Last of Its Kind

When Ken Nelson of Fort Mill, South Carolina, shows up at various fly-ins around the Carolinas, his Varga 2180TG Kachina usually turns heads for a couple of reasons.

Resplendent in historically inauthentic Royal Air Force colors, it could, at first glance, easily be mistaken for a warbird trainer. Well, it’s not. 

The next thing pilots might say is, “I’ve seen plenty of Vargas with nosewheels, but never a taildragger.” This is to be expected. The bulk of the Kachinas built by Varga Aircraft were delivered with tricycle landing gear. Only a handful of Kachinas were manufactured with tailwheels, and another handful were converted to taildraggers.

By the way, the name refers to Kachina dolls, created by the Hopi, Pueblo, and other Native American peoples. The dolls symbolize the Kachina spirits, or deities, that are believed to influence daily life and the natural world, acting as messengers between humans and the spirit world.

“The history of the Varga can be traced back to 1948 and W.J. Morrisey, an American aircraft test pilot/aircraft designer,” Nelson said. “Morrisey built a wood-and-fabric light aircraft, which he named the 1000C. He developed improved versions, the Morrisey 2000 and, later, the Morrisey 2150 [so named for the 150 hp engine]. After building only a handful of airplanes, Morrisey then sold the construction and design rights to Shinn Engineering Inc., which built 35 improved Shinn 2150A aircraft before ceasing production in 1962.”

In 1967, used aircraft parts supplier George Varga of South Bend, Indiana, bought the design rights for the 2150A, moved to Glendale, Arizona, and formed the Varga Aircraft Corp. The basic Varga 2150A featured a 150 hp (110 kW) Lycoming O-320-A2C engine and tricycle landing gear. Varga later produced 18 examples of the 180hp (134 kW) Varga 2180 with a 180 hp Lycoming O-360-A2D engine.

“My 2180 was built in 1982 and was the very last airframe built by Varga Aircraft Corporation,” Nelson said. “My understanding is that between five and seven 2180s were built as taildraggers with the designation 2180TG, and a similar number were modified with tailwheels under an STC.”

Tale of the Tailwheel

Recognizing the more challenging characteristics of taxiing a taildragger, why would an aircraft owner go to the trouble of converting a tricycle gear airplane into a taildragger? 

“That’s a great question, and I am not sure that I have a ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer for that,” Nelson said. “In the mid-’70s, I went to work for a Piper dealership, and we sold everything from Cheyennes on down—basically everything that Piper made. Interestingly, one of the planes that Piper put back into production was the Super Cub. At that time, Citabrias and Decathlons were selling like hotcakes, and tailwheel aircraft were making a big resurgence in the general aviation market. Piper wanted to capture its share of that market.”

Nelson notes that up until the mid-to-late 1940s, practically all airplanes had tailwheels, especially in the GA market. The advantages of a tricycle gear were numerous, and that became the standard in nearly all segments of aviation, from GA to airliners to military aircraft. Citabrias, which were available only as tailwheel aircraft, first hit the market in the mid-1960s, and they were an immediate success.

“Of course, there are some conditions that favor the use of a tailwheel aircraft, such as a rough landing strip,” Nelson said. “Speaking for myself, I got into tailwheel aircraft in the 1990s. As a professional pilot with over 20,000 hours of flight time, I enjoyed the challenge of mastering the art of a tailwheel airplane. I do not think any pilot will deny that handling a tailwheel airplane requires a somewhat higher skill set. We joke that when you fly a tailwheel, you learn what your feet are for. There’s always a rudder dance on every takeoff and landing. A little crosswind gives you a chance to evaluate your skills as a pilot.”

Nelson explains that the Varga, in and of itself, is not a particularly STOL airplane. However, the tailwheel configuration is certainly a plus when it comes to grass or gravel strips.

Past Planes

Nelson’s aviation career began at age 15, as a line boy at his local airport, Springfield Missouri Downtown Airport (3DW).

