Early Bellancas

Dan Cullman

Dan Cullman

New member
Apparently, there is little or no interest in the pre-war Bellancas. Am I to assume there is little or no interest in my column in the "BC Contact"??????????? Dan
 
Bad assumtion Dan, I don't know if I speak for anyone else, but without ownership of one my knowledge is not good enough to give input to a forum. But my interest is great and the column in the newsletter is sometimes my greatest interest and allways toooooo short. I wish that lottery ticket, the one that I never buy, would pay off so I could blow a couple hunderd grand on finding and building something from that era. Preferably the big ones. But even money can't find what does not exist any more. Don't know if the hours you put into the column is worth it for you but I would miss it. Brian
 
Dan,
Please don't be hasty with your assumptions! The history of GM Bellanca and his airplanes is fascinating stuff. Think of all the "what if's" and the out of the box thinking by Bellanca. His company was not a huge commercial success, but I am still amazed by the performance of his airplane designs.
Keep up the good work with your columns!
Gary
 
Dear Dan:

Your column gives life to the Bellanca line, bringing out the roots of our (mostly) post-war airplanes. Please do not even consider stopping!

Unfortunately, feedback has never been the strong suit of our readers, nor does the vast majority of the membership participate in these Forums. However, the one time your column did not appear, several inquiries were received as to why your article was missing.

Rest assured, your labors are not in vain. I'm only sorry that you (and the other contributors to B-C Contact!) do not get the expressions of appreciation you deserve. I, for one, am very grateful,
 
I agree with ALL the above Dan! Please don't consider stopping!! They are great columns, and there are comparatively so few other sources of Bellanca history.
 
Of course please continue. Though we don't all own early bellancas, we are interested in them. We just don't have much to contribute to the forum. Keep your articles in the magazine coming-I assure you they are read and enjoyed. Peter S
 
This was not a threat to quit. I happened to look at the the last posting, and it was mine, dated Apr. 30. No questions, comments or inquiries.
 
Dan, we just took an RV trip that took us up to Tillimook, Or and got to visit the aircruiser their. I had not seen it before and it was nice to not have anyone around to obstruct my viewing. The airplane has cool lines, the view of the radius at the trailing edge of the struts is amazing. I wish I could have found someone their to talk to but nobody available. I also did not know that they had a set of wooden ski's for that bird. They are huge!!!!!!! Let the forum know if you ever get word of a fly day for that airplane. See ya Brian
 
I'm sure the Aircruiser has spent more time on wheels in the last 20 years than the rest of it's lifetime. As 'BTW,' north of the border, it spent most of it's time on floats or those skis you saw. Dan
 
I'd like to see the airplane fly again. I did see it fly into the NW. Antique Airplane fly-in at Evergreen, WA. about a dozen years ago. I was allowed to go inside and take photos. It is a big airplane.......I saw it taxi over a line of T-6 aircraft with plenty of room underneath the wing!
 
O K Dan here is one for you.

What airplane held a record that stood for 55 years until the 1980's and what record.
Then tell me if that one was to easy. Brian
 
I think you are talking about the endurance record for time aloft - unrefueled. The Voyager broke the record in it's 'Round the World' flight. Medium difficulty. Back to you.
 
BTW, the previous record holder was a Bellanca, powered by a Packard Diesel Radial. I believe the record was set in 1931 at 84+ hours. Ouch!
 
I guess it will be hard to stump you since our source for most of the early bellance info is YOU. But I will keep trying.
Has anyone done any government searches for info on the aircraft that went into military service and what their demise was? I like the one that looks like a Duck on a single float. Brian
 
According to my info, that airplane never flew. One of GMB's flops. I'd like to find out what happened to the C-27s. I know one crashed near March AFB - hauling Hap Arnold's household goods. John Underwood has some nice photos of the aftermath. Another crashed in Panama after losing a wing in a thunderstorm.The father of one of my flying buddies showed me his logs from the late '30s, with plenty of C-27 time.
 
OK. Another month without a post............This winter, I'll start the covering process on the CH. I'll start on the empennage, first. The wings to follow. The fuselage and struts this summer. After the first of the year, I'll install the J-5 and with Dan Stewart's help get all the engine controls that he built, hooked up. I'm still in the development stage on the cowling and middle seats. Other than that, the body of the airplane is more than 90% ready. More later. Dan
 
Fortunately, I have a couple friends to exchange blueprints and ideas with on this project. Unfortunately, no one, including the NASM has any prints that show anything forward of the cockpit. So, I have to use photos and intuition to complete this part of the project. Fun,fun and more fun. Dan
 
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