The thing I like about Kermit's videos is that it is only about airplanes and not about my latest motorcycle or car or road trip or camping. Just airplanes and bringing them back to life. And hope those guys who retired have a great life after busting knuckles for how ever many years of oil, gas and frustration. Thanks you for all their efforts and long hours.
How can one dislike this? So much industrial design saved. We are only the timely keepers or holders in time, to give our culture to future generations. Very well done Mr Weeks 👍
After a good rest, I think Andy's fingers will get itchy just thinking about that big Sabre sitting there. He probably has the take-down re-build already planned in his head. Would be a great "retirement" project for him.
Best wishes all who have moved on from FoF especially Andy. It must be extremely challenging working on so many different types of engines often without the best documentation :-P. The low voltage coming from one side of the magneto coils was tough to diagnose but as it turned out the correct one. A bit of a shame that Andy wasn't there when they got the refurbished coil back and the Stinson running right, but I'd guess he'd just be happy things worked out. Very nice to see the STO characteristics of the bird at the end, clearly running much better..!
Great to see the Stinson fly again. So sad to see Andy retire! Such a familiar face in many restorations. Good luck Andy enjoy your well earned liberty!
How many man hours do you figure you had in troubleshooting and repair? Reminds me of the joke "how do you make a small fortune in antique aircraft? Start with a LARGE Fortune!" Thank you for inviting us along for the ride, love the videos.
I will miss Andy to be sure. I used to be into old British sports cars and guys like him are a wealth of knowledge and experience. I hope he enjoys his retirement. I also hope Kermit keeps his number on speed dial just in case.
Word. So says the owner of a '67 MGB. So, when Porsche decided they wanted to restore vintage 911s ,they called up the retirees now in their seventies and eighties who had spent thirty years or more building new ones and asked them if they wanted the gig. Who better to ask. No pressure. Take as long as you want...of course all most all of them said yes...speed dial...to the max...
Another fantastic glimpse in to the hard work to “Keep ‘em Flying”! With all the quirks these airplanes have between types, I’m curious how Kermit keeps himself sharp. To go from a Mustang to a Stinson to this and that while not having negative transfer is impressive. I’ve sometimes reached for the wrong spots switching from my truck to my wife’s car. Personally, if I’ve been out of a plane (even the mighty 172) for a few weeks, I make it a point to review the checklist and chair fly, just to be on the safe side. Nice to see a guy that respects the work being completed, educates himself on the process and isn’t afraid to take it up on the first hop.
Oh, no! Wait! After watching this wonderful video, Andy is retired??!! And Wayne??!! And Andrea is off to Disney. Joe has gotten married. ...Paul is still around? He rocks! Sincerely wishing all of them a great future!
Sad you lost Andy. Hope you never lose Paul. So - the end to a long saga - and at last, success! Sounds great. The final icing on the cake - a flight! Whoopee :)
Nooooooo......Andy's retired😔. Was hopeing for more Tempest videos with him, and also a Napier Sabre rebuild. Kermit......love your videos. I'm gonna vist FOF this summer 👍👍 Greetings from Norway
Sorry to hear you are losing folks to retirement.... Sad to see Andy go but I am sure he deserves to have a long and healthy retirement! Also thanks for this series on finding the mag problem. Always interesting to watch others troubleshoot - as long as it isn’t your own problem!
Well done guys, I would not have found that one, I would have taken the mag out and saw spark and thought "Fine" put it back and same problem, Nice to have one to compare it to, saves a lot of head scratching. Sounds nice when it is running properly. I could almost smell the oily smoke! Just a memory thing from smokey old engines. Nice machine. Nice to see these old machines running and doing what they were made to do.
All the way down under I love you guys. True lovers of the sport as one would say. It's good to see aircraft engines are the same as car engines. Lots of little problems when they get old. LOL
Thanks for still another wonderful video, Kermit. Wow, excessive oil in the exhaust sound to me like a ring or valve problem, if it's not one thing, it's another. I'm glad you have the incredible patience to deal with all these setbacks.
"little bit of research" Time is relative in many ways ;-) Andy and all the others all the best for you in the future, you will be missed on this channel.
I too am in that age group. My regular contacts, suppliers and repairers are all retiring, worse too many have died! I figure Kermit needs to live to 200 to do all of these projects,, that is if he can find good blokes who understand all this old stuff.
