Mystery of crashed glider in Arizona

The ruddervator actuation system is a distinctive feature of a Schreder sailplane. If a picture of the control surface actuator coupling had been taken when the following picture was taken, I would be able to tell if it came from a sailplane designed by Dick Schreder.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/...a7a44d65_b.jpg




"Bob Kuykendall" wrote in message ...
On Dec 11, 7:48 pm, Bob Kuykendall wrote:

I just finished another eight hour day at ADF X, and then an hour
cleaning up what's going amok where I work most days. So I'll spend
a half-hour digging through the files, but no more.

Sorry, no Reids anywhere in the files for HP-11, -12A, 14, 15, 16, 17,
18, RS-15, or in any of the several "Misc." folders. I did discover
that Paul Bikle had fine penmanship, though.

That's not to say that the aft fuselage and tail aren't Schreder
parts, just that I found no record of it. Which is a pity, because I
do love a mystery like this!

Thanks, Bob K.

Wayne Paul wrote:
The ruddervator actuation system is a distinctive feature of a Schreder sailplane. If a picture of the control surface actuator coupling had been taken when the following picture was taken, I would be able to tell if it came from a sailplane designed by Dick Schreder.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/...a7a44d65_b.jpg


That plane must have had tremendous cockpit ventilation. Probably your
hat ended up back in the tail boom.

On Dec 12, 11:16*am, Greg Arnold wrote:
Wayne Paul wrote:
The ruddervator actuation system is a distinctive feature of a Schreder sailplane. *If a picture of the control surface actuator coupling had been taken when the following picture was taken, I would be able to tell if it came from a sailplane designed by *Dick Schreder.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/...a7a44d65_b.jpg

That plane must have had tremendous cockpit ventilation. *Probably your
hat ended up back in the tail boom.

TUSC members remember this ship being at our present field at El Tiro
until around 1984. It sounds as if it was sold to a new owner and
moved around this time. Possibly the owner of the Serene strip or a
family member. We will certainly go and take another look with more
detailed photos just to satisfy all the curiosity we've stirred up.

Mike

On Dec 12, 10:16*am, Greg Arnold wrote:
Wayne Paul wrote:
The ruddervator actuation system is a distinctive feature of a Schreder sailplane. *If a picture of the control surface actuator coupling had been taken when the following picture was taken, I would be able to tell if it came from a sailplane designed by *Dick Schreder.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/...a7a44d65_b.jpg

That plane must have had tremendous cockpit ventilation. *Probably your
hat ended up back in the tail boom.

Also possible, in addition to providing pitot and cockpit vent, he was
looking into setting up some sort of blow hole turbulators in the wing
like the ASW20 and DG300 and the hole could provide the necessary
intake port...pure speculation on my part. Good job guys id'ing this.

On Dec 7 2009, 3:48*pm, Mike the Strike wrote:
Several of our members have recently been surveying possible landing
strips for our contest database and Steve Koerner came across an old
crashed glider in the Arizona desert.....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3676667...7622824263137/

Registration was N71JR.

Suggestions and speculation welcome!

I was contacted by a pilot who has flow at Estrella for many years.
He told me he knew about this glider and I asked him to write up what
he knew. His wife sent the following in an email.

"back in 1986? 1987? joe was looking for a new trailer for his 1-35
that he had bought in moriarity, new mexico. the glider came with a
closed in trailer but it was big enough to make a mobile home out of
it!!! joe thinks he saw the ad for a trailer in the ssa magazine and
called a tel. # down in tucson. it was the wife of jordan reid who
was already deceased (from cancer we think) and she was just trying to
get rid of it. she told joe her husband had been an aeronautical
engineer at the university down there and that the trailer had a
glider in it that he had built, but after 5 or 6 test flights, the
wings were fluttering really bad. in the meantime he got ill and
could never fix the problem. she told joe she would sell him the
trailer with the glider in it and warned him it was not flyable. some
friend of their family actually delivered the trailer and sailplane to
estrella sailport for joe. the trailer was 1" square steel tubing
with no skin on it and very well built. joe and i covered it and
still have the 1-35 in that trailer!!!...................now for the
glider.......there was a logbook with the 5 or 6 entries in it showing
the plane was dangerous to fly. joe said the glider was in very good
condition and primed but not painted. he took out all the
instruments, push rods, moving parts, etc. and hauled the rest of the
glider to the stanfield dump!!!!! not too long later (maybe a year
later?) joe and i were out exploring the desert near estrella looking
at land. he slammed on the brakes and was freaking out because he
realized it was the glider he had taken to the dump!! it was up along
a fence on someone's property that obviously had a runway on it. we
met the people who owned the property (we have no idea now what their
names were) and they were very friendly and only stayed on the
property sometimes (they had another home in the phoenix area). they
told us they went to the stanfield dump 1 day to throw out their
trash, saw the sailplane, and decided it would make a wonderful
decoration for their property!! joe unfortunately threw away the log
book when he took the sailplane to the dump which he obviously deeply
regrets. he wants everyone to know that mr. jordan reid had put a
huge amount of effort in that glider and the trailer also. everything
was very well built and it is so sad he couldn't really enjoy it."

