Miteitis
Dick Rank wrote this report on trailering 125C from Burlington, WI to Atlanta, GA after buying it from John Gadeikis. He used Le Selting's idea, pictured on the Mite Site, to build a similar rig on a 10 foot trailer. He said it worked like a charm.
VIRUS WARNING!
You already may be suffering from a virus which is lurking about. In fact, you may be a carrier. The medical name for this malady is "Miteitis". Once you have it, you will probably have it for the rest of your life. It is carried by the "Mite mite", a tiny insect not visible to the naked eye, and it is generally found in or on the wood of certain aircraft.
Symptoms include restlessness, periods of fantasy of owning an aircraft, and checking the Mooney section of Trade-a-Plane. As the illness progresses, one may travel long distances to view Mooney Mites, perhaps resulting in a purchase. This is often followed by scheming just how to get the plane home and how to tell the wife.
I know about this, because I've had a bad relapse of it recently. I say relapse because Ben Epps and I restored 118C several years ago. We both became infected at that time. This time around it started when Ben suggested that we drive from Atlanta over to Huntsville, Alabama to just look at a Mite for sale. It was only a three hour trip, so we drove over. However, that Mite was not to our liking. But the virus was very active. Later, while scanning the Mooney Mite Site on the net, I saw one that sounded really good. It was in Burlington, Wisconsin, and since it was more or less on the way on my flight in the Kitfox from Minneapolis to Atlanta for the Winter, I landed there, supposedly just to have a look.
John Gadiekis, then the owner, had replaced all the sheet metal, redone the interior, and restored many other parts to new condition. This was what I was looking for, so a deal was struck. Now I had my wintertime project, except for some minor complications like trailering the Mite 850 miles to Ben Epps' Aeroplane Repair Shop in Atlanta. The one piece wing presented problems.
Once again the Mooney Mite Site and member Le Selting came to my rescue. Le emailed pictures of how he trailered his Mite a long way, so I owe him a lot. I used his ideas and managed to get the Mite on a ten foot trailer. I towed it safely at sixty miles per hour. I wrapped the wing with poly sheeting and spiral wrapped it with duct tape. The wind destroyed the sheeting. Not a good idea, I guess, but the wing is now safely hung up under the roof of Ben's shop, awaiting restoration. The fuselage is mounted on a roll-around base, and my good friend, Bill Wegman, is beginning to work on the engine.
With some luck, another Mite will be all prettied up and flying by the end of next Summer, and a good time will be had by all as we get there.
John Gadeikis did a nice job of renewing the metalwork in the cockpit and engine compartment.
The fuselage and 27-foot wing were safely towed on a 10-foot trailer.
Bill Wegman has his work cut out for him.
Bill Wegman takes a look at the Continental 65 engine.
The wing hangs safe and dry from the rafters in Ben Epp's repair shop.
November 19, 2000