Im sure Kermit heard/felt it right away once fixed. I sure heard it on utube. Its been a long road but the Stinson finally was beaten into submission. Have a good retirement Andy and thanks for your input on these videos. Now lets see this baby fly.
All you folks are so smart, especially on this vintage stuff. When Paul’s an old man, he’ll just pull out his “Whiz-Bang 5000” with 3D A.I. to diagnose these gremlins!
The spark within finally lit!. Interesting snag. Always difficult when they come up at the same time as other maintenance. I've been thrown with that scenario a few times. :)
This content is really interesting and fascinating to watch. I like its simplicity, how straight forward it is, and its overall positivity. And the aircraft themselves are just pure eye and sound (and smell) candy. Great videos, Kermit - fast becoming my favorite channel.
Sad that Andy's gone. He's a real motor whisperer. I hope he sets up his own youtube channel to keep us apprised of whatever he fills his time with. Classic cars maybe?
Andy i found entertaining an interesting character obviously a wealth of knowledge and along with Paul a good part of the reason i enjoy this channel so much
I worked on automobiles & other engines for many years, and no-start problems will make you tear your hair out. "Fuel, spark, timing. OK. got all that, WHY WON'T IT START!" I work behind a desk now.
As a kid, the first airplane I ever flew in was a Stinson. My friends dad had one, after we waxed it, he took us for a ride. Now I'm an A&P. I knew you would find the problem. Great airplane too, I really like it.
wow, I've not seen Jack since the early 90's. Worked with him about a week at Moore Murrel before he came to FoF to help get the sunderland across the pond . wonder if he still has that beautiful Cessna?
Thanks for many enjoyable hours of watching Kermit. Now I see that this engine uses an inertia starter. I've been flown in radial engined aircraft, I've seen radial engines complete and disassembled in museums, etc. But one thing I have never seen is any detail on the operation of an inertia starting system. I wonder if you might give us a good look at one someday? Thanks.
I love these videos.. Paul videos on the restoration of the 108 are so good. It is always the highlight of my day when they come .. Please keep doing these. Thanks again ✌👍
My thoughts and sentiments exactly! I have a video of a short approach in a Tri-motor at Huntsville Executive. I only wish I had been more proactive with my youtube channel back then. Hope you'll check it out.
I saw a video by FlightChops on the Sea Fury *Dreadnought*, He explained it had four mags because it had two engines, one in front of the other. Does the standard Sea Fury only have two mags or am I incorrect to assume so?
@@trainedwarrior502 I saw the same episode. that was "a Sea Fury" I was thinking of. The Centaurus is two rows of nine cylinders. Two of those end to end would give maybe 6000hp. That seems like a lot for that airframe. I thought the presenter was just talking abought the two rows of cylinders. Now that I look at pics of several developments of the engine, I only see two mags on the latest 1951 variant. Maybe 6000hp for pylon racing is de rigeur. lol
Thanks for the follow-up vid. I was watching the RPM gauge and holding my breath as Kermit switched the mags. From the camera angle, it was difficult to see if there was any drop at all. Great troubleshooting.
Nice to see the Stinson in good nick again, though the starter might need to be freshened up from high usage (joke). Andy has retired? You know those good workers if not paid too much would have to stay around to make ends meet (another bad joke) Hope he stops by and says 'Hi' now and then. As a side note, have you had a chance to check out Tom Reilly and company's XP-82 since its now flying? If not, that would make a good adventure. Maybe a formation flight with your two Mustangs...
...when I lost a mag on my O-320 (150 hp) in my Beech B-19 Sport - sometime after run up at Chelan airport - I took a very long time to climb out of the river canyon - but attributed it to high density altitude. I only realized that I had a problem when I got home, and tried to restart after fueling - NADA...My mechanic asked me if I could hear a loud click when I pulled the prop through - NOPE... So, the Mag with the impulse starter was dead, and thus - not enough spark to start. Can't remember what the failure was, but we rebuilt both mags - no more starting problems, and still wishing for more power.
Shame to see good folks go. But glad to see problems are being solved. If it's one thing that I would change my hole life for, it's to work down there on FoF planes.
