One Hurdle at a Time

By Kevin Lacey

The Tango Thirty One Aero Clube made its debut in the AviNation magazine in April 2019. At that time the Clube was only 2 years old and the teenage Clube members were installing an avionics package and partially stripping the paint off Three Five Ugly (their 1976 Cessna 150).

That effort saw a crew of Clube members focused on the avionics installation, while other Clube members focused on stripping as much of the paint from the airframe as they could with the idea that at some point in the future, 35Ugly would be getting a full paint job.

The Avionics installation included a PS Engineering PAR200A Com/Audio Panel that was donated by Mark Scheuer of PS Engineering, a MX-300 Nav/Com, a Garmin GPS150XL, and a GTX327 Transponder. The MX and the Garmins were donated to the Clube by other aircraft owners who had removed them from their aircraft for avionics upgrades.

Tragedy struck the Clube when Freckles was seriously injured in a non-Clube related airplane crash in May 2019. She had just returned home from her first year at Oklahoma University with a private pilot certificate and was looking forward to a summer full of activity with the Clube, including traveling to AirVenture 2019. She was a passenger in a non-Clube related Piper Cherokee that had a landing mishap. Freckles spent the rest of the summer recovering from her injuries.

That accident slowed the progress on 35Ugly considerably, but the winter project was finally completed in June of 2019. Even though 35Ugly was the ugliest airplane on the ramp, all the radios worked as they are supposed to and the young Clube members were proud to fly her to Oshkosh for EAA’s AirVenture 2019 alongside Casper. Casper was a 1967 Cessna 150G and was the Clube’s first frame up restoration. They began that project in 2017 and completed in time for AirVenture 2018. Casper turned out really nice and offered inspiration for what they knew they could do to 35Ugly.

In spite of Freckles accident, Blue, Skinny, and the Professor were all proud to take their check rides in Casper and earn their Private Pilot Certificates during the summer of 2019.

In their spare time after AirVenture 2019, aside from taking flying lessons and logging flight time, the Clube Members began building up a Continental O-200 engine from parts that had been donated by Aircraft Engines and Accessories and Superior Air Parts. The engine on Three Five Ugly was getting pretty long in the tooth and it was evident that it would need an overhaul or be replaced sometime in the near future.

In August 2019, the professor headed down to College Station, Texas for his first year with a scholastic scholarship to Texas A&M for aerospace engineering.

Unfortunately, in September 2019 another tragedy struck the Clube when Skinny was involved in a fatal accident while flying Casper. This was a tough loss for the Clube as Skinny had become a well-loved enthusiastic leader and inspired others to excel. Had it not been for the faith, support, and encouragement from his parents for the Clube to continue on, the Clube directors may very well have pulled the plug on the entire operation and called it quits.

In December of 2019, Clube member Blue and Director Kevin traveled to Tulsa to inspect and purchase a replacement Cessna 150 for Casper. Although a fairly high airframe time 337 appeared to be in pretty good shape. It had a recent top overhaul and plenty of time remaining before an overhaul would be due, so a deal was made.

Unfortunately, Blue only made it half way home in 337 before engine trouble caused a forced landing in Ada Oklahoma. On site investigation revealed that the #4 cylinder stuck an exhaust valve. Leaving the aircraft in Ada, Blue and Kevin returned to Aero Country with a plan of returning in a few days with a spare cylinder and changing it there on the ramp.

By now, Clube directors were becoming shell shocked with the events of the past seven months, but the young Clube members were just beginning their aviation careers and would not be discouraged. In some ways, they even inspire the directors to remain steadfast in helping pave the way and open as many doors as possible for them.

The following Saturday, Sci-Fi and the Hammer changed the #4 cylinder and 337 was ferried home to Aero Country. After a more detailed inspection of the engine, Clube members decided that they would remove the engine and install the fresh engine that they had just built for 35Ugly.

With 337 finally on the line and flying, Clube members wasted no time in disassembling the engine and shipping the parts out for inspection and re-certification. With help from Eric at Aircraft Specialties and Services, Chuck at Divco, and Scott Hayes at Superior Air Parts the Clube members were soon building a new engine for 35Ugly.

Having earned his Powerplant Mechanic Certificate back in February 2018 based on experience, the Hammer had finally served enough time as an apprentice to go after his Airframe Certificate. He became the first Clube member to be a fully certificated Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic in February 2020.

2020 was off to a good start, with his fresh A&P Certificate and 3 ½ years’ experience under his belt, the Hammer was hired at Bombardier, where he now takes care of some of the nicest corporate jets in the world.

Other Clube members were happy to put 2019 in the rearview mirror and move on as well. Unfortunately, in early 2020 along came that Chinese Wu-Flu and all but brought the entire country to a halt.

Under pressure from the politically correct crowd, Clube directors called for a cancellation of Clube gatherings until further notice. Members could still fly their airplanes, but work on all projects was cancelled. Because Sci-Fi and Blue were working as apprentice aircraft mechanics and the Hammer working at Bombardier, they were all considered “essential” employees and were allowed to continue to work. School was cancelled for Clube members that were still in high school. Clube members who moved away for college were coming back home as their classes were cancelled as well.

