September 23, 2020 VOLUME XXXVIII

Welcome to Fall, Grumman World.

Next month we are having three events.

• Formation Flying
• Strip Festival
• National Gathering

We have also added a new hotel to the growing list thank to a pilot in Florida who is attending.  Thank you for the info and the discount.

It is very important for us to get our headcount for the event.  Go here to register:

https://gpa.grumman-parts.com/events/national-gathering/

We have folks coming we know from the East coast, Oregon, and Florida.  Maybe get a few local planes as well.  We do have a fun time planned for all.  Plan a group flight with you local Grumman pilots and enthusiasts.   Thanks to Jeff Johnson for the Facebook posts about the upcoming event on our Facebook page.

BTW, many of the planes seen in our videos will be in attendance and you can ask the owners all about their work.  May be a seminar or two in this.  Also, video seminar is being worked on.

Also want to thank Ned Thomas for stepping up as an additional Facebook admin for the GPA.  Thanks Ned.

On the FF event page there is video showing Whizz and Walkman back in the day of FF at the Cathouse.

Walkman is proposing a dinner Wednesday night for a briefing so that Thursday you can fly when fresh from rest.  Stay tuned for more on that.

To further entice folks, I am running some deals and did I mention that we have Door Prizes?  For deals we have some oil on sale and air box vents for the front.

We hope to see you there.  There will be one big hangar party most likely Saturday in the new big hangar.  There is even talk of a party at Roscoe and Luann for some face time.

Prop Bolt Torquing on Tigers

Here is what Ken Blackman had to say many years ago on the Grumman Gang about the Prop Bolt Torquing on Tigers, especially.

Hi Gang, (especially Tiger and Super Cheetah owners),
>
>
>
> Following the threads on this subject, I want to clarify some things so
> everyone is on the same page.  First, the reason we have the problem is
> twofold. The original spinners on the Tigers and Cheetahs had the backplate
> sandwiched between the propeller hub and the spacer.  These (especially
> Tigers) were cracking like they were made of glass, in the late 70s, so the
> Grumman Engineers went to work to develop a fix in the form of (first) a
> similar unit to the old AA-1 series, which had a fixed aluminum forward
> bulkhead riveted into the dome.  It still cracked.  The next-gen was what we
> have now (SK143-1 & -2) which took some time to get certified.  (There was a
> service letter available from Grumman that allowed the planes to fly with
> the entire spinner and aft bulkhead removed until the new design spinner
> system was available.
>
>
>
> There was an unexpected problem with installing the new spinners in that the
> McCauley prop bolts were barely long enough to be legal with the original
> spinners.  The new aft bulkhead was twice the thickness of the original plus
> the forward bulkhead and its required steel doubler were added for a total
> additional 0.123 (to 0.128 with a TCB composite front bulkhead) of
> bulkhead material what subtracts from the available thread penetration of
> the prop. bolts.  Thats an eighth of an inch!  For this reason the SK-143
> kit instructions said to omit the washers under the bolt heads which caused
> serious damage to the metal of that steel doubler.  Thats all for the first
> part of the twofold problem.  The 2nd part was that the propeller drive
> bushings (the things pressed into the crankshaft flange) were specified at
> Lycoming (by some dummy) to be of the length normally found in engines that
> would get a constant speed prop installed on it.  Two of them are shorter
> than the other four.  When the starter ring gear support assy. is installed
> there is none of the shorter two protruding through the front of the support
> and only a tiny bit of the other four.  When the backplate is placed over
> these they barely peek through the holes enough to get the propeller
> spacers counter bores to have anything to slide over.  Now someone has to
> start the prop bolts into the drive bushing threads and run them in until
> they contact the forward bulkhead doubler and draw it snug to the propeller.
> What happens to cause the punch out of the bulkhead is it tends to slip off
> of the drive bushings and rest on the prop bolts.  When it is torqued down,
> the leading edge of the bushings and the counter bores of the prop spacer
> acct as a die and receiver punch that clips out a crescent shaped piece of
> the bulkhead at each of the 4 protruding bushings.  (This will cause the
> holes in the spinner not to align with all the ones in the aft and forward
> bulkheads and should stop any mechanic who is awake from continuing and
> start looking for a problem.  We see some spinners with elongated holes that
> were filed out to force it to allow all the screws to be installed.  Of
> course the back of the spinner will wobble.)
>
>
>
> NOW, try to picture all this going on with one person doing the job.  The
> maintenance manual revision, which covered the new spinner system (that was
> standard on about the last 320 or so Tigers in 1979) suggested taping the
> aft bulkhead to the nose cowl to hold it in place while the prop was
> installed.  This does kind of work but still two people doing the
> installation is much better though still not foolproof.
>
>
>
> When I did the first installation of the Sensenich 76EM8S10-0-(pitch)
> propellers, on the 180 HP Cheetah conversion development, Sensenich did not
> have the right length bolts since they had never built the dash 10 spacer
> version of the 76EM8 prop.  We had to use McCauley bolts until them got them
> made and certified.  They designed the new bolts < inch longer than the
> McCauley bolts which allowed using the washers and still getting adequate
> penetration through the drive bushing threads.  This was in early 1981 and
> the problem of punched out aft bulkheads had not yet become a wide spread
> problem.  Soon after the STC was issued for converting Cheetahs to 180 HP,
> Ameromod Corp. was awarded STC SA1195NW approving the installation of the
> same series of Sensenich propellers on AA-5B aircraft.  When the punched
> bulkhead thing did become noticed as a more common a problem, nothing was
> done about it in form of even a service letter, let alone any attempt to
> correct the root source.
>
>
>
> In late 1985, after the split of Ameromod Corporation and we formed Air Mods
> N.W., I certified the 2nd STC for installing the Sensenich propellers on
> Tigers.  Part of this new STC covered a fix for the bulkhead syndrome by
> authorizing the replacement of the two shortest drive bushings with much
> longer ones (from the O-360-A4M model engine) OR replacing all 6 of them.
> The Cheetahs and Travelers never had the problem due to longer drive
> bushings which held the aft bulkhead in place during installation.  This
> offered the same effect on the Tiger when the bushings were replaced.
>
>
>
> Another fix STC SA3326NM offered is a much more detailed installation
> instruction for putting the propeller on without damaging the bulkhead.  It
> also covers what can be considered for the airworthiness of a damaged
> bulkhead.  If there are still two undamaged holes in it, it can be used with
> the longer drive bushings or possibly indexed differently than recommended
> in the maintenance manual.  (This can help offset the cost of the two drive
> bushings if you choose to replace them. they cost around 500 bucks for the
> pair.)
>
>
>
> The bottom line of all this verbiage is that there is a way to eliminate the
> problem of installation damage.  As for the statement made by Dave Fletcher
> regarding the requirement of checking the torque of the bolts at annual.  He
> is absolutely correct.  However, removing the prop does create the risk of
> damaging the bulkhead on reinstallation.  If you know it was not damaged
> before, and the prop was correctly installed, I would not recommend doing
> more than to break the torque, back out the bolts far enough to inspect the
> front bulkhead for cracks, and re-tighten the bolts.  If you do not know,
> and cannot verify, the correctness of the installation it is a good idea to
> pull the prop and inspect the aft bulkhead.  If the bolts are installed
> without the washers, you should add them.  I use an MS27183-18 washer
> instead of the AN960-8 which has a greater outside diameter and spreads the
> pressure of the highly torqued.   bolt causing less damage to the doubler
> and forward bulkhead lessening the tendency for the bulkhead to crack around
> the outside of the print of the washer.
>
>
>
> OK, that is your lesson in Grummanology from The GURU for today.  If
> anyone wants to discuss it with me, please call me or e-mail direct.
>
>
>
> Ken Blackman
>
> Air Mods N.W.
>
Thanks Ned for posting this!  It sure is nice that some of this
knowledge (Ken’s) has been preserved.