Hi Kermit and team, So glad to see it is running and flying again. Great to follow your problems and I was amazed to see the spark from the mags. Always great to have an explanation behind the problem and parts. Question, the starter on the Stinson. Is it an inertia type of system (flywheel spinning up and banged in to start)? How does it work? Was shocked to see the staff that have left but as long as you have replacements. Wish them all well on the new ventures and adventures. Keep up the good work Paul
@@Mercmad I saw one of the old Tempest videos, where he said he was hoping to do the engine. How anyone would even go about doing that, I don't know. Doesn't seem like anyone has touched one since the early 1950s
Brian: You should be thanking Andy for all the long hours and years of effort to restore these airplanes to flying condition. Instead you only are thinking about you. It is great that a master like Andy can get away from this and relax for the rest of his life. A life time of work and all you have to say is , Damn!
@@ohwell2790 I think you are reading a bit too much into a light-hearted comment. The fact I really wanted to see him build, what would sure be the pinnacle of any aero engine engineers career , should maybe tell you I very much appreciate his work, and of course wish him a happy retirement. The Tempest restoration was a particular favourite of mine, and sad to see it stop and head back into storage.
That bad mag looked like it was sparking ok... Not great but ok. Was surprised that was the problem. For your readers... your not supposed to turn over regular type mags without plugs in all the ports because the spark plug gap sets the voltage. Without the spark plug the voltage goes to crazy high and can damage the distributor by carbon tracking or possibly the coil by insulation breakdown. Awesome video again Kermit!
I know what you mean about blowing the spark out. I had helped with winter maintenance on the B-17G Thunderbird. We removed all the plugs from the R-1820 engines and pressure test them. Put them a pressure box and on the spark plug firer. We increase the pressure in the box until the spark blows out. Record the data for the mechanics. We had one we had to replace.
What a beautiful sound from the radial now, sounds so sweet, how I would love to work for you, but alas in the wrong country. More determined to visit Fantasy of Flight. 😋😊😊👍👍👍
The thing I like about Kermit's videos is that it is only about airplanes and not about my latest motorcycle or car or road trip or camping. Just airplanes and bringing them back to life. And hope those guys who retired have a great life after busting knuckles for how ever many years of oil, gas and frustration. Thanks you for all their efforts and long hours.
How can one dislike this? So much industrial design saved. We are only the timely keepers or holders in time, to give our culture to future generations. Very well done Mr Weeks 👍
Fantastic, great to see it in the air! Hope Andy has a good retirement, it was great having him on explaining things.
After a good rest, I think Andy's fingers will get itchy just thinking about that big Sabre sitting there. He probably has the take-down re-build already planned in his head. Would be a great "retirement" project for him.
When that engine cranked over fully working it sounded amazing 😊
Best wishes all who have moved on from FoF especially Andy. It must be extremely challenging working on so many different types of engines often without the best documentation :-P. The low voltage coming from one side of the magneto coils was tough to diagnose but as it turned out the correct one. A bit of a shame that Andy wasn't there when they got the refurbished coil back and the Stinson running right, but I'd guess he'd just be happy things worked out. Very nice to see the STO characteristics of the bird at the end, clearly running much better..!
Great to see the Stinson fly again. So sad to see Andy retire! Such a familiar face in many restorations. Good luck Andy enjoy your well earned liberty!
How many man hours do you figure you had in troubleshooting and repair? Reminds me of the joke "how do you make a small fortune in antique aircraft? Start with a LARGE Fortune!" Thank you for inviting us along for the ride, love the videos.
I will miss Andy to be sure. I used to be into old British sports cars and guys like him are a wealth of knowledge and experience. I hope he enjoys his retirement. I also hope Kermit keeps his number on speed dial just in case.
Word. So says the owner of a '67 MGB. So, when Porsche decided they wanted to restore vintage 911s ,they called up the retirees now in their seventies and eighties who had spent thirty years or more building new ones and asked them if they wanted the gig. Who better to ask. No pressure. Take as long as you want...of course all most all of them said yes...speed dial...to the max...
Another fantastic glimpse in to the hard work to “Keep ‘em Flying”! With all the quirks these airplanes have between types, I’m curious how Kermit keeps himself sharp. To go from a Mustang to a Stinson to this and that while not having negative transfer is impressive.
