VG-21 SQUADRON

MORRISEY/SHINN/VARGA OWNER

 

NEWSLETTER #54 - JUNE 5. 2006

 

I have waited until this late date to get this in the mail in order to include a write-up on the "First Annual West Coast Fly-In". Shirley DaMotta was kind enough to provide this to me and it follows.

 

West Coast Varga Fly-in

by Shirley DaMotta

 

The first annual West Coast Varga Fly-in was held at Santa Maria Airport (KSMX), California, the weekend of May 19-21, 2006. The event was hosted by VG-21 Squadron members Dave Casey, Brian Chersky and Bob DuSair. Nine airplanes were flown to the event, and three owners were present without their airplanes, representing Morrisey, Shinn and Vargas built from the years l 958 to 1989. Noteworthy airplanes were: Dave Casey’s Morrisey, the first Morrisey delivered to a customer in June, 1958, Lee and Pat Berry's Varga, the first Varga built, Mike McNally's 2180, and Max Bishop and Doug Brown's Aerospec 2150 taildragger.

 

Howard Hall arrived early in the week, traveling all the way from London to attend the event! Shirt DaMotta drove in from Phoenix, Arizona, on Thursday. On Friday, a flight of two, consisting of Dave Casey and Howard Hall in Dave's Morrisey and Bob DuSair and Shirl DaMotta in Bob's Varga, launched in formation to seek and destroy ... uh ... rather, to meet and escort Lee Beery and Phil Ayers on their way to the event from northern California. Lee's Varga was spotted over the beach, and the flight of three returned to Santa Maria in formation for the overhead pattern and pitch-out. Friday night, as members gathered in the lounge at the Radisson to socialize and discuss plans for the weekend, we learned that John Wade is an entertainer as he took the stage and sang a great rendition of "On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)".

 

Others began arriving on Saturday morning. Bob Dusair, Dave Casey, Lee Beery and Brian Chersky parked their airplanes on the taxiway in front of Bob's hangar. John and Barbara Wade taxied in with their Varga, followed by Joe Atkinson and his brother Obbie in Joe's Varga, and Mike McNally and Jon Proehl in their Vargas. Max Bishop and Doug Rrown were found having lunch at the Radisson restaurant and taxied their tailwheel over to complete the group.

 

The afternoon consisted of a delicious BBQ, a birthday cake for Phil, and a lively exchange of both personal and airplane histories and shared operating/maintenance questions, solutions, tips, and suggestions addressing issues most of us have had or are currently dealing with. Everyone scrutinized each other's airplanes, engines and panels while discussing and comparing equipment, features, and experiences. It was noted by many that the airplanes were "all the same, yet all a little different," no two completely alike, and even factory features seem to vary slightly from airplane to airplane.

 

Next we were treated to a visit to Brian Chersky's hangar museum. Brian has a vast collection of World War II memorabilia, all meticulously sorted, labeled, maintained ant beautifully displayed, and two airplanes - a 3/4-scale P-51 and a one-of-a-kind L- 19.

 

Festivities on Saturday evening began with cocktails at the Radisson. To our surprise, John and Nickie Gurley joined us, saying they were there all day but thought the event had been canceled because of impending bad weather! The Radisson served a lovely dinner, and Max Bishop and Lee Beery were given framed Weight-and-Balance sheets in -appreciation for their generosity over the years, giving countless hours of time, expertise and assistance and answering endless questions from many new and potential Morrisey/Shinn/Varga owners.

 

Everyone kept one eye on the weather all weekend, and Joe/Obbie, Max/Doug and Mike McNally were gone before anyone was stirring Sunday morning, as the forecasts looked like there might not be another opportunity out until Tuesday. Jon Proehl left later that morning. Lee and Phil were invited to attend the Cessna weather meeting, and opted to stay put when tornado warnings were issued, as did the Wades. Howard and Bob took a brief flight in the area, with Howard doing some touch-n-goes from the backseat. Bob and Shirl also had a brief sightseeing flight over Neverland ranch and back. The event wrapped with Bob DuSair and the remaining members and guests preparing a taco dinner at his home.

