Don Staats

Type Clubs Work Two Ways
I was flying along in my Pacer a few days ago from San Geronimo Airpark to Elm Creek Airpark south of Seguin. Somewhere along the way I started thinking about an upcoming event with my Short Wing Piper Club (SWPC) chapter. My next thought was that I would belong to this group even if I didn’t own a Pacer.

We are about 40 strong and include members from Houston to west of San Antonio. It is a struggle to keep the chapter viable since we are scattered out over a long distance and our fly-out meetings are frequently weathered out.

We fight against abandonment because we enjoy our camaraderie and the exchange of ideas concerning short wing Pipers. The short wingers include the Vagabond, Clipper, Pacer, Tri-Pacer and Colt. All have a 29” – 6” wingspan and hence the name. How the short wing came about is another story.

As a type club member I have access to blueprints, tools, a lending library and a couple of volumes of tips that cover every aspect of maintaining the aircraft. The SWPC publishes a bi-monthly news magazine that is about the size of what the Reader’s Digest used to be. It is filled with adventures of members flying to various places around the world, chapter events, vendor advertising particular to our needs, and a want ad section.

Also, there is a national convention. I have attended only three and missed the one held this year in Springfield MO. I hope to go to others in the future. They really have some great seminars---again related to the short wing bird.

As you see I am involved with a great “support group.” I really don’t like that term because it seems too politically correct but that is what it is.

Obviously, you have now figured out the first way a Type club works: you gain support in maintaining and operating your aircraft! There are clubs for just about every manufactured aircraft and many of our home builts. Nowadays, with kits, the homebuilt designers offer builder support and I would imagine the follow-on as well. For some of the older birds, however, it is left to the type clubs.

What about the second way a type club can work for you. Easy. You don’t need to own an aircraft to join. And once involved, you can find all there is to know about the machine before you buy or build. You may even beg a ride and see what it feels like in the air.

I have belonged to several type chapters over the years. Did you know that one of the problems a Fairchild 24 had was tail wheel shimmy. The way to solve that was to make sure you got a tire that had a flat tread on the bottom. Amelia Erhardt used to demonstrate the Monocoupe . Charles Lindberg wrecked his Monocoupe twice. (I didn’t wreck mine once. That is the truth but on the two occasions of engine trouble I was near an airport).

A Pietenpol enthusiast can buy plans from Donald Pietenpol, son of Bernie and for a very few dollars extra get the plans for mounting an Viele engine and an under the engine radiator for the Ford Model A. Total cost around $80.00 unless its gone up recently. I saw a Viele powered Peit at Kerrville one year with oil leaking from every cylinder and a WWI German design. It was named “Der Faker Fokker.” One Pietenpol club has annual fly-ins at Broadhead, Wisconsin (sorry, but attending that fly –in is by invitation only as it has become too crowded).

What about the Rose Parrakeet? They gather at the Antique Airplane Association meet at Blakesburg, Iowa. Join their club and find out what makes them so neat. The Rose is a little one-place bi-plane out of the 1930s. It works well on 65 h..p. and absolutely great on 100 h.p. It would be a great project for the traditionalist who wants to go tube, fabric and wood from plans. Some of the earlier ones used a tail skid.

For those who want to build their own from a kit, rather than buy a factory job, go to the designer (e.g. the Zenith folks in Mexico, MO). Before you plunge in with the big bucks, however, join the type club and attend their fly-ins. Maybe you will learn more about the bird there than you learn from the designer during a factory visit sales pitch.

Well that’s two ways a type club can work for you---support for owners or knowledge about costs and performance in advance of purchase. The latter can save you a lot of money and headaches. To paraphrase an old advertising saying: type clubs are “where the “rubber meets the road.” People that own and fly a certain model are not shy about extolling its virtues or discussing areas where allowances must be made or compromises dealt with.

I have a yet third reason for joining a type club. I just like to know more about certain types of aircraft than is available in current literature. The type club newsletters really give you the details and let you know where there are any problems in the design that must be resolved before flying. Also, the newsletter contains information on fly-ins related to the type aircraft for those who want to go look at them.

There are so many airplanes that I would like to own and fly. I suppose that if I could afford it I would have one of each. Membership in a type club gives me a vicarious way to feel participative. All I know is that any day I am involved in any way with flying is a good day. The neatest sign I ever saw that expressed this thought was painted on the back wall of the late Gordon Bourland’s hangar in Justin, Texas. Gordon flew for Frontier Airlines and owned a Waco Taperwing, a Waco Custom Cabin, a Pacer and a 90 hp Champ. The sign said: ‘These are the Good Old Days.” Isn’t that true?

Don Staats

PS: I sent a draft of this article to Dave Talley. He expressed concern that the Stinson Club was not mentioned. Mea Culpa. I didn’t mention the Stinson club nor about 100 other type clubs. So in the tradition of that famous letter to Elizabeth about Santa I must say “Yes Dave, there is a Stinson Club. The Stinson is one of the finer aircraft ever built in all its iterations. I have ridden in a 108 and it flies great. I would be proud to own one. As a member of the Short Wing Piper Club I am most thankful that Dave owns a Stinson. ds

PPS: (Comments from Dave “The Man” or Dave the “Chili Champ”…) Yes, Don you are almost correct in your ascertainment of the Stinson. “Almost” in that you said (and I quote from above) “The Stinson is one of the finer aircraft ever built in all its iterations.) The sentence (to be honestly correct) should have been written, “The Stinson is the FINEST aircraft EVER built.” See, Don, it’s much easier to write in that is the honest truth AND it’s even shorter. Oh, and geez, it seems that there are additional type clubs out there for the second best airplane ever built (that would be the Bonanza) and the third and the fourth…

dct