I’ve sometimes reached for the wrong spots switching from my truck to my wife’s car. Personally, if I’ve been out of a plane (even the mighty 172) for a few weeks, I make it a point to review the checklist and chair fly, just to be on the safe side.
Nice to see a guy that respects the work being completed, educates himself on the process and isn’t afraid to take it up on the first hop.
Andy will be missed . Best of luck to him !
Oh, no! Wait! After watching this wonderful video, Andy is retired??!! And Wayne??!! And Andrea is off to Disney. Joe has gotten married. ...Paul is still around? He rocks! Sincerely wishing all of them a great future!
Sad you lost Andy. Hope you never lose Paul.
So - the end to a long saga - and at last, success! Sounds great.
The final icing on the cake - a flight! Whoopee :)
What a beautiful old Gal. Stay safe, Kermie. These old gals still need you around to take 'em to the dance!
Love the thought process!!! I do miss Andy cranking on the inertial starter however!!!! You two are the perfect pair!!
Nooooooo......Andy's retired😔. Was hopeing for more Tempest videos with him, and also a Napier Sabre rebuild. Kermit......love your videos. I'm gonna vist FOF this summer 👍👍 Greetings from Norway
Sorry to hear you are losing folks to retirement.... Sad to see Andy go but I am sure he deserves to have a long and healthy retirement! Also thanks for this series on finding the mag problem. Always interesting to watch others troubleshoot - as long as it isn’t your own problem!
Well done guys, I would not have found that one, I would have taken the mag out and saw spark and thought "Fine" put it back and same problem, Nice to have one to compare it to, saves a lot of head scratching. Sounds nice when it is running properly. I could almost smell the oily smoke! Just a memory thing from smokey old engines.
Nice machine. Nice to see these old machines running and doing what they were made to do.
Persistence pays off! Thank you for sharing Kermit.
All the way down under I love you guys. True lovers of the sport as one would say. It's good to see aircraft engines are the same as car engines. Lots of little problems when they get old. LOL
Thanks for still another wonderful video, Kermit. Wow, excessive oil in the exhaust sound to me like a ring or valve problem, if it's not one thing, it's another. I'm glad you have the incredible patience to deal with all these setbacks.
"little bit of research" Time is relative in many ways ;-)
Andy and all the others all the best for you in the future, you will be missed on this channel.
I too am in that age group. My regular contacts, suppliers and repairers are all retiring, worse too many have died!
I figure Kermit needs to live to 200 to do all of these projects,, that is if he can find good blokes who understand all this old stuff.
Im sure Kermit heard/felt it right away once fixed. I sure heard it on utube.
Its been a long road but the Stinson finally was beaten into submission. Have a good retirement Andy and thanks for your input on these videos. Now lets see this baby fly.
Working on vintage airplanes seems like a job to do after retiring. LOL!
As these people retired who is going to take their place. For you I would work for my keep. Amazing video as always. Thanks
Oh no. I liked that Andy dude
Nice all is now sorted. Looking forward to additional L1 videos
Wish Andy all the best
-Brad
All you folks are so smart, especially on this vintage stuff. When Paul’s an old man, he’ll just pull out his “Whiz-Bang 5000” with 3D A.I. to diagnose these gremlins!
The spark within finally lit!. Interesting snag. Always difficult when they come up at the same time as other maintenance. I've been thrown with that scenario a few times. :)
This content is really interesting and fascinating to watch. I like its simplicity, how straight forward it is, and its overall positivity. And the aircraft themselves are just pure eye and sound (and smell) candy. Great videos, Kermit - fast becoming my favorite channel.
Thank you!
Sad that Andy's gone. He's a real motor whisperer. I hope he sets up his own youtube channel to keep us apprised of whatever he fills his time with. Classic cars maybe?
Andy i found entertaining an interesting character obviously a wealth of knowledge and along with Paul a good part of the reason i enjoy this channel so much
I just love the technical nerdery in these videos!
I worked on automobiles & other engines for many years, and no-start problems will make you tear your hair out. "Fuel, spark, timing. OK. got all that, WHY WON'T IT START!" I work behind a desk now.
Great video. Lesson learned, do not fly until you really fine the problem. Would love to see a video on the Piper L-4 you have.
