Aeronca Chief N86176 Photos and Adventures Added 7/11/00
Updated 10/8/08
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October 4, 2008. A big day for the
Chief. I flew it from Frederick, Maryland to it's new home in Ophelia, VA.
My neighbor across the runway has graciously allowed me to keep the Aeronca in
his hangar until I can complete mine. My neighbor's beautiful C-170 in the
background is apart so a few skins can be replaced.
August 18, 2006. At 6500 feet over the
Shenandoah Mountains near Front Royal, Virginia. This was on a return
flight from Ophelia, Virginia, where I tested the freshly mowed grass. Total flying time for the day was 5.8
hours; total fuel used was 22.6 gallons. The Lowrance GPS helps as I
weave through and around the complex airspace near Washington, D.C.
.
March 27, 2006. Sitting in the grass
in front of John Federhart's hangar at Federhart-Ophelia Stolport on the
Northern Neck of Virginia. A nice little private grass strip on the
Chesapeake Bay. I think the Chief likes it here. I flew in and had
lunch - 4.8 hours round trip following a route that skirted the infamous
Washington ADIZ. A direct route would have taken considerably less time
and fuel, but would have led me right over the White House.
June 24, 2005. Sentimental Journey
Fly-In, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. A beautiful fly-in with lots of Cubs and
a handful of Aeroncas. I
had a great time at the fly-in and heartily recommend it. As a
bonus, the Chief was awarded the trophy for "Outstanding Classic Aircraft."
April 5, 2005. The new Sensenich wood
prop helps to give that vintage look. The prop is a 72CK42 which is listed
as a standard prop, but is a bit more of a cruise prop than the McCauley metal
prop that it replaced. Cruise speed seems to be up about 5 mph, but rate
of climb seems down a bit. The change in props reduced the empty weight by
16 pounds.
April 24, 2004. Photographed at the
Second Annual Massey Aerodrome Chili Fiesta Fly-In. Massey (MD1) is a
great little grass strip on Maryland's eastern shore. The silver plane in
the background is the L-16B belonging to Tony Markl. Tony and I would like
to see Massey become an annual gathering place for Aeroncas in the mid-Atlantic
region (and beyond). This is a perfect grass-roots airport and there was a nice
gathering of aircraft - everything from Staggerwings to Cubs to RV-8's.
And the chili was great!
October 5, 2003. On display at the EAA
Chapter 186 Fall Fly-In at Winchester, Virginia. If you get there early,
you get a good parking spot and there are plenty of pancakes. I was
actually lucky enough to eat pancakes with Mr. Pancake, also regarded by many as
Mr. Aeronca.
August, 2003. Here's the instrument panel of N86176.
The configuration is standard, but the finish is black "crinkle" instead of the
original woodgrain. Here we are ready to fly, with the Lowrance Airmap 100
GPS mounted on the yoke and the Yaesu com radio clipped to the side panel.
I have since upgraded to a Lowrance Airmap 500.
An external antenna is mounted on the left wing root. For an illustration of the
electrical system, click here.
July 8, 2003. Taking 12 year-old Eric
for his first light airplane ride, from Richard West's beautiful grass strip
(DE21),
near Bethany Beach, Delaware. The morning dew is still on the wings.
June 1, 2002. On display at
the AOPA Open House and Airport Appreciation Day at Frederick, Maryland
(FDK). Nearly 900 aircraft flew in for this event. I was happy
not to fight the air traffic. I only had to taxi down from hangar
B-10. EAA Chapter 524 set up a tent and displays and provided information
on EAA and homebuilding. We had about 20 homebuilt aircraft (plus
my Chief) parked in front of our tent. Lots of fun!
December 26, 2001. Moved
from Hangar 9 at FDK (dirt floor, leaky roof, hard-to-open doors) to newly
built Hangar B-10 at FDK (electric bi-fold door, lights, cement floor, valet
parking)
on December 15th. A nice new home for the Chief. Notice the
dry-wall indicating a fire wall between Hangar B-10 and B-9. Each
row of the new T-hangars contains 12 units. The fire wall divides
the row in half.
These 80 units were built just in front of the AOPA building.
FDK is an up and coming
airport!
September 17, 2000.
My son Andy and I flew to Gettyburg, Pennsylvania for a Pancake Breakfast sponsored
by EAA Chapter 1041.
This photo shows off the unusual
paint scheme on the wings.
August 12, 2000 - Young Eagles
day at Frederick Airport. Two Young Eagles (and little brother) show
off their flight certificates. The event was sponsored by EAA Chapter
524 and the Big Brothers and Sisters of Frederick. EAA Chapter members
with the 'big planes" (Cessna Skyhawks and Piper Warriors) gave kids rides.
We used the Chief to demonstrate how an airplane flies and gave them a
quiz on the parts of the airplane. Yellow tags with numbers were
attached to the spinner, wing, fuselage, etc. and the kids (with a little
help) identified the parts of the airplane. The kids liked the plane
("It's little like me!") and the adults thought it was "so cute."
July 8, 2000. Andy,
here at age 10, relaxes under the wing at the EAA Chapter 36 Fly-In and
open house at the Hagerstown, Maryland airport.
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