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J5A N40701 History?

R

ratc

Registered User
I’m looking at a 1941 J5A project, it has the engine logbook but nothing for the airframe.
It is possible to get her back flying but I would need to piece together her history.
Before being exported to Germany in 2014(?) she was owned by Richard G Coltey, Pultney VT.
If anyone has any information on her or previous life I’d be most interested to hear of it.
Thanks in advance,
ratc
 
Call Dick Coltey. (802) 287-0751



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Farmboy, thank you so much for that nugget of information, superb!
A huge step forward.
I did actually send him a letter this morning to his address on the aircraft registration documents.
Old school I know but I’m from that era!
Thank you everyone, fabulous community effort. I just hope that once contact is established I can gather as much information/history as possible in order to get N40701 flying again!
ratc
 
All you really need is a data plate and total time. The rest is just nice to have. If you do not have an Airworthiness Certificate, that can be fixed with a certain amount of agony.
 
Thank you Bob,
That was my understanding and part of the pain in getting this beautiful aircraft flying again!
I do believe that after export from the USA to Germany she never flew again so I’m concentrating on the period she spent flying in the USA, 1941-2014 to try and ascertain total time. A long shot I know but you have to start somewhere!
Thanks to farmboy I have emailed the last registered owner in the hope of further information ……..I’ll keep you all posted!
ratc
 
Unfortunately ALL known email addresses are unavailable - Messages bounced! Hopefully snail mail will work…..
ratc
 
I would call. Possibly text.

Dick is near Sun n Fun during the winter often helping out at the facility.
In the summer he is back in Putney VT. No longer has an airplane but has a nice grass strip.


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
 
[FONT=&quot]§ 43.11 Content, form, and disposition of records for inspections conducted under parts 91 and 125 and §§ 135.411(a)(1) and 135.419 of this chapter.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](a) Maintenance record entries. The person approving or disapproving for return to service an aircraft, airframe, aircraft engine, propeller, appliance, or component part after any inspection performed in accordance with part 91, 125, § 135.411(a)(1), or § 135.419 shall make an entry in the maintenance record of that equipment containing the following information:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](1) The type of inspection and a brief description of the extent of the inspection.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](2) The date of the inspection and aircraft total time in service.[/FONT]
 
Yes I expect so. Only one I have. Probably the only one he has too.


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
 
At last I managed to contact Dick the former keeper of N40701 and received a reply…. Not great news!

”I purchased the air frame in pieces and sent everything I had the owner in Germany. I have no information.”

My next plan will be to contact the FAA, it seems I may be running out of ideas after that!

ratc
 
I don't think that is a great idea. Do you have a data plate, and a document stating that you are the owner? If so , then you assemble the aircraft, apply for an N-number if you do not already have one, start new logbooks with the statement "total time airframe (engine) xxxx hours, from previous records", get a list of ADs and STCs, and an annual inspection.

Then, and only then, you call for a conformance inspection by the FAA. They will then assist you in getting an airworthiness certificate.
 
Thank you Bob, it is a slightly different scenario in that the aircraft is already on the U.K. register.
To get her approved on a permit to fly (experimental) I’ll need to provide at least some history of the airframe! The engine has been re-built and that logbook is complete.
I can’t think of any other way to gain this information except through the FAA.
I already have in my possession :-

1. The last certificate of aircraft registration before it was exported to Germany.
2. A copy of the application for registration for all types of aircraft (R27262) dated 8/25/41 and signed by William Thomas Piper 8/27/41.
Both the above documents are indexed. FAA AIRCRAFT REGISTRY CAMERA NO. 4N 8/29/84.

It appears that it left the USA for Germany with NO airframe logbook.
As I see it unless someone has the logbook there will never be a way of finding out her history?
Additionally the only documentation held by the FAA may be the ones I already have!
ratc
 
ratc said:
As I see it unless someone has the logbook there will never be a way of finding out her history?
Click to expand...
In order to get any airworthiness certificate it will need a conformity inspection. That will determine it's history. For what purpose do you mention (experimental)? There are many categories of Experimental, many of which are restrictive.

It was exported to Germany, yet is currently on the UK register? Was it put back together in a flying condition while in Europe? Or have the pieces just been bounced around the Globe? This is confusing.
 
After leaving the USA for Europe the airframe was exported from to Germany to the U.K. as a project (basket case). I understand it never flew! Arriving in the U.K. she gained her registration but no C of A. Now under re-build I want to move her onto a LAA “permit to fly” in order to do this I would need at least some of the airframes history. Or I suppose as you said, a conformity inspection. In essence you are correct in that the pieces have been bounced around the globe.
I’ll talk again to the U.K. LAA tomorrow and find out more about the way forward, if there is one?
Thank you all for your help and generous knowledge.
ratc
 
Sorry - I did not pick up on the UK part.

