Funny thing. A couple of days before we left for Oshkosh, an airline captain called me asking if I had restored his Commonwealth Skyranger. "833? Uh, yes." (wondering if he was going to sue me for something) He said he was the guy that bought it from Carl who developed Parkinson's
and never flew it. He was flying it to Oshkosh from Virginia and wanted to meet up. (!)
Got a text from him Saturday and he said it was parked in row 148. I thought, "Jee sus.. that's a mile from showplane parking. You'd have thought they would at least let him park it in the antique/classic area.." I wanted to see it, though, so hopped on a tram as far as it went then walked.. and walked.. crap. No Skyranger. Walked back, caught a tram back to the campground, and as I rode by the Antique/Classic red barn, they were tying it down front and center. (!!) It was a time capsule.. hadn't changed a bit from when it last left our strip about 20 years ago.
I'm old enough to know what old airplanes used to look like, and when I restored it, I didn't spray shiny paint, install *anything* that hadn't been invented in 1946, etc.
Apparently somebody liked it, because it was roped off in front of the red barn all week.
Had a talk about it to people in the grandstands. We left yesterday, so I don't know if it won any award. Probably not..
Here's the old girl..
