VG-21 SQUADRON MORRISEY/SHINN/VARGA OWNER Newsletter #55 FaIl, 2006 From the Editor Happy Fall to All! Seems this was a horrendously hot summer for all of us, regardless of location. Fall will bring some of the best and most wel come flying weather of the year! For starters, email me and let me know what your individual issues were with your Morrisey/Shinn/Varga in the heat and how you dealt with them. You may notice that the VG-21 Squadron newsletter has a bit of a different look. As the new newsletter editor, I have made a few changes, and I would like feedback from you about what you would like to see more of in the club newsletter and how you wish to receive it.
To date, the VG-21 Squadron newsletter has been snail-mailed to all members; I will, of course, continue to mail the newsletter to those who prefer to receive it this way. However, I also wish to make it available via email, which would save club money for paper, printing and postage. I would also like feedback on whether or not there is interest in having a VG-21 Squadron website with separate sections for membership contact info, the current newsletter, all previously published Morrisey/Shinn/Varga maintenance information, and up coming events. What about an online bulletin board/discussion group where members can post questions and answers any time day or night? Many of us have dealt with the same or similar maintenance issues, questions, airplane part searches, and other dilemmas. With a Morrisey/Shinn/Varga discussion group, a person could post a question to the website, and any member could respond instantly with info, tips, advice, answers, or other questions. You may have seen this type of exchange with other piloting discussion groups.
Having one that is Varga-specific could be a tremendous help during repairs, preventive maintenance, restorations, and other projects as well as sharing info about flying to various locations, and of course,just staying in touch. I wel come your feedback and ideas and invite all to please CONTRIBUTE! If you have a flying experience that was especially meaningful, fun, interesting, informative, humorous or scary, share it with the rest of us! If you’ve just completed a rating, share the highlights and let us congratulate you.
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If you’re selling your airplane or know someone looking for a Morrisey, Shinn or Varga, let the rest of us know. If you’ve just done a maintenance or restoration project, tell us what inspired you to do it, how long it took, and the results.
If you’ve had an especially good experience with a vendor, we’d all like to know who it was. Let me hear your thoughts, and please contribute to your newsletter — the more membership participation, the more interesting, informative, helpful and fun it will be. Shirley DaMotta, Editor (Shinn N5114V).
Email: VARGAFEST 2006 FLY-IN PHOTO & DVD (submitted by Bob Dusair & Dave Casey) For a 36” x 12” print of all the airplanes in attendance at our May, 2006 West Coast Fly-in, parked on the ramp at Santa Maria, CA, please contact Ross Mayfield (info below). The cost is $25 plus shipping, check payable to: Mayfield Blueprint and sent to: 3130 Skyway, Unit 104, Santa Maria, CA 93455. For more info, contact: Ross Mayfield. 805-922-7853 Dave Casey has put together a photo DVD of the weekend—the airplanes and the people— complete with music. Anyone interested in one, contact Dave Casey. Dave reports that he also has more “ gunsights” that he, Bob and Lee have on their windscreens if anyone wants one.
REPAIR OR RESTORATION?! ( submitted by Shirley DaMotta) I recently completed a project that snowballed from a one-cylinder repair to a 4-month restoration. My Shinn has 1400 hours SMOH. Compression in one cylinder was under 60, and the question of whether or not to do a major overhaul arose. After inspecting the aircraft, my mechanic concluded that there was no pitting or deterioration in the cylinders or engine case and said I should utilize the remaining 600 hours on the engine. I opted to replace rings and piston pins on all four cylinders, replace the generator with an alternator, install Slick mags, replace the oil screen with an oil filter, change fuses to circuit breakers, add an auxiliary power source (cigarette lighter to power the handheld GPS), add an external power source (for jump starting), and move the com m antenna from the middle of the front cowl to the back where most are normally installed. I also replaced my mop EGT with an Electronics International bar graph EGT/CHT that shows all four cylinders; I removed, patched cracks, sanded and repainted the interior plastic side panels; I had new carpet and stick boots made and installed; I made a new firewall blanket and new vinyl pads covering the insulation on the inside of the belly panels; and we installed a headrest, and I’m in the process of ordering shoulder harnesses (the Shinn was not originally equipped with these).
During this process, we found that a hard landing at some point prior to my ownership resulted in the all-too-familiar-to- these-aircraft cracked wing ribs. This repair involved removing both wings and installing doublers to the ribs. Then it was discovered that the hinges on both flaps nearest the fuselage had been attached with “Home Depot rivets”, and the skin under these attach points on both flaps had 1-1/2” cracks. Repair involved cutting out and replacing the section of cracked skin and reattaching the hinges with aviation rivets. This is what took most of the time. While inside the wings, we removed several elaborate mouse nests made with bits of insulation that they carried into the wings. We also removed the old VOR antenna inside the wingtips, and cleaned and treated the inside of the wings and rear fuselage with anti-corrosion spray.
Next we found corrosion behind the fuse/switch area, and multiple splices to the wiring, so we replaced the bus bar and all the wiring. Instead of remounting the switches and circuit breakers on the old plastic, we cut out that section of plastic and mounted the switches and circuit breakers on a piece of heavy sheet metal painted the same color as the plastic. Aside from it looking much nicer, one has easy access to the wiring by unscrewing this separate panel and letting it fall forward.
One of the biggest projects for me, personally, was making new labels for the new switch/circuit breaker panel. I found waterproof, smudge proof labels online, designed for inkjet printers/copiers.