I’ve been working on Grummans (primarily Tigers) for 33 years now and
had never read Blackman’s comments above before.  I suggest everyone
read this and understand the importance of it and how important the
installation of the propeller is!  I have worked on numerous Tigers that
had the holes in the aft bulkhead (spinner back plate) punched out from
an unsuspecting mechanic.  I will admit that I did it myself when I
first installed a prop by myself.  I realized something was wrong when
the bolts didn’t tighten down as they should, but just kept turning and
turning as the crescent shaped pieces were being punched out!  Since
then I have installed props by myself and it is NOT EASY.  It can be
done but it is much better to have some help.

I wholeheartedly agree with Ken’s last paragraph and I would suggest
that owners print out this paragraph and the pertinent part of the
second paragraph and keep it in the plane and in the log books where any
mechanic who removes the propeller or does an annual inspection can
refer to it.  After all it has to be done every time the alternator
and/or belt need to be replaced with the stock nose bowl.  I wouldn’t
let any mechanic R&R the prop on a Tiger I owned without understanding
how critical the installation of the spinner and bulkheads are.

Cliff  A&P/IA

———————–   END OF Grumman Gang Post ——————————-

Anniversary Video Solved

As many of your know, we were preparing for August 24th which was the fourth anniversary of our first video on Grumman Pilots YouTube channel.  This goal met with a few complications.

I had most of the video in the can and was waiting to film a few face on shots and add a few voiceovers and labels to the video in the editor.  I did the face on shots one day but the audio was too high via mike placement.  Finally finished it (or so I thought) and put it on YouTube.  It was immediately flagged as copyright infringement due to me including the 10 second clip of our first video which has audio playing a CELINE DION SONG.  Now the original video is not flagged, go figure.  So I deleted it on YouTube and edited out the 10 seconds of audio and put it back on the channel.

Then as I always do, I watch it on YouTube and follow along in the editor, checking off the script notes (11 pages for this video) and basically QA it.  Oops, had section of video missing from the final cut but still in the editor.  So delete this copy and back to the editor.

So finally it is done, It goes on the channel, and I watch some of it, send out a GG message about it.  Then I get a call from Shop Monkey telling me what is wrong with the video.  I go and watch all of it, and he was right.  The audio was all over, low in many spaces so you could not understand it, and too loud in others.  Rubbish, so I delete it.  My bad.

So in starting over again from scratch, I began putting the video together and found out something that I had forgotten.  I had a YouTube VIdeo account from 2011 where I could put videos (and folks could find them and watch no ads -not monetized) and I found a few videos I had done back in 2011 including a Grumman Fuel Leak Find that Jimmy Candeletti and I did in my garage on a very cold winters day.  That was 5 years prior to my channel videos.

The Fuel tank video was put on the channel with some editing the other day.

Check out YouTube by searching for Roscoe1024 and you will find them.  It included a cherry pie video that Luann and I did one night about 1 am using a new pie stencil cutter.  Then the shop at Yankee Aviation got busy and the sawmill took off as well.  Busy time.  So video went on the back burner yet I kept taking stills.  That is where that big photo collection on the website comes from in all the forum post over the years.

So I am finishing up the ‘Anniversary Video’ and it has a few new things in it.  Let me say this, after 5 days of no sleep in the ICU, I got out, went to the airport to check a plane in for maintenance.  Found a bad starter front baffle seal, so I remade it, and installed it.  Then went home, made a video of it, had some food and went to bed.  I was so wound up from those 5 days, I had to do something.  Here it is:

I also put out a video that I got from Goldpilot in C about the art deco sculpture.  Inspired a new Gathering Game.  Stay tuned for that!  During the events coming up, you can select a part from my huge inventory of Grumman parts and figure how to retask it into something else.  Maybe a horizontal stab into a book shelf?  Stay tuned for that during the upcoming events next month.

Also let me say that I have a few extra camera and mounts for them in and out of an aircraft for video gathering during the events.  FYI

So to close this tale, anniversary video is almost finished but needs a few more bits.  One of these is thanks to Mark Matthews, i.e. Trash Pandas (more to come)!

Interior Redo Video

Thanks to Tim and the fine job he is doing maintaining Spanky a beautiful 1969 Yankee.

As Tim says, it was a ton of work that I will never do again.  The basic comment on video viewers is that Tim just added a bunch of work to their restoration.  The funny part is that for all this work under the covers so to speak, no ones but you will ever see it.  But you know it is there and done right.

Enjoy Fall!

So in closing, enjoy Fall, the WX here is great.  Now I am off to plan more event stuff.

Back to top^

Strip Festival

We have a new event coming up this October which will be part of our National Gathering.

https://gpa.grumman-parts.com/events/strip-festival/

On Thursday and Friday we will be running another Formation Flight training seminar this time hosted by the old AYA Formation Flying Director, Gregg ‘Whizz’ Wilson.

Come and join us for one great party before we get ready for our winter hibernation.

Damaging Your Plane

We have a member who just got his airplane all fixed up and then had a hard landing and went off the runway damaging the plane. He is fine and the plane is now totaled. Please be careful.

https://youtu.be/o8i5W9BHe20

Prop Pickup

What a lousy job it is when you boss tell you to fly and pick up a prop from the prop shop and you pay for his fuel to fly. What a tough job!

Playlist

We finally after 4 years got time to reorganize and do the YouTube Playlists to help you find videos.

