www.eaa471.org

President’s Message Steve Krazer

Runway 17R/35L is back in business! Yeeeee haaaaaa!

It was great to see a full house at our January Breakfast. I for one was concerned for a few seconds when

a loud roar filled the room fearing that one of our A/C units was on the fritz. Then someone said “It’s

raining!” It’s a great feeling to be dry and warm at home in our own hangar. Several members shared

recent experiences. Lots of tall tales were told.

Every organization who calls Abilene Regional Airport “home” will be involved in this year’s

Dyess Big Country AirFest. So even if nobody else shows up, we’ll have plenty to look at and talk

about.

Eagle Aviation Services will have one of its new regional jets on display. The Airport staff will be there

to discuss the benefits of flying directly out of Abilene. Abilene Aero will show off their Charter aircraft

and maintenance facilities. Bob Elliott and crew will be on hand to tell about the “Avenger Flying Club”

and its flight training program. TSTC will have representatives on hand to tell interested folks how they

can learn to work on aircraft. And our group will show off just what can be dome when you strive to do

something very few people will ever accomplish…. building an airplane with your own two hands…

and then flying it. We’ll also have the classic EAA Ford Tri-Motor in town to take passengers up for an

aerial tour of our fair city.

For our Chapter’s part, let’s show off as many different types of experimental aircraft as we can fit

safely into and around Hangar 3. Face it, we have four spots in Hangar 3…. and 20 T-Hangars. I know

I’ve only been in three or four of those hangars…. so we have plenty variety of aircraft to show off!

We’ll create signage and have Chapter members available to tell about their kit, plans-built, classic and

restored airplanes. We want attendees to leave this year’s AirFest with a greater appreciation and

understanding of aviation’s many facets. Hopefully a few will be interested enough to join our Chapter.

Sure it will be a long day, but hey…. we’ll plan to sit around and drink beer afterwards. It’ll be fun!

Stay tuned for more!

Remember our Chapter breakfast this coming Saturday February 11th

. Hope to see you there!

February 2017

Stu Nielson (l) with Dave Bradshaw

Cream-Puff 120 by David Bradshaw

Stu Nielson and I first met back in 1998. I had just bought my very first airplane. He was already

friends with others who were Mineral Wells airport bums, although he lived in Cleburne. We

immediately bonded because we both flew the fabulous Douglas DC-9 in our careers, and we both just

loved it. We traded many stories of life on that airplane, and became very good friends. At that time

Stu had a beautiful Cessna 170 that he had restored, flew it to MWL some, and brought it up to the fly-in

we had that featured “Sentimental Journey”, the CAF B-17 based in Phoenix. That was the most fun

weekend I ever had at an airport, but that is another story.

Stu sold the 170, but I don’t recall exactly why. However, his next airplane was a 1946 Cessna 120. It

was a “barn find” sitting in a hangar, abandoned, at the Cleburne airport. Stu immediately saw the

potential in the undamaged low time Cessna 120. So, he made a deal with the owner and bought it.

Over the course of the next twelve years, he worked on restoring it; getting it to the pristine cream puff

museum piece that it is today. I observed all of this through the years, as I go to Cleburne regularly in

my career. We always would get together, visit, have lunch, and look at the progress of the restoration.

There is not one little or big thing that has not been touched. It is practically a new airplane. The wings

were rebuilt, electrical redone, interior refurbished and the engine over-hauled and balanced. I flew it

with Stu many times when I was there. What a sweet flying airplane! He has taken it to Blacksburg,

Iowa nearly every year since he has owned it. He has even flown it to Chicago a few times to visit his

son, Doug.

A couple of years ago, I told him that if

he ever decided to sell it, that I wanted

first right of refusal. That time came last

November. I was there on a trip and we

were sitting in the pilot’s lounge telling

tales when he brought it up. I asked,

"What do you want for it?", and the rest

is history. I am that fine little airplane's

caretaker now.

Stu really wanted me to have it because he knows that I will take care of it; won’t (unlikely) tear it up,

and will love it for the rest of my life. (cont’d.)

So, I know everyone wonders why he wanted to sell it. He has his reasons, but the main one is the

Taylorcraft project he has. He taught both of his sons to fly, and they both went on to successful careers

in aviation. A few years ago, they went on a search to find the Taylorcraft he taught them to fly in, and

they found it! So the new project is to restore that airplane, and keep it as a family heirloom. What a

great story. And now there is room in the hangar to work on it. Knowing Stu, that airplane will be

flying soon. It will also be a pristine cream puff museum piece that all the other airplanes he has owned

have been.

I love Stu like a father; he is the greatest aviator, and one of the finest men I know. Dave

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Dave Bradshaw’s newly-acquired C-120

Progress Report

Chris Ulibarri is doing some impressive work on his Pacer these days. About the last major thing he has to do on the airframe is re-cover the wings. Keep up the good work, Chris!

If you’ve ever built an airplane, you probably understand the term “baffling-baffles”. Audie Gill does. Audie has the engine hung on his AcroSport II project and is currently working on engine baffles and the “hood”, as he calls it.

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N82SE Gets All Dressed Up

The Back Story

I got the flying bug many years ago when I was growing up in Quanah, Texas. My best friend’s father was the

airport manager and owned an aerial application business. Needless to say, my buddy and I were at the airport

quite a bit. When I was a little older, I became a ‘flagger’ for the Stearman spray planes. I learned quite a few

things about flying just hanging around the pilots. Since then, I had always wanted to learn to fly. That dream

didn’t come true until I was 51. You know how it goes … ‘life events’ get in the way.

