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Ryan Smith
Posts: 1210
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:26 am

Re: New forum member

Post by Ryan Smith »

I ferried a Cherokee Six home from Ohio for a friend last year and the mechanic that had been taking care of the airplane for him for the last several years has a Wilga. The airplanes are much larger in person than I anticipated, and are incredibly well built. I could not get over how smooth and well balanced all the controls were - like an aerobatic airplane. Ball bearings and pushrods for everything. I wish I could have flown it.
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wingnut
Posts: 988
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:58 pm

Re: New forum member

Post by wingnut »

gahorn wrote:Jean, WELCOME...and please allow me to add my opinions to this conversation.
The '48 fabric wing version (sometimes referred to as a "ragwing") has some internal wing parts which are virtually impossible to find, and if damaged, will have to be custom manufactured. The approval processes of these parts could be a serious issue for an airplane maintained in accordance with some foreign authorities, however if you possess a U.S. pilot certificate and keep the airplane in U.S. registry may not be an issue.
The '48 uses the same ailerons as the C120/140 aircraft and does indeed have a slightly slower "roll rate".

The A-models and B-models, if similarly equipped, were actually a few pounds lighter than the ragwing when first produced, due to less internal structure to stiffen the fabric wings.

The chief advantage of a B model over the A, is the availability of parts, particularly 1953 and later cowling, empennage, and wing parts, and some cabin-ventilation/heating and fuel system parts, as the B-model was the prototype for development of both the Cessna 172 and the military L-19, which share many, many parts in-common, many are in New-Old-Stock Inventories, and some parts of which are still in production. This is one reason the B-model generally enjoys a higher price than the other models.

Otherwise, the B model has only slight performance advantages over the A and original fabric versions, while enjoying only slightly lighter elevator control-forces.
I'm sure glad your flap button didn't stick over Blackfork Mountain. We'd have been making a new runway. Also glad you came back to show me the problem with the flap lever.
If others don't know, it'd be a good time to relate that experience
Del Lehmann
Mena, Arkansas
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