EAA Sport Aviation - October 2009

what our members are building & restoring

★ TECHNICAL COUNSELORS: Ronald Steber & Gary Slatt

Louisiana | F4U Corsair

This is my plans-built, half-scale F4U Corsair experimental World War II fighter aircraft. The project was completed in approximately four-and-a-half years. We were fortunate to have been awarded two Louisiana EAA Sport Aviation Championship Fly-In Series, plans-built Grand Champion awards in 1990 and again in 1994. The Corsair is powered by a Rolls-Royce/Continental O-240, 130-hp, 100 octane-burning engine spinning a carbon-fiber, three-blade, ground-adjustable prop. Cruise speed is 155 mph at 2450 rpm with rockets installed. Custom electro-hydraulic retractable landing gear system was designed with a CO2 emergency blow-down backup circuit. Panel is visual flight rules with a King comm radio. Paint is DuPont Imron.

Robert Dean, EAA 475357; Youngsville, Louisiana E-mail: robert.dean@nov.com

Indiana | Piel Beryl

Here’s a picture of me enjoying my Piel Beryl. I enjoyed building it, which is fortunate, because I bought the plans in 1984 and, after many interruptions, made the first flight on September 3, 2008. The wings and tail are wood, the fuselage is steel tube, and there’s also some sheet metal and fiberglass to cover most construction methods. A big hurdle was the canopy. I ended up making a mold and an oven, and I formed it with the help of a half-dozen volunteers. It has a Lycoming O-320, weighs 1,172 pounds empty, flies full throttle at 149 knots, and it handles great. The Pazmany, Bingelis, and EAA books were very helpful.

Randy Weselmann, EAA 150639, Bainbridge, Indiana E-mail: weselmania@tds.net

Pennsylvania | Mustang II

N657HR first flew on March 24, 2008, after three years’ construction time. The plane is equipped with a Superior IO-360 swinging a Sensenich fixed-pitch prop. The panel features a Dynon FlightDEK-D180 electronic flight instrument system (EFIS)/engine monitoring system (EMS) with fuel flow metering, Garmin GNC 300XL comm/GPS and a GTX 327 transponder. I would like to thank my wife, Nancy, and friends Russ Rose, Ron Arnold, Frank Taormina, Russ Johnson Jr., Ron Staber, Warren Daugherty, Gary Slatt, Jack McCarthy, and Jerry Wells. Out of this build came a beautiful aircraft, but more importantly, lifelong friendships.

Herb Rose, EAA 775218; Sacramento, Pennsylvania E-mail: herbnancy@comcast.net

Colorado | RV- 7

After six and a half years of build time, my RV- 7 was test flown by Mike Entz in August 2008. A 180-hp Aero Sport O-360-A1A engine swinging a constant-speed Hartzell prop powers the aircraft. The inside features a PMA8000, Garmin 430W, Icom A200, and Garmin 327 transponder. Autopilot is Tru Trak, two-axis. I named the plane Anneliese for a granddaughter who died in infancy. Her name and an angel are painted on the tail.