If this were in the US, you would not need "history" - just total time, a data plate, and proof of ownership, as in an FAA Registration Certificate.

But since you are in the UK, all of our advice may be for naught. Yes, get an opinion from UK authorities.
 
Having now had a good look at the “project” and associated paperwork.
I have found a CD from the FAA containing all the previous registered owners back to the initial build in 1941.
it doesn’t really help with hours on the airframe, accident history or AD compliance.
Before going down the route of a conformity inspection, is there any way to ascertain hours on the airframe?
In the U.K. hours are recorded at every inspection and retained by the authorities.
Do the FAA retain this information at annual inspections OR is it only recorded as a logbook entry?
I apologise in advance for my lack of knowledge in FAA procedures.
ratc
 
ratc said:
Before going down the route of a conformity inspection, is there any way to ascertain hours on the airframe?
In the U.K. hours are recorded at every inspection and retained by the authorities.
Do the FAA retain this information at annual inspections OR is it only recorded as a logbook entry?
I apologise in advance for my lack of knowledge in FAA procedures.
ratc
Click to expand...
In the US we used to fill out a form which was sent to the FAA at each annual inspection on which was noted the hours. What the FAA did with those forms...I don't know. I haven't seen them on the CD records like you have. Sometime in the 1960s that procedure was eliminated with the only place where the hours were recorded would be in the log books. IF the log books are lost, we look at whatever documentation we have available and start a new log book with the notation "Original log books lost. Estimated total time is xxxx." Then we move on. Some small airplanes (mostly helicopters) have time limited components. That does become an issue, The Piper J-5 doesn't have any time limited components. So here in the states, the number of total hours on a J-5 airframe is "just nice to have information".
 
Skywagon8a, thank you for confirming this procedure.
Looking at my dilemma I doubt the quest for history will ever be fulfilled.
To that end, I’ll have to pursued the LAA to authorise the generation of a new airframe logbook.
Since N40701 is in the process of a FULL restoration I hope the process won’t be that onerous!
ratc
 
ratc said:
Looking at my dilemma I doubt the quest for history will ever be fulfilled.

ratc
Click to expand...
Just a small piece of the history puzzle for you - according to my copy of the Civil Aircraft Register dated June 1st, 1963, N40701 was not registered. It’s entirely possible that N40701 has been a “project” going back decades. It’s a long shot but perhaps you could contact a former owner listed on your CD from that time period.

Good luck,

HT
 
Hi HT,
I’ve now bought the project so this information is most useful. When I get my hands on the FAA CD I’ll certainly follow up previous owners around that time period as you have suggested.
Thanks again,
Ratc
 
Well, this is becoming a bit addictive!
Having gone through ALL of the FAA records for Piper J5B Cub Cruiser N40701.
I've pieced together this potted history:-

Exported to Germany 25/09/2014
Owned by Mr Richard G Coltey from 22/07/2007 I believe never flown, always as a project.
Owned by Mr Richard W Gleason from 29/07/1959, 48 years!
The only confirmed information I have is that an "Aircraft inspection report" was conducted 19/051953 with total hours aircraft and engine 579:00.

I think my last attempt in trying to find out her past life is, if possible, to track down Mr Richard W Gleason who was in 1986 living at
403-34th Street S.W.
Austin
MN 55912

A very long shot I know but if ANYONE has any ideas about how to achieve this I would be exceptionally grateful.
In hope and anticipation.
ratc
 

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Thank you so much, another piece in her history.
To think she was owned and flown by someone who was awarded The Purple Heart!
After much searching on social media I (think ) we may have found his son. I very much appreciate your time and help.
Ratc
 
If his son still has his log book, you may be able to gather information from that. BUT, there is no requirement that a private pilot even keep a log book, unless he was building time for another rating.
 
Unfortunately I got my self in a rabbit hole.
Going back through the records I have, it seems Mr Gleason had a daughter not a son!
Linda Dudley of Austin Minnesota. She was married to Robert Dudley who sadly passed in 2007. I’ve tried using one of the finding people sites but for some reason I get blocked!
As another strand over the weekend I was in contact with the Austin Municipal Airport Manager sadly he couldn’t help either.
As the Absolute last resort if anyone on your side of the pond can locate any contact information for Linda Dudley formerly Gleason of Austin MN I would be very grateful.
This is the last tenuous link to finding the history of N40701.
ratc
 
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