undreds of Aces were built and flown, but today,
well more than a half-century later, the majority of
those aircraft have disappeared. A sizable percent-
age of them were simply parked or taken apart and
shoved into the most convenient storage space
available. A few continued an erratic life, airworthy one year,
ignored the next. And a much smaller number remained viable, yet
aging, aircraft. One of those was N3787Y (which Chris changed to
N686CM after completing the restoration), and Chris was its sav-
ior, although he saved the plane in slow motion. Sort of a
salvation-in-process.
Chris is no stranger to saving aircraft. In fact, he’s literally been in
aviation since he was a teenager.
“When I was 15 I started riding my bike out to the airport just to
hang out and watch airplanes. The flying bug bit me, so I decided
to work on my pilot’s license,” Chris said. “When I told my dad of
my plans, he informed me that he had his pilot’s license, and I had
never known that.”
As it turns out his father learned to fly on the GI Bill after World
War II, but he let his medical lapse shortly after that.
“The same day I graduated from high school, I took my check-
ride and got my license. When I was 19, I built a 12-hp Mitchell
Wing B- 10,” Chris said. “By then, Dad’s interest in flying was re-
ignited, and he bought a Cessna 140A on one of our trips to
Oshkosh and got current again.”
Chris raced through a series of airplanes including a Bakeng Deuce
parasol that he traded for something most of us wouldn’t think about.
“I was always trading for this or that, but I joke that I
traded the Bakeng for my daughter. I was just married and
starting my electrical contracting business, and the money
from the Bakeng paid for Sara.”
When his dad died, he inherited a C-172, which he owned
for a year or so. “It really wasn’t my kind of airplane, so I
bought a Stits Playboy and, shortly after that, built an RV- 4 and
found I really liked building. I mean I really liked it,” Chris
said. “I took that one to Sun ’n Fun in ’ 96 and won the Best
Metal Homebuilt award. I was stoked!”
After that he bought a Firebolt project, which is basically a
modified Skybolt, from the widow of a friend. “I had been help-
ing him build it, so I finished it and took it to Oshkosh,” he said.
“It won a Bronze Lindy in 2007 and was Reserve Grand
Champion Plans Built in 2008, so I was on a roll.”
Chris’ selling and trading instinct took over, and he sold the
RV and bought a Mooney thinking he needed a cross-country
airplane for his family. He found, however, that kind of airplane
went against his basic character. As he put it, “When I get above
about 800 feet, I feel as if I should be wearing a space suit. I
guess that basically I’m a grassroots kind of guy.”
AN INTERESTING FIND
Years earlier he was in a partnership on a Baby Ace and
liked the airplane, so when he started hearing rumors about
an Ace in northern Indiana, he decided it might be worth
checking out.
“I ran up and looked at the airplane, and it was an inter-
esting find,” he said. “It hadn’t been flown much since it had
been built in ’ 81, and it sat in storage for several years with
very little being done to it. However, it only had something
like 200 hours on it, but Baby Aces are usually good-flying
airplanes, so I didn’t think the low time was a sign of any-
thing bad about the airplane. It was dirty and tired looking,
but the first time I looked down inside the cockpit with a
flashlight, I knew this wasn’t just any homebuilt.”
He said, “I don’t know what I was expecting, but I
wasn’t expecting the kind of craftsmanship this airplane
contained. The fuselage welding was superb. Most older
homebuilts have safe welding, but it’s not always the pretti-
est. This welding, however, was pure art. I was almost
afraid to look at the wings. I was thinking that they couldn’t
be as good as the fuselage. But, they were. The wood work
was absolutely gorgeous.”
What Chris had found was a diamond in the rough. All of
the basics were super solid, but although the cosmetics had
started out at the same high level of quality, the years and
neglect dictated a complete rebuild.
Chris seriously wanted this airplane. There was a problem, however: Chris didn’t want to do a complete rebuild, at
least not in the traditional manner. What he wanted was an
airplane that he could fly when the flying weather was
good, and work on when the seasons make open-cockpit
flying less than fun. So, he came up with “The Chris May
Keep It Flying While You’re Working on It Aircraft
Restoration Plan.”
