Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/339662
EAA Experimenter 13 Money was hard to come by, and fi nding parts on the island was not easy. Plus the shipping and handling was killing his father, but the airplane got built piece by piece, moving slowly but steadily forward. Ed found a way around the money; he joined the Army, and when he finished tank training, he flew home to give his dad the $2,500 signing bonus to finish the airplane. Soon thereafter, a 160-hp Starduster Too took to the air. He said, "It was a nice feeling knowing that after all the hard work, that project was done and flying. I wasn't able to fly and en- joy that airplane because I was away from home. But I knew that without a doubt it was the most beautiful airplane in the Caribbean." While airplanes were being built at home, Ed added a di- mension to his military career when he graduated from tanks to helicopters. "I fl ew mostly UH-1Hs and some OH-58s for 17 years in the military, retiring in 2000 after 25 years of military service," he said. Although technically he was out of the Army, his life didn't change much, because he began a long-term period in which he cycled between the United States and Colombia, where he was fl ying as a certifi cated fl ight instructor on a contract instruct- ing in UH-1H Hueys. His background in the Huey had him in constant demand, and various years found him instructing at Fort Rucker, Alabama, then in Colombia, and fi nally spending four years in drug interdiction fl ying UH-1N Twin Hueys in the jungles of Colombia. "I came back more times than I want to remember with bullet holes in the airframe," Ed said. "But that's another story. "During my service in the military, my dad, with the help of my brothers, continued with sport aviation, restor- ing a Citabria, a Colt, and his friend's Jungster II that had THE POWELL P-70 ACEY DEUCY Although the Acey Deucy is sometimes mistaken for a Bakeng Deuce, they are entirely different airplanes, although both borrow from the time- proven homebuilt parasol equation. This same recipe has given birth to enjoyable airplanes since the beginning of homebuilt time (Pietenpol, Heath, Ace series, etc.). The Acey Deucy was the brainchild of John C. Power. He started building it in 1967, and the fi rst model took to the air in the mid-1970s. Plans have been available for it off and on since. The airplane was designed to use 65- to 90-hp engines, so it is much lighter than the Bakeng Deuce, with the prototype weighing in at 750 pounds versus the 1,000-plus pounds of the Bakeng design. Predictably, the Acey Deucy's performance is much lower, being aimed at the J-3 crowd, which it sur- passes in performance. Better yet, if built to the plans, its gross weight of 1,275 pounds allows it to fi t into the light-sport aircraft category, making it one of the few scratchbuilt, Cub-simple homebuilts that fi ts that niche. Plus, at $60, the plans may just be one of the best buys in the homebuilt marketplace. Plans are still available, through the mail, from Margaret Powell or Robert Rushton at 394 Daggett Avenue, Pawtucket, RI 02861, or via e-mail through Aceydeucy@outlook.com. For more information, call Robert Rushton at 508-840-8725. Photography by Jim Koepnick Back to its former grand champion plans-built glory; it's hard to believe the airplane had been cartwheeled across six rows at Sun 'n Fun. E A A E X P _ J u l y 1 4 . i n d d 1 3 EAAEXP_July14.indd 13 7 / 1 / 1 4 9 : 5 4 A M 7/1/14 9:54 AM