Minnesota area warbirds

[saabservant]

Anyone know of any warbird clubs/associations in the MSP area?
I have a friend who just bought a t-28, he needs a hanger and guys who can point him in the right direction for training, maintenance, etc.

It sounds like a pure joy to fly....

thanks..

 

[svcta]

There are people in Rockford, Il that can help with training. It's not right around the corner, but it's closer than where I am in the south. PM me if you need more help. It can be tough to sort through all the info you'll see getting in to the T-28 biz.

 

[Donsa320]

Anyone know of any warbird clubs/associations in the MSP area?
I have a friend who just bought a t-28, he needs a hanger and guys who can point him in the right direction for training, maintenance, etc.

It sounds like a pure joy to fly....

thanks..

I don't see many answers to your quest.

Have you found the "Southern Minnesota Wing" of the Confederate AirForce now called the politically correct something else. They used to be quite active but of course, time marches on.

 

[svcta]

I do know a great examiner that will come to you (from the west coast). He's reasonable and fun to work with. I would highly recommend him.

The CAF can be a tough little club to penetrate and it's not really designed for the airplane owner, rather a group of guys that essentially want to co-op a few airplanes. Don't get me wrong, there are some great guys in the organization with knowledge, but I wouldn't expect much in the way of help from them as a whole.

Join NATA right away. And there is a yahoo group called T-28 Flyers that is good, too. We were able to get back issues of the NATA Skies magazine and learn A LOT about operating our T-28 as civilians. Operating big warbirds is a lot about figuring things out for yourself and it can be a steep and costly and potentially dangerous learning curve if you don't avail yourself of a lot of information early on.

The guys in Rockford are complete experts in the T-28 biz. Phone them up and they'll know everything you need to know. Mark Clark (courtesy aircraft, also in Rockford) will be able to steer you to training in your area or there with his outfit. He sells a lot of -28s as well. What model did your friend get?

You'll love the T-28, though. It's just awesome. Seriously......it's awesome. Awesome.



(awesome)

 

[NorskAir]

There is a guy at South St.Paul Fleming field that gives instruction in the T-28, can't remember his name. Go down there and ask around.

 

[pilotyip]

Thre is a warbird sight that is an exchange forum, somewhat like "FI" without politics. There is a lot of good exchange information. BTW Having soloed the T-28 in 1967 with a total of 36 hours, I would guess almost anyone cna fly it. A little ready room gouge, on Take Off before you release the brakes, push the right rudder all the way to the floor. If it goes right, just realese the right rudder a little bit.

 

[svcta]

No doubt an easy airplane to fly. It has a precision that I've never seen any any other non-jet aircraft. 3000 + FPM climb, enormous speed envelope, and absolutely ZERO bad aerodynamic habits. It's just a textbook airplane with incredible balls.

All that having been said, you'll spend your time flying the -28 concentrating on keeping the powerplant happy. Powerplant management, in my opinion, is what flying this airplane is all about. They are expensive motors to overhaul and there are a few conditions that are easy to stumble in to that could find you doing harm in short order. Keep power on that big ole thing and beware of the underboost.

There are also important pre-flight items that need to be in mind before you go flying. It's a simple airplane to fly, but there are some important things to know/keep in mind before during and after the flying is done. There is a level of sophistication that prevents you from kicking the tires and just going flying in this thing but it is all well worth while.

 

[Hung Start]

Yip, I consider you a wise man, but I think you are wrong on the rudder.

Put in 5 degrees of rudder trim, and then you just need a bit of rudder.

Ok, if your doing carrier style takeoffs, then 10 degrees.

If you need to put the pedal to the floor, something is wrong.

My two cents.

Hung

 

[pilotyip]

time and place

Yip, I consider you a wise man, but I think you are wrong on the rudder.

Put in 5 degrees of rudder trim, and then you just need a bit of rudder.

Ok, if your doing carrier style takeoffs, then 10 degrees.

If you need to put the pedal to the floor, something is wrong.

My two cents.

Hung

Remember this is advice given to me as a studnet with 25 hours total flight time, in a T-34B, before my first flight in a T-28. The advice was given to me by an experienced classmate who had 2.7 hours in the T-28. That is why it was called ready room gouge. It must have worked because I got good grades on my first flight under LT Hamilton.

 

[Hung Start]

LOL! I received good grades from the nuns, but I still became a pilot.

You just never know.

Regards to you

Hung

 

[svcta]

5 deg right rud. trim is sort of a gospel item with the -28. It's a short final item a before start item and a double checker after landing. With it rolled in then a takeoff is fairly normal unless you're doing full on static takeoffs. Which is just hard on things. The C models and later (maybe the B as well, I can't remember at present) actually had 5 more degrees of rudder trim available on the right vs. left. So it is a valuable item. I would say that during normal operations that using the correct rudder trim makes the takeoff only require right rudder enough to make you remember that you should be using it. It remains pretty light.

I use less rudder in the -28 than in the T-6. That airplane has less than half the horsepower but is a rudder hog. Especially if you get a little happy pushing it onto the mains during the takeoff.

Yip, I love talking to guys around the airports I go to that soloed these things with just about 0 time. What a ride. Dead easy to fly but it does have fairly sophisticated systems and is just dam big for a first airplane.

 

[saabservant]

Hey, thanks to all of you for your replies.
I'll pm soon for some contact info at Rockford and South St. Paul.
The airplane won't be available to us for a month or so, so we'll start our learning curve....

 

[svcta]

Which model is it that you and the gang are getting?

 

[saabservant]

Doh...I'm not sure and he is out of the country for now....what is the NATA?
I searched and got the natl. athletic trainers assn....

Thanks

 

[svcta]

Yeah, be prepared to be completely underwhelmed by their website, but there is a lot of good information in print available from NATA. The monthly magazine is full of good stuff and I would highly recommend finding some back issues (I wouldn't hesitate to go back 20 years) for some information that I would consider absolutely essential for T-28 operators. You'll have to sift through a lot of stuff for T-6s and others, but it's worth it. You can search back issues for T-28 articles and just pick the ones you want.

North American Trainer's Ass'n

http://www.northamericantrainer.org

Pick up everything that you can; maintenance manuals, NATOPS manuals, etc. NATOPS will give you almost all of the accepted operating guidelines. It's geared for C models so you'll have to interpret what's best for your application but it's a great start.

 

[GRAAB HIRBOUBI]

Walter Fricke owns a T-28 at Crystal.
There is a guy at Anoka that has his own T-28 and conducts training.

No real organization. There is the American Wings Air Museum at Anoka, that has a number of owner displayed aircraft.

 

[svcta]

Any news on the new airplane?

 

[saabservant]

Hey, hello again.
It is a T-28, due up here in a couple months. Undergoing inspection down in Texas, I think. We are going to go somewhere for a couple days of instruction in it...the new owner is low time, so needs me for insurance for awhile. Nice....I guess we may be flying it to Oshkosh this summer, hear it is a real racer, very slick.

 

[svcta]

Which model T-28 is it? There is a very knowledgeable T-28 guy in Dallas whose name escapes me at this point. He is also an examiner so can do the type rating if its not an "A" model (which requires no type).

Keep us posted on your progress.