Consulting the “recently crashed” lists
During a lifetime, the average person learns how to do an amazing range of things. Not going to bore you with a partial list, but “it is true”. There. Sometimes, you hear about things that other people are doing, and the first question on the table is “how did they learn to do that“?
A group of people over at the airport are doing something that I find extraordinary. They find (buy?) old, wrecked aircraft and then repair them to the point where they actually will fly! That’s brave. I know you can’t purchase what you need for a fixer-upper over at CannyTire, so the question begs: Where do you get parts for a fifty year old Aeronca Chief? Is this an eBay thing, or do you rely on the charity of other Chief owners?
Do they take turns donating pieces, analogous to that extra kidney we keep around for needy friends and family? What about those pieces that are unique? Is there a list of “recently crashed”, where the others drop (fly?) in to scavenge? I’m not going to sleep easily tonight.
Perhaps the 3D printer market has come along, just in time. Sketch what you need, press “melt” and wait for the new thing-a-ma-gadget to be ready for mounting. Could work. But there’s that other part, where you then strap yourself in, yell “Contact!” (do they do that with 50 year old planes?) And then rev the motor (with those shiny replacement pieces) and rotate to the great beyond. I don’t have that much faith in anything I prepare, beyond the occasional charred pork chop.