Company Store redo

We also redid the company store so that now your can find our items easier, take a look.

Recovery

We sent a team to help recover a plane that had a bad landing. Enjoy the video.

https://youtu.be/aF_JSN5UrxI

https://youtu.be/jXCA47PCDrY

GPA

https://youtu.be/0zwyVfBM8-w

Well we are 6 years old now. Here is how we got started.

March 24-30, 2014 Gadsen, AL

April 8, 2014 Website created by Steve Williams who gave keys to Roscoe.

Founder Gathering Rough River, 2014

Hope to see all of ya’ll in October.

3 hours to send out emails

New Video Cameras video

Amazing to see the leaves unfurl and then move during the day, especially the last day. 12 seconds = 24 hours of real time.

915 videos

Store Product display changes

Topic Attachments

Windshield Bow done all wrong

Main gear Done All Wrong

Roscoe in Pool

FF Event

Tiger 0001

Rigging madness and More!

6 planes measured, 1 rigged (ELEVATOR)  18 people

Serial 2 A/W date 12,31,1974

Serial 22 A/W date 2/3/1975

Rigging Event

Nose Shimmy

Yankee #2

AGAC Emblems

Bunch of new videos including Magneto

Airplane Story N39010 Does your plane have one?

August Event with FF

YouTube Live Stream

Insurance Video (what all they collect)

Friday Photo: lunch at the Tin Goose Diner Liberty Aviation Museum in Port Clinton, Ohio (KPCW)

Spring Clean Plane Wash

5-23, KHAO. Parts on sale (air vents, canopy air locks, grommets, garter filters, etc.

The weather worked out well for us. My apologies for the time for 2 pm to 7:30 when it was supposed to be 9:30 to 2 pm. Anyway, all had a good time. A total of 13 folks flew in. The farthest flight was from the St. Louis area (2 plus hours) and it was a pleasure to meet Tim and Jill.

Luann spend all of Friday getting the chili started so it would be yummy the next day. It was good seeing old and new faces.

AA1C POH Reformat

You may have noticed that the AA1C POH manual of the GPA website has much nicer formatting and is printer friendly. Thanks to Mark H (AA1C POH) for this reformat.

Grumman Pilots YouTube Channel

Early days, 4 years ago.

First video Aug 24, 2016

15 more in October

26 more in February 2017

Now at 876

Top 10 Videos

Forced Landing

Cylinder Replacement Gone Bad

Forced Landing May 15, 2018

Propeller Overhaul

Dynamic Prop Balance

Tiger With Many Problems

Wing Repair Bird Strike

Why a Prepurchase is Needed

6-Cylinder Takeoff

4-Place Preflight

Mission statement – Videos submitted by members of the Grumman Pilots Association dealing with various aspects of life with Grummans: flying …

There is a new playlist, ‘Wrench and Elbow Bendings’, watch them all!

We have started doing airplane stories telling part or all of the history of a particular airplane. Does your p[lane have a tale to tell?

We have started adding ‘Easter Eggs’ to our videos. This is normally a software term. But it now applies to a section of video or a photo at the very end of a video. Sort of a surprise.

The first Easter Egg was discovered and emailed by James Easterbrooks, is that coincidence or what?

Also new in the collection are safety videos made from FAA material. Don’t want it said we were concerned with safety.

Made a video of NOS parts and someone called right after it went public to buy those parts for their plane!

MEMBERSHIP

We now have 2413 members! Welcome to all who are new.

Gathering, inspired by Bob Steward April 2014, was 6 years ago.

Founders Gathering, was held June 2014 at the Falls of Rough, KY, state park.

Refile of non-profit

Yankee Serial Number

Start was 5601L (‘Oil’) at serial #3. Serial #24 was 5626L (25 and 26 were foreign sold) so the series corrected back at #27, 5627L.

5907L and 5606L are both in the original Yankee manual (owned by Ken’s flight school).

Robert and Meli Gow had N5601L (‘OIL’), serial #3.

Serial #4 was crashed before delivery.

#5 – Hal Beauchiense.

BD-1’s

888M

889M

890M

All were BD-1’s used for ads and then were destroyed.

Morrell Meat Company Sweepstakes

One of our Easter eggs was an ad for ‘His and Her Yankees’, from the Morrell Meat Company. Thanks for sending that in!

Cowl Latch Pin Spring Grommets

I would like to thank Jimmy Candeletti for his help in sourcing a size grommet that would work for this application, Many were tried, only one chosen.

Air Vents

About a year ago we sold a bunch of Ken’s air vent kits until we ran out. I have been working with many suppliers of there air vents and in a lot of cases we got as far as getting a sample to examine. Many tries that I should put in a basket and you can have them. Anyway I finally found the same ones as in Ken’s kit. Rivets I have but the metal plates have been hard to get made, they cost more that the vent.

Good news is that I had to get a minimum order (enough to do a good percent of the fleet) which means I have lots and they were fairly cheap. Since I am not selling kits the deal of two vents (which I prefer holding in with 4 screws) is $50 plus shipping.

Red Rudder Caps

We are working with a person who makes these for another brand of plane. Stay tuned!

Interior plastic

We are also working to have plastic made (by the same guy who used to do it for Fletchair) to make ship sets, including the Traveler, and two-plane which are hurting for rear plastic pieces.

Yankee Aviation

During this ‘Shelter at Home’ time we are open to service the fleet. Nice to be back for awhile.

FF event right before Rigging Madness June 11 – 12

Rigging Madness

Canopy INSPECTION

There is more to your canopy than the single entry in the annual checklist. Here is what we look for as a start:

Latch and Latching (how well does it close, seal compression, lock)

Latch cover and placards

Double Bead Seal

Canopy Seal

How does canopy slide

Canopy stop bumpers installed inside?

Canopy bumpers and springs

Rails – clean, measure, swap

Tracks – clean

Front canopy seal

Rear Seal Canopy (felt)

Canopy ride bumpers

Canopy side windows and seals

Interior canopy plastic

Clean turtleneck under canopy while canopy is off

Candelari Mod Explained

Somewhere is the dark past, someone came up with the idea of a lower cowling deflector to create an area of low pressure by the exit ramps to help get the hot air out. It was used a lot at Hortman Aviation, and Jimmy Candeletti got credit for this mod.

Trim Plate Decode

1976 AA5A 5-EPJL – 12 – P

So from the parts  manual of that year we find:

EP =   Polyurethane WHITE (Pilgrim White) APS 1154-209  Main color

J =       April Green APS 1154-303 (Acrylic enamel)   Trim color

L =      Avocado Green APS 1154-305 (Acrylic enamel) Accent Stripe

12 =    Your upholstery in Green Style

P =      Interior Trim color Cloud Grey APS 115-70S

GPA Events

Hold an event, get door prizes donated. So let us fly and have some fun around the country.