 

Shirt DaMotta made the 11-hour drive back to Phoenix on Monday. Lee Beery and Phil Ayers launched in formation with John and Barb Wade toward northern California early in the week. On Tuesday, a two-ship formation of Dave Casey's Morrisey with Howard Hall in the back and Brian Chersky’s Varga flew to Oceano for lunch and a flight in a vintage Stearman. Howard made it back to the U.K. on Friday.

 

The VG-21 Squadron and guests thank Dave Casey, Brian Chersky and Bob DuSair for their hospitality and generosity, and for all the time and effort that went into making arrangements with the airport, hotel, and restaurants, and for shopping, cooking, and helping to make the stay of out-of-town guests a comfortable one. With the first successful event now behind us, we are already discussing ideas and plans for next year, including another potential location and possible agenda items. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

 

See you next year!

 

Kachina Decals

 

Greg Judy has been working on reproducing decals of the Kachina logo for our Vargas. He hopes to have them available by mid-June. They will be full color and match the original in size. Other sizes will also be available upon request. He doesn't have a price yet as the more he gets printed, the better the price. He would like to know how many people are interested in the decals, but no one would be obligated. He is also working on laser engraving the logo on his wheel covers and hopes to offer that service to others as well. All Kachina items will be on his web site when they become available. www.VinvlGraphicsbyGreg.com. If you are interested in obtaining a decal(s), please email Greg at vgg1@sbcglobal.net.

 

Shimmy Dampeners

 

(Are these a Varga plague??) Dr. Tom Williams in Columbus, Ohio, says that one of the most talked about problems among Varga owners is intermittent episodes of severe shimmying upon roll out. Servicing his shimmy dampener would help for awhile. He has always noticed that the nose gear seemed loose when the wheel was grasped and shaken, even before the shimmy dampener would engage. He discussed this with a number of mechanics who didn't seem to be concerned. He finally found a mechanic who not only agreed but insisted the answer was to disassemble the entire nose gear and take a look. He found loose and worn shims which he replaced with better fitting hardware, tightened nuts, and even replaced the wheel bearings. He had a machine shop completely tear down and rebuilt the shimmy dampener. This was a big job and cost $740 but the results were astounding. The nose gear now felt solid with no play in it and he no longer worries about the airplane shaking apart upon landing. Dr. Williams hopes this helps others.

 

Max Bishop

 

Now it's our turn to help Max! He asked that we include the following in this newsletter.

 

Have any Varga owners installed one of the new light weight starters and, if so, how does it work?

 

He wanted to do it at the factory and never did, but he's wondering if anyone had ever replaced their heavy old canvas baggage compartment bag with a light weight nylon one?

 

He was going to try a vertical card compass in his project plane. Has anyone tried one in a Varga?

 

Has anyone tried a 62" pitch prop on their 2150 or a 61" pitch prop on their 2180?

 

The subject of the LoPresti cowl came up at Santa Maria. If a cowl STC and its installation was available, would any Varga owner be willing to pay as much as $5,000 for an extra (advertised) 10 mph?

 

Landing Gear Available

 

Max can accumulate enough parts and materials to assemble 10 main landing gear. The will have to sell for somewhere between $500 - $1000 each to recover his costs. Before he gets started, are they work tht much to anybody? He can do 4 nose gears as well but getting the mandrel bent fork tube may make them a little pricier.

 

If you're interested, please e-mail or call Max at max.bishop@boeingcom or maxbishop@gowebway.com. Phone 480-786-3578.

 

Vargas For Sale

 

Mike Zimniski Varga for sale. It's a 1979 2150, 780 TTSN, factory military blued pant, Narco com 120 & nav 121, TXP AT, owned since 1992, hangared, 9~paint, 9+ interior, GPS 195 & handheld/com. Many Vargas spares. $50,000. 304842-4892.

 

Frank Gulick has his Shinn for sale. It's a 1961 2150, 2591 TTSN, 167 SMOH, bright yellow military paint,KX155 and TX, hangared at Santa Rosa,CA. $50,000. 707539- 3083. We have many photos of this A/C in our computer.

 

E-Mail Addresses - HELP

 

In yet another futile effort to keep my address file correct and up-to-date, I find that there are four addresses that continue to be returned as "undeliverable". If one of these is yours, please let me know ASAP! ! ! Otherwise, I am going to delete them.

