NO WOOD, NO NAILS, NO GLUE!- C-FGJD

THE STORY

After a fairly passionate 25-year stint of flying some 42 types, and owning 17 of them, I took a 5-year time-out to focus on the responsibilities of raising a family and managing a challenging career.

On June 4, 2005 I succumbed to the urge and took possession of a dull, abused and extremely neglected 1948 Luscombe, Silvaire. Never have I come across such a dirty, forlorn little aircraft.

Early in July of that year, my daughter Krista and I rolled it into the RAA hangar to begin the restoration. Many a seasoned veteran wandered by to share advise and some even scoffed. Yet several hundred hours later, countless missed dinners, late nights and worn out friends who volunteered to polish the skin and to pull my carb apart several times in pursuit of gremlins, C-FGJD rolled out into the sunlight ready for flight.

There is nothing sweeter than the aroma of 100LL fuel mixed with the morning scent of a freshly mowed grass runway. Or more exciting than the roar of a finely tuned continental climbing into the cool morning air followed by the deafening silence of a dead-stick-side-slip into a drowned out canola field. There were moments when even I questioned my sanity coaxing the little bird back to service.

Now, a couple of years later with and added 100 hours on the tach, the Silvaire’s once again slipping gracefully into grass fields allowing me to share tall tales with old friends, and to fly the wing through slow rolls as the evening sun fades on the horizon.

Praise God, we're both flying again - and loving it!

To my wife, my girls and the many friends who helped bring me back to my lifelong passion, Thank You!

The Pilot
Brian Koldyk