Within two weeks, Clube directors began getting calls from the young Clube members. They were wanting to come back to the hangar and resume normal activities. They did their research and made their case. They are in a demographic that is least affected by the Wu-Flu and have the highest survivability rate. And besides, they had a lot of work to do. With their parents’ approval, the Clube house doors were re-opened and Clube members got back to work on their projects.

When it was announced that Sun n Fun was cancelled, Clube members began to speculate about the status of AirVenture. They were greatly disappointed with the cancellation of EAA’s AirVenture 2020, which is the highlight of the year for them. They decided it was time to get some serious work done. They decided that they were ok with having just one airplane to fly for a while and having previously installed all new windows and avionics in 35Ugly, they decided it was time for a paint job and a new engine.

They dissected little 35Ugly, removing all the flight control surfaces and the engine, and began stripping what was left of the paint. She got an acid wash and a bath in Alodine, followed by a coat of corrosion resistant primer and then a base coat of white Jet-Glo.

In August of 2020, our little Ms. Ponytail moved to Daytona Beach Florida to set the world on fire at Embry Riddle. After graduating High School a year early with honors, she left the Aero Clube with her Private Pilot Certificate and has since earned an Instrument Rating and passed the Commercial Pilot written test. As if that wasn’t good enough, she earned a spot on the Eagles Flight Team and then made the Dean’s List for the spring of 2021.

The Fall of 2020 saw the Clube members busy retrieving several donated aircraft. The first was a disassembled Comp Air 6, followed by a 1973 Cessna 172, then an Acro Sport II, a SeaHawker, and a Monet Mini Motor Glider. The 172, now affectionately referred to as the SwampHawk is the only aircraft that fits the Clubes’ mission profile.

The Clube members performed a Condition Inspection on the Acro Sport II and sold it to help finance Clube Operations. The avionics and engine (Lycoming IO-540) were removed from the Comp Air and the airframe was given away. The engine (Lycoming O-320-E2D) was removed from the SeaHawker and that airframe was disposed of as well. The Clube is grateful for the donations and experience the Clube members gained throughout the process.

Between all the other distractions, work continued on 35Ugly with John at Tempest and Keith at Hartzell Engine Technologies providing new engine accessories to round out the engine build. The engine was installed and the cowling installed and the red and black trim colors were applied. By November 2020, 35Ugly was back in the air and looking better than it did coming out of the factory.

The winter of 2020/2021 brought on some new challenges to the Clube’s goal of breaking in the new engine with the sub-artic temperatures, electricity outages, and of course the Chinese flu. With 35Ugly back in service it was time to take a closer look at the radios in 337. The radios were slowly becoming unreliable.

We had a Garmin 430 NAV/COM/GPS and a GTX327 Transponder that came out of the Comp Air, so they were sent to Ferguson Avionics for bench test. With a clean bill of health, Clube members got busy building a wire harness and installing them in 337.

The avionics installation on 337 was completed just in time for the Clube’s annual migration to Oshkosh Wisconsin. 337, 35Ugly, and Director Kevin’s SloHawk (Cessna 172) all made the trip to AirVenture 2021 with Clube members taking turns doing the flying. The Tango Thirty One Aero Clube members enjoyed meeting up with Mike Z and the Lakeland Aero Club Crew to exchange ideas and philosophies. Clube members also attended several seminars and workshops, most importantly a Lycoming Engine build class.

Returning from AirVenture, the Clube members began to focus on the frame up restoration of the SwampHawk. They have the fuselage and tail feathers stripped, installed all new windows, removed, cleaned, inspected, re-sealed, painted and re-installed all the landing gear.

The engine has been disassembled, and once again, Eric at Aircraft Specialties and Services took care of the inspection and re-certification of the internal steel parts while Harold at CSI took care of the crankcase servicing and Scott at Superior Air Parts is helping out with other aspects of the engine build.

The goal with the SwampHawk is to install all new digital avionics with an auto-pilot and provide the Clube members with an Instrument and Commercial training platform that meets the new TAA requirements. As of September 2021, following in the Hammer’s footsteps, both Blue and Sci-Fi have now crossed the threshold of required experience as an apprentice mechanics working under the supervision of a Certificated Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic. Both have been signed off by the FAA to go take the tests for their Airframe and Powerplant Certificate. We expect by the time this is published they will both have their A&P Certificates.

The end of August 2021 saw Gator Bait wandering off to Stillwater, OK for his first year at OSU. Beer Money had completed his first year at OSU, but unfortunately could not afford to return for his second year. So, he made an agreement with the US Army. He enlisted with the ambition of becoming a Black Hawk mechanic. He made the Army agree to let him travel to EAA’s AirVenture 2021 with the Clube before his official ship out date.

After several on again off again efforts, Lil Red finally soloed in September. She is looking forward to moving on to do some cross country flying now.

The Tango Thirty One Aero Clube is a 501(c)3 non profit organization specifically for young adults. There are no paid employees, only volunteers and all donations go directly to covering Clube expenses. Application for membership is limited to those between 15 to 19 years old with many members remaining in the Clube into their early 20’s. Their sweat equity investment into the Clube Aircraft (all owned by the Clube) allows them to fly their aircraft for the price of fuel. To date, the average cost for a Clube member to earn a private pilot certificate is around $1400. The Hammer is earning a handsome paycheck at Bombardier with his only debt is to the Snap-On tool truck.

You can follow the Aero Clube on their website www.t31aeroclube.com or on their FaceBook page @t31aeroclube