That’s exactly the affliction affecting Mike Amble,
EAA 686189.
Just as glue, tape, clamps, rivets, and countless other
fasteners transform a pile of parts into a flying machine,
so do the words of wisdom handed down from one gener-
ation of aircraft restorer to the next. Mike’s father flew L- 4
Cubs in France and Germany with the 8th Army Air Force
during World War II, and Mike’s earliest flying memory is
when his dad took him up in a Taylorcraft when he was
3. “I guess it’s a no-brainer to figure out who my aviation
mentor is!” said Mike. “We played with airplanes all my
life, and it’s why I chose, or should I say, old airplanes
chose me to become my passion.”
After leaving the Air Force in the early 1970s, Mike
bought his first airplane project: an Ercoupe. The parts
came separated and stuffed into bushelbaskets and wood-
en crates. “I rebuilt it, though, and that seemed to be the
beginning of my never-ending journey into the world of
restoring old airplanes.”
Although Mike finds that most airplanes are beautiful
in one way or another, it is the antique models that strike
his fancy. He finds the engineering of those old airplanes
amazing and compares their look and feel to a piece of
finely crafted furniture. The deeper he gets into a proj-
ect the more admiration he has for the engineers who
designed and helped produce these works of art with little
more than slide rulers and drafting boards.
Flying these aircraft is equally endearing, especially
the Boeing PT- 17 Stearman. There’s something romantic
about an open-cockpit biplane, he said. “I fell in love with
the Stearmans because they are big, loud, bulky airplanes
that were built as primary trainers to help teach our
country how to fly.” The engineering of the PT- 17, with
all of its pushrods, bell cranks, and bearings, especially
impresses him. Aviation was only 36 years young at the
time this airplane was built, he noted. “It’s no wonder
that when a new cadet crashed one of them in the morn-
ing, the mechanics simply put new wings on it at noon
and by evening the airplane was flying again.”
In 2001, Mike met a fellow by the name of Jimmy Ray
who owned R and R Aviation in Roanoke, Texas. Jimmy
sold wing kits with all the wood pieces to complete a
Stearman wing. Mike knew he wanted to try his hand at
Stearman rebuilding, so he quickly bought one of the kits
from Jimmy. Mike also knew he would need a lot more
parts, including a fuselage, tail, landing gear, and other
odds and ends to attach his wings to. Mike introduced
himself to people who were not only serious about restor-
ing Stearmans but also had a ton of parts lying around,
and it wasn’t long before he met Ken Volk, who had
already restored a handful of Stearmans. By the time Mike
had made friends with Jimmy and Ken, there was no hope
for him—Mike, too, had become addicted to Stearmans!
Mike found the majority of his project in Texas, where
he lived at that time. With a little research, and the help
of Jimmy and Ken, he bought enough parts from eBay
and at fly-ins to start work on building a plane in 2001.
“Almost everything else that I hadn’t borrowed, begged,
or bought was built from scratch,” he said. “I wanted to
restore this airplane back to stock condition, just like
it was when it wore military colors. I wanted people to
see and appreciate what this airplane looked like back in
1941.” The project became an obsession. Mike knew from
previous projects (a Ryan PT- 22, a Ryan SR, a Piper L- 4,
and a Stinson) that it took three important things to have
a successful restoration: find someone who has parts,
have someone who is knowledgeable about that particu-
lar airplane, and “the most important rule, especially if
you are married, is that you have to have an absolutely
understanding spouse.”
Without these things it is hard to succeed. Just ask
Mike’s wife, Dar, how many times she stubbed her toe on
the Stearman propeller that occupied their bedroom for
two years.
Photos by Mike Amble
Upper wing assembly.
