RARE Aircraft Fly-In & Brat Roast - Faribault, MN 10/27/2013

niechiro

niechiro

Around The Moon
Join us for a fabulous fly-in at Fairbault, MN (KFBL) on Sunday, October 27th. We will have a tour of RARE Aircraft where they rebuild vintage, contemporary, and Cub Crafters. One of their specialties is rebuilding Wacos. This will be a tour of their 25,000 square foot facility given by one of the owners of RARE Aircraft They have wood & welding departments, a Taperwing shop, fabrication and repair as well as full sheet metal and machine shop capabilities. We will see where they do their grand champion fabric and paint work. We will likely see planes in various stages of repair and/or fabrication. RARE Aircraft has been operated by the Redmon family since it was founded in 1991. You won't want to miss this one!!! Here is a link to their web site: http://rareaircraft.com/

Everyone should try to arrive at Faribault by 10:30 a.m. The tour will start at 11:00 a.m. A brat roast will follow the tour at the hangar. Bring yourself, your friends and family. This will be exciting for all.

This is being hosted by BAC member Chris Mayer of Owatonna, MN. Any questions about this fly-in may be directed to either Chris or myself. Many thanks to Chris for this wonderful opportunity!!!
 
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Hi Folks,

Sounds like a GREAT event - just my 2 cents - I know - I know - not again - right ??? LOL - just a suggestion - why not check your member list and personally invite one or two low activity members - via email - to see if you can drag them in to our tangled BAC web ??? It only takes a few minutes to look them up... Best of luck with this event !!!
:)

Regards,
Scott
 
I am making another post on this fly-in to accomplish two things. 1. To bump it to the top again. 2. To let people know that since the current forcast for next weekend is for highs around 44, Chris and I are considering lunch at a restaurant after the tour of RARE Aircraft rather than a brat roast. This might be different if we could have a "fire" at the airport, but since that is not the case, it would be grilled brats and no one wants to stand out in the cold to cook them. For now you can plan on lunch at a restaurant. We will figure out the transportation.
 
It looks like the weather will be clear across the entire upper Missisippi valley on Sunday. Great day to fly and take in the fall colors.
 
Wish I could make it this weekend, but it is 4 hours if I want to cross Lake Michigan and 5 1/2 if I go down through Chicago. Just too far for a one-day fly-in. Hope you all have a great day for flying.


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I want to make one last reminder about this fly-in for those of you who may not be sure you are coming. We don't take reservations, so if you haven't announced your intentions to come and decide Sunday morning that you would like to attend, then by all means please come. Just show up. As Denis has said, the weather this weekend looks great with a high of 50 on Sunday. Not bad wather for Minnesota. Hope to see all of you there!
 
Very slight possibility I'll be there. I have to take my daughter to KAMW.... so maybe a "little" diversion in the AM might be possible. We'll see.
 
The RARE Aircraft fly-in at Faribault was a great experience for those that could make it there. The air was smooth as silk as we flew there, but descending below 2,500 msl it began to get turbulent. John Redmon was nearly to Faribault when a warning for low level wind shear was issued. He tried to land, but the wind shear was just too dangerous and this was combined with trees near the runway that accentuated the problem of a controlled landing. He wisely went back to Rochester for refueling and then to return home. There were three planes that made it in, but we arrived at lest an hour after John. None of the landings were pretty, but the old saying is that any landing you walk away from is a good one. Those who attended in the picture are left to right, Denis Weiser, Collin and Chris Mayer, Mike Nielsen and Andy Nielsen. 2013 September-October 410.jpg Accompanying them were Kathryn Weiser, Linda Nielsen and Laura Nielsen. The tour at RARE Aircraft was given by Ben Redmen who was both informative and entertaining. Here he is beginning the tour. 2013 September-October 411.jpg He began by showing us a wing that had been almost totally remanufactured. The only original parts was the spar which looked like a pipe about 2 inches in diameter. 2013 September-October 412.jpg Next he showed us a Waco fuselage that was being totally rebuilt. 2013 September-October 413.jpg The next stop was in the wood shop. Here there were power tools that could be found in most cabinet making shops. All of the spruce was cut, shaped, worked and glued by hand. 2013 September-October 414.jpg After that we toured the welding shop where things such as fuel tanks were produced from scratch. 2013 September-October 415.jpg Next he showed us how they apply modern synthetic fabric to a control surface. 2013 September-October 416.jpg We went upstairs where he showed us some of the things that the had hand fabricated such as the radial engine cowling pictured. 2013 September-October 417.jpg This cowling was hand hammered and shaped with assistance from some power tools. He said it was worth $40K. From the upstairs we had a good view of the main floor of the facility. 2013 September-October 418.jpg Ben showed us an airframe that was completed and ready for fabric covering. 2013 September-October 425.jpgAfter concluding the tour of the repair facility we went into the next door hangar to see the finished products. I will post these pictures in my next post as I have reached my limit in this one.
 