Way back in the early 70’s I also got the airplane building bug. I had seen an article in Popular Science for a kit

plane called a BD-5. I really got the urge to build one; even sent off for the information packet. And I still didn’t

know how to fly. What was I thinking! Looking back, all I can say is thank God I didn’t have the money to get

started on that bad idea. The second time I got the building bug was about twenty-five years later. I had just

moved to Abilene & I went out to the airport where there was this little airshow / fly-in event taking place. I

think this was in 1996. I later learned it was an EAA SWERFI fly-in. I saw many ‘cool-looking’ planes. A new

model of a kit plane was being shown by its manufacturer; a yellow and white beauty called an RV-7. I was quite

impressed that such a plane could be built from a kit. While I was at the fly-in, I signed up for a seminar titled of

“So you want to build an airplane”. A guy by the name of Mel Asberry was putting it on. He didn’t say anything

that would convince me that I couldn’t build a plane, but there’s a lot more to it than one would think.

Well, I knew I had better learn to fly before I did anything else. I took my first intro flight in November 2000 and

finally got my PPL in June 2002. Dan Kinley was my examiner. I had told Dan that I would someday like to build

a plane. He suggested that I look into joining the local EAA chapter and told me that they had a monthly

breakfast, and at the time, was over in the Pride hangar. And that’s what I did.

I think it was the first time I went to an EAA breakfast that I saw Gray Bridwell’s RV-6A. Naturally, I had lots of

questions. Come to find out, Hobby Stevens and Frank Berg were building RV’s. Then, Wes Hays from Winters

showed up at a breakfast in his RV. Soon thereafter, Gray gave me a ride. It would prove to be an expensive

ride. In the summer of 2003, Gray asked if I would like to ride with him to Oshkosh for AirVenture. Heck yes! I

must say, that nine-ship flight to Oshkosh from Abilene was pretty special and is still a great memory. It was at

AirVenture that I realized that building an airplane wasn’t too much out of the ordinary. There were homebuilt

planes of all types there … thousands of them; and acres of RV’s. I called it a ‘field of dreams’. That pretty-much

sealed the deal … I could do it too!

I had made up my mind that I was going to build an RV. I just hadn’t quite decided which model. I talked to my

wife about it and she was on board with it; just one condition … not in our garage! That meant either renting a

building somewhere or getting a chapter T-hangar. The T-hangar would be the least expensive option and what

I chose to do. (Note to anyone wanting to build a plane in a T-hangar: Don’t do it if you can help it!) Things

started happening quickly. As it turned out, a guy over in Snyder had bought an RV-7A quick-build kit and now

wanted to sell it after completing the empennage. He had decided that building a plane was going to take more

time than he had. Gray flew me over to Snyder and we looked the kit over. And after a couple of days of

thought, I called the guy and made him an offer. He accepted and I went to get it on October 1, 2003. However,

it would be a few months before my name would come up on the hangar waiting list.

Looking back in my builder’s log, I performed my very first work on the plane on March 13, 2004. On March 22,

2015 Mel Asberry (remember him?) issued the airworthiness certificate for N82SE. Eleven years and nine days is

a long time to be building on a plane. When someone asks how long it took to build it, I like to say “it took me

Long ago… two and a half years over the course of eleven

years”. When I started work on the plane, none

of our five children were married. They are now

all married and we have a combined total of

fourteen grandchildren; the most recent born on

January 26. So, you can see where a good

portion of my time went; there were days that I

had to close the doors on the hangar. And I

wouldn’t have had it any other way! I spent

hours upon hours in contemplation, thinking,

over-thinking and angst. For the sake of my

sanity, there were times I needed to close the

doors on the hangar and just walk away from it;

sometimes for a couple of weeks or until the

frustration subsided. As the saying goes “if I only knew then, what I know now”. But, what a learning

experience! Wow!

I am very fortunate to have had so many people that helped along the way. I am most grateful for my wife,

Shellie, who has stood by me and supported me the whole time. Most of all, she helped me to stay tuned-in to

the more important things in life. Shortly after I started work on the plane, Dave Arrighi started on his RV just

down the hangar row from me. Later I learned that Steve Johnson was working on an RV in his shop at his

home. Dave, Steve and Wes Hays were great resources when it came to RV-related things and were my “go-to”

guys. Of course there were many of you that helped in many ways and I am truly grateful for each of you. I

wonder to myself if I could have ever gotten to the point of flying it without all the help. It would’ve been tough.

The first flight for N82SE was April 30, 2015. The forty-five minute flight was total pucker factor. I can’t really

describe the feeling. It’s somewhere between exhilaration and scared **itless! I’ve been taking baby steps

since then. But I’ve learned to be a little more relaxed … but still alert! I took the plane over to the painter at

52F on November 28 and I brought it back home on January 12. And I got to land on the new runway … nice!

The journey continues.

Monthly Breakfast

Hangar 3

Saturday, February 11

9:00AM

Full Breakfast Will Be Served

Shellie played a big part in coming up with the paint scheme for the plane. (above) This was one of the sketches we gave to the painter.

(left) Our first flight together.

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