Sailors and their toys

[Cherie320]

This is the current toy, but it is really a bit of a tool. Besides getting me to work on a regular basis, it has hauled bricks, trees, pots, groceries, camping gear, and boat parts. Unfortunately, with 230K on the clock, she is in need of a bit of freshening and is currently at risk of being replaced with a domestic old man's car. Pat

Pat were did you get those wheels? They look like they came off the Bullit car.

Actually they are the premium wheels that Ford offered on the GT. The Bullet wheels are quite similar, but have a darker center. They obviously were one of the retro themes that formed the styling queues for this series of Mustangs. Now, American Racing....I had a friend who managed to negotiate a pair of original American Racing Magnesium wheels off a competition Shelby. They were a very special mod for a young boy racer want-to-be and looked very nice on the rear of his 67 fastback. But they lasted only a few months before a 5 finger midnight autosupply clerk relieved him of ownership. Oh, the trials of youth.

[Cherie320]

Ah the good old 1985 Golf GL that I bought off craigslist for $400.
I had to replace a few bits to make the car suited to my use, ...clip..... Who needs turbos and AWD?

Wow, Derek, thats a lot of mods for a $400 CL find. Must have been a lot of work, but quite a thrill doing that well against the turbos. Very cool build. Pat

[Cherie320]

Cap - Is the Air Camper aerobatic? She certainly looks the part. A fine looking toy for sure. Pat

[cap10ed]

Great story Dereck. You have octane running through your veins. Some where between 92 and 104 Your build up of the car has you parts rich and car poor. You nailed the perfect formula for building up a good race car.Awesome parts finds for a car that looks subdued. I didn’t see the VW shape in the 1st picture because the red stripe fooled my eyes. Were did you race the car and how bad was the roll over your Dad talked about. Also who was the brave soul who rode shot gun with you. Found this clip ,pick your perspective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyIxoCzOG08

[bob perry]

Looking at all your fancy cars reminds me of a Johnny Cash song:
"I got It one piece at a time
And it didn't cost me a dime"

If you want to Google it it's called ONE PIECE AT A TIME.

[cap10ed]

Cap - Is the Air Camper aerobatic? She certainly looks the part. A fine looking toy for sure. Pat

Cherie she is strictly straight and level only. The carb and oil system are not set up for inverted. The plane has had several owners and one of interest was air show great Bobby Younkin. His signature is on the bulkhead. I looked up his history and his show called the Masters Of Disasters. Sadly the fella passed away in 2005 in a midair collision. The original design is from 1929 by designer Bernard Pietenpol. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Pietenpol
I was introduced to this plane’s design by my wife’s co-worker.Pam taught high school in a small rural town. Jim Armstrong was the science teacher and flew his homebuilt Piet to school and landed in an adjacent field. Talk about making an entrance. He used the plane to teach all sorts of practical applications of science. His farm is also an airstrip with two runways.CPD4 is the call sign of the airport. I kept the plane there for a couple of years, then moved it to my hangar so I could work on it inside. The paint job and engine nacelle are the work of a Florida sign painter. Thank you for the nice comments, Ed

[Cherie320]

Ed Wow, that is quite an extensive history. I'm sure you enjoy flying her. She is a beauty. Pat

[Rasp]

My toy...

[bob perry]

Sweet!

[JoeP]

Both look cool Rasp. Which one is yours?

[Rasp]

In that photo the one one the right is a taildragger like my model the AC4A. The one on the left with the nosewheel in the AC4B and they later made a AC4C with a retractable mainwheel. Here are a couple of photos of my plane at our club in Pensacola. The Russia is a wonder of minimalism. Mine weighs in at 296 lbs all up. At 240 lbs, I'm a tight fit and sometimes wish I had the B model as the mainwheel is a few inches further back giving more legroom. Russian planes are known to be rather spartan and this one is no exception. I'll fit one of those gel pad kayak seats someday which should help. Nicest thing about the AC4 is that it rigs singlehanded in 10 minutes from trailer to ready to launch. My longest flight has been 3 hours a couple of times and 7200 altitude gain in Gulf Coast thermals which are usually limited to around 3000 AGL due to the stable marine seabreeze incursion and blowing the thermals out to the North in the afternoon. I'm hoping to trail the AC out to the Sierras and Cascades someday and would love to soar Mt Hood. I flew Minden Nev a couple of years ago in the lee of Lake Tahoe and that is truly the mecca for US soaring.