 

vicesrs@aol.com

sjoyce@oro.net

rlucas@uwgtol.org

bolster@.clearbluespace.com

 

How To Fix It

 

Don Conley in Amarillo, Texas (N8265J) submitted this info for the newsletter. He's been doing an annual inspection and other odd stuff. He suggests that anyone needing sending unit gaskets, go to Spruce and Spec. on line as they are not in the catalog anymore, for $2.60 apiece. He also had seepage from the left fuel tank. He kept looking and finally found that there is a tank baffle riveted in; you can see the row of rivets from the inspection plate approximately 2 feet in front of the drain toward the outer end of the wing. These rivets evidently can loosen. They cleaned the rivet heads and used Pro Seal to seal them. So far so good. He used Pstrip for new canopy seal.

 

Parts Needed

 

New member Mark Schlamer, an A&P, is going through his "new" Varga system by system. He really needs the following parts: Edo Aire PN G199-105 Gasolator, 8 oz. hydraulic fluid reservoir; and main and nose gear plastic bushings. If any of you can help him out, please contact him at: mschlamer@aol.com or 920-533-5375. It's always a good idea to let us know, too, if you can help.

 

Interest Item

 

At the Copper State Air Show in 1998 (Max Bishop hosted a Varga gathering), Lee Went to the display tent of Delmar Benjamin alter he landed following a spectacular performance in his replica Gee Bee R2 to purchase a tee shirt. Delmar was sitting in the back of his tent and when he saw me picking out my shirt, he asked me how the Varga spins. At the time, Lee had on his VG-21 polo shirt which, I guess, he focused on. Lee told him it didn't spin very well. He came over and talked for some time. He told Lee he was the test pilot for Montanair, Kalispell MT, and that he had spun the Varga 25 times and had to use a spin recovering parachute 23 times. Lee told him our Varga was the first one made by George Varga and was kept at the factory for about a year to use in their certification program. Lee related to him a story he had heard that our Varga had refused to recover from a spin and when the test pilot opened the canopy to bail out, the spin stopped. He autographed my shirt. It reads "I've spun the Varga! (Spin chute recommended.)"

 

Volunteer Help

 

Shirley DaMotta has volunteered to edit the newsletters in the future. Need I say how welcome that help will be?! As we iron out the details, you will hear more about this in the near (I hope) future.

 

Maintenance Item

 

John Wade provided the attached Maintenance Item and it's so appreciated! Thanks, John!

 

Membership List

 

Attached is a copy of the membership list. Maybe there's an owner near you.

 

Contact

 

If you want to contact us, call 707-279-0259- or varga@mchsi.com - or send mail to: 3450 Shoreline View Way, Kelseyville, CA 95451. Let us hear from you.

 

Have a great summer - Pat

 

 

V~21 SQUADRON MEMBERSHIP LISTING 1/18/06 - REVISION G

 

Joe Atkinson, 636 E. Deepdale Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85022                                             N9817J

Richard Axelrod, Box 471, Lyndonville, VT 05851 (Caledonia Flying Club)            N4644V

Ernest Baker, 2001 Rockport Ct. Fort Collins, CO 80528                                             N5080V

Nelson Baker, 344 E. Beech, Alliance, OH 44601                                                        N4635V

Barnstorming Adventures, 6743 Montia Ct., Carlsbad, CA 92009-3323                   N3150W

Pat & Lee Beery, 3450 Shoreline View Way, Kelseyville CA 95451                          N5062V

Brian & Helen Beulen, 5225 E Elmwood Cr. Mesa AZ 85205                                    N5128V

Max Bishop, 2062 West Gila Ln., Chandler, AZ 85224                                                N6220X

Bill Bolster, Box 1041, Joshua Tree, CA 92252                                                             N4642V

Tom Burwinkle, 150 Shady Oaks Ln, Kingston, TN 37763                                          N5107V

Jeff Bynum, 8411 Market AveN, North Canton,OH 44721                                           N8275J

Darren Carriker, 4028 Landisburg, Tr. 1, Keller, TX 76248                                          N431MB
Dave Casey, Box 2309, Avila Beach, CA 93424                                                           N5102V

Brian Chersky, 201 S Camden Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 90212                                        N5064V

Bill & Janet Clark, Box 1872, East Sound, WA 9X245                                                  N56002

