We rescued a Luscombe!

[Robert Zambelli]

Pilot error caused a broken left LG strut.
Brand new strut on the way.
Plane will be sold as-is with new parts or fully assembled and airworthy.

Call me for details.

Bob Z.










plane will be sold

[Avaiojet]

Pilot error caused a broken left LG strut.
Brand new strut on the way.
Plane will be sold as-is with new parts or fully assembled and airworthy.

Call me for details.

Bob Z.

plane will be sold

Bob,

I soloed on a Luscombe back in 65.

Absolutely a great aircraft. Should be an easy sell, one would think.

Good luck!

CB

[Bill Morell]

Why'd you take the wing off?

Probably makes it easier to tow???

[Robert Zambelli]

Why'd you take the wing off?

It was at an airport 90 miles away.
We brought it back to our shop at MNI.
Bob Z.

[Chuck_Smith]

Bob, was there a prop strike when the gear failed?

[FLOYD CARTER]

The wings are easily removed/replaced.  I restored an Aeronca 7AC with the fuselage sitting in my driveway and the wings in the shop hanging from  the aileron hinges.  The airport (San Jose, CA) was just 5 miles away.  I towed the fuselage behind my station wagon, early one Sunday morning (before anyone was up),  with the tailwheel lashed to the car top carrier.  A separate trip for each wing panel, also tied to the car top on subsequent Sundays!  

It took only one other helper to put it together at the airport.

Years later, the FW44J restoration required renting an open bed truck to get from my garage to the airport.

In the photo, I am adjusting the control cables.

[Robert Zambelli]

Bob, was there a prop strike when the gear failed?

Surprisingly, no prop strike.
The guy shut the engine down just before he went off the runway, prop stopped horizontal.

[Tim Wescott]

What sort of steel is that that snaps so cleanly?  I would expect more bending.  Or is it al-u-minimum?

[Mike Scholtes]

Bob, are  you going to repair this Luscombe and market it, or will it's charms seduce you into adding it to your collection? Never flew one myself but its reputation is sterling apart from ground handling. On that subject, imagine what is needed to safely do a takeoff run in a Bf109 or a Spitfire, with all that horsepower and engine mass at the other end of the throttle cable, and narrow gear track.

Floyd's comment reminds me of trailering my T-Craft fuselage to the paint shop behind my '62 Comet, with the tailwheel in the trunk well. Folks in Palo Alto got used to seeing it on the road, early in the morning like you did. Several round trips to get the zinc chromate on the fuselage tubing.

[Chuck_Smith]

Luscombes ground handle fine. Never had a problem with one. Anyone who can handle a 130 or Swift will find it a breeze. Just go slow and "let the wind blow the stick", she'll be fine. Great little planes, easy to fly and easy to own.

Chuck

[Robert Zambelli]

The landing gear is heat treated steel, possibly chrome-moly. We plug welded a steel sleeve inside so that we could move it around the shop on it's wheels.
We ordered a new strut and it should be in this week.
Once the strut is installed, the aircraft will be sold "as is" or completely assembled and airworthy.
The engine, a C-90 as I recall, has around 200 hours SMOH.
If interested or you know someone who is, contact me.
I can put you in touch with the actual owner.
I'm just the assistant "wrench" on the project.

Bob Z.

[jjorgensen]

When I was a brand new flight instructor in the 70s a guy who owned a Luscombe asked me to give him a biennial flight review. I told him I had never flown a Luscombe, and he said, its easy, lets take it around the pattern and get you used to it. So I took off (60 mph) leveled off (65 mph) and attempted to land (60 mph). First attempt I got sideways on the grass strip, jammed the throttle, and took off 90 degrees to the runway centerline. After three more attempts I told the owner (who by now was laughing so hard he could hardly see) that if he would put us back on the ground in one piece I would sign him off.

[dave siegler]

did the Luscombe's have issues with the landing gear box?  I seem to remember that you could hurt one real bad and rip up the gear box? 

Was there a new gear to prevent that? 

[Robert Zambelli]

A brand new strut is installed.
There was no damage to the box or frame.
The plane is now for sale.

[Chris McMillin]

Dave,
I think it was the flying wires for center links not being able to maintain geometry if in compression. They replace them with both round and streamline tubes that I've seen.
The boxes get damaged when the flying wire gives up in compression and folds the strut over into the sheet metal.
Chris...

[Dick Tyndall]

  Is this a model 8F? What year is it? All metal wings? Does it have an electrical system ( starter? ). Sounds like there wasn't any damage to anything in the fuselage where the strut mounts to. Did the left wing hit the ground when the strut failed? What is the asking price for the airplane and where is it located? Thanks for the info.