Aircraft N43009 Data

the last part of the above story is true. I bought the remains in 1971 fron ron otto in clintonville wi. The ft half of the fuse had been replaced with the parts of a float plane. I was in the military and had always loved t crafts. this was my first rebuild. i bought it for 500.00 . I cleaned the fuse painted it and covered it in ceconite. I searched for good wings and could not find any that I could afford. I found some spars and built the wings up from mostly new parts that i found in Fontanas attic in iron mt. I had an a/p ,a/i looking over my shoulder. Finished the plane and it made it 1st flight out of the airport in Marquette mi. we then flew it to a sod stripin Gwinn mi. I flew it out of ther for a while ,then sold to Russ Kernava. He lived in marinette menomminee. I had to ferry the plane in the dead of winter. when I landed I put 11.6 gal of fuel in the nose tank. scared me then. great experience.Ihad N1117B 8A luscombe to keep me company.oRGANIZED eaa CHAPTER 439 AS A OUTCOME IN 71.

Four of us lineboys at Horlick Field (now known as Racine International) owned and flew N43009 from 1962-65. We formed a flying club named for the airport cocker spaniel mix, Brown Dog. We bought it for $950 from Field Morey, of Morey Field in Madison. his son flew it out to Racine, and we bought it after Mel Morkert (still alive and kicking) examined the log books and said, "You've got to buy this one! When it was based in Janesville, it was maintained by Roy True!" Mel figured with a name like that, Roy had to be the aeronautical equivalent of John Wayne. (Eight years later, I found myself living two doors away from a former employee of Roy True's, in Madison. "Roy True?" he groused. "What a ripoff artist!" So much for the bubble reputation...) Gas was 27 cents a gallon; the mechanics maintained it (we helped) for flying privileges. We charged ourselves $4 an hour to fly, wet, and John Sullivan (for whom my son is named) let us hangar it for free. A great airport manager to a bunch of college kids! After about 100 hours, it needed a top overhaul, and I learned a lot about engines from helping Mel and Bob Christian do it. I came back from overseas in 1966 to fly it some more and wound up replacing the top fabric on the fuselage by myself under their tutelage. I escaped the draft that year by volunteering and sold off my share to one of the Johnson's Wax pilots, who was flying over Tennessee when one of the port wing struts cracked. H eventually bought out the seedy lot who had replaced the other three original purchasers, setlled the $250 loan the club owed my uncle, flew it some more and then, so I heard years later, sold it to two fat guys who overloaded it and flew it into the trees on takeoff one day.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!