Donald Conley, 1220 So. Georgia, Amarillo, TX 79105                                                N8265J

Shirley DaMotta, 1218 E. Sea Breeze Dr. Gilbert, AZ 85234-2638                             N5114V

Tom Darrow, 5505 Hettinger Pl. Fallen, NV 89406                                                        OPEN

Trammell Davis, 4940 Langdale Way, Colorado Springs, CO 80906                         N8341J

John Downing, 4360 Bonaparte Dr., Tucker, GA                                                          N8294J

James Doyle, 23355 Gold Springs Dr., Columbia, CA 95310                                     OPEN

Bob DuSair, 130x 2549, Avila Beach, CA, 93424                                                          N8288J

Jerry Eldrige, P. O. Box 1034, Big Fork, MT                                                                    N56001

Mark Gally, 3120 Franklin St., Apt. 1, San Francisco, CA 94123                                OPEN

Larry Gruber, 12289 W 250N, Delphi, IN, 46923                                                            N8257J

Frank Gulick, 409 Twin Lakes Dr., Santa Rosa, CA 95409                                         N5135V

John Gurley, 1400 Colorado St. C, Boulder City, NV 89005                                       N5149V

Carl Hamlin, 1073 N Arrowhead Rd. Camano Island, WA 982X2                              N5115V

George Hamm, 754 Aviator Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76179                                                 N5072V

Stuart Hampton, 22105 W Solo Rvvy SE, Deming, NM 88030                                   N8417J

Tom Herr, 933 Beville Rd #103K, South Daytona, FL 32119                                      OPEN

Alex Hasapis, 4 Basin St., Plum Island, MA 01950                                                       N8262J

Fred Hoese, 30130 Bulverde Ln, Bulverde, TX 78163                                                 N8VY

Robert Hunt, 215 Lowell Ave. Altoona, PA 16602                                                         N8421J

Norman Isler, 3631 County Line Rd., Brockport, NY 14420                                         OPEN

Raymond Johnson, 260 Lurelead Dr. Prescott, AZ 86303                                           N8282J

Ken Joyce, 13619 Brannon Ct., Nevada City, CA 95959                                             N4639J

Greg Judy, 212 Freedom Lane, Arlington, TX 76002                                                    N8281J

Rolf Lehman, 194 Tamal Vista Dr. San Rafael, CA 94901                                          N4602J

Larry Lewis, P.O. Box 265, Palmer, AK 99645                                                                N8387J

Robert Lucas, 4422 Devil's Hole Rd., Pemberville, OH 43450                                    N4631V

Michael McNally, 16487 N. 196th Pi., Scottsdale, AZ 85255                                       N1901A

Bill Merkin, 1800 LindbergLn, Daytona Beach, FL 32124                                           N65BM

Harry Mertz, 7938 BerkNhire Ln, Castle Rock, CO 80108                                            N5112V

Danny & Janet Miller, Box 2026, Gulfport, MS 39505                                                   N5086V

Joe Miller, Box 308, Pocono Pines, PA 18350                                                               N5144V

Jerry Milowski, 456 Leanore Ct. Pewaukee, WI 53072                                                 N8263J

Paul Moses, Jr., P. O. Box 190577, Mobile, AL 36619                                                  OPEN

Mark Oliver, 247 Parkland Cr SE Calgary, AP T2J3Y4 CANADA                               N5063V

Dean Owen, 250 Valley View Rd. Morehead, KY 40351                                             N14MF

Len Peters, 1003 Tahiti Ln, Alameda, CA 94502                                                           N5127V

Jon Proehl, 45 Myrtlewood Cl, Reno, NV 89511                                                           N8263J

Claude Redmon, 7029 NC 8 HWY South, Germanton, NC 27019                            N5063J

Walter & Jane Ruehle, 14000 E Progress Way, Aurora, CO 80015                           N4603V

Rodney Scheel, 1808 Connell Dr., Fergus Falls, MN 56537                                      OPEN

Mark Schlamer, N1486 South Lake Rd., Campbellsport, WI 53010                           N8269J

Max & Sharon Schuermann, 63880 E 297 Ln, Grove, OK 74344                              N4514V

George Shaw, 8924 Cherokee Trl, Tyler, TX 75703                                                      N5081V

