|
It is with great pride and joy Marc D. Anstey reports
that Tom Beck's Teal N897TB (s/n 15) now has made her first flights,
after a 18 month rebuild!!
S/N 15 was seriously bent when she was blown upside
down by a windstorm in January 1993, just a few months after
she had been imported to the UK by Mr. Kenn Heeley. Since then the wreck
changed hands a few times, before she was purchased by airline captain Tom
Beck in September 2002. Tom put his good friend (and skilled sheet
metal-wizard) Marc Anstey on the job of putting the Teal back together
again. In March 2003 the partly finished Teal was transported from
England to Eagle's Nest, Florida, USA, where Tom is building himself a summer house
for his retirement.
Since then, Tom and Marc have been travelling back and
forth between the US and England a number of times to finish the rebuild
of s/n 15. On Easter Sunday, 11 April 2004, the day had arrived for the
first post-rebuild flight. This is Marc's happy report:
|
Hi Steinar,
You will be glad to know that #15 did not sink to the bottom of
Eagle's Nest Lake... The water trials / handling went very well in
near perfect conditions with a light breeze straight down the
lake. Just as Tom taxied out of the water and shut down for a
debrief we heard the noise of an aircraft overhead and to our
surprise it was Per Aanonsen in #1. A quick walkround was
carried out on #15 then a fast land taxi back to Tom's to see Per.
As you can see it is a rare sight to see 2 Teals together on the
same day! Pure magic..
We had a very busy week preparing # 15 for flight including final
rigging of the control surfaces, installation of soundproofing and
all the little jobs that you just keep on putting of till
later. Easter Sunday dawned and what a day it was going to turn
into. I had the pleasure of going for a flight in a Citabria
on floats. On my return I heard the noise of an aircraft at the
opposite end of the field and I knew it could be only one aircraft,
#15. With Tom at the controls he taxied down the slip into
the water. One orbit of the lake, then straight down the lake at
full power and airborne in a 1/3 of length of the lake. Difficult
to describe how I felt at the moment, nervous, delighted, anxious
and proud all at once! After a few minutes Tom made his
approach back in to the lake for a near perfect landing. Like a
formula 1 racing driver, Tom 'cruised' the lake
shoreline to the acknowledgement of the fellow residents of
Eagles Nest.
In the evening over a number of beers Tom realised that after 18
month of hard work we had taken a near scraped aircraft through
the repair shop, then put it in a container and assembled her and
made her fly. Bloody Magic..... (Pardon my French)
Tom made three more flights off the hard a couple of days
later to confirm the performance / handling figures before our
departure back to the UK. Sorry we did not make Sun & Fun this
year but we will be back next year..
Regards
Marc
[e-mails dated 13 May 2004]
|
Two proud Teal owners:
Mr. Per Aanonsen (N1968S) and Mr. Tom Beck (N897TB)
Eagles Nest, Florida 11 April 2004
Photo: © Marc D. Anstey
Per Aanonsen rebuilt Teal #1 (N1968S) after she was was
totally wrecked in a hurricane in Florida some years ago. There are
now 3 Teals based in Florida; #1 (N1968S), #15 (N897TB) and #35 (N1322W)
owned by Mr. Stuart Hanley.
Click
here for more photos!
|
|
Schweizer
TSC-1A1 Teal
# 23, registered LN-SAU in
Norway, has been sold from Mr. Anders Grimnes to Mr. Odd William
Björnestad. Mr. Björnestad lives in Laksevåg, Bergen, and LN-SAU
is based on Bergen Airport, Flesland.
Change
of ownership was officially recorded by Norwegian CAR on 15 March
2004. LN-SAU is the only Teal on Norwegian CAR, out of a total of 3
since 1974.
Mr.
Bjørnestad will use his Teal for transport to his cottage on a lake in
Sunnfjord, north of Bergen.
|
|
Some weeks ago (2004-02-11), Mr. Marc D. Anstey, sent
an update on the rebuild of Teal #15. Finally here are the photos
and Marcs interesting report:
|
Hi
Steinar,
Unfortunately I was unable to get to Florida in January when Tom
was there but he has asked me to update you with the progress on
#15.
#15 has know been allocated an American registration, N897TB
The wings have now been fitted with some help from his friends
and neighbours at Eagles Nest. Fast 'land' handling checks were
carried out but due to the high cross winds at Eagles Nest Tom
decided enough had been achieved on this visit and #15 was
returned to the hangar in one piece to await his next visit...
Tom is planning to return to Eagles Nest in the beginning of April
for more work on his house, hangar and #15...The next major task
is to carry out water handling checks and hull leak checks before
installing the soundproofing and soft furnishings to the cockpit.
Hopefully during this time the FAA inspections will carried out
and who knows # 15 may take to the air?
Regards
Marc |
S/N
15 looks great, and it looks like Florida will be a very nice place for a
Teal to be! We look forward to seeing N897TB flying soon!
|
