Courtesy Philip Mahanna/GHOSTS
Athol once home to rare aircraft
Fairchild 45 N16878, one of the earliest executive aircraft in America.
Just northeast of Athol on the east side of Highway 95 lies Hackney Airpark, a private airport, home to 51 small airplanes, 10 ultra-lights, a helicopter and one glider. The runway is just 3,500 feet long, 150 feet wide and made of grass and sod.
Pilots are warned: "No line of sight between runway ends due to hump. Use at your own risk."
That's the way it is today, and that's the way it was years ago, when one of the earliest executive aircraft in America-a single-engine Fairchild 45, serial number N16878-called it home.
To Roger Dunham of Athol, the plane's proud owner for eight years, it was more than an aviation relic of the Great Depression. It was a gem. His plane was one of only 17 ever built, and believed to be the only one still flying.
In 1987, he bought the 1935-vintage aircraft from Bob Harbord of Sequim, Wash., who labored eight years restoring it from a basket case to flying condition.
The most important part of the restoration was installing a 440-hp R-975 Wright engine. The original 225-hp Jacobs radial engine wasn't powerful enough to handle the 3,000 lbs. (gross weight) aircraft. (Aviation buffs will want to know that some of the other 45s switched to the 320 hp Wright R-760 or 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior engines.)
Dunham and two friends flew the plane to Idaho from Sequim. He completed the restoration with some finishing touches on the paint job. Then she looked like new.
With the bigger engine, the five-person plane was a dream in its day. Pilots loved its simplicity and easy handling. Executives loved its roominess.
There were two seats in the cockpit, though only one pilot was needed. Three passengers sat side-by-side on a wide couch-like seat. There was no divider between the cockpit and the cabin, so passengers could watch the pilots and also enjoy the view through spacious windows that could be cranked up and down like in old automobiles.
Cruising at 170 mph cross country speed, the Model 45 was ideal for executives of that era. (Some reports say however, that the plane struggled to reach its rated top speed.) It could climb as high as 19,000 feet, with a range of 1,000 miles, and that was pretty nifty in those days.
But the glamour didn't last long. Newer, better planes quickly surpassed the Fairchild 45s.
Pilots are warned: "No line of sight between runway ends due to hump. Use at your own risk."
That's the way it is today, and that's the way it was years ago, when one of the earliest executive aircraft in America-a single-engine Fairchild 45, serial number N16878-called it home.
To Roger Dunham of Athol, the plane's proud owner for eight years, it was more than an aviation relic of the Great Depression. It was a gem. His plane was one of only 17 ever built, and believed to be the only one still flying.
In 1987, he bought the 1935-vintage aircraft from Bob Harbord of Sequim, Wash., who labored eight years restoring it from a basket case to flying condition.
The most important part of the restoration was installing a 440-hp R-975 Wright engine. The original 225-hp Jacobs radial engine wasn't powerful enough to handle the 3,000 lbs. (gross weight) aircraft. (Aviation buffs will want to know that some of the other 45s switched to the 320 hp Wright R-760 or 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior engines.)
Dunham and two friends flew the plane to Idaho from Sequim. He completed the restoration with some finishing touches on the paint job. Then she looked like new.
With the bigger engine, the five-person plane was a dream in its day. Pilots loved its simplicity and easy handling. Executives loved its roominess.
There were two seats in the cockpit, though only one pilot was needed. Three passengers sat side-by-side on a wide couch-like seat. There was no divider between the cockpit and the cabin, so passengers could watch the pilots and also enjoy the view through spacious windows that could be cranked up and down like in old automobiles.
Cruising at 170 mph cross country speed, the Model 45 was ideal for executives of that era. (Some reports say however, that the plane struggled to reach its rated top speed.) It could climb as high as 19,000 feet, with a range of 1,000 miles, and that was pretty nifty in those days.
But the glamour didn't last long. Newer, better planes quickly surpassed the Fairchild 45s.
Read more here: http://www.cdapress.com
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