New Tshirts

The above have a pocket.

July 13^th Event

https://gpa.grumman-parts.com/events/hogan-field-dedication/

Cookie Recipe

For those who really enjoyed the cookies brought by Cindy Mowery here is the recipe that she used for them.

Molasses Cookies

Mrs.Elliott from Amish cookbook

3 cups shortening

4 cups sugar

1 cup Brer Rabbit© Molasses

4 eggs

8 tsp. baking soda

8 cups flour

1 tsp. cloves

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. salt

Melt shortening. Add sugar, molasses, eggs and salt; mix.

Add flour, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon and salt; mix.

Form balls and roll in white sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet. Do not press down. Bake at 350° for approximately 10-12 minutes.

Canopy Air Locks

They are back in stock order yours today!

Ken’s Memorial (among his parts)

Other than the parts, there was most of the crew from loading, Dan Baisley, Mark Matthews, Rich Harrison, and Jimmy Candeletti. Thanks to these guys who had it all possible.

Also as part of this process, I have many videos of Ken’s I have never used, but thought it would be a good idea to digitize them into movies and see what the B roll has on it. Look forward to hidden gems. One for sure will be all the AGAC Tooling in a warehouse along with file cabinets of aircraft paperwork and explanations of what each jig of tooling did in the larger project.

While going through Ken’s Videos and papers, we came across the article that Ken send me years ago. Enjoy this read.

Western Flyer, 1^st Issue of February, 1984 page 21.

‘Lack of degree no handicap for Ameromod manager’

EWERETT< WA – Don’t get into a conversation with Ken Blackman about aircraft modifications unless you have a lot of time. Blackman is general manager of Ameromod, which offers a number of mods, and his enthusiasm will keep your ears busy for quite a while.

But that’s no problem, because Ameromod’s programs can add zip and looks to your airplane. The company based at Paine Field, is best known for it Gulfstream (Grumman) American aircraft programs. There are 125 -, 150-, 160-, and 180-hp conversions for Yankees, Travelers and other GA airplanes. There are cowling and landing gear clean-up mods, soundproofing and interior-comfort mods, 10- and 20-gallon auxiliary fuel systems with gross weight increases, dorsal-fin and large-elevator installations, Sensenich propeller for the standard GA McCauley prop.

A turbocharged 180-hp conversion for the Tiger is in the works, as is a 200-hp fuel injected, constant speed conversion for all four-place models. A carburetor air intake and induction system conversion for some GA models is also under development at Ameromod.

Blackman, short, 41 and exuberant, rattle off facts and figures like a verbal Janes.   For instance, ask him about the 125-hp conversion for the Yankee and he’ll immediately tell you that the result is 126 to 131 mph cruise at 75 percent power at 8,000 feet. He’ll continue talking about the mod for the next twenty minutes. He;s especially proud of the company’s success in coming up with the for a bad vibration in original Tigers.

“ The problem was the McCauley prop at certain rpm,” he said. “It could cause eventual cracks and damage, and it led to an AD note that included an operating restriction arc. Eventually Grumman American and McCauley, working together, came up with a beefier prop to eliminate the required inspection every 100 hours, but there is still a vibration in a certain rpm arc.”

Meanwhile, Blackman and his crew discovered that when a Sensenich prop was installed on the Tiger the vibration disappeared, and they obtained an STC for the conversion.

As you might suspect, Blackman learned to fly in a 1971 GA Trainer, back when he a night club entertainer. The fixed-based operation he rented from closed, so “four or five of us die-hards bought one (a Yankee) and formed a flying club in 1975.”

The club evolved into Sky Trek Aviation, a flight school and GA dealer at Paine Field. Sky Trek’s sales made the outfit one of Grumman American’s top five dealers one year. However, in 1979 Grumman American decided to stop building single-engine two- and four-seaters, and Blackman and several associates formed Ameromod in 1980 to develop product support and modifications for Grumman American aircraft owners. Modifications are Blackman’s raison d’etre.

“I’ve always been one to pull out an engine and put in a bigger one, no matter what was in there to begin with,” he said. He flew his own Yankee for a year testing the 125-hp Lycoming O-235 installation before selling the ATC. “If it was going blow up, I wanted it to be my plane.”

But rarely does one of Blackman’s mods go awry. Although he has no formal training in aeronautics or engineering (he shipped college altogether) he is a natural genius in designing. “And a kid, I could sit and look at a design and come up with changes, like for a dune buggy, without putting anything on paper.”

Ameromod has two full-time mechanics, but Blackman is as likely to be found in the shop or hangar with them, thinking and tinkering , as he is to found behind his desk. His ideas aren’t limited to GA products, however. Realizing that the supple of GA single is finite, he helped develop mods for other aircraft. For instance, there’s the Sparrowhawk 152, which involves installation of a 125-hp Lycoming, and prop and spinner change, and a baffling-system modification. The new 152 can cruise at 117 knots at 75 percent power on six or seven gph, and it can climb to 16,000 feet.

Nonetheless. The GA singles remain Blackman’s passion (once he even tried to the GA product rights and tooling). In the future, look for a Tiger with stick controls, a 260-hp engine and Yankee wings called the “262.”

Ken videoing the tooling in 1996. https://youtu.be/AoAoEbSkaKI

KEN BLACKMAN REMEMBERED

Good morning to all. My name is Sharon Spence, President of the AYA. I am not able to attend in person today due to a previous commitment and have asked Ronnie Mowery to represent myself and the AYA today as the Grumman Family remembers a very special man – Ken Blackman.

I am sure all in attendance today knew Ken as one of the Grumman Gurus and all his abilities in fixing planes near and far. Ken was a founding member of the AYA, he served as President, Convention Chair and Editor of the American Stat. He was a lifetime member of the AYA and a recipient of the Dicey Miller Award. BUT these are not the tings I remember about Ken.

I remember the first time I met Ken: it was at Ames, Iowa in 1986, my first convention. We had just bought our Tiger and flew it to Ames. I currently owned a Cheetah at this time and loved it and hated the Tiger and refused to sell the Cheetah. We were sitting one afternoon with a group of “experienced” Grumman owners who were talking about the “race car” handling of the Cheetah and Tiger. I could not believe my ears and I strongly voiced my opinion on the difference. The Cheetah handles like a dream, but the Tiger handles like a semi-truck. No one believed me, so we went out to the line where the Tiger was parked. Ken spotted our Canadian call letters and as we walked toward our Tiger said “I don’t believe it – you have “chopped ailerons”. For those who have never seen or heard of “chopped ailerons” this is what happened. The FAA issued and AD on the Tiger, owners were required to cut off the trailing edge of the ailerons to prevent “aileron flutter.” (Editor’s Note: This AD applied to all 4-place Grummans, not just the Tiger.) The previous owners were early compliers with this AD. Fortunately the AYA got involved got involved in this AD issue and through our then Technical Director, Jeff Simon, was instrumental in getting the FAA to accept an alternate methos of complying with the AD through a one-time inspection process and a logbook entry. (Editor’s Note: The method is SI 6101, service instruction also helped by Tiger Aircraft in WV.)