“I soloed on my 16th birthday and added licenses and ratings as my age and budget would allow,” he said. “I began my professional flying career as a flight instructor and started flying Part 135 charter for the FBO. Next, I went to work flying corporate aircraft for the financial industry, mostly King Airs and Learjets. I had some corporate pilot friends moving into Part 121 air carrier jobs on the air freight side. I applied and was hired as a Boeing 727 flight engineer, and 18 months later I was lucky enough to hold captain [rank] on that aircraft.

“In 1986, I was hired by a passenger airline, [and] after five mergers and 36 years I retired from airline flying at the mandatory age of 65. I am blessed to have been paid to do what I love to do for 50 years.”

Nelson has been involved with several club airplanes over the years.

“The first was a Cessna 180 back in 1997 when I was based in Pittsburgh,” he said. “I really liked that airplane, and it was the first time I flew a taildragger that I was not simply renting. I had room to pack in a family of four plus luggage and head out on a cross-country trip. I flew that for three or four years until I transferred to Charlotte [North Carolina]. Once I was settled [there], I started looking around and wound up buying a Husky. Built by Aviat Aircraft of Afton, Wyoming, the Husky is essentially a Super Cub on steroids.

“Take all the great flying characteristics of a Super Cub, add a couple of other nice features, and you wind up with a Husky. It was a nice stable platform, and it suited my needs for what I was doing at the time.”

Family matters required Nelson to have access to a four-seat airplane.

“I decided to sell my Husky and, along with seven other friends, formed the Rock Hill Flyers [club] and bought a Citabria,” he said. That plane served its purpose for four or five years until the club disbanded a couple of years ago. I still had my partnership in a 182 so I was able to get around, but I sure missed my tailwheel time. I did some more looking around and decided that the Legend Cub would be the plane for me. If the Husky is essentially a Super Cub on steroids, the Legend Cub is like a J-3 on steroids. It has a 100 hp engine and a glass panel,  with a fuselage that is about 3 or 4 inches wider than a J-3. Some Legend Cubs are even autopilot equipped.”  

However, when Nelson started his search, he discovered that there really were not too many to be found.

“Then I came across this ad for the Varga,” he said. “It was actually the featured aircraft on FLYING Magazine Saturday Flyer. Like many other people, I did not realize that they made a tailwheel version, so I was immediately interested. It turns out that it was the very last airplane built by Varga. It also had a 180 hp big motor and a factory-built tailwheel. I really became curious, so I tried to educate myself about the Varga.”

Waltz of the Vargas

In December 2023, Nelson made the trip out to South Bend to look at what turned out to be his new airplane.

“It was frigid cold that morning, but I really did not feel it as I climbed through it,” he said. “We took it up, and the seller let me fly from the front seat, which I thought was a leap of trust for a pilot he had just met. Everything I had read about it seemed to be accurate, so I decided to take a chance and bought the Varga. I have not regretted that decision.”

Nelson also shares a story about Damian Dieter, the previous owner of his Varga.

“Dieter was a podiatrist who grew up in an aviation family,” he said. “His father, also a podiatrist, was also a big airplane collector and a former president of Warbirds of America. He had a Mustang and a TBM Avenger, among others. So, this guy grew up around aviation royalty. He had owned a trigear Varga, which he really liked. A friend of his in nearby Elkhart [Indiana] owned this Varga 2180TG and had recently lost his medical. It seemed like a great idea to sell this airplane to Dieter. However, he had not flown [a] tailwheel in 40 years and soon decided that his preference was the tricycle gear Varga. He knew I was interested in a tailwheel Varga, so he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and, just like that, I became the proud owner of N5600Y, a Varga 2180TG.”

Ironically, Dieter found his second trigear Varga on the coast of South Carolina a few months later. As an aside, that Varga was owned by General George S. Patton’s grandson.

“I invited Damian to fly down to Charlotte commercially, and we could drive out to the coast together,” Nelson said. “…We agreed that the plane looked clean, so he decided to buy it. With everything looking good, I hopped back in my car and headed home. Unbeknownst to me, the weather turned bad, and Damian wound up getting stuck. He flew home via the airlines. About a week later, he called me up to ask if I would be willing to deliver the plane from South Carolina to Indiana. A friend of mine flew me down to pick up the airplane, and I flew it back up to Rock Hill [South Carolina] to put it to bed for the night. I was up early the next morning to head on to Indiana. It was the same route I had followed in reverse when I brought my 2180TG down to Rock Hill.”

