Presentation and project C170

Here is Michael Wright’s Luscombe home page

http://luscombeforsale.co.uk/

Michael W was trying to sell his French based, U.K. registered Luscombe for quite a while, some considerable time ago, and I wonder what happened to it? I can’t believe the ‘for sale’ website reflects current status (it was first offered for sale something like 10 years ago) but maybe it is!…

The good news about Luscombes is that you can buy a very nice one for 20-25K, and Luscombe 8 maintenance on N-register is more like maintaining a small motorcycle than a larger plane. They are not at all as forgiving as a Cub etc on a hard runway and are the traditional Pitts trainer for a reason, but for a young guy with time and love for the plane, they are certainly manageable to own and fly. My EuroGA write up on the type is here if you’re interested.

G-BPZA left the UK registry in early 2017 for France so guess it was sold locally?

Maybe it could be found for sale again in France by now

I met a guy in Jesenwang near Munich who had a Luscombe that had been in Europe for a very long time, formerly on Swiss register and flown all over the place for decades. There are a few out there in Continental Europe.

Lots of Luscombe photos in my type write-up, linked in an earlier post. Mine was polished and a very pretty bird, I loved the view over the cowling very much (see photo in link) and the ‘pukka pukka’ exhaust sound

Tail wheel Pacers are good although like a Luscombe a bit challenging in ground handling. Their small exterior size is a benefit in maintaining and storing them. If you’re interested in a Pacer, be aware that probably most of them are converted Tri-Pacers, so-called PA 22/20s. These are more typically equipped with a 150 HP or more O-320 engine, which is practical and desirable, versus 135 HP O-290 engines for which parts are now harder to obtain. I personally like the original Tri-Pacer and I think most people do the conversion based 90% on cosmetics, ending up with what is arguably a less functional plane. Think about a basic unmodified Tri-Pacer too, there are some in Europe.

The Clipper is the unusual but very similar predecessor to the Pacer, distinguished by having stick controls versus yokes. They are in demand.

Check out if your project would also work with an EASA registered plane. Part-ML allows owner pilot maintenance and afaik also release to service when things break (for some things). A freelance authorized Part-66 can issue the ARC.

I’m not an expert but it seems similar to FAA style maintenance now?!

On FAA-EASA maintenance convergence, a lot depends on whether you can operate the EASA dynamite clause. This has been around for years but either nobody knew about it or few were able to operate it due to “maintenance politics”; I suspect both are true.

Then you are still left with there being a lot more FAA STCs and other FAA approved mods, plus the whole FAA-PMA system. And FAA licenses never expiring (if you got standalone) and being instantly renewable with a BFR/IPC.

I did my initial tailwheel training in a Cessna 170A, then flew it pretty extensively. I loved the aircraft – the view forward is excellent, even with the tail on the ground (taxiing, the view out of the front of the 170A is better than many Piper nosewheel aircraft). Although not fast, if you took the back seats out it made a great aircraft for cross country camping trips (we got all our camping gear and two non-folding bikes (with the wheels off of course!) in the aircraft without much difficulty and without exceeding max gross weight).

With regard to ferry flying from North America, if you want to do it because it’s an ambition or challenge, that’s fair enough, but speaking purely economically it would be cheaper to have the wings removed and freight it in a container by sea. Obviously containerisation is lower risk too,

Having flown it a few times in turbine aircraft it wouldn’t be my choice to fly that route in a SEP, but we don’t all think the same.