34 DECEMBER Dog

Transcription

1 34 DECEMBER 2017 Dog

2 Handler Stewart Ellis award-winning Bird Dog Story and Photos by Jim Busha 35

3 Hooked on the American Warbirds Stewart Ellis was born in a small town in Wales called Prestatyn and spent his childhood life in the seaside town of Rhyl in the United Kingdom. Growing up, he was always top of his class in math and woodwork. Both of these skills became very important in later life. My father was a butcher, said Stewart, but during World War II he was a desert rat, fighting against Rommel as a tank commander with the rank of sergeant major as he fought in Africa and Italy. After leaving the armed forces after the war, he returned to the butcher s life, and he eventually built a public house to serve beers, wines, spirits. He died very young at the age of 52, so there was no aviation history in my family. In school there was a 36 DECEMBER 2017 teacher Stewart met that loved to talk about aircraft, so he would ask him questions. I did have an interest in flying, but it was not till my late 20s, said Stewart. I learned to fly in Liverpool Airport (Speke), home of the Beatles in I found my true passion was an airplane with a tail wheel and of course any plane that had military background; I got a lot of flying time in DHC-1 Chipmunks and the beautiful DH.82A Tiger Moth. I purchased a Piper L-4 in military drab. In 1988 Stewart, using his math and woodworking skills, began rebuilding a stunning Tiger Moth of his own until he hit a roadblock. The Tiger was in bits, he said, and although the chap before me had done fantastic work, it was too much for me. So I commissioned and had it Stewart Ellis-right, is the Bird Dogs current handler.

4 restored. In my opinion, this was the finest Tiger Moth flying, and I had many hours of fun with it. The problem was the old technology with the motor, and I had many, many engine failures until the fateful day in 1989 when the crash happened. The plane was totally destroyed due to engine failure. This was the turning point in my life, so with the insurance money in my hand, I went to [the] United States and purchased my first Boeing Stearman in Griffin, Georgia. I was hooked on American aircraft. Lost Dog, Found Dog While in Georgia, Stewart not only fell in love with Stearmans but an old Bird Dog, and learning about how Bird Dogs were used in combat also caught his attention. That relationship all began when I met a guy who had flown them during the Vietnam War, said Stewart. This gentleman had learned his old mount had survived and been shipped back home. He tracked it down and purchased it, and as I started to talk to him about his Bird Dog, his explanation was: A Bird Dog is an aircraft built around a ground loop. During the Vietnam conflict, he told me how he flew low over the jungle just above the tree canopies, looking for the enemy. He also shared a story with me about how an Army communications guy approached him and asked how low he could fly. Tops of trees, he said. Well, then you re the guy I am looking for, [said the communications guy.] How about taking the rockets off and putting a reel on the mounts with phone wire and a stone on the end? Once airborne, throw the stone out. This will then cause the cable to reel out on top of the trees, and the ground guys will come along and join the ends, as the Vietcong are cutting our communication lines all the time. He told me that no sooner had the troops laid the line, it was cut again. No problem, he said, I can sure do that. And he did every week. As soon as the wire was found and cut, he would take his Bird Dog up, get his rock and reel, then as he called it, it was rock and roll time! Stewart kept that conversation in the back of his mind, and he finally purchased an Air Repair Bird Dog in 2004 and enjoyed every minute of it. That was until the day in 2011 that I still regret, said Stewart. I flew and sold my Bird Dog on the same day. I missed flying the warbirds, so I wound up with a Cessna O-2, partly for the added safety of two engines, but I never got over the Bird Dog. Stewart ended up owning several Stearmans, a T-6, a Beech Staggerwing, Tiger Moth, Stinson 108-2, Chipmunk, Fairchild 37

5 PT-19A, L-4 Cub, Bell H-13, PA- 20, PA-22, several Cessna 195s, a Cessna 140, Mooney M20C, Enstrom 280C, a twin-engine Beech 18 (military C-45H), and a rare T-28 Fennec, but by far his favorite was the Bird Dog. In early 2015, I finally decided to stop the suffering and found another Bird Dog, said Stewart. I had booked a flight to view a Bird Dog in California, and just as I was about to board the plane in Manchester, England, the guy selling the Bird Dog informed me it was sold. I was devastated, but thankfully I had a number of fellow Bird Doggers that put me in touch with 38 DECEMBER 2017 my hero Frank Vranicar. Frank invited me to stay in his guest house this after I had only spoken to him on the phone. When I arrived in the States, I asked him why he lets people he does not know stay in his home. His reply was, You re a Bird Dog man, and that s good enough for me. He took me under his wing (no pun intended) as we went to see two other Bird Dogs for sale, which were nice but not up to my standard. Right when I thought all was lost, Frank took me to Chino and showed me the most beautiful aircraft I had ever laid eyes on. Restoring a Winner Frank Vranicar continued the story. It was August of 2015 when I received a call from Stewart Ellis who told me he was looking for a Bird Dog, Frank said. He talked funny with a British accent and said he had been referred to me by the International Birddog Association and was coming to Southern California to look at one that was for sale. He asked if I could perhaps shed

