Oak Harbor OH
December 8, 1995

To the Buckeye Piet Assoc.:
I have been working on this thing for 1-1/2 years. A good friend and A&I and everything else there is showed me his Piet. Beautiful, as are all of his projects. It was love at first sight. I commented that I would build one if I could get some plans. He handed me an original set of 1932 plans and said ''let's see if you are serious.''
When I cleaned out my late father's garage and brought home a load of ''worthless'' lumber, I did not have the heart to throw away the top of his rickety work bench -- a piece of lumber 32 inches wide by 60 inches long by 2-1/2 inches thick that he'd brought home from a visit to California many years ago. Would you believe? - #1 spruce? It's made all of the material for the ribs. Thirty days later I had all the ribs and was ready to build the airplane.

Then the only problem is that my wife has been wanting for me to remodel her kitchen. It was only done as recently as the year 1895. But you know how grandmother's are!

So the kitchen took priority. And when I tore out the 100+ year old cupboards, I discovered the shelves were beautiful five-quarter #1 white pine. Must have been cheap back then. Guess where all that stuff is?

The fittings that attach the wing to the cabane struts were a little scary to me. The enclosed picture shows how I eased my mind.

Thanks for the back issues.

Merry Christmas!
Bill Poiry (5306 N.S.R. 5590, Oak Harbor OH 43449)

Ed's note - Bill sent a photo of his Model 'A' enigine, too. But the photo quality was not up to reproduction quality.

More from Bill . . .
1/2/97

Dear Grant,
Enclosed is a picture of my Piet to date. It is ready for cover except for those seemingly endless small details.

I "quite by accident" got hold of quite a few Franklin engine parts. In my serch for more, I discovered that these engines are a hoby in themselves. I now have more parts (all four cylinder) and was able to assemble a real good 65.

As you can see, it is now on my Piet. Perhaps someone else out there has parts for 65 hp through 95 hp engines and maybe some trading could take place.

I went crazy and had the tail spring made in a spring shop. It is to Pietenpol specs. I see that others are making them from John Deere and motorcycle parts. If anyone is interested (or crazy enough) I can get them one for a bit over $65.00!

I wonder if anyone ever installed a Ford V-8 60 hp in a Piet. I have a couple of them. Did you know that a 1937 V-8 60 hp weighs less than a Model "A" Ford engine?

Thanks for a really good newsletter and I would like that info. on prop making.

Thankd you,
Bill Poiry 5306 NSR #590, Oak Harbor OH 43449

Another web page by Grant MacLaren