John Barrett is a brave man

[Ryan Smith]

But one of the kindest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet.

Yesterday, John invited me up to KARR to learn how to undercut his prop balancing business, and also to take his 170 out for a bit. The entire balancing process was quite interesting and it amazes me how a few washers on the back side of the spinner flange can effect such a change in balance. I suppose it's similar to watching car tires balance, but when you figure that even on large spinners like the Twin Bonanza that you only have an 8 or so inch travel from center, that small amount of weight makes a huge difference on the balance of those huge propellers.

After the balancing was finished, we headed over to his hangar to pull out his immaculate 170. I was truly blown away at the love, craftsmanship, thought, and attention to detail that has gone into this airplane. It is pretty in pictures, but it is absolutely STUNNING in person. I guess they don't hand out awards at Oshkosh for nothing...

My polite refusal of his offer to fly left seat fell on deaf ears as he proceeded to open the right side door and prepare to climb in. After a quick briefing of the (modified) door locks and seat stop locks, we climbed in and he proceeded to talk me through the start procedure for the IO-360. Even though it had not gotten above the mid-30s yesterday, the engine fired up on the second blade and we were soon taxiing to the active. A quick runup and a short wait for a busy traffic pattern and we were instructed to take runway 27. Even with the big motor and propeller up front, directional control was very easy, dare I say easier than our 170. I think that speaks a lot to the gear alignment that has been discussed on this board recently. We leveled off at 2500 feet and took a northwesterly course, made a loop around the Poplar Grove airport and made our way back to KARR. I kept waiting on him to take the controls, and he kept feeding me instructions. Though the landing wasn't perfect, I was quite surprised again at the ease of directional control, but more importantly, I didn't feel like I was chasing the airplane bouncing. I never liked landing our 170 on hard surface runways as we landed on grass at our home airport and no matter how smooth I was able to touch down, it always felt like I was scrambling to hold a tiger by the tail for the first couple of seconds. Again, I'm sure that the alignment of the gear has a lot to do with it, but that was the (only other 170 I've flown in) first time I had flown an airplane with lady legs. Our 170 being made in early 1952 had the earlier, interchangeable gear legs.

After tucking N170JE safely in the hangar, I thanked him for his selflessness and confessed it had been a while since I last flew. I dug out my logbook to see just how long it had been.

The last logged PIC time I had in N2256D was in August of 2006 where I flew my solo cross country. I don't recall much flying the 170 after that day, but I'm sure I flew right seat with my dad a time or two. November was annual time and If I recall, the airplane sat dormant out of annual for a year or so before my parents listed it for sale in May of 2008. I'm still kicking myself for wasting that opportunity. I flew as a student three times after that with my last logbook entry being 3/28/2010 in a Maule MX7-180C.

It was hard to concentrate on driving the 2 1/2 hour drive home yesterday evening because of the excitement. I want to publicly thank John on here for his selflessness and generosity. I have been longing to fly again, picking up where I left off and making up for lost time. That 30 minutes or so in the air yesterday were as close to bliss as I've ever been in my life, I think.

Thank you, John. Sincerely, from the bottom of my heart. It was enjoyable spending the day up there with you guys and soaking it all in.

[Ryan Smith]

A few quick exterior shots. I anticipated on having my hands free to take a few more in flight, but I wasn't anticipating on actually doing the flying.

[hilltop170]

Ditto what Arash said! Those who pass-on the flying spirit need to be commended. Thank you for doing so.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Bingo Ryan.

You have just experienced through John's selflessness what a large part of this Association is about. Give in spades, it all comes back one way or another.

Thanks John.

[Bramlett]

Thanks for sharing. Everyone that I have met from the association has been great!

Question, the prop on this 170, what length is it? It looks longer to me..

Thanks,

[johneeb]

Thanks boys very kind, it is easy to do when you meet someone with Ryan's enthusiasm for aviation and see the opportunity to keep the fire alive with a little nudge. Also more selfishly it is good to bring some youth into the group of geezers that I usually hang with at the airport.

The prop is 84", very noisy at 2800 rpm.

[Kyle Wolfe]

Johneeb - you examplify the statement that "long after your gone, people will not remember what you say or did but rather how you made them feel!" You're that kind of person - and how nice to get that compliment while you're still here!

That's what makes this organization unique. Thanks for your actions, John!