I used Microsoft Word to duplicate the old labels, adjusting spacing as necessary. Once the ink hits these labels, it is encapsulated and is guaranteed not to smudge or fade.
They turned out great, and so far, so good as far as durability. I was grateful to have had extra advice from Lee Beery, Max Bishop and Bob DuSair. Max helped me with needed parts, and Bob DuSair was kind enough to visit on two occasions, showing me how to service the grease fittings and landing gear oil when it was 110 degrees in the hangar! Doing this project in my hangar gave me a wonderful opportunity to observe and learn a great deal about my airplane that I would not have otherwise had. I was able to help with many parts of the project including replacing the house insulation with aircraft insulation, making those vinyl pads, repainting the plastic panels, and turning a screwdriver on occasion. It was unsettling seeing every part of my airplane covering the floor and lining the walls of my hangar, and doing the first maintenance verification flight!
But the airplane is back in service, and I have 200 more RPMs on the takeoff roll than before — this is a pronounced difference. Last, but not least, we put the plane on jacks and removed the landing gear.
Nose strut needed re-chroming as did all three plungers. Replaced the seals and smaller springs. Bushings were fine. At first the plane shimmied in the landing rollout. The steering yoke appeared to be the problem. My mechanic tightened the clamps above and below it, and I also replaced the front tire, and she’s all back to normal! Next project: the instrument panel!
NOTE: On Wednesday, 10/18/06, the Shinn was totaled. After all the above-described work, the oil cooler cracked and spewed out all the oil. Oil pressure gauge was normal and engine ran fine for about five minutes. Then oil pressure went to zero, the engine seized, and we did an emergency landing in the desert. We stayed upright, but the gear snapped off and the plane ended up on its nose/chin. Be sure to check for puddles when you leave the run-up area. STROBE LIGHTS (submitted by Dave Casey) Hope it hasn’t been too hot to get a few flights in.
I just flew 02V down to Santa Ynez and back. She’s sporting a new set of Goodyears on the mains and flashing strobe lights on both wingtips. I was able to order a new strobe power supply on line from Aeroflash.
You can get “rebuilt” units from the factory for about $50 with a one year warranty. You can only get the rebuilt units directly from Aeroflash. Spruce charges close to $100 for new units. The rebuilt unit works just fine. Just plug and play.
Other than that, the old girl just keeps getting better! In Memoriam With deep sadness, we mourn the passing ofVG-21 Squadron member Gerald “Jerry” Milkowski of Pewaukee, Wisconsin. Jerry died on Sunday, June 25th, when his Varga, N8267J, crashed shortly before 10 a.m., presumably enroute to a fly-in. As of this printing, we have not been informed of the cause of the accident. VG-21 Squadron member Mark Schiamer (N8269J) wrote the following tribute: “I didn’t know Jerry very long, but he was the person who put me in contact with the VG-21 Squadron. He was a Varga fanatic and loved his airplane. I believe he said that he had flown his Varga over 300 hours in the last two years, and said that if not for the fun this aircraft provided, he would have quit flying.
“About two months ago, I heard a Varga call in to Hartford Airport (WI), so Iflew in that direction to see if I could get a look at it, as I am in the process of putting my Varga project together and wanted to see if I could learn something from looking his over. By the time I got to Hartford, Jerry was at the end of the runway ready for take off I called him on Unicorn and told him of my project.
He immediately taxied back so I could look it over. We spent about an hour just talking “ Varga “, and he gave me info on the VG-21 Squadron. What a nice guy. “On June 11th, Iran into him again at the Watertown (‘RYN,) Airport fly-in. We had breakfast and again talked “ Varga” as he was so proud of his. I invited him to come see my Varga project in Fond du Lac (FLD).
He said he had already flown up there once before and I wasn ‘t there, but said that he was going to come up again soon. We (my girlfriend and I) watched him fly out of Watertown wishing my project was done so we could join him. “In closing, I just want to say that for the few hours that I knew him, I don’t think you couldfind a nicer person/pilot to have as afriend. Good-bye to a good pilot “Gone West.” FOR SALE Member Ad: 1962 Morrisey/Shinn N5142V. Hangared at Eagle Airpark in Fort Mohave, Arizona Price for VG-21 members = $32,500; others, $35,000 or $36,000 w/fresh annual (a/c is out of annual) 1717 TT; 572 SMOH; Ly coming 0-320 A2C, 150 hp; all original logbooks Last years annual consisted of a 3/4 tear down and extensive corrosion control maintenance; ALL hoses were replaced; new Slick mags and harness; new Slick Shower of Sparks; some new instruments; new wiring; extra metal prop; maybe a Garmin 195.
Flown 8 hours since last annual. Contact: Buddy Wyatt Non-Member Ad: 1977 Varga 2180TG ( taildragger). $54,000 OBO 995 TT;145 SMOH; Continental 10-360 w/210 hp; constant speed prop Cruise 140 mph; Climb 2000 fpm Instruments: Tach, Airspeed, Manifold Pressure, Fuel Pressure, Attitude Gyro, Altimeter, VSI, Directional Gyro, Turn Coordinator, Ammeter, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, Suction Radio: Single Pack Collins Nay/Corn VOR 251-351 Transponder w/Blind Encoder. Portable Inter com included Static check: May 2006 Contact: Vernon Dury.
618-987-2800.