G-IIIM (s/n 4258549) Starduster SA100

By Bob Johnson

Originally built in Texas in 1974, and I acquired Stolp Starduster One, N40D, in September of 2020. It had been sitting in the back of a UK hangar for six years following a major rebuild, having previously flown in the UK after import in the 1990s, while still on the US-register. The seller had many other projects on the go and the poor little Starduster was left as was. Working on the old adage, if a deal is too good to be true… You know the rest! I jumped in with eyes wide open, just how hard can it be? New to the UK register, accident damage, not flown for 16 years, not touched for the last six, no other example currently with the LAA. Easy, right?

So started the work to get the newly registered G-IIIM back in the air. The first action was to purchase a set of plans, luckily they are readily available. A survey by Simon Westley, testing the engine and taxi trials done, the initial Permit request was sent to the ever-patient Francis Donaldson. A number of questions were raised regarding the airframe pre-accident, and works done post-accident. Speaking of the accident; when one aircraft lands in one direction and another the other the damage is going to be somewhat proportional to the speed at which they meet.

Luckily for all involved this one was at walking speed, both types having restricted forward view when taxying. The wings had been rebuilt by the late Roger Hinchcliffe, although not signed off before his all too early death, and were well photographed during build and his reputation for exceptional workmanship helped to support the work done.

An over-turn accident back in the 70s meant reviewing some structural repairs to the fuselage, and considering this was effectively an American import, Francis was right to review the workmanship. Many SA100s had undercarriage modifications as better brakes meant more nose-overs. Lou Stolp himself designed the undercarriage to be longer and two inches further forward, and G-IIIM has this new layout but differs, in that, the front stays are vertical rather than having the normal Stolp rake forward.

After exchanging more photos and drawings with Francis, the aircraft was granted its permission to flight test – and Dan Griffith was nominated by the LAA to do the honours. Dan, in his complementary sort of way said ‘she was a nice little aeroplane’, then proceeded to explain a pitch down issue and tendency to roll to the right would need a ‘little’ work.

As it turned out this meant going back to resurvey and reweigh to help identify the problem. With no other examples available to compare the Bi-Plane Forum (Starduster-One) was gold dust! To solve the pitch down issue, a new ballast weight was manufactured and the tailplane incidence was adjusted. The right roll was simple in process but a nightmare in practice. Perfecting the rigging of the ailerons meant a lot of checking, adjusting and test flying. Luckily I was able to assist Dan with test flying at this point. A final check by Dan meant we were able to send the test pack to Francis, and G-IIIM is now in possession of its Permit to Fly.