We rebuilt the old 172's shimmy dampener and now have started shimming the
skizzers and taking a hard look at the steering arms for shims too. You
can read about the causes of nosewheel shimmy (and possibly nosewheel tire
scalloping) he

http://www.sacskyranch.com/cessfrm1.htm

Also at sacskyranch's website is a good article on auto engines and why they
respect the Soob and VW only. Some of you V-6 guys might send them some
data to set them straight on the Fords.

Which brings me to a VW-powered airplane here in NC. The owner says the
plane flies 10 mph slower than it did with the 2-stroke but the VW keeps him
from off-airport landings and has 750 hours on it. He swears he's never
even had to adjust the valves, just checks them occasionally for clearance
because of the solid lifters.

Which brings me to the Continental engine we are presently building and my
partner having bought new cylinders from Van Bortel in Texas through Air
Power, Inc. advertised on the internet, I must put in a plug for Van Bortel
and his company as being honest and upright and quick to correct a problem.

We just got a replica Spitfire at our museum here at www.wncairmuseum.com
and are just tickled to death it is so pretty with its elliptical wings. It
was owned by one of our locals who is quite a craftsman.

Stearmans were busy yesterday and so was the Taylorcraft and so were the
airbike and Bulldog, and a gaggle of droll spamcans.

The Heath Parasol now has her wings painted in silvery aluminum flake by
Polyfiber we bought from Jim and Dondi in Ohio, and the wings are real
dazzlers. That's the news from our neck of the woods.

We're checking our planes for mice inside. The blasted rodents **** all
over everything and make a mess, the hateful little vermin. One little
vermin has already been found in a prize biplane here. He sneaks in
through the tail and scampers up into the wing where he (or she) has already
built a nest.

A friend of mine says he found an old Luscombe in a barn almost ruined by
mice nesting in the aluminum wings.

I always enjoy Veeduber's writing. That guy is a poet. Keep 'em coming,
Veeduber.

Y'all come see us at Li'l Slice O' Heaven or Rufferd County, where the
swaggering men match the mountains and are dauntless baccy-spittin'
swashbucklers, as long as their wives are not around to scold and humble
them into docile silence.