The tour of the hangar with the finished planes was breath taking. Their signature paint scheme was red and black as can be seen on this Waco taperwing. 2013 September-October 420.jpg These planes looked like they were just off the factor assembly line. Actually they looked better than that. 2013 September-October 421.jpg In my opinion, the highlight of the entire day was the Boeing Stinson that was fully restored inside and out. It was a work of perfection. 2013 September-October 422.jpgThe interior was just as perfect. It was odd to see what resembled steering wheels used for yokes. One of our group asked what wood the instrument panel was made out of. Ben explained that it wasn't wood, but rather metal that had been processed by a company in California that chemically fused the color to the metal. 2013 September-October 423.jpg Attention to deal was everywhere. 2013 September-October 424.jpg 2013 September-October 377.jpg2013 September-October 377.jpg There was an airframe in the back of that hangar ready for covering and here is a picture of its interior. 2013 September-October 381.jpg The fly-in was completed by a short 12 mile flight to Owatonna for lunch. I want to express my thanks to Ben Redmen of RARE Aircraft for his gracious time spent with us on a Sunday morning and to BAC member Chris Mayer of Owatonna for hosting this.
 
Looks like a great time. Thanks for the photos. One of my dream airplanes is a bump cowl Stinson Reliant. By the way, Boeing never made a Stinson. They did make Stearman's.
 
Thanks for the correction Marty. I do know that Boeing was mentioned in our tour of that hangar & now my aged brain is trying to remember why. The Waco was a competitor to a Boeing plane as a military trainer. The Boeing won out. Can you help me with which plane that might be? Ben mentioned that the Waco was probably a better handling airplane than the Boeing. However, when changing parts, Boeing parts would fit and the screw holes would all line up perfectly. With Wacos, the pieces would have to be custom drilled every time. Interesting.
 
O.K. I figured it out. Boeing made the Stearman. One of the planes I pictured in the hangar had to be a Stearman. Which one, I have no clue since I only took a close up of the Stinson. I barely know one biplane from another. I could say the red and black one as that would cover just about all of them. LOL!
 
Hi Mike,

Looks like you guys had a great fly-in... Hope everyone enjoyed it... What's up with midwestern planes - are the ALL Red, White, and Blue ??? The last two "babies" in the line look like twins and I don't mean Duchess...
:)

Regards,
Scott
 
Well....we are a very patriotic bunch here in the midwest. But unfortunately the plane colors were just a coincidence. I had noticed what you are pointing out when we were on the ramp and thought that was interesting myself. Recently I did discover that Don Olsen of Wichita has a Sierra with the exact paint that my Sierra has. This is the white with red and blue and the stars on the rudder. Beech must have liked that paint or they had a lot of it ordered that had to be used up. LOL. All attending did enjoy it as the tour was fantastic, particularly with Ben's comments. He is a colorful fellow and son of the founder.
 
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