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Rebuilding of Piper
J-3C-65, N49750, SN 8294
My first flight in Piper L-4,
N49750, at LEX on August 3, 2005, went almost flawlessly
with the exception of a lower than normal oil pressure which
cut the flight short. Although this flight was brief, it
was significant for a 63-year-old airplane that has been
ground-bound since 1960.
Since I was a kid, I wanted
to restore a rag-wing airplane. As a youth, J-3’s, L-4’s,
Taylorcrafts, Champs were all classifieds I enjoyed reading
in Trade-A-Plane issues while dreaming of purchasing an old
run-out and fixing it up just as new. A new subscription to
the Cub Club newsletter in late 1991 prompted the editor,
Mike Strock, to inquire what my interests were in his
newsletter. Explaining my life-long restoration desire,
Mike included an ad in the next edition indicating my
interest in purchasing a project, unbeknownst to me.
That winter, a call came from
Mr. Jim Bagwell of Dalton, GA who told me of an L-4 he and
his brother-in-law began restoring when his brother-in-law
suddenly passed away. Jim said he saw an ad where I was
looking for an L-4. Being dumbfounded, I told him I placed
no such ad while he insisted that I did. Quizzing him
further, he mentioned the Cub Club newsletter, which I had
not yet read, and I then recalled my conversation with Mike
Strock. Arrangements were made with Mr. Bagwell for my
family to stop by on our way back home from Florida on
spring break. Yes, Mike did a pretty good job on the ad as
it turned out.
During spring break we
stopped to visit the Bagwells. Mrs. Bagwell served cookies
and milk to Debbie, my wife, and our two young daughters
while Mr. Bagwell showed me the L-4 project in his
basement. It was literally a wreck. The emotions of a
potential great project took hold and I agreed to Mr.
Bagwell’s generous terms and to work out future logistics
for moving the plane to Lexington. On the ride home, I
dared not tell Debbie who had already forewarned me that we
were “looking” and certainly not “buying.” Sometimes wives
don’t appreciate the passion of men’s hobbies when
opportunities present themselves.
Several months after my
purchase, fretting as to how to move the L-4 from Dalton to
Lexington, I saw Dr. George Gumbert, a friend and local
airport board member, at a party. George and his wife,
Skip, owned several old planes, including a Waco, and I
enthusiastically told him about the L-4 purchase with Debbie
quietly listening. George and Skip always wanted an L-4 for
sentimental reasons because Skip’s brother flew one during
WWII. Not knowing anything about aircraft restoration, I
disparately needed a knowledgeable partner, so we agreed to
co-own the L-4 and restore it together. Needless to say,
having now learned of my secret purchase, Debbie was upset
and vocal with me on the way home, continuously reminding me
of my folly and concluding that the L-4 would remain a piece
of junk. Her conclusion was pretty much true for the next
11 years.
In late July, 1992, using
George’s flatbed and truck, we transported the L-4 to
Lexington. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies traveling
down the interstate and caught many stares. Shortly
thereafter, arrangements were made with a mechanic in east
Tennessee to begin the restoration and we transported the
ship to his shop using the same flatbed and truck. After
two years of having no work being completed, our mechanic
left town and arrangements were made with another nearby
mechanic to take over the project. Monies were advanced
with, again, no work being performed and the individual
skipping town. The local airport manager contacted us and
asked us to move our project. Finally, after another year,
he demanded it be moved, and we trailered it back home.
Once back in Lexington, parts
of the L-4 were stored in my hangar and George’s hangar
where they sat for the next three years. Debbie’s
insightful predictions were now sadly a reality.
During this time, I began to
research the background of N49750. Military service records
showed it being received by the USAAF as an O-59A on
February 16, 1942. According to its military serial number
42-15175, it was procured in the first large batch of O-59’s
purchased. A few months were spent flying submarine patrol
along the east coast of Florida, and during this time, the
O-59’s officially became designated as L-4A’s. The
remainder of the war saw 42-15175 used in training exercises
in Wisconsin, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, then finally to
North Carolina. In March, 1945, it was decommissioned in
North Carolina, rebuilt, assigned N49750, and over the next
14 years had 14 different owners.
