Richard Brazell’s Thorp S- 18 parked at Brown Field in
San Diego, California, where the plane had its first flight.
27 Years of Determination
Building a Thorp S-18W
BY RICHARD BRAZELL, EAA 735674; JAMUL, CALIFORNIA
I KNEW WHEN I eventually retired, if there is such a thing, that I
wanted an airplane to occupy my time with its infinite joy, experiences, and occasional troubleshooting challenges. In 1984, I read an
article describing Gus Gordon’s Thorp S- 18, a folding-wing aircraft
that could be transported to and from the airport.
I ordered a set of plans in 1984 not knowing it would take 27
years until the aircraft would have its first flight. At about the same
time I joined the T- 18 Mutual Aid Society, a group of Thorp builders
who shared building ideas and challenges. That is where I stumbled
upon a partially completed S- 18 project.
The basic fuselage was complete and came with an assortment of
formed ribs, beams, brackets, several rolls of 0.032-inch aluminum
skins, and a list of other miscellaneous items. The only problem was
that the project was located in Addison, Texas, and I was in San
Diego, California. So, I boarded a commercial flight to Dallas/Fort
Worth International Airport, rented a U-Haul truck, picked up the
parts, and arrived back home 27 hours later, ready for the real work
to begin.
Between my time spent with the U.S. Navy, being a new hire at an
airline, moving to a new house, and joining a naval reserve squadron,
I quickly discovered one of the biggest challenges in building a plane
was simply finding time to do it. It was also a battle to stay focused
and maintain quality control while following the hand-drawn
engineering parts from the early ’60s. Luckily, with the help of John
Kerr (who has built three T-18s), I was able to sift through a few
problem areas.
The Thorp was designed using “matched hole tooling,” which
meant no jigs were required, and if proper placement of the rivet
hole locations were made, one could simply
drill holes at the proper locations and it
would all line up correctly when fastened
together. That proved true for the most part,
but it was still a learning curve having never
worked with metalworking tools like a brake,
drill motor, rivet gun, and bucking bars.
