- Joined
- Mar 25, 2013
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Yesterday I started a thread to complain about my high oil temp. Cowl "Lip". In response, Smizo offered to have a go at slapping together an aluminum lip as well has honoring a past promise to give me a tour of his shop. He did a killer job on the lip but, alas, you can't expect much from lipsticking a pig. The trip was a great success regardless because I got a peek inside the skunkworks.
The highlight of the trip was seeing Smizo's ASII seen here: Chris' Acrosport page 4. Photos just don't do justice to the gorgeous machine he is building. The only reason I can't call it something superlative like "perfect" is because he is building the WolfPro and "Wolf Pitts" family of mods that he now owns--and if I had the money, that's where it would go. But his is going to be a show-piece when its finished. And like the WolfPro there is a lot that is very new about the plane. If it ever dives into the box (and I think it will) it will start with figure scores of 12 instead of the 10 the rest of us are stuck with. (Some of you know what I mean
)
Do you see the checkers? In the picture they look square. But they are designed to look that way by having been drawn with complicated curves to keep the perspective right. And if you run your finger along any graphic feature in the paint you'll feel no seems. It is as smooth as teflon.
I am writing all this not just to suck up to a great guy. But also to counter some of the completely understandable negativity about the future of aviation--and by extension, of great biplanes. I figured Chris was taking over his dad's shop and for kicks took on the Wolf line of products when Steve decided to concentrate on training. Completely wrong there--Chris started the business with another young mechanic. They've got five guys in the shop and between them, they do nearly everything: Avionics (for big stuff), fabrication, refinishing, paint, etc. He's got plenty of business. He has a big hanger rising up on the other side of the beautiful Sky Haven airport. It's not my business to say what's coming down the pike, but the biplane is far from dead. And although you may never be rich making them, you can make enough to make the love worth it. Chris, Steve Wolf and Kevin Kimball aren't mourning the passing of aviation, they are building really cool stuff and comparing notes about what to do next. 1980 will never come back. But 2015 isn't so bad.
The highlight of the trip was seeing Smizo's ASII seen here: Chris' Acrosport page 4. Photos just don't do justice to the gorgeous machine he is building. The only reason I can't call it something superlative like "perfect" is because he is building the WolfPro and "Wolf Pitts" family of mods that he now owns--and if I had the money, that's where it would go. But his is going to be a show-piece when its finished. And like the WolfPro there is a lot that is very new about the plane. If it ever dives into the box (and I think it will) it will start with figure scores of 12 instead of the 10 the rest of us are stuck with. (Some of you know what I mean
)Do you see the checkers? In the picture they look square. But they are designed to look that way by having been drawn with complicated curves to keep the perspective right. And if you run your finger along any graphic feature in the paint you'll feel no seems. It is as smooth as teflon.
I am writing all this not just to suck up to a great guy. But also to counter some of the completely understandable negativity about the future of aviation--and by extension, of great biplanes. I figured Chris was taking over his dad's shop and for kicks took on the Wolf line of products when Steve decided to concentrate on training. Completely wrong there--Chris started the business with another young mechanic. They've got five guys in the shop and between them, they do nearly everything: Avionics (for big stuff), fabrication, refinishing, paint, etc. He's got plenty of business. He has a big hanger rising up on the other side of the beautiful Sky Haven airport. It's not my business to say what's coming down the pike, but the biplane is far from dead. And although you may never be rich making them, you can make enough to make the love worth it. Chris, Steve Wolf and Kevin Kimball aren't mourning the passing of aviation, they are building really cool stuff and comparing notes about what to do next. 1980 will never come back. But 2015 isn't so bad.
