Original Posted By: "Craig R. Lawler"
At Brodhead this year I had a brief discussion with Orrin Hoopman. Wetalked about some of the differences between his plans, Don Pietenpolsplans and the FGM plans. Mr Hoopmans statement to me was "Well, yougo ahead and try different things, whatever works for you go ahead anddo"After hearing that I felt a lot better about making MINOR deviations fromthe plans.Greg Cardinal>>> Steve Eldredge 09/03/97 12:58am >>>Dear all,I was wondering when this might come up, and because of its seemingsensitive nature I chosen not to say anything up to this point. Butsince some recent posts have indicated a Pietenpol Purist air (punintended) --And since I run this list--I submit the following as the"official" statement on the subject. (despite the seeming opposing viewof wonderful newsletter editors.)While I certainly respect the"Don't-change-anything-thing-the-Piet-is-perfect-as-it-is" point ofview, imposing it on other homebuilders of the fine design is a littleirritating. Pietenpol himself was an innovator and I feel would be amongthe firstto encourage a certain amount of innovation by builders. A buddy ofmine is about to fly the first Subaru powered Piet I have seen, and whenthe old timers come around the hanger and ask where the model A is, hisresponse is that "Bernie would be flying behind a subaru if he wouldhave had one" I think that there is more than a degree of likelihood inthis statement. With regard to airframe modifications: There is nocommandment that you have to follow them. Not even HowardHenderson hasa perfect "to-the-plans-piet" anyone who uses braided cable fordrag/anti-drag wires or aluminum instead of "tern plate" has mademodifications to the plans. Others have added a wing or used cub parts,or changed the airfoil--and still call it a Pietenpol. Granted itreally isn't an Air Camper anymore, but it is still someone's vision ofwhat they want in airplane. Changes to the plans are ok so long as youknow what you are doing, which brings me to the point of this post.I believe that a zealous rush to defend the design as it sits on paperis the type of response that has a tendency to stifle open discussionand acts to discourage people from asking questions. I suggest thatfolks not rush so quickly to the "don't changeanything response" when others ask sincere honest questions.After all if we really wanted to pick a nit, none of us have a truePietenpol unless we bought one built by Bernard himself.Respectfully Steve e.________________________________________________________________________________