[LarryHoward]

In that photo the one one the right is a taildragger like my model the AC4A. The one on the left with the nosewheel in the AC4B and they later made a AC4C with a retractable mainwheel. Here are a couple of photos of my plane at our club in Pensacola. The Russia is a wonder of minimalism. Mine weighs in at 296 lbs all up. At 240 lbs, I'm a tight fit and sometimes wish I had the B model as the mainwheel is a few inches further back giving more legroom. Russian planes are known to be rather spartan and this one is no exception. I'll fit one of those gel pad kayak seats someday which should help. Nicest thing about the AC4 is that it rigs singlehanded in 10 minutes from trailer to ready to launch. My longest flight has been 3 hours a couple of times and 7200 altitude gain in Gulf Coast thermals which are usually limited to around 3000 AGL due to the stable marine seabreeze incursion and blowing the thermals out to the North in the afternoon. I'm hoping to trail the AC out to the Sierras and Cascades someday and would love to soar Mt Hood. I flew Minden Nev a couple of years ago in the lee of Lake Tahoe and that is truly the mecca for US soaring.

Nice,

Been years since I went soaring. That pic makes me miss it.

[Tim OConnell]

Great glider Jody. A number of years ago, i had a few hours in a Grob 103 in Arizona. Amazing thermals that you could play with all day This isn't the one I flew but found a pic of the Grob 103 on a school's websie

[cap10ed]

In that photo the one one the right is a taildragger like my model the AC4A. The one on the left with the nosewheel in the AC4B and they later made a AC4C with a retractable mainwheel. Here are a couple of photos of my plane at our club in Pensacola. The Russia is a wonder of minimalism. Mine weighs in at 296 lbs all up. At 240 lbs, I'm a tight fit and sometimes wish I had the B model as the mainwheel is a few inches further back giving more legroom. Russian planes are known to be rather spartan and this one is no exception. I'll fit one of those gel pad kayak seats someday which should help. Nicest thing about the AC4 is that it rigs singlehanded in 10 minutes from trailer to ready to launch. My longest flight has been 3 hours a couple of times and 7200 altitude gain in Gulf Coast thermals which are usually limited to around 3000 AGL due to the stable marine seabreeze incursion and blowing the thermals out to the North in the afternoon. I'm hoping to trail the AC out to the Sierras and Cascades someday and would love to soar Mt Hood. I flew Minden Nev a couple of years ago in the lee of Lake Tahoe and that is truly the mecca for US soaring.

Nice pictures Rasp. You gave me some good flash back moments from my Air Cadet days. When my powered instructor was teaching me forced approaches I told him, Been there and done that and have the tee shirt. Every approach with a glider is a forced approach. I hang out with a friend that flies a Swift hang glider that we aero tow. He is getting some pretty good air time with this plane. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McWYNozT ... 5&index=50 Your planes weight at 296 is really good. How did they achieve that?

[Cherie320]

Flying toys have always been an interest.....right up until it required an investment. Always something else more important. But sail planes are mighty fine toys. Nice ride Rasp. Pat

[Rasp]

Just wrote a whole bunch of stuff about how I came to own the little Russia but it all vanished with a wrong click or something! Oh well, I love the little plane and I highly suggest that any sailor worth his salt take the opportunity to get a ride in a sailplane at the first opportunity to experience sailing in three dimensions for themselves. Beware, it is addictive though. The buzzword in soaring is 'energy management' which refers to trading off altitude for speed and it will improve any sailors water borne sailing technique once you get the knack of that. Here is a review of my AC4 from a website devoted to wingspan challenged designs. Span Is For WImps, which refers to the relatively short wingspan under 15 meters and there is the lust for wider wingspan that leads sailplane pilots into absurd realms. Much like the teases that surface born sailors face.