Anyway, it took Ken about 10 minutes and he was on the phone to Andy at North American Training College, Springbank, Alberta, CAN. Ken had found us a set of new ailerons. We left the convention the next day and flew to Springbank. We had our ailerons replaced and our Tiger flew like the Cheetah going home. I then agreed to sell the Cheetah!! Thanks to Ken.

I have a few more memories of Ken coming to our rescue. I won’t relate them all but I do have one more that I will share. We were flying home from a weekend trip to Cody and Thermopolis, WY. We stopped at Malta, MT for fuel on the way home. Fueled up and ready to go I turned the key and tried several times to start the plane (of course Jim said I folded it), but – it was a no go!! Fortunately there was a mechanic on the field. But, he had never worked on a Grumman before and after trying several different things and it still di not start we then phoned Ken. Ken diagnosed the problem over the phone, called somewhere down south, and had a new mag Fedexed to Malta, MT and in two days we were on our way home. Once again, Thank you Ken.

Ken was well known for his “wing nut” donation to the annual AYA conventions. Every table at the banquet would have a packet of wing nuts. (Editor’s Note: These were battery wing nuts.) There would be some sort of contest as to who would get the wing nuts. It is a memory that will not be forgotten. The AYA now has “The Ken Blackman Memorial Wing Nut Toss” contest at our conventions. It is a blast and once again, Thank you Ken!

I last visited with Ken at the AYA Convention in Paso Robles, CA in May 2017. We had a great chat, hugged each other, shared a tear or two and said how nice it was to see each other again. It had been too long.

In closing I just want to say, “thank you Ken for all the wonderful memories, you will be forever missed.”

Sharon Spence

Friend and President of the AYA

Bob Getting Grumman Info

There was a young man at Ken’s Memorial who came to learn what he could about the line. Smart move Bob!

Typical Day

I spend a loft of time talking on the phone to folks with Grumman questions:

Rags

2-place nosebowl STC and hardware.

Flying Goddess

Down in southern Louisiana a lady working on her Cheetah has mud dabbers

Building weight into her ailerons.

July 13^th Event

https://gpa.grumman-parts.com/events/hogan-field-dedication/

Cookie Recipe

For those who really enjoyed the cookies brought by Cindy Mowery here is the recipe that she used for them.

Molasses Cookies

Mrs.Elliott from Amish cookbook

3 cups shortening

4 cups sugar

1 cup Brer Rabbit© Molasses

4 eggs

8 tsp. baking soda

8 cups flour

1 tsp. cloves

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. salt

Melt shortening. Add sugar, molasses, eggs and salt; mix.

Add flour, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon and salt; mix.

Form balls and roll in white sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet. Do not press down. Bake at 350° for approximately 10-12 minutes.

Canopy Air Locks

They are back in stock order yours today!

Ken’s Memorial (among his parts)

Other than the parts, there was most of the crew from loading, Dan Baisley, Mark Matthews, Rich Harrison, and Jimmy Candeletti. Thanks to these guys who had it all possible.

Also as part of this process, I have many videos of Ken’s I have never used, but thought it would be a good idea to digitize them into movies and see what the B roll has on it. Look forward to hidden gems. One for sure will be all the AGAC Tooling in a warehouse along with file cabinets of aircraft paperwork and explanations of what each jig of tooling did in the larger project.

While going through Ken’s Videos and papers, we came across the article that Ken send me years ago. Enjoy this read.

Western Flyer, 1^st Issue of February, 1984 page 21.

‘Lack of degree no handicap for Ameromod manager’

EWERETT< WA – Don’t get into a conversation with Ken Blackman about aircraft modifications unless you have a lot of time. Blackman is general manager of Ameromod, which offers a number of mods, and his enthusiasm will keep your ears busy for quite a while.

But that’s no problem, because Ameromod’s programs can add zip and looks to your airplane. The company based at Paine Field, is best known for it Gulfstream (Grumman) American aircraft programs. There are 125 -, 150-, 160-, and 180-hp conversions for Yankees, Travelers and other GA airplanes. There are cowling and landing gear clean-up mods, soundproofing and interior-comfort mods, 10- and 20-gallon auxiliary fuel systems with gross weight increases, dorsal-fin and large-elevator installations, Sensenich propeller for the standard GA McCauley prop.

A turbocharged 180-hp conversion for the Tiger is in the works, as is a 200-hp fuel injected, constant speed conversion for all four-place models. A carburetor air intake and induction system conversion for some GA models is also under development at Ameromod.

Blackman, short, 41 and exuberant, rattle off facts and figures like a verbal Janes.   For instance, ask him about the 125-hp conversion for the Yankee and he’ll immediately tell you that the result is 126 to 131 mph cruise at 75 percent power at 8,000 feet. He’ll continue talking about the mod for the next twenty minutes. He;s especially proud of the company’s success in coming up with the for a bad vibration in original Tigers.

“ The problem was the McCauley prop at certain rpm,” he said. “It could cause eventual cracks and damage, and it led to an AD note that included an operating restriction arc. Eventually Grumman American and McCauley, working together, came up with a beefier prop to eliminate the required inspection every 100 hours, but there is still a vibration in a certain rpm arc.”

Meanwhile, Blackman and his crew discovered that when a Sensenich prop was installed on the Tiger the vibration disappeared, and they obtained an STC for the conversion.

As you might suspect, Blackman learned to fly in a 1971 GA Trainer, back when he a night club entertainer. The fixed-based operation he rented from closed, so “four or five of us die-hards bought one (a Yankee) and formed a flying club in 1975.”

The club evolved into Sky Trek Aviation, a flight school and GA dealer at Paine Field. Sky Trek’s sales made the outfit one of Grumman American’s top five dealers one year. However, in 1979 Grumman American decided to stop building single-engine two- and four-seaters, and Blackman and several associates formed Ameromod in 1980 to develop product support and modifications for Grumman American aircraft owners. Modifications are Blackman’s raison d’etre.

