TALESPINNERS - March, 2001

Millennium Chief
by Tim Fry

It was a very cold day in February when I ventured across five Ohio counties to visit Paul Gould, his shop, his son David, and the Adams County Salamon Airport where Paul hangers his brand new Millennium Chief. Actually the plane is a 1946 Aeronca Chief originally manufactured in Vandalia, Ohio. That’s right; NC9526E was born a few miles north in Vandalia, not Middletown as one might have suspected.

The Millennium Chief, as his friend Ray Johnson dubbed it, was almost an RV-6. With no knock intended against Van, when you see the extraordinary quality of the restoration, you agree that Paul’s efforts were not misdirected. His intention was to purchase the RV kit at Sun N’ Fun in 1996, but those plans changed when Paul’s partner in the Chief, Allen Gaffin, suggested that they restore the plane that Allen taken out of service 16 years earlier. Allen had started the Chief restoration on his own, but the job, if he wanted to do it right, was just too big for one person and he lost interest. Sometime later, in December 1995, over a delicious $100 hamburger, Allen said, “Let me sell you the old Chief.” Paul made a counter offer that they do it together. With that suggestion their partnership was sealed with a handshake and the restoration began the next day.

For those who haven’t seen Paul’s (and now David’s) shop let me tell you that it’s a homebuilder’s paradise. He has almost enough room to park a DC-3 inside and the shop is full of sheet metal brakes, rollers, sheers, mills, lathes, band saws and his own forklift. Paul and David run a bottling machine (as in Coke and Pepsi packaging) refurbishment business, so much of the equipment a homebuilder might want a bottling machine refurbisher already has.

The pair brought the plane to Paul’s shop and after about a week’s effort to clean the mud dobbers, wasp nests and bird droppings out of the wings they realized the general condition of the wings was pretty good. Their friendly local A.I., Bob Haas, came by for an inspection and pronounced the wings ready to cover. And cover they did, but not until all the wings’ metal parts had been zinc-chromated and new leading edge skins fabricated. After 1100 hours the wings were ready to paint. The fuselage received treatment similar to the wings. It was taken down to bare metal, bead blasted and epoxy primed. All the wood formers were returned to like-new condition.

At this point the project takes a serious turn for the worse. Allen died of a massive heart attack and further progress on the Chief stopped with him. Paul eventually ended up as the sole owner of the Chief. When I asked him what the best part of the project was and how he kept his motivation going he didn’t even have to think about his answer. “The time spent with Allen working on the wings was the best part.” It was clear that a bond between the two friends motivated Paul to continue. It was obvious to Paul that he must continue the project and complete it as a tribute to Allen Gaffin.

Allen would be pleased with the final results. The Chief is as near to 100% original restoration as anyone could do. The pictures that accompany this article show examples of the high quality of the craftsmanship. May parts (plastic, placards, etc.) had to be fabricated from scratch. Paul searched nationwide to find parts for the plane. The Aero McDowell hand starter, for example, came all the way from Tucson, Arizona. Paul would stop at all the little airports he could find, looking for parts, as he drove cross-country for his business.

The plane is now finished. A very detailed builder’s log shows 4920 hours were spent restoring the Millennium Chief from December 4, 1994 to February 2001. This is remarkable because the plane has less than 1200 flight hours on it. During my visit to Adams County Salamon I notice that the plane was able to draw a small crowd as we examined it in the hanger. Paul is grateful to Salamon FBO Don Morrow for providing a warm place to assemble the aircraft and make it ready for its first flight. (Note, as of this writing the plane has been signed off and has completed its taxi tests. First flight was on February 26, 2001 @2:45PM and now has 3 hours on it. I suspect we’ll all be able to see the Chief at the Chapter 174 March meeting if the WX cooperates.)

Quite a few names are mentioned in this article. Paul’s wife Barbara (a lovely red-head) and his son David have been very supportive of the project. Ray Johnson coined its name. Don Morrow offered the space to assemble and hanger the plane. Bob Haas signed off the wings. Sadly, he died before the first flight. There were others too, whose names I don’t know, but I saw pictures of them working on the plane. Finally there is Allen Gaffin, Paul’s partner who got the whole project going. So, while Paul may own the only set of key to the Millennium Chief the personal recollections and photographic documentation show that this was a project of many hands and hearts.

Copyright © 2001 by Tim Fry.  All rights reserved.