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Saw this over on another site and thought I'd share the link here. Neat story...from humble beginnings! It was posted in 2005, but still worth a look, in my opinion.
Enjoy,
John
The above link gives a bit of background about Mr. Seybert's upbringing in an Alaskan village and how he got involved in aviation. A Taylorcraft and testosterone make an interesting story! Dick
The story said that some of the seybert grand kids were going to use the Tcraft to obtain their certificates. Pilot database shows two of the Seybert clan with student pilot certificates. The legacy continues. Very cool.
This link makes note of an interesting connection involving the remote village of Chignik, AK. For being so far out in the sticks, Chignik has played a part in the story of aviation.
The pilot referenced in the story started in a Taylorcraft. Those of you who are familiar with the TV special called "One Man's Wilderness" may recall that Glen Alsworth's father, Babe, was the pilot who supported Dick Proenneke when he was living at Twin Lakes in Alaska. Glen flew in support of Proenneke also. Dick
I hate the cold and the snow but for some reason Alaska has a strange attraction for many of us on this forum...
I get chills when I remember winters in the late '30's when we went back to the farm on week ends. We were still in the hard parts of the depression and we will still getting free milk and potatoes at the bath house in Cleveland so we piled that stuff in the car and took it down to the folks in Waynesburg. We usually hunted for rabbits to add to the pot. There were a bunch of us to feed (14 maybe or 18) and there were dried apples in the cellar to help. Kerosene lanterns were our lights (one per room) when they were needed, otherwise it would only be the light from the stove in the kitchen, the only warm room in the house. Generally around 8:30 or so, when everyone had settled somewhere, and the women were around the table cutting up apples or rabbits or were making butter and the talk had settled to a low, slow rumble I would hear someone close the breech of a double barrel shotgun and stand it in the corner. Like the final action for the day. Then silence.
Then, one of those tough skinny 1000 year old men would begin to speak. Out of the darkness after a long sigh a story would begin:
"There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Artic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern lights have seen queer lights,
But the queerest they ever did see ...........................................
John, the flapped F-19 was set-up by Wayne Alsworth, Sr. (usually goes by the nickname "Bee"). It had a 0-320 Lyc., if I recall correctly.
I have one of Bee's swing-out mounts for a Lyc. out in the garage. It fits a Taylorcraft. Belongs to a neighbor. Would be the ticket for an experimental Taylorcraft. Dick
Hay guys Hank and i have talked about an experimental with a 4in with in the cabin take the bar out of the door and 1.5 in cabin height and a swing out mount would make a grate project also metal spars and flaps and extended gear and pre war rudder and big HP
Its been done, most of the mods you talk about were done in the 70's in Alaska, some worked, others did not. Balanced tail feathers are a definate fail, got unstability and flutter problems. Tim
Hay guys Hank and i have talked about an experimental with a 4in with in the cabin take the bar out of the door and 1.5 in cabin height and a swing out mount would make a grate project also metal spars and flaps and extended gear and pre war rudder and big HP
Yea, Talked to Chuck a little while ago. Balanced tail surfaces can lead to a LOT of problems if not designed right. Extra control loads on planes like Taylorcrafts at high speed is a good thing. I am also not totally sold on metal spars. I have never seen a tree with a fatigue crack.
I think we could widen the fuselage for more comfort for some of our (AHEM!) "mature torsos" and even add a little head room without loosing any top speed.
None of this is really "NEW" ideas, just kicking around the old idea of what we think a Taylorcraft would look like if we could add in 60+ years of experience.
If the world turned rosy and GA bounced back an experimental like this could be a great prototype fora future production model, but don't hold your breath.
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