Below is a look at the “Sheradin Special” a Parasol being built by Dan and Tracy Sheradin. While the plane is inspired by the Pietenpol, it shares very few part in common. Dan has taken the time to design and build a unique plane to suit his taste. He has two years of part time work into the plane. They are visiting my place in Florida, and we took the photos below in front of my hangar yesterday.
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Above, a rear quarter look at the fuselage. While it may look very much like this plane: Steel tube Pietenpol fuselage with landing gear and 12 x 4.8″ tires., Terry Hand’s Pietenpol, in person the fuselages are different. Dan’s is a foot longer, and has a lot more room in the cockpit. The gear and tires on both planes are similar, but Dan’s has disc brakes and Terry’s has drums.
Above, the plane has a generous passenger door. The pilot is about 4″ further back than a long fuselage Piet. Dan was able to build with confidence because using this information: Pietenpol CG and gear welding, he could calculate the location of the wing, gear , motor mount and seating and have the CG turn out correctly, rather than just guessing.
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We didn’t have the wing present, but it uses a Riblett 13.5% airfoil and aluminum spars. The plane has very little wood in it.
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The tail spring is a stainless rod and an ACS swiveling unit. This adds significantly to good ground handing by extending the wheelbase, getting the tailwheel horn geometry in correct orientation with the rudder horn, and having quality operation. You can admire thrifty Piet guys who are rebuilding shopping cart wheels for tailwheels, but you would really prefer the operation of a normal tailwheel.
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Ahead of the firewall, Dan’s installation is identical to our Pietenpol parts. The mount is on of our off the shelf units. His engine is a 2,700 with all our gold parts which ran at Corvair College #39 at Barnwell SC. Dan and Tracy attended four of the Corvair Colleges there. For a look at some of the parts common to Corvair/Piets, look here: Pietenpol Products, Motor mounts, Gear and Instalation Components.
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Above, the tailwheel from a different angle. It is mounted in an .058 x 1.0″ tube. Many Piet builders switching from the plans tailwheel to a more traditional leaf spring or a rod type forget that the fuselage needs a reinforcement to the front of the spring, because it will be in tension when the spring is deflecting. On Dan’s plane this task is being accomplished by the two small 1/2″ tubes. For a look at a lot more Pietenpol and Parasol information look here: Corvair – Pietenpol Reference page
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Above, a nice overall view of the fuselage. The plane is tall, the center of the prop hub is 63″ off the ground. It will be a very impressive plane on the flight line.
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Hats off to Dan and Tracy Sheradin, to very fine people, traditional homebuilders, people we are very glad to have in the world of Corvairs.
Hello Dan and Tracy. Looks great. Hope you all are doing good. That looks like my kind of plane. I’d love to see the wing as well. Talk to you later.
Justin Peters
William,
Thank you for all your help with my airplane. I got stuck on making a tail-wheel socket, you looked at it for a minute and knew exactly what we needed to do. Thanks for pointing out where I needed to reinforce a few brackets, I had overlooked that mistake. Your experience and assistance to traditional home builders is invaluable. I absolutely enjoyed my time in your hanger, it provided the inspiration I need to get back in my garage and keep building.
Thank you William for allowing me to invade your home and hangar. (BGP’s included) You are always willing to help a builder no matter the project. Your experience, patience, and ways of looking at a problem always seem to be just what is needed. Thank you for keeping Dan on task and back in the garage building.
Man that is nice. Good job Dan and Tracy. I would like to know more about your brakes .
Hello Dan and Tracy. Looks great. Hope you all are doing good. That looks like my kind of plane. I’d love to see the wing as well. Talk to you later.
Justin Peters
William,
Thank you for all your help with my airplane. I got stuck on making a tail-wheel socket, you looked at it for a minute and knew exactly what we needed to do. Thanks for pointing out where I needed to reinforce a few brackets, I had overlooked that mistake. Your experience and assistance to traditional home builders is invaluable. I absolutely enjoyed my time in your hanger, it provided the inspiration I need to get back in my garage and keep building.
Thank you William for allowing me to invade your home and hangar. (BGP’s included) You are always willing to help a builder no matter the project. Your experience, patience, and ways of looking at a problem always seem to be just what is needed. Thank you for keeping Dan on task and back in the garage building.