Throughout the production run, Varga offered some extremely attractive paint schemes for the Kachina. Toward the end, a number of military color schemes were offered.

“I never really considered flying a general aviation aircraft in military markings,” Nelson said. “I always felt that honor belonged to someone who had served. However, this is the way the plane came, and it certainly looks good. Also, no one will ever mistake my plane for a Spitfire, nor me as a Spitfire pilot. The Kachina is not a high-performance airplane. It is a quite straightforward design with very predictable flight characteristics. It has a wide stance main landing gear strut system which is helpful on touchdown. While it is not a speed demon, the 180 hp O-360-A2D engine gives it a peppy rate of climb, between 1,300 and 1,500 feet per minute.”

Funky but Simple

The Varga Kachina is a production-certified airplane, certified normal utility. The Varga Aircraft company has been out of business for decades.

“The airplane was so simply manufactured that most components are still readily available,” Nelson said. “Those parts that are not readily available can usually be replicated with relative ease. From an engineering standpoint, you can tell that the KISS principle [keep it simple, stupid] was well understood at Varga. Overall, it’s a very sweet airplane to fly and a relatively simple airplane to maintain.

“For those rare instances where parts are not readily available, over the past few years, the FAA has relaxed its restrictions on manufacturing parts locally that are otherwise unavailable. When I started looking for an airplane, I was not specifically Varga-shopping. I came across this one by accident, but it has been a very pleasant surprise. It does tend to draw a crowd, due to its uniqueness.” 

Nelson has owned his Kachina for over a year now, and he joins the league of Varga owners who consistently state that the airplane is simple, fun, forgiving, and easy to fly.

“It isn’t a fast airplane, but it is just fast enough that I get more smiles per hour than just about any other airplane I’ve flown,” he said. “And for someone like me who goes flying simply for the joy of flying, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

It is worth noting that Nelson is the current president of the David Griffin Aviation Foundation, something he holds near and dear to his heart.

“The foundation was created in the spring of 2020 to offer young people in our community access to the wonders of aviation,” Nelson said. “The foundation, a certified 501(c)(3) organization, is a grass-roots, local, all-volunteer organization. We believe young people who have a desire to experience the joy of flight and possess the dedication to learn to fly should not be prevented by economic barriers. We are providing this opportunity. Foundation resources fund a unique flying club, the Rock Hill Flyers LLC. This flying club uses donated trainer aircraft and pairs one student pilot with one volunteer certified flight instructor.

“With the [Griffin] foundation providing funding for aircraft insurance, maintenance and hangars, our student pilots are able to get quality flight instruction simply for the cost of the fuel they burn. We are not giving away pilot training for free. We are, however, working to make it affordable for those young people who would otherwise have no access to the aviation world.”

British-born David Griffin studied at Sheffield University, ultimately registering as a professional engineer at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London. While he was still at the University, he participated in a five-year professional study program at Fairey Aviation in the U.K., requiring potential engineers to work through every aspect of aircraft manufacture. This ranged from learning how to use machine tools all the way to aircraft assembly, and finally, work in the design office. Fairey Aviation built cutting-edge aircraft, including the “droop-snoop” FD 2 that established a world speed record and subsequently became the flying lab for the Concorde. Griffin immigrated to California in 1956 and later relocated to the Charlotte, North Carolina, area in 1980. There he shared his passion for aviation with schoolchildren in the area. At Fort Mill High School in South Carolina, he was a regular at Career Day for more than five years, promoting professional aviation in all its forms.

Griffin died in 2019. In recognition of the contribution that he made to public schools in the Rock Hill area, The Rock Hill Flyers formed a nonprofit organization to carry on his work with young people with a passion for aviation.

“We wanted to target young people, particularly high school students,  and continue the work that Griffin had done,” Nelson said. “He had set a fine example for our education community at Rock Hill, and we wanted to carry that torch after he passed. To date, we have helped seven students obtain their private pilot certification., and we plan to graduate an eighth student shortly. Of those, six are now aviation professionals, including one air traffic controller. One more is coming back to become a mentor and trainer with the foundation.”