Sisu 1a, s/n 101, N6390X

On Saturday, January 5, 2008 at 8:22:15 PM UTC-8, Paul Hanson wrote:
It is with great sadness that I inform you of the destruction
of Sisu 1a, s/n 101, N6390X.
We had a big storm blow through Avenal Ca and there
was much damage. She was tied out (claw anchors, ratchet
straps with screw shackles, wings on stands, tail elevated)
but the ground liquefied and it was blowing at a steady
60mph, gusting higher.
I found the ship on it's back, about 650 feet from
where I parked it, complete with said claw anchors/spikes/ratchet
straps/shackles. The 1-35 next to the Sisu was tied
up the same but was unharmed, fortunately for IT'S
owner. Although the 1-35 was hanging on by it's fingernails
it was still hanging on and any other portable tiedown
would have simply failed, and much sooner. The only
difference between our tiedown jobs, was his were spiked
in 2 months ago and mine were in since May or so (bad
idea). He is actually lucky that his ship was out there,
because his open trailer it goes on was significantly
overlapped by the Libelle trailer that was next to
it and would have been badly damaged/destroyed were
it there still.
We also had a 2-33 break chains and fly across the
street, landing on it's nose and back, 2 hangers destroyed
as well as the collapse of our new hanger that was
under construction. There was lots more damage at the
airfield as well as all over the county, with doors/roofs
ripped off buildings downed powerlines/trees etc. It
looked as if a tornado went through, but it was just
damn windy as well as completely saturated (the mud
here is very slick due to the fine particulate nature
of the dirt).
Pat, if you're reading this, I got lots of pics to
show you...

In Tears,
Paul Hanson

PS. Please allow me to grieve in peace, I DO know proper
tiedown practices, and regularly school others on the
subject (painful irony). My ship was not supposed to
be out there this month either, but...

Hi Paul. Came across this post and don't know if you are still active in soaring or not. My 89 yr old father has one of the last production Sisu's and needs to get rid of it. It is not completed. Fuselage is skinned, and he has the aluminum skins for the wings, but it would take some building, and the right person to get this historic piece of aviation in the air. If you yourself, or anyone you know of, may be interested, please let me know. Trying to find a good home for it.

On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 3:46:09 PM UTC-7, Tom Vaughan wrote:
Hi Paul. Came across this post and don't know if you are still active in soaring or not. My 89 yr old father has one of the last production Sisu's and needs to get rid of it. It is not completed. Fuselage is skinned, and he has the aluminum skins for the wings, but it would take some building, and the right person to get this historic piece of aviation in the air. If you yourself, or anyone you know of, may be interested, please let me know. Trying to find a good home for it.

Tom, your best bet might be to donate the ship to the Southwest Soaring Museum for a tax write-off. They will give it a good home.

Thanks, Bob K.

On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 7:15:26 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 3:46:09 PM UTC-7, Tom Vaughan wrote:
Hi Paul. Came across this post and don't know if you are still active in soaring or not. My 89 yr old father has one of the last production Sisu's and needs to get rid of it. It is not completed. Fuselage is skinned, and he has the aluminum skins for the wings, but it would take some building, and the right person to get this historic piece of aviation in the air. If you yourself, or anyone you know of, may be interested, please let me know. Trying to find a good home for it.

Tom, your best bet might be to donate the ship to the Southwest Soaring Museum for a tax write-off. They will give it a good home.

Thanks, Bob K.

Thank you Bob. We are considering that. It is actually located in MD. I may be hauling some things from MD to CA in the not too distant future, so thought I would put this post out.

On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 7:34:57 PM UTC-7, Tom Vaughan wrote:
On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 7:15:26 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 3:46:09 PM UTC-7, Tom Vaughan wrote:
Hi Paul. Came across this post and don't know if you are still active in soaring or not. My 89 yr old father has one of the last production Sisu's and needs to get rid of it. It is not completed. Fuselage is skinned, and he has the aluminum skins for the wings, but it would take some building, and the right person to get this historic piece of aviation in the air. If you yourself, or anyone you know of, may be interested, please let me know.. Trying to find a good home for it.

Tom, your best bet might be to donate the ship to the Southwest Soaring Museum for a tax write-off. They will give it a good home.

Thanks, Bob K.

Thank you Bob. We are considering that. It is actually located in MD. I may be hauling some things from MD to CA in the not too distant future, so thought I would put this post out.

On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 8:10:13 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 7:34:57 PM UTC-7, Tom Vaughan wrote:
On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 7:15:26 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 3:46:09 PM UTC-7, Tom Vaughan wrote:
Hi Paul. Came across this post and don't know if you are still active in soaring or not. My 89 yr old father has one of the last production Sisu's and needs to get rid of it. It is not completed. Fuselage is skinned, and he has the aluminum skins for the wings, but it would take some building, and the right person to get this historic piece of aviation in the air. If you yourself, or anyone you know of, may be interested, please let me know. Trying to find a good home for it.