FAA records showed one
individual owned N49750 from 1959 until 1988, the longest
period of ownership. But, in April, 1970, the owner had
reported to the FAA that the aircraft was destroyed.
Evidently the remaining salvage was sold in 1988 to an
individual who subsequently sold it to Mr. Bagwell in 1989.
So, I am the 18th owner of N49750. Why was
N49750 reported destroyed and what led to its demise? My
attempts to find any owner prior to Mr. Bagwell were
unsuccessful. It appeared that all previous owners were now
passed away and my attempts to uncover past history on
N49750 had come to an end. Or, so I thought.
Goofing off one evening on
the internet, I uncovered an individual with the same family
name in the same town where N49750 was based when it was
reported destroyed. After a few telephone calls, I located
the owner’s son. The son welcomed my inquiry and informed
me that in the spring of 1960 an unfortunate thunderstorm
produced hail large enough to destroy the fabric rendering
the aircraft unairworthy. It remained disassembled and
stored until 1970 when the aircraft was reported destroyed
by his dad to the FAA. The airframe and remaining few parts
were sold by the family in 1988. The son had retained his
dad’s old log book and had a picture of himself, his mom and
dad with the airplane taken in 1960 when he was six years
old. Copies of these were emailed to me.
The picture showed the son in
the rear seat, his young mother in front, with his father
standing by the cockpit door. Their cub had a white
underbelly with black on top rounding out to the bottom of
the front cowling in a paint scheme typical of 1960. It was
a great family photo. Unfortunately, the son never flew,
and upon his Dad’s passing, the aircraft was sold. Luckily,
this new owner reserved the original N number assigned,
N49750, which was still available. The FAA had delisted the
tail number once the L-4 was reported destroyed in 1970.
During February, 2003,
George’s wife Skip passed away and George expressed his
desire to sell their interest in the L-4 back to me, which
was accomplished. Around this same time, I ran into a local
Lexington A&P who was looking for a wintertime project and a
deal was made. My interest began growing once again in the
project. However, a few months passed and he was suddenly
transferred to Denver. Back to square one.
One August afternoon soon
thereafter, I ran into David Trapp, another local aviation
enthusiast who was in the process of restoring a North
American T-6, his second T-6 project. David proudly showed
me his project at his hangar and I recounted the sad story
of my L-4. David emphatically told me that the only way it
would ever fly is if I restored it myself. Having no
experience, this was almost impossible for me to do alone.
In a very weak moment, David, with his desire to see old
birds fly, made the commitment to help get the L-4 restored
and flying. David enlisted the help, review and guidance of
a local A&P, P. J. Lacato, and a friend of his, Mark
Thompson, to assist in the work. This began a fun two year
restoration project.
Work began around 2003 Labor
Day weekend. David had me begin by sanding the fuselage
frame clean to the metal. This took almost two weeks of
working weekends and a few weekday nights. I began
questioning my commitment due to the level of hard work and
the time requirement which was affecting my golf game and
time at home. Aircraft restoration is a true commitment, I
was finding out. The fuselage was finally sanded, primed,
and in late fall it was onto the wings.
Upon inspection, the back
spar in both wings were cracked, most of the ribs had damage
and needed replacing, so the wings were both torn down. The
spars were remanufactured, the ribs replaced, and the wings
covered using the Stits Process. The time I spent in my
hangar on those beautiful fall days rib stitching became
enjoyable and great relaxation from work. Local airport
interest in the project at my hangar increased and I made
many new airport friends who periodically would stop by to
check on our progress. Seeing progress being made only
increased my excitement and commitment to the project and it
became a lot of fun. Fall was quickly turning into winter,
and David agreed to move the project into his heated
hangar.
Since golf season was over, I
began a routine of stopping by the hangar after work to
spend a few hours each evening on the L-4. David and his
finance, Carrie, would be there each evening after work as
well to work on their T-6 restoration. Many evenings were
spent working on airplanes, sharing stories, with Carrie
preparing delicious late dinners. Occasionally, Debbie
would join us at the hangar for dinner now declaring herself
converted from a “golf widow” to an “airplane widow.”
During that winter, the
project steadily progressed with the wings and tail surfaces
completed. The panel, instruments, and engine were
installed. The engine was started for the first time on
late cold winter evening by David and Mark while I was away
on a business trip. They emailed me a cool video of the
first engine start, complete with sound. Excitement was
building and I could not wait to get back to the hangar to
see it run. Wings and tail surfaces were installed.