As a kid, the first airplane I ever flew in was a Stinson. My friends dad had one, after we waxed it, he took us for a ride. Now I'm an A&P. I knew you would find the problem. Great airplane too, I really like it.
Thank you all for what you do.
Thank you Kermit, for saving these birds.
Yay! Runs great! Sorry you lost some good people. Life goes on.
Thanks for the in-depth videos, radial engines are amazing.
wow, I've not seen Jack since the early 90's. Worked with him about a week at Moore Murrel before he came to FoF to help get the sunderland across the pond . wonder if he still has that beautiful Cessna?
DreadDoctor he does!
@@619viewloader Should have Known, I wouldnt let that thing go either..
Loved this troubleshooting stuff, i learn a lot from these types of videos.
That’s a relief I was about to suggest you check the tyre pressures.
I remember visiting fantasy of flight and took a tour of this plane in the earliest stages of being rebuilt. It is wonderful to see it fly. Well done.
Great videos ! A Stinson crashed here in Australia was back in the 30’s.
Fantastic! The L-1 is back! Great video as always, thank you for making them!
Thanks for many enjoyable hours of watching Kermit. Now I see that this engine uses an inertia starter. I've been flown in radial engined aircraft, I've seen radial engines complete and disassembled in museums, etc. But one thing I have never seen is any detail on the operation of an inertia starting system. I wonder if you might give us a good look at one someday? Thanks.
Glad to see it flying!
I have just one word~ Beautiful!
The Stinson is a beast!
I love these videos.. Paul videos on the restoration of the 108 are so good. It is always the highlight of my day when they come .. Please keep doing these. Thanks again ✌👍
Great video, very interesting for those of us who are not mechanically inclined.
Sorry to see Andy go though!
A bit less than 5000' of runway this time to get airborne hey!
You're the only guy on the planet that does these kinds of videos, "pretty cool, huh!"
What great mechanics.. They actually explain the problem AND solution!! Great Demo!!
What a beautiful aircraft!
WELL, that was a hard fought battle, glad it's over and you are flying her again, looking forward to seeing the Kermie Cam ad the way she goes!
With enough patience, time, talent and money all problems get fixed
WOW!! Well done. It's almost as temperamental as Mrs Rap!!
Was it just me or when Kermit said "we've lost a few members of the team" I thought they had died so happy to see that they are still kicking.
My heart sank a bit when he said that and the picture of Andy popped up. Happy for all of them.
Woooooo hoooooo!!! Gotta love the sound of a great running radial!! That take off was pretty short too! Congrats!!
My thoughts and sentiments exactly! I have a video of a short approach in a Tri-motor at Huntsville Executive. I only wish I had been more proactive with my youtube channel back then. Hope you'll check it out.
This is quite similar to an issue I’m having right now. Thanks for sharing.
Well, Kermit that was absolutely brilliant. The wee teaser at the end with the bird taking off. Can't wait to see the flight. :D
What a cliffhanger......................👍👍
Well, it could have been worse. If this was a Sea Fury with four mags, this would have been a 16 part series. :)
I saw a video by FlightChops on the Sea Fury *Dreadnought*, He explained it had four mags because it had two engines, one in front of the other. Does the standard Sea Fury only have two mags or am I incorrect to assume so?
@@trainedwarrior502 I saw the same episode. that was "a Sea Fury" I was thinking of. The Centaurus is two rows of nine cylinders. Two of those end to end would give maybe 6000hp. That seems like a lot for that airframe. I thought the presenter was just talking abought the two rows of cylinders. Now that I look at pics of several developments of the engine, I only see two mags on the latest 1951 variant. Maybe 6000hp for pylon racing is de rigeur. lol
Silky Steve you get 👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks for the follow-up vid. I was watching the RPM gauge and holding my breath as Kermit switched the mags. From the camera angle, it was difficult to see if there was any drop at all. Great troubleshooting.
Well done to the Kermit crew 👍👍👍👍👍
Nice to see the Stinson in good nick again, though the starter might need to be freshened up from high usage (joke). Andy has retired? You know those good workers if not paid too much would have to stay around to make ends meet (another bad joke) Hope he stops by and says 'Hi' now and then.