“I’ve always been one to pull out an engine and put in a bigger one, no matter what was in there to begin with,” he said. He flew his own Yankee for a year testing the 125-hp Lycoming O-235 installation before selling the ATC. “If it was going blow up, I wanted it to be my plane.”

But rarely does one of Blackman’s mods go awry. Although he has no formal training in aeronautics or engineering (he shipped college altogether) he is a natural genius in designing. “And a kid, I could sit and look at a design and come up with changes, like for a dune buggy, without putting anything on paper.”

Ameromod has two full-time mechanics, but Blackman is as likely to be found in the shop or hangar with them, thinking and tinkering , as he is to found behind his desk. His ideas aren’t limited to GA products, however. Realizing that the supple of GA single is finite, he helped develop mods for other aircraft. For instance, there’s the Sparrowhawk 152, which involves installation of a 125-hp Lycoming, and prop and spinner change, and a baffling-system modification. The new 152 can cruise at 117 knots at 75 percent power on six or seven gph, and it can climb to 16,000 feet.

Nonetheless. The GA singles remain Blackman’s passion (once he even tried to the GA product rights and tooling). In the future, look for a Tiger with stick controls, a 260-hp engine and Yankee wings called the “262.”

Ken videoing the tooling in 1996. https://youtu.be/AoAoEbSkaKI

KEN BLACKMAN REMEMBERED

Good morning to all. My name is Sharon Spence, President of the AYA. I am not able to attend in person today due to a previous commitment and have asked Ronnie Mowery to represent myself and the AYA today as the Grumman Family remembers a very special man – Ken Blackman.

I am sure all in attendance today knew Ken as one of the Grumman Gurus and all his abilities in fixing planes near and far. Ken was a founding member of the AYA, he served as President, Convention Chair and Editor of the American Stat. He was a lifetime member of the AYA and a recipient of the Dicey Miller Award. BUT these are not the tings I remember about Ken.

I remember the first time I met Ken: it was at Ames, Iowa in 1986, my first convention. We had just bought our Tiger and flew it to Ames. I currently owned a Cheetah at this time and loved it and hated the Tiger and refused to sell the Cheetah. We were sitting one afternoon with a group of “experienced” Grumman owners who were talking about the “race car” handling of the Cheetah and Tiger. I could not believe my ears and I strongly voiced my opinion on the difference. The Cheetah handles like a dream, but the Tiger handles like a semi-truck. No one believed me, so we went out to the line where the Tiger was parked. Ken spotted our Canadian call letters and as we walked toward our Tiger said “I don’t believe it – you have “chopped ailerons”. For those who have never seen or heard of “chopped ailerons” this is what happened. The FAA issued and AD on the Tiger, owners were required to cut off the trailing edge of the ailerons to prevent “aileron flutter.” (Editor’s Note: This AD applied to all 4-place Grummans, not just the Tiger.) The previous owners were early compliers with this AD. Fortunately the AYA got involved got involved in this AD issue and through our then Technical Director, Jeff Simon, was instrumental in getting the FAA to accept an alternate methos of complying with the AD through a one-time inspection process and a logbook entry. (Editor’s Note: The method is SI 6101, service instruction also helped by Tiger Aircraft in WV.)

Anyway, it took Ken about 10 minutes and he was on the phone to Andy at North American Training College, Springbank, Alberta, CAN. Ken had found us a set of new ailerons. We left the convention the next day and flew to Springbank. We had our ailerons replaced and our Tiger flew like the Cheetah going home. I then agreed to sell the Cheetah!! Thanks to Ken.

I have a few more memories of Ken coming to our rescue. I won’t relate them all but I do have one more that I will share. We were flying home from a weekend trip to Cody and Thermopolis, WY. We stopped at Malta, MT for fuel on the way home. Fueled up and ready to go I turned the key and tried several times to start the plane (of course Jim said I folded it), but – it was a no go!! Fortunately there was a mechanic on the field. But, he had never worked on a Grumman before and after trying several different things and it still di not start we then phoned Ken. Ken diagnosed the problem over the phone, called somewhere down south, and had a new mag Fedexed to Malta, MT and in two days we were on our way home. Once again, Thank you Ken.

Ken was well known for his “wing nut” donation to the annual AYA conventions. Every table at the banquet would have a packet of wing nuts. (Editor’s Note: These were battery wing nuts.) There would be some sort of contest as to who would get the wing nuts. It is a memory that will not be forgotten. The AYA now has “The Ken Blackman Memorial Wing Nut Toss” contest at our conventions. It is a blast and once again, Thank you Ken!

I last visited with Ken at the AYA Convention in Paso Robles, CA in May 2017. We had a great chat, hugged each other, shared a tear or two and said how nice it was to see each other again. It had been too long.

In closing I just want to say, “thank you Ken for all the wonderful memories, you will be forever missed.”

Sharon Spence

Friend and President of the AYA

Bob Getting Grumman Info

There was a young man at Ken’s Memorial who came to learn what he could about the line. Smart move Bob!

Typical Day

I spend a loft of time talking on the phone to folks with Grumman questions:

Rags

2-place nosebowl STC and hardware.

Flying Goddess

Down in southern Louisiana a lady working on her Cheetah has mud dabbers

Building weight into her ailerons.

July 13^th Event

https://gpa.grumman-parts.com/events/hogan-field-dedication/

Cookie Recipe

For those who really enjoyed the cookies brought by Cindy Mowery here is the recipe that she used for them.

Molasses Cookies

Mrs.Elliott from Amish cookbook

3 cups shortening

4 cups sugar

1 cup Brer Rabbit© Molasses

4 eggs

8 tsp. baking soda

8 cups flour

1 tsp. cloves

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. salt

Melt shortening. Add sugar, molasses, eggs and salt; mix.

Add flour, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon and salt; mix.

Form balls and roll in white sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet. Do not press down. Bake at 350° for approximately 10-12 minutes.

Canopy Air Locks

They are back in stock order yours today!

Ken’s Memorial (among his parts)

Other than the parts, there was most of the crew from loading, Dan Baisley, Mark Matthews, Rich Harrison, and Jimmy Candeletti. Thanks to these guys who had it all possible.

Also as part of this process, I have many videos of Ken’s I have never used, but thought it would be a good idea to digitize them into movies and see what the B roll has on it. Look forward to hidden gems. One for sure will be all the AGAC Tooling in a warehouse along with file cabinets of aircraft paperwork and explanations of what each jig of tooling did in the larger project.

While going through Ken’s Videos and papers, we came across the article that Ken send me years ago. Enjoy this read.

Western Flyer, 1^st Issue of February, 1984 page 21.