David Shirey, 5599 Saint Clair Hwy, East China, MI 48054                                        N5600Y

Jeff Sonheim, 498 Debonair Dr. Los Lunas, NM 87031                                               N8463J

Ron Stapleton, 1520 Covington Dr, Brentwood, TN 37027                                         N8291J                                 

Tom Stumpf, 8 Broadmoor Dr. Mechanicsburg, PA 17055                                          N5095V

Don Tate, 31797 Honey Locust Rd. Jonesburg, MO 63351                                        N5077V

Andrew Thomas, P. O. Box 639, Alexander City, AL                                                     OPEN

Andy Veronis, 341 Hickory Nut Ct., Pasadena, MD 21122                                          N5600C

Richard Vickers, 3302 Sawmill Rd. Newtown Square, PA 19073                              N8284J

Susan Victor, 458 145^t^b Ave., New Boston, IL 61272                                               N4646V

Alex Vucetich, 3005 23rd Ave. San Francisco, CA 94132                                           N5078V

John Wade, P. O. Box 2757, Murphys, CA 95247                                                         N8290J

Wayne Wallin, 2752 Autumn Leaves Dr., Daytona Beach, FL 32128                       N8283J

David Wells, 7532 N 31st Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85051                                                      N5068V

Janis Wild, 103 Ridgewood Dr. San Rafael, CA 94901                                               N8298J

Thomas Williams, 1085 UrlinAve, Columbus, OH 43212                                             N5601G

Jim Woodring, 9985 Stirling Park Dr., Sacramento, CA 95827                                   OPEN

Glenn Woten, 912 Perrin Ave N. W. Winter Haven, FL 33881                                    N5600M

Buddy (Marvin) Wyatt, 4701 Lindero Dr. Fort Mohave, AZ 86426                               N5142V

Michael Zimniski, 156 Maple Lk, Bridgeport, WV 26330                                              N8299J

 

 

 

 

VG-21 SQUADRON

 

Maintenance Item #27 – NEWSLETTER #54

 

Department of the Interior – by John Wade

 

This article is not for the Varga owner who has grown accustomed to the sun beating down on his or her head while flying. These words are intended for the cool-headed pilot, that is, for someone who owns a Varga that has a solid panel top on the canopy.

 

 

There IS a simple procedure to beautify and preserve the vinyls pleated panel that makes up the headliner of most Varga aircraft An ideal time to do this, of course, is if you are having your interior upholstery and carpets replaced due to wear or to complement an exterior change of paint: color Even if you merely want to freshen the look of your headliners you'll usually find your old color easy to match.

 

The procedure for renewing your headliner is simple, but requires some care. You must remove the headliner. (I imagine that you could mask off the headliner in place, but I wouldn't recommend it.) This must be done carefully because the backing of it is merely cardboard. Slowly pry and scrape the headliner off; then remove all the old glue Mom the aluminum roof to which it was glued. Firsts of course, you'll have to remove certain fittings including the top vents and the outside air temperature gauge. Prepare the vinyl surface per the instructions on the vinyl prep can. After the correct period of time, spray on the COLOR COAT evenly following the instructions. Using one of today's strong glues, replace the headliner and the fittings. When this procedure was first used a headliner was easily transformed from the old Varga bright orange to a rich gray. The COLOR COAT covers extremely well.

 

SFM products are readily available. Hundreds of dealers are listed on the website. They manufacture an amazing line of products. Information about the company is available online at www.sem.com. What you will need are usually two basic products; one can of vinyl prep and one can of COLOR COAT. Both of these products are aerosols. The vinyl prep cleans soil, wax and grease from vinyl substrates while it softens and prepares the surface for adhesion of the topcoat. The COLOR COAT goes on after the vinyl prep and is formulated to match, restore or change color on most vinyl surfaces flexible and rigid plastics carpet and velour. COLOR COAT is fade resistant, flexible and is a permanent coating. You will be surprised at how soft and natural looking your headliner will be after properly using these two products. COLOR COAT is currently available in more than 50 colors, including 3 black, 3 clears, and a selection of OEM automotive, bus and marine colors. For those of you who already have leather interiors, there is also a leather cleaner/prep aerosol for use with the COLOR COAT.