Avia Strotel AC-4 (ME-7)

The AC-4 was the Russian entry to the ill fated 'World Class' competition, where it finished second to the even more ill fated PW5. With only a 12.6m wing span and being contructed out of recycled margarine tubs, it is incredibly light and easy to rig. The ailerons take up about 50% of the narrow wing cord and as such make it very responsive and huge fun to fly. A self launching version (the AC5m) is alive and well in the USA where they have a more liberal attitude to the effects of vibration on very light things. Suprisingly for such a light glider, the highish wing loading gives it very creditable high(er) speed performance and in one (optimistic) flight test suggested it was better than a Discus! An aircraft I have a huge soft spot for and in which the great Derek Piggot flew a 500k!
Top Facts


I just hope they are joking abot the recycled margarine tubs!

Rasp

[cap10ed]

Here is an old Beach Boys clip . At the beginning 3 cars are shown. Two are readily identifiable . The Jaguar and the Vette. What would the 3rd car be ? Maserati ???
There are enough gear heads hanging around the Scants Garage to help me out here. Let it rip

[youtube]http://youtu.be/viYfWqSECAk/youtube]

Covering my ass with this link

http://youtu.be/viYfWqSECAk

[Ish]

Here is an old Beach Boys clip . At the beginning 3 cars are shown. Two are readily identifiable . The Jaguar and the Vette. What would the 3rd car be ? Maserati ???
There are enough gear heads hanging around the Scants Garage to help me out here. Let it rip

[youtube]http://youtu.be/viYfWqSECAk/youtube]

Covering my ass with this link

http://youtu.be/viYfWqSECAk

I could pretend that I just knew the answer.

http://www.imcdb.org/movie_1004510073-Beach-Boys--Little-Honda.html

[cap10ed]

Here is an old Beach Boys clip . At the beginning 3 cars are shown. Two are readily identifiable . The Jaguar and the Vette. What would the 3rd car be ? Maserati ???
There are enough gear heads hanging around the Scants Garage to help me out here. Let it rip

[youtube]http://youtu.be/viYfWqSECAk/youtube]

Covering my ass with this link

http://youtu.be/viYfWqSECAk

I could pretend that I just knew the answer.

http://www.imcdb.org/movie_1004510073-Beach-Boys--Little-Honda.html

Ish that is too cool. Yeah just telling me would have raised your stature just as high as finding that web page has. This info will go to my nephew who put it to me. Thanks Ish.

[Ish]

Here is an old Beach Boys clip . At the beginning 3 cars are shown. Two are readily identifiable . The Jaguar and the Vette. What would the 3rd car be ? Maserati ???
There are enough gear heads hanging around the Scants Garage to help me out here. Let it rip

[youtube]http://youtu.be/viYfWqSECAk/youtube]

Covering my ass with this link

http://youtu.be/viYfWqSECAk

I could pretend that I just knew the answer.

http://www.imcdb.org/movie_1004510073-Beach-Boys--Little-Honda.html

Ish that is too cool. Yeah just telling me would have raised your stature just as high as finding that web page has. This info will go to my nephew who put it to me. Thanks Ish.

I suspect that video was not shot in 1964, no matter what the title says. Not if it's got a '66 'vette in it.

[SloopJonB]

A Corvette, E-Type Series 1, Ferrari 250 GTL and an Aston Martin DB5.

What do I win?

OOPS - just looked at the second link.

[SloopJonB]

My current ride - actually my wife's since I bought it for her birthday. Quite simply the most wonderful long distance car I have ever driven. Ford had Jag sorted out by the time it was built so no repeats of my very first car - a Series 1 4.2 E-Type. That car defined every horror story of British build "quality" (but I still miss it), This XJR has a blown V8 with more horses that my last Corvette and can be driven cross country with no worries. We cruised from Regina down the west side of North Dakota to Rapid City at 175 K in smooth silence - could speak in normal voices and barely needed two hands on the wheel - a beautiful, near perfect car. As an added bonus (for me) it gets a LOT of looks from women "of a certain age".

