Builders:
Two pictures from an old filing cabinet. This is one of my early engines being tested. This was the last engine without a starter…. It was a pain to hand prop, because everything inside was new, (a lot of ring drag on fresh cylinders) and the compression was very good. Shortly after these pictures we fitted it with a starter up by the prop hub.
.
.
This picture was taken at the Spruce Creek Fly in. The Address was 207 Cessna blvd. In those years I worked out of the hangar of Willie Carter, the man pictured. It was an absolute guru of fabric covering, classic homebuilding, and one hell of a pilot. In the years he was my mechanical mentor, he always called me “Grasshopper” a nod to his favorite TV show.
The engine was a 2700, .030″ over. It was running an ‘Altimizer” carb, Heavily advertised back then, but in reality trash. The black hub on this engine is the one on the top of the Chevy Grove Trophy. It was made for me by my friend Judith Saber. The prop was made for me by Ed Sterba. My 1967 Corvair is in the background.
The date on the photo is erroneous, I lived in a different part of Florida in ’87.
.
.
On the left is a 28 year old version of me. Willie mans the controls, and A&P extrodinare Steve Upson gets it to light off with perfect had prop technique. Both Willie and Steve could hand prop all kinds of things that no one would touch, 200HP angle valve Lycomings with high compression pistons and even a R-985 with a shower of sparks ignition on a DGA-15.
Steve was later a member of “the Hangar Gang” when we were in Edgewater Florida 2002-2007.
.
William
.