Everything was coming together. Once rigging was completed,
the fuselage was completely disassembled for final Stits
cover.
The fuselage interior and
exterior fabric cover was complete by the end of summer,
2004. Painting of the entire aircraft was begun during the
fall. After research, I chose a silver standard military
paint scheme adopted in 1945, with military markings,
patterned after the very early L-4’s delivered by Piper.
Painting was completed by year-end and final assembly was
begun.
By early spring, 2005, the
aircraft was coming together and looked great. A late
spring completion was anticipated. Focus now shifted to
paperwork. Ron Fortener, a Designated Aircraft Reviewer
(DAR) was recommended by the FSDO and was contacted. P. J.
assisted us through a number of Form 337’s to be filed.
Since the original airworthiness certificate was surrendered
in 1970, a new one was applied for and a conformity
inspection was required. Ron first visited at the end of
May and made a list of mostly paperwork modifications that
would be needed. The big request was to have both Piper and
Continental reissue data plates on both airframe and engine,
a requirement we did not anticipate. This process took
several weeks, a number of telephone calls and faxes, and
was finally accomplished by the middle July.
Ron visited once again on
August 2, 2005, completed the conformity inspection and
issued an Airworthiness Certificate. After 45 years of
sitting in barns and basements, N49750 was prepared once
again to return to the air.
Enthusiasm among my airport
buddies had been growing anticipating the L-4’s first
flight. My desire was to make the flight myself with just
David and I around with no family or friends to make me
nervous. David and I chose the next evening to make the
fight.
That next evening was
beautiful, but hot, with temperatures in the 90’s. As we
prepared, Carrie arrived with sacks of chips, dip, and beer
for a post flight celebration. Debbie was on her way back
that evening from Dallas, visiting our daughter, and I did
not tell her of the flight to keep her from being nervous.
Slowly my airport buddies started showing up, one by one,
and before I knew it 11 were gathered to see the first
flight. Jokes and prayers were generously offered and the
flight was fast becoming a reality show. I was nervous and
did not want this much attention.
The first flight profile had
already been prepared. David had prearranged the flight
with the control tower to coordinate with other airport
traffic and the tower personnel greatly assisted even
allowing our entourage to go out to the runway to film and
witness. Although confident of every nut and bolt in the
aircraft, I nervously went through my head every contingency
plan imaginable, hoping N49750 would fly.
Taxiing out, all I could
think of was all the fun work and good times that went into
the restoration of this aircraft. Don’t mess it up now!
Power was applied and the L-4 was at 200 feet before I
realized it. It flew great with perfect rigging and trim.
What fun to fly!
Going around the pattern, the
oil pressure remained on the low side, so landing clearance
was requested and granted. A perfect landing was made.
This old L-4 flew like the new aircraft it was. Everyone
was there to greet me upon rollout. Debbie even arrived
shortly after the flight to learn of my survival. This
former, hopeless piece of junk was now a beautiful flying
bird.
Carrie had videoed the entire
flight and we all went to a local pub to review the flight,
watch the video, and continue the celebration. Two years of
fun and hard work had paid off.
This was not just my
project. The L-4 would not be flying without the support of
others. Debbie sacrificed the most by surviving many lonely
evenings by herself when I was at the airport. She allowed
me many hours for the project and much patience. David’s
assistance, discipline, and vast restoration knowledge
proved invaluable and he kept me to the task. Mark’s
knowledge and help also greatly contributed to the beautiful
aircraft. Carrie kept our strength up with many great
meals, her enthusiasm for the project, and her everlasting
encouragement. Many airport friends provided much emotional
support including Betty Moseley, George and Cathy Smith, and
others.
Several more flights were
subsequently conducted with the oil pressure still not
performing as desired so the decision was made to overhaul
the engine. By year-end, 2005, the overhauled engine was
reinstalled and ran perfect with consistent oil pressure
readings. Problem solved! We all look forward to a long
anticipated fun flying year beginning in the spring of
2006. Keep an eye out for L-4 N49750 in the sky!
Bobby Owens
02/02/06 |