6 Cessna L-19 (305A) U.S. Air Force O-1 Aircraft Specifications N-number N5308G Range at 5,000 feet 2300 rpm, 40 gallons fuel, 533 miles Engine Continental O Stalling speed without flaps 54 mph Propeller Fixed-pitch metal McCauley, 90-inch diameter Stalling speed with flaps 44 mph Engine 213 hp at 2600 rpm Time to climb to 5,000 feet 4.35 minutes Fuel minimum Octane 80 aviation gas Engine limits Takeoff (5 minutes) 2,600 Maximum cruise speed at 5,000 feet 2300 rpm, 116 mph true airspeed Rate of climb sea level 1,290 feet per minute Rate of climb at 5,000 feet 1,010 feet per minute Rate of climb at 10,000 feet 275 feet per minute Best rate of climb (V Y ) 65 mph Best angle of climb (V X ) 60 mph Takeoff distance sod field, zero wind Sea level 355 feet Takeoff distance sod field, clear 50 feet, ob sea level 550 feet Landing distance sod field, ground run Sea level 305 feet Landing distance Over 50 feet, ob sod field sea level 600 feet Endurance at 5,000 feet 2000 rpm, 40 gallons fuel, 4.6 hours Surface ceiling 21,300 feet Useful load (estimated) 598 pounds Empty weight (estimated) 1,502 pounds Fuel consumption at 5,000 feet 2300 rpm, 8.7 gallons per hour Wingspan 36 feet Length 25 feet, 9.5 inches Height 7.5 feet Wing area 174 square feet Incidence at wingtip -1.5 dg Incidence at wing root +1.5 dg Root chord 64 inches Tip chord 43 inches DO YOUR PART. MAKE HISTORY FLY. Do your part in restoring the Berlin Express to give others a chance to be a part of history. EAA 3000 Poberezny Road, Oshkosh, WI donor@eaa.org 39

7 some light on the subject by giving him some advice and help. I had owned an Army livery L-19 for 18 years which I literally flew from coast to coast, racking up over 2,500 hours. It won every prize EAA has to offer, including Grand Champion Warbird and Best L-19 at Copperstate, SUN n FUN, and AirVenture Oshkosh. Stewart was traveling to Southern California to look at the Bird Dog for sale, he continued. He also has a place in Luthersville, Georgia, where he keeps his T-28 Trojan and his Cessna O-2, both done in U.S. Air Force livery, when he is not at his home in the United Kingdom. I said I would help him with his hunt and suggested he stay at my home in our 40 DECEMBER 2017

8 guest house in Corona del Mar (Newport Beach). He sounded like a good fellow and was a warbird guy, so this would make our hunt easier to accomplish. I took Stewart to see the Bird Dog that was advertised as well as several others of which I was familiar, Frank said. My former hangar partner, Monte Bowe, was a Bird Dog guy, having purchased his from the Civil Air Patrol [CAP] in the early 1970s. That s how all the L-19s found their way into civilian hands and were sold by sealed bidding. Monte flew his Bird Dog for a number of years and then decided to take it apart and restore it. Monte is an engineer by profession and a consummate perfectionist and a darn fine wrench. He literally took the plane down to pieces and painstakingly stripped all of the old paint to bare metal. He decided to paint it in U.S. Air Force livery as they were when they flew in Vietnam. Every detail of the restoration was perfect, and he had it painted piece by piece before it was assembled. He did all the wiring in the traditional waxed string ties. There wasn t a zip tie in the entire project. When it was finished, it looked like it had just rolled out of the Cessna factory with all the military goodies like radios, rockets, and the like that made it Class A authentic. I had acquired the L-19 back in the early 1970s from the CAP in Montgomery, Alabama, and did a lot of both little and big things to bring it back to like-new condition, said Monte. It was a fun airplane to work on, and I think the photos speak for themselves on what a true historic treasure the Bird Dog is. 41

9 42 DECEMBER 2017 Monte flew the restored airplane around the country, including a trip to Fredericksburg, Texas, for the 60th birthday bash of the Bird Dog in 2010 where more than 20 Bird Dogs were in attendance. One day in 2015, Monte mentioned that he was thinking of selling it and moving on to his WWII jeep project, said Frank. I mentioned Monte s plane to Stewart, and we made arrangements to meet him at Chino to see it. Needless to say, when Stewart saw the airplane, it knocked his socks off, and he struck a deal with Monte to buy it. It was a bittersweet moment for Monte, having devoted 23 years in the restoration plus the previous flying he had done. According to Stewart, his first flight in the new Bird Dog was a little scary. I was all over the place as the undercarriage is so springy, said Stewart. It took some time to master the landings, but when I

10 got the hang of it, again there was no stopping me. I am merely a custodian of this machine and in no way wanted to damage it. Frank is a fantastic pilot and taught me a lot on how to properly fly the L-19. My advice to someone younger, looking for a plane, is do not rush into it and do your homework. Get someone who knows about the model, join a club that has this sort of plane, and don t buy it because it has a pretty paint job as paint hides a lot. Look at the logbooks and get someone to look at them with you to explain what you might not understand. On the engine side, it is a must to make sure it was built by a trustworthy source or shop. Don t purchase the first plane you see or it could end up becoming your last. If you are unfamiliar with the type, have someone test-fly it for you, as you will be desperate to buy and miss the glaring pitfalls. Also make sure you have good logbooks and make sure it is in annual, as that could be a costly mistake in both the short and long run. Stewart acknowledged that he again is at peace with his Bird Dog. This airplane is truly living up to my expectation, said Stewart. Winning Post World War II Grand Champion at SUN n FUN 2015 and then getting beat fair and square in Oshkosh by a Corsair made it the best L-bird out there in my humble opinion. This is one Dog I will definitely look forward to growing old with. 43