Flyin' Pine
Wood Aircraft Construction
It all started years ago, daydreaming about flying. Finally I saved up enough money for a set of plans for a Fisher 303 ultralight. I had never seen one...actually, I had never seen any type of wood airplane. I did a lot of reading....as much was was available with dial up internet.
The first 303...
I selected local spruce for my project and got the plywoods needed from a speaker-cabinet builder friend of mine. I had an old 34' tractor trailer body to use for a shop. Space was tight, but I spent many a happy evening in my little oasis of sawdust and dreams. I began with materials in Sept. of 1997 and flew in the spring of 1998. There were alot of bumps and bruises along the way... it was rough being a test pilot.
I nearly died one day...
I took off one dewey April morning. The Kawasaki 340 sounded great. It was 52 degrees, as I remember it. As I cleared the trees and headed west at just a few hundred feet agl, I saw my tach count backwards before I heard it. EGTs were perfect. Water temp perfect. Airspeed 50 mph. I was steadily losing power, although the engine continued to run smooth. Dropping below 4500 rpm, I could no longer sustain level flight and I was going down. I did my best not to panic and "fly the plane", but sheared my wings off in some tall pines and at that point, I was nothing more than a missile. The plane did what it was supposed to do and absorbed plenty of the impact. I had a fractured skull, broken foot, and knees that badly needed stitches. I was knocked unconscious. I used a branch for a crutch and hiked 1/2 mile out to get help.
Therapy...
What do you do while you are recovering from a bad accident? My leg was in a cast and had to be elevated for a couple weeks. Thankfully, I had enough materials in the shop to make some ribs for the next plane.
Apparently it was carburetor ice that brought me down. The engine had no visible damage, and ran perfectly later. I built this plane in the basement of the new house I had recently completed. It didn't take too long to get another plane together with a few little custom touches of my own.
It started with a Fisher 303...
She Flies!!!
On a snow covered day in February 2006, I assembled the new plane with the help of my boys. I fitted skis made of plastic snowboards from WalMart, and warmed up the engine. It ran nice. I made several hops down the runway and felt that it was now "do or die"....
I gave my boys instructions on calling 911 and what my plans were, and got into my plane for the first flight. After a little talk with God, I pushed the throttle to the stop.
As I lifted off and then passed my crash site from 4 years ago, I was still talking to God. This was my first time in an airplane since the accident. She flew nice and aside from some trim tabs, the little Fisher 303 was complete.
MUD SEASON....
The ground was frozen when I took off... but I found it a little soft upon returning! I have had some wonderful adventures in the 303, and continue to fly it to this day. It is now fitted with a wooden Culver prop. It is powered by a liquid-cooled Kawasaki 340 and now has just about 140 hours on it. I painted it with Rustoleum, but regret it now and want to recover and use latex paint. The Rustoleum paint has begun to crack and flake.