Tom, your best bet might be to donate the ship to the Southwest Soaring Museum for a tax write-off. They will give it a good home.

Thanks, Bob K.

Thank you Bob. We are considering that. It is actually located in MD. I may be hauling some things from MD to CA in the not too distant future, so thought I would put this post out.

On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 6:46:09 PM UTC-4, Tom Vaughan wrote:
...My 89 yr old father has one of the last production Sisu's
and needs to get rid of it. It is not completed. Fuselage is skinned,
and he has the aluminum skins for the wings, but it would take
some building, and the right person to get this historic piece
of aviation in the air. If you yourself, or anyone you know of,
may be interested, please let me know.
Trying to find a good home for it.

Contact Dick Butler, who recently restored another Sisu.
Dick is able to complete construction ;-)

Tom,

There is a group of Classic sailplane enthusiasts that would be interested in the project. Please contact me privately.

Kevin

Glad to see there's still interest in this amazing sailplane. This was THE glider to lust over when I was a kid in the mid 60s. Not one but two Sisus used to show up at our Wright Memorial Glider Meet in Richmond, IN (hosted by the Soaring Society of Dayton, precursor of the Caesar Creek Soaring Club), flown by national champions Dean Svec and A.J. Smith. I understand that Dick Butler has A.J.'s ship in its original condition, which I would dearly love to see. If memory serves correctly, both the National Soaring Museum and National Air and Space Museum have Sisus and I believe I've seen them both.

As a bit of totally irrelevant trivia, those who have heard me on the radio at contests over the years may recall my use of "Jake Baker" as a call sign with my crew and close flying buds, in lieu of the standard Juliet Bravo. This originated with Dean Svec's use of "Jack Baker", which were the last two characters in his "N" number (believe it or not, from memory: N252JB). My father either misheard Dean at one contest or altered the pronunciation himself and began using it a few years later when he ended up with "JB" as a competition ID. And I've used it ever since.

I just checked and, curiously, Dean's former Sisu (SN 105) was reregistered as N252J (i.e., dropping the "B") in the past and the FAA shows it as being in OK now. I don't recall what competition ID was on it in those days and the contest reports I checked from that era don't include them.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"

On Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 10:09:33 AM UTC-5, wrote:
Glad to see there's still interest in this amazing sailplane. This was THE glider to lust over when I was a kid in the mid 60s. Not one but two Sisus used to show up at our Wright Memorial Glider Meet in Richmond, IN (hosted by the Soaring Society of Dayton, precursor of the Caesar Creek Soaring Club), flown by national champions Dean Svec and A.J. Smith. I understand that Dick Butler has A.J.'s ship in its original condition, which I would dearly love to see. If memory serves correctly, both the National Soaring Museum and National Air and Space Museum have Sisus and I believe I've seen them both.

As a bit of totally irrelevant trivia, those who have heard me on the radio at contests over the years may recall my use of "Jake Baker" as a call sign with my crew and close flying buds, in lieu of the standard Juliet Bravo. This originated with Dean Svec's use of "Jack Baker", which were the last two characters in his "N" number (believe it or not, from memory: N252JB).. My father either misheard Dean at one contest or altered the pronunciation himself and began using it a few years later when he ended up with "JB" as a competition ID. And I've used it ever since.

I just checked and, curiously, Dean's former Sisu (SN 105) was reregistered as N252J (i.e., dropping the "B") in the past and the FAA shows it as being in OK now. I don't recall what competition ID was on it in those days and the contest reports I checked from that era don't include them.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"

SISU 1A N253JB is owned by Steve Parker and still flying at Marfa, TX I have recent photos and will try to submit (need assistance)

Jim Callaway
ASH 25, K6E, SHK, LS-3a

On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 7:34:57 PM UTC-7, Tom Vaughan wrote:
On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 7:15:26 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 3:46:09 PM UTC-7, Tom Vaughan wrote:
Hi Paul. Came across this post and don't know if you are still active in soaring or not. My 89 yr old father has one of the last production Sisu's and needs to get rid of it. It is not completed. Fuselage is skinned, and he has the aluminum skins for the wings, but it would take some building, and the right person to get this historic piece of aviation in the air. If you yourself, or anyone you know of, may be interested, please let me know.. Trying to find a good home for it.

Tom, your best bet might be to donate the ship to the Southwest Soaring Museum for a tax write-off. They will give it a good home.

Thanks, Bob K.

Thank you Bob. We are considering that. It is actually located in MD. I may be hauling some things from MD to CA in the not too distant future, so thought I would put this post out.

Please contact Dean Gradwell as he is very interested. He tried to post last night in his sleep but was unsuccessful. :-) The 2 posts from are from Dean.

Rick Shelby