Life with a Luscombe: N77903

As I turned onto the private airport's driveway, I spotted the airplane I had come to see—a gleaming Luscombe sparkling in the late afternoon sun. I pulled in and got out as Mr. Louis, the 85-year-old owner, approached from the nearby hangar. He introduced me to his son, then to the airport's owner, a close family friend. I looked the airplane over and talked flying with them. After I had oohed and aahed my fill of the airplane, they offered to take me up for a flight with the airport owner. Always eager to go flying, I didn't have to be asked twice before I had grabbed my headset and flying shoes from my truck.

N77903

I got in the pilot’s seat and reacquainted myself with the Luscombe design. Everything was pretty much a carbon copy of Dan's Luscombe except for a unique battery electrical system encased within the right instrument panel cabinet. It featured an electrical master, a circuit breaker and connection to the panel-mounted Becker glider radio and Garmin 196 VFR GPS. We started and warmed up the little Continental A65. After getting used to taxiing a Luscombe again, I performed the run up and departed. Even on a 3,000 foot grass strip with two people and a full tank, the Luscombe performed well. Lifting off, the airplane climbed out with plenty of margin. A local grass strip soon appeared off the nose and I did one three-point and one wheel landing. My Luscombe skills had been sitting patiently, ready and waiting. Heading back over to the airplane’s home base, I made one last nice landing and some ground handling before putting the airplane to bed. I told Mr. Louis I was willing to purchase the airplane pending the results of a pre-buy. We discussed the details and then I headed back to Biloxi as the sun set.

The following day was spent trying to find an A&P to do the pre-buy inspection. Initially, I wasn’t having much luck, but finally I found someone who was familiar with Luscombes and could do a pre-buy the following Sunday over in Florida. It was going to be tough to get the airplane over there and back due to the distance. He told me that it could be done quickly, in just a little over one week—not good enough for me. My impatience fell into full swing and I kept searching.

Another mechanic, who worked near the airplane’s home base, was available the following Wednesday but wasn’t familiar with Luscombes. However, he had to cancel on me that Monday to recover an airplane that stranded itself in Utah. Thankfully, he provided me with the name of another local mechanic, Amos, who was doing freelance work. I gave Amos a call and he immediately agreed to meet me Thursday afternoon. He was also familiar with Luscombes and older, light aircraft and that greatly set me at ease.

Monday and Tuesday were spent arranging for the loan, insurance, and a two-day leave of absence from my Air Force duties. I got a very reasonable quote from Travers Aviation Insurance but had a little more trouble getting the loan. Thankfully, my friend Todd, a commercial student and local banker, arranged a loan for me through his bank. I got out of work a little early on Tuesday and made my way to his bank to sign the paperwork. Everything sunk in when they counted and handed me a very large wad of one hundred dollar bills. All of a sudden, I was responsible for the largest sum of cash I had ever seen and the nerves kicked in. For the first time, I doubted my purchase, the idea of an airplane, and all that I had dreamt of for years. Todd handed me a locking bank bag which helped to ease my hesitant feelings. That money didn’t get more than about two feet away from me for the next several days. I vowed I would get a cashier’s check the next time. The nerves continued on as I waited for Thursday to arrive.

Thursday morning dawned clear and bright. Since I was fully expecting to be flying N77903 home, I had been looking to arrange one-way transportation out to where the airplane lived in Hammond. Thankfully, my friend Tyson, a doctor who lives in Ocean Springs but commutes to work in Louisiana, was flying to work that morning. I had also arranged for a friend to come pick me up in case the sale went sour. I met Tyson just as the sun was about to break the horizon and we climbed into his little Cessna 150.

Headed to Ocean Springs on I-10 East

Tyson cranked up and we departed runway 36 with a crosswind turn to the west. He called Gulfport Approach just as we were approaching the Keesler Class Delta and we continued our trek westward. We talked flying, CFI stories, and aircraft ownership for the 45 minute hop over to Hammond. We shut down at Pierce Aviation and I thanked Tyson before ducking inside to wait for Mr. Louis, the airplane’s owner, to come pick me up. I slept for most of the morning in Pierce’s comfortable pilots' lounge.