As a side note, have you had a chance to check out Tom Reilly and company's XP-82 since its now flying? If not, that would make a good adventure. Maybe a formation flight with your two Mustangs...
Woohoo - back in business!
Lol So it was the mag sounds beautiful good job guys 👍🏻 I love the old plane ✈️ love your videos
Nice work Kermit.
Sweet Piece!
...when I lost a mag on my O-320 (150 hp) in my Beech B-19 Sport - sometime after run up at Chelan airport - I took a very long time to climb out of the river canyon - but attributed it to high density altitude. I only realized that I had a problem when I got home, and tried to restart after fueling - NADA...My mechanic asked me if I could hear a loud click when I pulled the prop through - NOPE... So, the Mag with the impulse starter was dead, and thus - not enough spark to start. Can't remember what the failure was, but we rebuilt both mags - no more starting problems, and still wishing for more power.
Shame to see good folks go. But glad to see problems are being solved. If it's one thing that I would change my hole life for, it's to work down there on FoF planes.
You had a great team. Hope you can do it again.
Your logo is one of the best I've seen. Perfect for you.
Cheers
Love the cold starts
Hi Kermit and team,
So glad to see it is running and flying again. Great to follow your problems and I was amazed to see the spark from the mags. Always great to have an explanation behind the problem and parts.
Question, the starter on the Stinson. Is it an inertia type of system (flywheel spinning up and banged in to start)? How does it work?
Was shocked to see the staff that have left but as long as you have replacements. Wish them all well on the new ventures and adventures.
Keep up the good work
Paul
As my Da always said: Fixing a problem is the easy part, finding it , That's where a mechanic earns his pay.
Andy was .."pretty cool, huh?"
Andy retired ? Damn, was hoping for a Napier Sabre rebuild video...
I'd retire too if faced with one of those . Ever seen the pictures of them building one?
@@Mercmad I saw one of the old Tempest videos, where he said he was hoping to do the engine.
How anyone would even go about doing that, I don't know. Doesn't seem like anyone has touched one since the early 1950s
Brian: You should be thanking Andy for all the long hours and years of effort to restore these airplanes to flying condition. Instead you only are thinking about you. It is great that a master like Andy can get away from this and relax for the rest of his life. A life time of work and all you have to say is , Damn!
@@ohwell2790 I think you are reading a bit too much into a light-hearted comment.
The fact I really wanted to see him build, what would sure be the pinnacle of any aero engine engineers career , should maybe tell you I very much appreciate his work, and of course wish him a happy retirement.
The Tempest restoration was a particular favourite of mine, and sad to see it stop and head back into storage.
Dual mag looks like a cost-effective, and/or space saving but risky solution by engine manufacturer.
Happy it's flying! well done!! WELL DONE!!!!
Awesome. Long road getting there, but success!
great video to watch
Yay! You did it! Cool plane.
That bad mag looked like it was sparking ok... Not great but ok. Was surprised that was the problem. For your readers... your not supposed to turn over regular type mags without plugs in all the ports because the spark plug gap sets the voltage. Without the spark plug the voltage goes to crazy high and can damage the distributor by carbon tracking or possibly the coil by insulation breakdown. Awesome video again Kermit!
Love the detail you guys give in these videos. Fascinating!
A new problem is always caused by the last thing you touched...except when it isn't.
I love the Stinson L-1, glad to see it running! :-))
I know what you mean about blowing the spark out. I had helped with winter maintenance on the B-17G Thunderbird. We removed all the plugs from the R-1820 engines and pressure test them. Put them a pressure box and on the spark plug firer. We increase the pressure in the box until the spark blows out. Record the data for the mechanics. We had one we had to replace.
Looks like you guys got it sorted!
What a beautiful sound from the radial now, sounds so sweet, how I would love to work for you, but alas in the wrong country. More determined to visit Fantasy of Flight. 😋😊😊👍👍👍
Congratulations! And many safe flights.
These stars not only look good they sound fantastic as well Thanks ladies and gents at Fantasy of Flight
Excellent. Thank you for posting
Great work! Part 3 should be the flying part, coming soon?
Yes!! Flying!!
Congratulations!
I love that! You took it up on my birthday.
Andy will be tough to replace, someone of his experience is not going to be easy to come by.
Sorted out, all is good.
Excellent