‘Lack of degree no handicap for Ameromod manager’

EWERETT< WA – Don’t get into a conversation with Ken Blackman about aircraft modifications unless you have a lot of time. Blackman is general manager of Ameromod, which offers a number of mods, and his enthusiasm will keep your ears busy for quite a while.

But that’s no problem, because Ameromod’s programs can add zip and looks to your airplane. The company based at Paine Field, is best known for it Gulfstream (Grumman) American aircraft programs. There are 125 -, 150-, 160-, and 180-hp conversions for Yankees, Travelers and other GA airplanes. There are cowling and landing gear clean-up mods, soundproofing and interior-comfort mods, 10- and 20-gallon auxiliary fuel systems with gross weight increases, dorsal-fin and large-elevator installations, Sensenich propeller for the standard GA McCauley prop.

A turbocharged 180-hp conversion for the Tiger is in the works, as is a 200-hp fuel injected, constant speed conversion for all four-place models. A carburetor air intake and induction system conversion for some GA models is also under development at Ameromod.

Blackman, short, 41 and exuberant, rattle off facts and figures like a verbal Janes.   For instance, ask him about the 125-hp conversion for the Yankee and he’ll immediately tell you that the result is 126 to 131 mph cruise at 75 percent power at 8,000 feet. He’ll continue talking about the mod for the next twenty minutes. He;s especially proud of the company’s success in coming up with the for a bad vibration in original Tigers.

“ The problem was the McCauley prop at certain rpm,” he said. “It could cause eventual cracks and damage, and it led to an AD note that included an operating restriction arc. Eventually Grumman American and McCauley, working together, came up with a beefier prop to eliminate the required inspection every 100 hours, but there is still a vibration in a certain rpm arc.”

Meanwhile, Blackman and his crew discovered that when a Sensenich prop was installed on the Tiger the vibration disappeared, and they obtained an STC for the conversion.

As you might suspect, Blackman learned to fly in a 1971 GA Trainer, back when he a night club entertainer. The fixed-based operation he rented from closed, so “four or five of us die-hards bought one (a Yankee) and formed a flying club in 1975.”

The club evolved into Sky Trek Aviation, a flight school and GA dealer at Paine Field. Sky Trek’s sales made the outfit one of Grumman American’s top five dealers one year. However, in 1979 Grumman American decided to stop building single-engine two- and four-seaters, and Blackman and several associates formed Ameromod in 1980 to develop product support and modifications for Grumman American aircraft owners. Modifications are Blackman’s raison d’etre.

“I’ve always been one to pull out an engine and put in a bigger one, no matter what was in there to begin with,” he said. He flew his own Yankee for a year testing the 125-hp Lycoming O-235 installation before selling the ATC. “If it was going blow up, I wanted it to be my plane.”

But rarely does one of Blackman’s mods go awry. Although he has no formal training in aeronautics or engineering (he shipped college altogether) he is a natural genius in designing. “And a kid, I could sit and look at a design and come up with changes, like for a dune buggy, without putting anything on paper.”

Ameromod has two full-time mechanics, but Blackman is as likely to be found in the shop or hangar with them, thinking and tinkering , as he is to found behind his desk. His ideas aren’t limited to GA products, however. Realizing that the supple of GA single is finite, he helped develop mods for other aircraft. For instance, there’s the Sparrowhawk 152, which involves installation of a 125-hp Lycoming, and prop and spinner change, and a baffling-system modification. The new 152 can cruise at 117 knots at 75 percent power on six or seven gph, and it can climb to 16,000 feet.

Nonetheless. The GA singles remain Blackman’s passion (once he even tried to the GA product rights and tooling). In the future, look for a Tiger with stick controls, a 260-hp engine and Yankee wings called the “262.”

Ken videoing the tooling in 1996. https://youtu.be/AoAoEbSkaKI

KEN BLACKMAN REMEMBERED

Good morning to all. My name is Sharon Spence, President of the AYA. I am not able to attend in person today due to a previous commitment and have asked Ronnie Mowery to represent myself and the AYA today as the Grumman Family remembers a very special man – Ken Blackman.

I am sure all in attendance today knew Ken as one of the Grumman Gurus and all his abilities in fixing planes near and far. Ken was a founding member of the AYA, he served as President, Convention Chair and Editor of the American Stat. He was a lifetime member of the AYA and a recipient of the Dicey Miller Award. BUT these are not the tings I remember about Ken.

I remember the first time I met Ken: it was at Ames, Iowa in 1986, my first convention. We had just bought our Tiger and flew it to Ames. I currently owned a Cheetah at this time and loved it and hated the Tiger and refused to sell the Cheetah. We were sitting one afternoon with a group of “experienced” Grumman owners who were talking about the “race car” handling of the Cheetah and Tiger. I could not believe my ears and I strongly voiced my opinion on the difference. The Cheetah handles like a dream, but the Tiger handles like a semi-truck. No one believed me, so we went out to the line where the Tiger was parked. Ken spotted our Canadian call letters and as we walked toward our Tiger said “I don’t believe it – you have “chopped ailerons”. For those who have never seen or heard of “chopped ailerons” this is what happened. The FAA issued and AD on the Tiger, owners were required to cut off the trailing edge of the ailerons to prevent “aileron flutter.” (Editor’s Note: This AD applied to all 4-place Grummans, not just the Tiger.) The previous owners were early compliers with this AD. Fortunately the AYA got involved got involved in this AD issue and through our then Technical Director, Jeff Simon, was instrumental in getting the FAA to accept an alternate methos of complying with the AD through a one-time inspection process and a logbook entry. (Editor’s Note: The method is SI 6101, service instruction also helped by Tiger Aircraft in WV.)

Anyway, it took Ken about 10 minutes and he was on the phone to Andy at North American Training College, Springbank, Alberta, CAN. Ken had found us a set of new ailerons. We left the convention the next day and flew to Springbank. We had our ailerons replaced and our Tiger flew like the Cheetah going home. I then agreed to sell the Cheetah!! Thanks to Ken.

I have a few more memories of Ken coming to our rescue. I won’t relate them all but I do have one more that I will share. We were flying home from a weekend trip to Cody and Thermopolis, WY. We stopped at Malta, MT for fuel on the way home. Fueled up and ready to go I turned the key and tried several times to start the plane (of course Jim said I folded it), but – it was a no go!! Fortunately there was a mechanic on the field. But, he had never worked on a Grumman before and after trying several different things and it still di not start we then phoned Ken. Ken diagnosed the problem over the phone, called somewhere down south, and had a new mag Fedexed to Malta, MT and in two days we were on our way home. Once again, Thank you Ken.