Mr. Louis showed up around 11:00 and we went to a local restaurant for lunch. He told me all about his airline career, which started in the DC-3 era and continued through the age of modern jet travel. He told me about most of the thirty odd airplanes he had owned. It was a pleasure just to speak with such an accomplished pilot. After lunch, we headed for his hangar where we met up with Amos and his son, who arrived very shortly after we did.

We immediately got to work on the pre-buy which started with visually inspecting the engine. Amos was impressed with how clean and well-kept everything was under the cowl. We did a cold compression test and every cylinder was a 78/80; as good as compressions can ever be. We then moved to the cockpit to check over the controls, structure, and seating. We removed the rear wall and inspected the fuel tank and tail cone. Everything was clean and clear except for a dirt dobber nest way down in the end of the tail.

We then moved into removing inspection panels and wingtip fairings. There, in both wings, we found the only negative of the inspection—some minor and isolated spots of surface corrosion. Amos checked each area carefully and determined that no structural damage had been done and recommended I get a corrosion treatment completed within a few months. It felt like an eternity putting all the inspection panels back in place. They definitely come off quicker than they go back on.

Amos checked a few more odds and ends and then looked through the logbooks. Everything, minus the corrosion, was satisfactory. I paid Mr. Louis, signed the FAA paperwork, then pulled the airplane out into the Louisiana sun. By this point, I realized how tired and thirsty I was. We all took a break and chugged water until we got our strength back. Mr. Louis gave me a free top off, we shook hands, and I climbed into my new bird. 

Mr. Louis and Me

Amos propped me off and I warmed up the little Continental. Once again, I proved to myself that I could taxi the Luscombe and departed. All went well and I circled up over the field to waggle my wings in an aviator’s farewell. There I was in my own airplane, not completely sure in my abilities. It was a peculiar, yet special, moment.

Turning southeast, the Luscombe climbed quickly to 2,000 feet. I found I-12 and started heading east to the I-12/I-10 junction. Passing St. Tammany and Slidell, I made position reports as I transitioned. As the Stennis Space Complex came into sight, I tuned in Stennis Tower and requested and received a transition. On the east side of Stennis, the broken ceilings started to come down to 2,000 feet and I descended to 1,500 feet to stay clear. Gulfport Approach answered my call and I received non-transponder flight following. An air traffic controller friend of mine told me that it was, in fact, very easy for ATC to lock onto a “primary” radar target and I received the usual advisories and service.

Hesitant to jump right into confined landings on pavement, I elected to go to Shade Tree and practice a little on the grass. As I rolled out on the first landing, I spied Mr. Danny’s Camaro so I shut down in front of his office. He came out and looked over the airplane constantly congratulating me on a great purchase. After a while, I started back up and got to work in the pattern. I didn’t take into account Shade Tree’s elevation above sea level and was struggling to get the same kind of steep descending approach Dan had taught me. I was also increasing the speed on final more and more each lap around to try to make the wheel landings better. Danny got on the radio and told me to steepen up the approach and slow it down. It was perfect advice at the perfect time. My landings improved and I departed over to Trent Lott to try my luck on pavement.

Touch-and-goes at Trent Lott were uneventful and I actually made two smooth wheel landings in a row. By this time, fuel was getting a little low and the sun was getting ready to turn off the shine. I taxied over to the self-serve and shut down. To my frustration, the pump was out of service. The lineman eventually helped gas me up from the truck but didn’t have the proper change for my transaction. I barely made it out of Trent Lott with just a sliver of the sun left. The landing at Ocean Springs was pleasantly easy and I tied the airplane down, pulled my gear out of the plane, headed home, and collapsed into bed after a quick shower. I set an early alarm; the next day was going to be a big day for Luscombe 77903 and me.