User's Fees, Duct tape & The Broken Bush Bird, A Great Passenger Plane

AOPA Online:
The general aviation community made it clear over the past year that user fees are not the best way to fund the nation’s aviation system, and President Barack Obama’s budget request for 2011 showed that those voices were heard.  READ MORE>>>>>

DUCT TAPE:  Never beat the bush without it:

This story was sent to us from one of our readers, not certain of author.

During a private "fly-in" fishing excursion in the Alaskan wilderness, the chartered pilot and fishermen left a cooler and bait in the plane. And a bear smelled it. This is what he did to the plane.

The pilot used his radio and had another pilot bring him 2 new tires, 3 cases of duct tape, and a supply of sheet plastic.. He patched the plane together, and FLEW IT HOME !

Duct tape, never beat the bush without it!

WORLD'S OLDEST AIRLINER RESTORED

Story emailed to us by one of our readers, James Boyd

Oldest Boeing Airliner in Flying Condition:

This is as it should be -- passengers in closed cabin, pilot in open cockpit so he will stay awake. The airplane is in Spokane , WA and is the oldest flying Boeing in the world.

After 8 years of repair and rebuilding, and 8,000 hours of toil, the Boeing 40C rolled out last winter as a finished airplane, but it took a few weeks for the snow to melt before it was taken out of the hangar. Project personnel received the Standard Airworthiness Certificate from the FAA and completed the engine pre-oil and fuel flow tests for the first of the taxi tests.

Facts about the Boeing 40 project:

221 1/2 gallons of dope/reducer and 120 yards of 102 ceconite fabric.

12 gallons of poly urethane paint for the sheet metal.

The wings have 33,000 individual parts in them.




The airplane weighs 4080 lbs empty and has a gross weight of 6075 lbs.

It is 34 ft long and 13 feet tall with a wing span of 44 1/2 feet.

Wing loading is 10 lbs per sq ft and power loading is 10 Pounds per HP.. It should cruise at 115 mph using 28 GPH, and 32 GPH at 120 mph. It carries 120 gallons of fuel in three tanks.
350 two-inch brushes were used to apply 6 gallons of West Systems epoxy, and 181 rolls of paper towels were used for cleanup.

 
 
 
 
A total of 62 volunteers worked on the project to some degree, 21 of whom performed a significant amount of work, and nine of them worked on the plane continuously throughout the 8-year project.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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