My Dad's home built.

[dvm]

Some of you may be interested in this. I have been reluctant to share this with the forum as I didn't want to seem boastful and living vicariously thru my fathers accomplishments which is probably true. But I figure I might as well share it before my own time is up.

My father was trained as a fighter pilot during WWII but the war ended before he could see combat. He was always a little disappointed that he didn't make it to the war. He met my mom while in training at several bases in Texas. They married after the war and I was the first born with three more brats to come. He was immersed in aviation all of his adult life right up to his death a decade ago. He was a frustrated fighter pilot for quite some time after he left the Army. He owned a couple of surplus WWII trainers (PT22 and a PT19). Having four kids put a dent in his flying budget and even the 10-12 gallons an hour was not affordable, so he designed and built his home built first flown in 1957. It was a fully aerobatic and designed for 9 positive G. The little Continental burned less than five GPH and It was not exceptionally fast (about 135 mph). I was a kid during it's construction and helped with some of the simpler tasks. I remember bucking rivets, building ribs on a jig and varnishing the spars and other wooden wing components. The Wikipedia link gives some of the details and specs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrone_VM-1

[WB_FlashOver]

That's fascinating dvm!
You must be proud of him. That's a very ambitious project. Is there any chance of it becoming airworthy again? I suppose the trees were rather hard on it.

Cheers
Roger

[dvm]

That's fascinating dvm!
You must be proud of him. That's a very ambitious project. Is there any chance of it becoming airworthy again? I suppose the trees were rather hard on it.

Cheers
Roger

Roger,

As far as I know The aircraft was totaled and the pilot was killed. I believe he was the second owner after my father sold the aircraft. The aircraft had a 30 year life span which may be as good as it gets. The guy who was involved in the accident had a suspended license at the time so you can do the math.

Vince

[Lewis - A2A]

Oh that's great dvm, thanks for sharing. And what a little hot rod too. Glad to see he passed his love onto you

cheers,
Lewis

[Nick - A2A]

Great story Vince - thanks for sharing.

Would this be your father in the cockpit, or a later owner? https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1950s-60s-Marro ... SwiQ9ZPpGo.

Nick

[dvm]

Great story Vince - thanks for sharing.

Would this be your father in the cockpit, or a later owner? https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1950s-60s-Marro ... SwiQ9ZPpGo.

Nick

Nick,
Thanks for the link, when I saw the photos I was really surprised, who would guess that these photos would still be around. Unfortunately when my father passed I was unable to acquire his aviation stuff due to we lived on opposite coasts and my sisters settled his estate. I would have liked to have his memorabilia especially his log book. Those photos were taken during flight testing in 1957 I am pretty sure. The airplane does not have a spinner or canopy yet and it had the original surplus WWII tail wheel tires. It also sports the original paint scheme. I don't remember from which model aircraft the tires were from.Yes that is my dad in the cockpit. I do remember he did not sleep for several days prior to the first flight as he was worried that it would not fly rather than a crash. He modified it sometime in the late 60s or early 70s by adding a front seat and some wing area. He got tired of flying alone. I will post a photo if when I locate one.

Vince

[dvm]

Here are a couple of photos of the airplane after it was modified to two place. They are not the best quality and out of sequence but you get the idea. The first photo is after he repainted it to the original scheme. My dad was a red and yellow freak.The second photo is in the backyard of my dad's home during the modification and as you can see the horizontal stab is not in place. I am sure he partially assembled it in the yard so he could take photos. When it came to his airplanes he never lacked enthusiasm. My mother was a saint putting up and flying with him for sixty years. My old man liked to get your attention as the first thing he did after reaching a safe altitude with a new passenger was to do an unannounced snap roll in the thing.

[dvm]

By the way I bought the photos on Ebay.

[Nick - A2A]

By the way I bought the photos on Ebay.

Hey, that's great Vince - I wondered if you would. Interesting to see the pics of the modification too. I guess it was flown from the rear seat only, or did your dad fit it with tandem controls?

Nick

[dvm]

By the way I bought the photos on Ebay.

Hey, that's great Vince - I wondered if you would. Interesting to see the pics of the modification too. I guess it was flown from the rear seat only, or did your dad fit it with tandem controls?

Nick

It did not have dual controls but was flown exclusively from the rear. I don't remember all the details of the mod but there was a fuel tank where the front cockpit was added. I think he fabricated a new tank that fit somewhere aft of the firewall and in front of the passenger. I believe he added a small reserve tank behind in the turtle deck to compensate for the smaller front tank. Here is the link to the accident report when the airplane was lost if anyone is interested. I think this old comment on aviation applies in this case.

"Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.


https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Acc ... d88b5b3604

[JJB17463rdBombGroup]

Wow that's an amazing story.Your family is very talented.
Quite interesting how your father got you involved into building this beauty too.

[dvm]

My dad was a piece of work. He was not the most popular guy on the block as he always had some project going that was out of the ordinary. When he was building the airplane in the basement and before it was ready to see the light of day he wanted to test run the engine. So he bolted the little Continental to the interior framing of our detached garage. It effectively blew all the dust and dirt out of the structure and caused the neighbors to complain about the noise but we had a clean garage. I remember sighting down the outside wall and you could see the wall undulating when the engine was run. Never a dull moment at my house. So I came by my eccentricities honestly, that is a polite way to say craziness.

[aonyn]

Hi DVM,

This has been a very interesting thread, thanks for sharing. Also, I am glad those photos turned up for you as a result

Regards,
Dave

[Raceguy]

Vince, great story!

Thanks for sharing.
Ed

[Lewis - A2A]

The story evolving in this thread is wonderful and glad you got those ebay photos

cheers,
Lewis