XJR.JPG

[BeauV]

Tim, I loved the GROB I flew. I never got my S**T together enough to get a license, but I used to just hire a "instructor" who would take me up and we'd fly around Fremont against the hills in the afternoon westerlies. No big deal altitude or distance, just a couple of afternoon hours swooping and soaring, then back to work until well after dinner time. Good memories. Beau

[LarryHoward]

I think this toy is done. Some wrinkles on the roof around the sunroof, truck lid misaligned, driver's door overlaps the rear body. 6 airbags blown, etc.
KBB calls it 13,000. I suspect repairs would be 10 or more and salvage value is relatively high as the K-20 motor and 6 speed are in demand.

Results of too much confidence and understeer on leaves in a light drizzle and the resulting meeting LF to LF with a 2000 Camry. All players OK.

[cap10ed]

My current ride - actually my wife's since I bought it for her birthday. Quite simply the most wonderful long distance car I have ever driven. Ford had Jag sorted out by the time it was built so no repeats of my very first car - a Series 1 4.2 E-Type. That car defined every horror story of British build "quality" (but I still miss it), This XJR has a blown V8 with more horses that my last Corvette and can be driven cross country with no worries. We cruised from Regina down the west side of North Dakota to Rapid City at 175 K in smooth silence - could speak in normal voices and barely needed two hands on the wheel - a beautiful, near perfect car. As an added bonus (for me) it gets a LOT of looks from women "of a certain age".

XJR.JPG

Nice looking ride at that. What size are the rims on the car ?

[SloopJonB]

My current ride - actually my wife's since I bought it for her birthday. Quite simply the most wonderful long distance car I have ever driven. Ford had Jag sorted out by the time it was built so no repeats of my very first car - a Series 1 4.2 E-Type. That car defined every horror story of British build "quality" (but I still miss it), This XJR has a blown V8 with more horses that my last Corvette and can be driven cross country with no worries. We cruised from Regina down the west side of North Dakota to Rapid City at 175 K in smooth silence - could speak in normal voices and barely needed two hands on the wheel - a beautiful, near perfect car. As an added bonus (for me) it gets a LOT of looks from women "of a certain age".

XJR.JPG

Nice looking ride at that. What size are the rims on the car ?

18's - 255/40/18. They remind me of old Minilites (but a lot bigger).

[Jamie]

I think this toy is done. Some wrinkles on the roof around the sunroof, truck lid misaligned, driver's door overlaps the rear body. 6 airbags blown, etc.
KBB calls it 13,000. I suspect repairs would be 10 or more and salvage value is relatively high as the K-20 motor and 6 speed are in demand.

Results of too much confidence and understeer on leaves in a light drizzle and the resulting meeting LF to LF with a 2000 Camry. All players OK.

I'd say it's done it's job well; everyone is safe.

[bob perry]

Jon:
I love your Jag. Never owned one myself. Years ago Enterprise Car Rental had a sale on them once at LAX. I think it was $99 a day. I said, this will probably be my only chance to drive a Jag s I rented one. I loved it but I had a wee headroom problem. I still have hopes that I might one one some day. But I fear I am in the Subaru zone now.

[Jamie]

But I fear I am in the Subaru zone now

A fine choice in automobiles

I love my subie. I could have had a Lexus or BMW, but I wanted the Subie.

[SloopJonB]

Jon:
I love your Jag. Never owned one myself. Years ago Enterprise Car Rental had a sale on them once at LAX. I think it was $99 a day. I said, this will probably be my only chance to drive a Jag s I rented one. I loved it but I had a wee headroom problem. I still have hopes that I might one one some day. But I fear I am in the Subaru zone now.

I feel your pain re: headroom - It's marginal for me and I'm 4" shorter than you. I find it's a problem in most cars smaller than minivans - I usually have to recline the seat a lot to fit.

Buy a Jag used - they depreciate horrendously in the first few years. I paid about what the first owner paid just in sales tax for this one. If you buy one from 2001 or newer they are as reliable as any high performance sedan - before that there were a couple of endemic problems - weak cam chain tensioners that could break and allow the valves to hit the pistons and those stupid silicon impregnated aluminium cylinders (think Chevy Vega) that everyone up to Benz has tried and failed with. Those were fixed by 01 and were the only "design flaws" in the cars.

Make sure you get an R - the blown engine makes the car really special and it makes really nice noises when you wind it up.

I find the car lives up to everyone's preconceived expectations of what a Jag would be like to drive.