Ken was well known for his “wing nut” donation to the annual AYA conventions. Every table at the banquet would have a packet of wing nuts. (Editor’s Note: These were battery wing nuts.) There would be some sort of contest as to who would get the wing nuts. It is a memory that will not be forgotten. The AYA now has “The Ken Blackman Memorial Wing Nut Toss” contest at our conventions. It is a blast and once again, Thank you Ken!

I last visited with Ken at the AYA Convention in Paso Robles, CA in May 2017. We had a great chat, hugged each other, shared a tear or two and said how nice it was to see each other again. It had been too long.

In closing I just want to say, “thank you Ken for all the wonderful memories, you will be forever missed.”

Sharon Spence

Friend and President of the AYA

Bob Getting Grumman Info

There was a young man at Ken’s Memorial who came to learn what he could about the line. Smart move Bob!

Typical Day

I spend a loft of time talking on the phone to folks with Grumman questions:

Rags

2-place nosebowl STC and hardware.

Flying Goddess

Down in southern Louisiana a lady working on her Cheetah has mud dabbers

Building weight into her ailerons.

Ken’s Memorial Event

That is coming up this weekend. Some folks have already started to arrive and work to make this a great event. Look forward to seeing all of ya’ll this weekend.

Ken’s Polish Snowplow Video

While going through stuff getting ready for the memorial, I decided to put this full-length video, which near the end features Ken riding the contraption. Watch and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/iQQ4UtCsCWw

Canopy Air Locks are coming

Rumor has it that some 15 or so Airlocks are coming up this weekend. That is good so we will have some for door prizes and a bunch for sale. I’m told the price is $35 each.

Grumman Gang 25 years old as of May 4^th

Hard to believe that 25 years have gone by since I joined, where did the time go? I thought the anniversary date was in the fall but Mark was kind enough to give me the correct date.

Back in the day, I remember attending a wine party at Jon and Ruth Maestre’s where we were all sharing our new emails addresses. Now look at us.

YouTube Videos

We have 695 videos now. Going to do one soon on the AK102A accessory kit that came out in 1970 for keeping the Yankees warmer in flight. Stay tuned.

Editor’s Note

I started writing this in May but with the event coming on I have been busy. So let me apologize for the length of this newsletter.

Membership

Current membership is at 1,940 members.

Videos

For whatever reason, we had a huge bump in views of our videos just before Thanksgiving.

Scholarship

It would a perfect world if the GPA had enough extra money to be able to award a 1500 or 2500 dollar scholarship but alas we do not. So we chose a different method. We look at people who loved aviation and were going to stay in it with maybe even military flying. To this end we decided on a seeding program. After a suitable person was located, we would find a local pilot and have them take the person up in the left seat for an hour and let them see how a Grumman really flew. By doing this somewhere down the road/airway then would be able to counter anything negative that folks would say about our planes.

So if you know of a candidate and can safely fly right seat, let us know. We will pay for an hour of your fuel to show them our planes.

Here is what our first awardee had to say.

Scholarship Award

My aviation story begins differently from many other aviators: I have not always wanted to be a pilot. As a girl growing up in a small town in Indiana, it simply never occurred to me as an option. I had no aviators in my family, and since most pilots I encountered were older men who flew massive airliners or military jets, I couldn’t conceive of myself stepping into those shoes. But as I grew, the world changed, and so did I; and when I got to the end of my college career, unsure of my future and lacking any strong career ambitions, a basic career aptitude test illuminated my path like lightning in the night when it told me I would make a good pilot. That one word – “pilot” – strung together all the aspects of my personality and interests in a way that no other aspiration had before. I took a discovery flight, and that was the beginning of the end; I was irrevocably hooked on flying.

The problem from that point on was not ambition, but execution. I had just graduated college with a degree in political science, no viable job prospects in that field, and student loan debt; and, as we all know, flight training is not cheap. I chose to work a full-time job unrelated to aviation to fund my flight training at a Part 61 operation. I wanted to go at my own pace and pay as I went. However, my first year of “flight training” saw only 13 hours of flight time and an embarrassingly low amount of studying. I made the decision to move back home so I could put the money I was using on rent towards flying. The biggest change came when I was able to start working for the FBO at the Butler County Regional Airport, where I was taking my lessons. There is nothing more motivating than having an endless stream of aviation enthusiasts asking you about your flight training – you want to be able to tell them that you are progressing and loving every minute of it! With Blue Sky Flight Training, I got my private pilot’s license in just over a year and with 100 hours of flight time. I used that time to become as proficient as possible rather than just barely scraping by with the minimum amount of knowledge and experience to pass the check ride. I plan to continue with my training by earning my instrument and commercial ratings.

Aside from having consistent access to the rental aircraft and my instructor, working at the Butler County Airport has provided me with the opportunity to form many friendships on the field. Roscoe Rosche, owner of Yankee Aviation and prominent member of the Grumman Pilots Association, was kind enough to offer me a ride in a Grumman Cheetah with his good friend and fellow pilot Matt Wing. On a beautiful summer evening, Matt let me ride left seat as we flew northeast towards Richmond, IN, where I grew up. Everything about the airplane spoiled me, including the differential braking (I am notorious for over-braking during taxi – just ask my instructor – so this came naturally to me), the classic rock music that bled softly through the Bose headsets as we cruised, and the landing that came much more smoothly than what I was used to in a Cessna 172. Since then, I have also ridden in a Long EZ, several RV-8s, a Baron, a Pitts, a Ford Tri-Motor, and a King Air 350. Because of the generosity of Roscoe, Matt, and the many others on the field who have contributed to my interest in aviation, it has become a long-term goal of mine to ride in as many different types of general aviation aircraft as possible. Although I don’t have any blood relatives who are aviators, I have experienced how easy it is to find your own family within the aviation community, and I look forward to the day when I can generously share my passion with younger aviators as so many have done for me.

-Miranda Jones

AirModsNW Move

As you know Ken Blackman passed away last May and his business ground to a halt. The shop was wanted by another mechanic (shop space in the Seattle area is hard to come by) so he was able to get it. Roscoe called the Blackman family and worked out a deal on all of Ken’s Grumman stuff at the shop.

Next order of business was to put together a crew and arrange transportation for all the Grumman parts. The first trailer was delivered December 14^th, and loading started on Saturday. The second trailer was finished the following Monday and now both are on their way across the US to Yankee Aviation in Ohio.

I would like to thank Mark Matthews, Rich Harrison, Dan Baisley, Jimmy Candeletti, and Klaus Marx (IA for Ken for 10 years and who I trained under for my IA) for their help in loading and sorting through everything.

We are very happy to have saved all these Grumman parts to support the fleet.

First Yankee delivered 50 years ago.

It was in late 1968 that the first Yankee was delivered to a customer.