So it appears that the builder abandoned the project due to failing
health and it was not ever flown by anyone else.

Andy

So it appears that the builder abandoned the project due to failing
health and it was not ever flown by anyone else.

Andy

Charlie"Lite" remembers watching Jordan fly in the glider. Those
wings fluttered so bad, he was surprised that Jordan never crashed
it. But he always made it back to land safely. If Jordan's health
had permitted, he would have fixed that problem! There was so much
time and detail put into it, but it was definitely all Jordan's design
and work.

Yesterday, I received a CD from the FAA for N71JR. Why did I order
this again? Looking it up in the FAA database further confused me. A
Cessna 421C? Was this a possible tow plane? Hmmmmm.

After reading the contents of the CD, my brain cells started to
fire. The great wrecked Jordon Reid RGS-1 glider mystery!!

The tail number was registered on March 10, 1975. It was de-
registered by the estate of Jordon Reid by Frank Whiting (I think -
its handwritten) on April 4, 1986 as "Totally destroyed or scrapped.
Not flyable."

So for all those that are still interested in the details of this
glider, the contents of the CD can be found at the following URL.
There is a great handwritten note by Jordon Reid in the Airworthiness
file asking for a tail number assignment. See http://derosaweb.net/aviation/N71JR/
for the files.

If you don't have a CD of the information on your glider, this is a
great $10 deal. In my case I got details all the way back to the
initial German language documentation! Order this at
http://162.58.35.241/e.gov/ND/airrecordsND.asp.

Enjoy, John DeRosa

Other details on the glider from the "Experimental/Amateur-Built
Aircraft Operating Limitations" (items number 7-9).

7. Maximum Gross Weight: 740 Normal, 983 with water
Center of Gravity Limits: 84.75 to 87.5

Maximum Speed Limitations
------------
Auto or winch tow: N/A
Airplane Tow: 70MPH
Max. Smooth Air: 140 MPH (handwritten 126 next to this)
Max. Rough Air: 140 MPH

8. These operating limitations will expire on 8/17/78

10. Flight test area per attached Phoenix Sectional

On Jan 15, 9:23*am, ContestID67 wrote:
Yesterday, I received a CD from the FAA for N71JR. *Why did I order
this again? *Looking it up in the FAA database further confused me. *A
Cessna 421C? *Was this a possible tow plane? *Hmmmmm.

After reading the contents of the CD, my brain cells started to
fire. * The great wrecked Jordon Reid RGS-1 glider mystery!!

The tail number was registered on March 10, 1975. *It was de-
registered by the estate of Jordon Reid by Frank Whiting (I think -
its handwritten) on April 4, 1986 as "Totally destroyed or scrapped.
Not flyable."

So for all those that are still interested in the details of this
glider, the contents of the CD can be found at the following URL.
There is a great handwritten note by Jordon Reid in the Airworthiness
file asking for a tail number assignment. *Seehttp://derosaweb.net/aviation/N71JR/
for the files.

If you don't have a CD of the information on your glider, this is a
great $10 deal. *In my case I got details all the way back to the
initial German language documentation! *Order this athttp://162.58.35.241/e.gov/ND/airrecordsND.asp.

Enjoy, John DeRosa

That is the first time I've ever heard of anyone asking the FAA to
"surprise me!" classic!

On Jan 15, 9:23*am, ContestID67 wrote:
Yesterday, I received a CD from the FAA for N71JR. *Why did I order
this again? *Looking it up in the FAA database further confused me. *A
Cessna 421C? *Was this a possible tow plane? *Hmmmmm.

After reading the contents of the CD, my brain cells started to
fire. * The great wrecked Jordon Reid RGS-1 glider mystery!!

The tail number was registered on March 10, 1975. *It was de-
registered by the estate of Jordon Reid by Frank Whiting (I think -
its handwritten) on April 4, 1986 as "Totally destroyed or scrapped.
Not flyable."

So for all those that are still interested in the details of this
glider, the contents of the CD can be found at the following URL.
There is a great handwritten note by Jordon Reid in the Airworthiness
file asking for a tail number assignment. *Seehttp://derosaweb.net/aviation/N71JR/
for the files.

If you don't have a CD of the information on your glider, this is a
great $10 deal. *In my case I got details all the way back to the
initial German language documentation! *Order this athttp://162.58.35.241/e.gov/ND/airrecordsND.asp.

Enjoy, John DeRosa

Also if you are as "frugal" (read chaep) as me, you can get the FAA
records CD for free when you stop at the FAA pavillion during the
Oshkosh fly-in. Of course having to spend the $37 for admission is
going to cut into your savings a bit :-)


Pete