go to all the yard sales that you could stand-no need for money, no FAA............................

but do they have alcohol free gas? and how will I get my Acy or O2 refilled?

[Howard Wilson]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

but do they have alcohol free gas? and how will I get my Acy or O2 refilled?

Welllll... the "other place" might be hot enough to weld without gas!! But they definitely won't have alcohol.....

[VictorBravo]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

Mike, how about just staying healthy and mentally fit instead, so you can be "that strange little 100 year old man at the airport who flies that 100 old airplane made out of some kind of cloth" ?

That's a MUCH better option IMHO!

Every time this young-thinking 47 year old turns on the TV, and sees an ad for "We deliver your Diabetes / Alzheimer's / Heart Attack / Incontinence medicine / Electric Invalid Scooter to your door!!!" commercials, I just get madder than hell and start yelling "You better not be talking to me, Mother F*%^# !" and I think twice about the chocolate bar or beefsteak dinner.

In all seriousness, get the damned airplane back together sooner than later, so you can fly it and if the worst happens your family will have another actual asset to sell or donate, instead of a bunch of parts.

Bill

[N96337]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

I hope you have someone you can trust and who knows what you have. Good luck

I went through this when my best friend died in a car crash a few years ago. I had 2 of his aircraft in my shop, completely apart at the time, and he was holding one that he'd traded me for some work/parts at a hangar in Anchorage. To make a long story short, some of his "friends" stepped in and helped his widow, and really made a mess of it all. It ended up being a very unpleasant situation for all, and the real loser was his son, as his widow was recieving advice from all his buddies that had absolutely NO small plane knowledge. The Tcraft was to be for his son, but after they got done with her (they convinced her that the Tcraft would be a terrible plane for her son to build time in), she sold it all, including my project plane, as we had nothing on paper stating our agreements. He and I both knew he had much more money in the aircraft that I was rebuilding for him than they were actually worth on the market, but the one was very special to him, as it had been his first comercial flying job, and the other was being built for his son, who had just gotten his private. Up to that point, I'd gotten along with his family, had known them for years...but when he was gone it was a whole different story. I guess what I'm saying is that I learned a very valuable lesson....he was my closest friend, but that doesn't mean anything once he's gone... so if you have any deals with your friends, make sure they're written and signed, and leave very specific instructions for the dispersal of your belongings if it means much to you.
John

[flylo]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

Kevin give me a call,Thanks! Eric

[NY86]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

Bill: I want to see your face when you get your first mailing from AARP...

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Just in case, who to contact?

Bill: I want to see your face when you get your first mailing from AARP...

Ask my Wife about the first mailing I got from those carpet baggers. I turned the air blue as I was still in my forty's, I believe! Money grubbing old people! They are just enough out in left field that I am still not a member! Larry