New owner of -3 260

S

stinson6

New member
Hello everyone,
I'm the new owner of a '59 260. It's Bruce Barton's old red and white one; wanted his 46 13-2 but he wouldn't have any part of that! Replacing the fuselage fabric and all the other little things. I owned a J-3 for over 14 years but I was tired of going slow... Can't wait to get the '59 back in the air.
 
Welcome to the group and to the triple-tail world..

Were are you located?

its interesting how many former Stinson people end up in Bellancas. (I had a 108-1 before I saw the light)
 
congrats !

You coulda had my 14-13-2.( never too late !! )

But the continental will blast you along super fast, and being able to get the parts from
Alexandria will make your life easier - ( I didn't say cheaper) - despite the much greater complexity.

If you are doing a whole fuse cover... don't neglect the headliner.
Doing it later - I'm told you wont want to try.

L
 
I live in Las Vegas and can't wait to get her back in the air where she belongs. Yes, Stinson's are wonderful airplanes. I had access to a friends 108-2 for several years and loved it. I was actually looking to buy one of those until I talked to Bruce about his '59 260. I'm looking for some gear door clam shells; Alexandria or? The one's on there are pretty warped so I need to price check new one's (if I can find them) or try to re-work the one's on there now. Any advice will be appreciated.
 
Hi Artie:

Bruce and I flew your 260 to Columbia many years ago (from his old strip in Vegas). Fond memories of crossing over Mt. Whitney at 14,500' Bruce doesn't much believe in oxygen ;-)

Congratulations on a fine Bellanca!
 
stinson6 said:
I live in Las Vegas and can't wait to get her back in the air where she belongs. Yes, Stinson's are wonderful airplanes. I had access to a friends 108-2 for several years and loved it. I was actually looking to buy one of those until I talked to Bruce about his '59 260. I'm looking for some gear door clam shells; Alexandria or? The one's on there are pretty warped so I need to price check new one's (if I can find them) or try to re-work the one's on there now. Any advice will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Alexandria wont help you, they're not original.
My advice would be to delete them and forget they ever existed.. way more trouble then they are worth.
You also might want to start looking hard for a cruisemaster-savvy IA.
 
The gear doors were probably made by Houde Fiberglass. Houde supplied the Bellanca factory in the early years of the tri gear planes, until the factory started making their own. Hould also made the Viking type wing root fairings (with STC) for Cruisairs, and Masters. I talked to him years ago, but he is long gone, and the molds and STCs were sold to some guys that wanted his Apache gear door rights. They didnt do anything (that I know of) with the Bellanca stuff. ______Grant.
 
gjordan said:
Hould also made the Viking type wing root fairings (with STC) for Cruisairs, and Masters.
Click to expand...

I like the root fairings but I think anyone who really thinks they improve speed is thinking wishfully - at least on the -3. I've flown it both ways and cant detect any difference.
I do like the way they help keep cloud moisture out of the wing during IFR! That alone makes them worthwhile to me.
 
yup, the wing root fairing keep the critters out fine.. and give you hours of fun trying to keep them attached to the
thin wing skin they screw into !

Dan Torrey at MARS in Santa Paula Ca. certainly the IA of choice for Bellancas.
Biggest mistake I made when I first bought my cruisaire was not going to him right away.

Working with dan on your plane is an education in itself.
He is a fund of practical solutions to all the little problems you will encounter,
and that can worry you.. often unnecessarily.

I paid him not much more for a complete annual inspection, than I did for a bad repair
by a pair of 'cesspipe" mechanics that I had to fix myself at great expense.

Of course there are a couple of knowlegable Bellanca IA/AP's reading this right now !

L.
 
blimpy said:
and give you hours of fun trying to keep them attached to the
thin wing skin they screw into !
Click to expand...

I made strips of aluminum about 5" long and put 8-32 Pemnuts just a short distance from each end. Made holes to line up with the cuffs just wide enough to get the strips through. Slathered each one with epoxy, worked them into the holes, lined them up and secured them with machines screws until it set.. presto! nutplates.
I just used regular rivet-on nutplates in the boot cowl.
 
I had heard that they (wing root fairings) didnt make any speed difference, but that they made the wind noise less. I have only been in Bellancas with them, so I dont know if that is true or not. I would still like to put Petton gear doors on my plane, but the feds make it impossible without a ton of money. Pettons hardware was flimsy, but the doors looked real good. ______Grant.
 
I don't see how, in this age of noise cancelling headsets, that wind noise would ever be an issue.. I didn't notice any difference noise-wise at all.

and if people aren't using noise-canceling headsets, maybe I should TALK LOUDER?? :)
 
I've never had them on mine so I cant say from personal experience. I did chat with someone who spent a great deal of time and FAA interaction to install them on his -3A. His take was they were way more trouble than they are worth. He couldn't swear that there was enough of an improvement to justify dealing with the extra monkey motion.
 
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