Registering a Warbird with the FAA (Experimental Operating Limitations)

I'm sorry to hear that.

"Orval Fairbairn" wrote in message
news

I had the misfortune of seeing a friend (and his son-in-law) die in one.
We were in a flight of five (P-3 leading) when he suddenly got oil all
over his windshield. The engine had thrown a rod. Two of his wingmen
stayed with him to help guide him to a safe emergency landing, but he
hit an oak tree, which cartwheeled him into the ground. Remarkably, the
fuselage stayed intact, but neither occupant survived.

I had flown with him previously -- the plane is very heavy and needs all
the power it can get, but the controls are light and well-balanced.

The GO 435 and GO-480 Lycomings need someone who knows them well to work
on them and take some care in flying them.

I had heard about that unfortunate accident with the P-3 that threw a
rod. That was a bad situation all around, I'm sure it was awful to
watch in person.

There is an FBO locally that has been doing maintenance on another P-3
for several years, and I plan on having the heavy maintenance done in
NC by the shop that works on probably half of the P-3s based in the US.
Its true that there aren't that many places that either know what the
plane is or who have worked on that engine/prop combination.

The good side about the plane being heavy is that the airframe is built
like a tank, of course the bad side is that the glide performance is
very poor (much different than the Grob 103 glider I used to fly).

Eric