When Jeff Whiteley (left) asked buddy and aircraft restorer Kyle Bushman to build him a backcountry plane out of a disused 1958 Cessna 175 Skylark that hadn't flown in nearly 20 years, Bushman yes, hell, yes. Whiteley, who was an active participant in the project,, and Bushman decided one cool way to go was with slats. And, oh yeah. It's a taildragger now.
How did it go? Amazingly. The plane stalls at a full 21 mph slower than the book numbers on the 175, and even with the big tires, gets up and goes.
Do you own a vintage Cessna single? Want to experience envy? Yeah, this is remarkable work.
This is how things looked before much of the work was done but after it got the taildragger, big-tire treatment.
Early flight testing consisted of high-speed taxis and short, ground-effect "flights." All signs were very positive, but just to be sure, they videoed the process and later analyzed the results.
The final product had to be certified Experimental Exhibition, for obvious reasons. That's okay. Whiteley and Bushman plan to show off their handiwork every chance they get.
Before the team had installed the Continental O-470 but after the plane had gotten a tailwheel.
It's lighter without the wings, and he has leverage, but this is still pretty cool. Try this with your tricycle-gear plane! (We're kidding! Don't!)
In the process of removing the left wing to install the slats.
These are the production slats. The carbon fiber devices were constructed by Carbon Creations of Wasilla, Alaska, which specialized in Super Cub mods.
