EAA Sport Aviation

Tim had just learned that his Junior Ace had won the Bronze Lindy for plans-built aircraft at AirVenture Oshkosh 2009, and he was ready to head for home. The winds were a little gusty for takeoff on Runway 18, but he had flown the airplane enough to feel confident in direct crosswinds approaching 15 knots.

With his son, Matthew, a student pilot, in the left seat, Tim powered up for takeoff and danced on the pedals to keep the aircraft straight.

During the last stages of construction, he considered installing finger straps—reinforcing metal collars—onto the rudder pedals, one of the first parts he’d assembled after learning to weld. In fact, he’d done it to the left-side pedals, but, itching to fly, he passed on the right. “Well, the right rudder pedal on the right set of pedals had a couple of little cold areas in it,” he says. With the pressure from the takeoff roll, the pedal snapped off at its base.

The right wing smacked on the ground, and the aircraft spun around and came to rest with the left wing jutting up in the air. The ground loop was the first time he’d dinged an airplane in his career, and he’d done it in front of thousands of people waiting for the start of the air show.

In a few hundred feet, it’d become the worst of times. He trucked the damaged airplane home and locked it up in the hangar.

“I had some of the hallowed ground from Oshkosh
shoved into the wing for three or four months,” he
says. “I finally started cutting some of the fabric away
to see what kind of damage I’d done to the wing and
pulled off some of the broken sticks. It was slow—and
kind of therapeutic.”
The examination revealed that he’d have to splice
about 9 feet of spar onto the right wing and replace nine
tubes in the right front fuselage area. The skid pulled 20
of the 36 spoke nipples out of the right wheel, and the
impact bent part of the right-side fuselage and caught
the tip of the elevator. “The integrity of the fuselage and
wing really absorbed all the impact,” he says, sparing
both Gallaghers serious injury.

With damage assessment in hand, he’s putting the
airplane back together, and he figures he’ll have a better
airplane for the experience. He’s replacing the original
1.75-inch steel wheels with 2.5-inch aluminum ones to
allow for better side loads, and as he fixes the damaged
elevator, he’ll be able to put on a second trim tab to
correct stick pressures at cruise speeds. “I didn’t have
troubles with the right wing,” he says. “I can’t under-
stand why I broke that.”
At the rate he’s going, he should have it flying again
by early June. “I’ve still got a pretty good list of people
that I still need to give rides to, so there’s going to be a
lot of payback there,” he says. “But that’s good pay-
back.” Good, indeed.

Fuel consumption: at 55% power: 5.0 gph Range: at 55% power: 500 miles

GALLAGHER JUNIOR ACE: Performance Data

Powerplant: Rotec R2800 • Horsepower: 110

Propeller: 76-by- 50 wood Culver

Maximum speed: 105 mph, VNE 120 mph

aircraft-covering expert, and the one with the English wheel. And, especially, his wife, Suzie, and daughter, Stephanie, who provided years of support.

“Being able to repay all the favors that were given to me over the years is rewarding,” he says. The funny thing is, he knows they did him a favor, but they seem to think he’s doing them one by letting them fly the machine. They come back with a big grin on their face and ask when they can go again.

He understands. “It’s a hoot to fly
around in,” he says. “It’s very stable, and
you can fly around and look outside and
never really think about the airplane. It
takes care of itself.”
The airplane has nearly 99 hours
on it now, and it still turns heads, even
at an airport dotted with Stearmans,
T-28s, and other assorted award win-
ners. His neighbors spend the summer
with their hangar doors open, on the
watch for something interesting.
“They hear the Junior Ace going by,
and it sounds like a wide-open John
Deere tractor, and [they] say, ‘Oh,
that’s Tim,’” he says. “That Rotec has
such a distinctive sound.”
It’s a dream come true, for sure. “It
just looks like it’s beating the heck out
of the air, beating the heck out of bugs
and stuff,” he says. “It just looks right
out there on the grass.”