N941WR

N941WR

Legacy Member
It is not exactly a Jalapeno on a Stick but it is close.

RV%2520on%2520a%2520stick.jpg


I was told that the RV-3 was purchased as a wreck and the airport developer thought it would be more useful as a wind tee than a flying airplane. Whatever direction it is pointing is the direction you should land. It can?t get any simpler than that.
 
N941WR said:
It is not exactly a Jalapeno on a Stick but it is close.
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Bill,
Do you know what "Willamsport" that is? I was just at Williamsport PA and did not see it. (Although there was enough snow to have drifted high enough to make us not see the "stick")
 
Something always has bothered me about seeing a once perfectly good machine stuck on a pole to rot away. I always feel this urge to rescue it and put it back to it's flying glory. That urge is seriously stupid.
At least this one is serving a worthy purpose.
 
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Do the trees not alter the surface winds enough to make its use as a wind tee somewhat questionable? Those are some pretty tall trees there on one side in Doug's photo.
 
rv7boy said:
Do the trees not alter the surface winds enough to make its use as a wind tee somewhat questionable? Those are some pretty tall trees there on one side in Doug's photo.
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It has been my experience, the short time I have lived there, that the RV on a Stick is much more accurate than the two windsocks on either end of the field. When I asked some of my neighbors about it, they agreed with me that the RV is much more accurate than the socks.

The pole is nothing more than a truck axle with some additional bracing. You can spin the thing with one finger and it will quickly turn back to pointing into the wind.

I need to take a close look at it next time I walk the dog along the runway and see if I can tell where it was damaged. It looks fairly straight but that doesn?t mean it flew well. Remember all the RV-3?s are true one off custom built airplanes.
 
I think I can fix it !

Anything can be fixed. Wouldn't it be cool to say "I took it off a pole and got it flying again" or "It used to be a wind tee"...Just sayin'.
 
Interesting that it has no cowl cheek extensions, or obvious rivet holes in the side skins where they might have been - which would mean to me that either it was a very early build where someone saw that the RV-1 had open ends of the cowl cheeks (as did at least one early -3), or the side skins were replaced, or this was never actually a finished airplane, and they simply didn't see the need for them on an "airplane on a stick".

Paul
 
Bede 5 on a stttick at 3C1

At the Mishawaka Pilots Club Airport in Elkhart Indiana, the home base were Don Mc Namara flies his RV-8, and hosted the RV-1 last spring, they have a Bede 5 on a stick. It would probably be safer to get that RV-3 off the stick and flying again, than the Bede 5.
 
"And Now For The Rest Of The Story"

Today I walked over to take a closer look at the RV on a Stick. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a few interesting details. First, there was no data plate on either side of the tail. That really didn’t surprise me as they weren’t required in that location until the mid-90’s sometime, IIRC.

Second, the cowl was obviously handmade and not pulled from a mold. Leading me to believe this was a very early aircraft.

Third, there was no indication that there was ever an N-number applied to this aircraft.

Fourth, the craftsmanship is absolutely top rate!

As I was looking at the airplane, I noticed the owner was working on a project outside of one of his hangars so I went over to talk to him and ask about the RV.

This particular RV had never been in an accident, as I had been told by another airpark resident. Apparently it is an early RV-3 and was under construction when these aircraft started shedding wings. The builder was close to flying but at that time Van did not have the fix that would later become the RV-3A. To the builder, it probably looked and felt like he had built a boat anchor and rather than risk his life or anyone else’s for that matter, he sold the engine, instruments, engine mount, etc. Then, before selling the fuselage he cut the wing spars and took a hammer to fuselage cross member so it would never fly again.

The guy who bought it from the original builder contacted Van and was told that with the spar damage, it was scrap metal. With that little bit of knowledge, owner number two sold it to owner number three who “bolted it together” and put it on the poll. He thought that if it couldn’t fly, at least it would have air under its wings and help other pilots.
 
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