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Home My WebLink AboutTimes-Advocate, 1981-06-24, Page 15It's a classic - 25 years old Champion plane refurbished- back in the air Doug Ecker stood prtfudly beside the aircraft he refurbished after it sat neglected in a garage for over ten years. He spoke confidently about the recent history of the now shiney-whlte airplane. It is a 90 horsepower Champion, model 7EC Ecker says, with a 35 foot wingspan and two seats. It was originally built in 1956. The aircraft had been taken out of service by the department of transport (DOT) in 1968 and was put in storage. The previous owner had begun the restoration work, removing most of the fabric and interior from the air- craft. The fuselage and tail is made of steel tubing, with wooden formers; the wings are wooden spars shaped by aluminum ribs. The unit is then covered with fabric and doped (painted to protect and tighten the covering). Doug said that when he bought the airplane in March of 1981, he thought he would have to do a lot more work on in the basement of Ecker's it than he eventually did. family home. He thought the wings The aircraft is now would have to be recovered, equipped with strobe, Ian - but a punch test done on the ding and navigational lights material showed the fabric and could be flown at night if was still airworthy. Ecker had the pilot's rating Fortunaterly too, the for night flying. engine had been overhauled. To Doug, the project was "just a matter of putting it back together." Since the aircraft was factory built originally, the work Ecker did had to be supervised by an aircraft engineer. Ron Riley of Bluewater Aero Maintenance, Grand Bend, cleared out a back corner of his shop. With Riley as "somebody to look over your shoulder", Ecker went to work. The tail and fuselage were quickly cleaned up and recovered and new plexi- glass and a new interior were installed. The dash was rearranged to make room for a radio and a direc- tionalgyro. The wings were re -doped Ecker seems to come by his flying interest naturally. His father, Dr. D.A. Ecker, flew as a young man, and both father and son had dabbled in radio control models Doug took his ground school and began flying lessons while at Fanshawe College. He acquired his pilot's licence in September of 1979. 1980 was a busy year for Doug. He graduated from the college's electronics technicians course, got a job in his field at Bell Aerospace in Grand Bend and the Champion he bought in March had its first flight on June 25. Doug has studied the history of his aircraft and the AT BLUEWATER FAMILY DAY — The annual family dinner was held Sunday at the Bluewater Rest Home at Zurich. Above, Bert Horton of Hensall visits his sister May Rowcliffe, a resident of the Home. At the right is Alma Horton. T -A photo type. He has log books back to 1965. The Champions were originally built by Aeronca; then, as is Doug's 90 horsepower 7EC model, by a Champion company. Decoration at Crediton By MRS. PETER MARTIN Sunday morning Decoration day service was held at Zion United Church for the Crediton Cemetery Special Music was provided by the Exeter mens quart - tet; Bob Russell, Norm Walper, Pat Skinner and Carfrey Cann of James Street United Church provided appropriate music. The sermon delivered by Rev. Brian Elder was, "Gods Danger Signal". Flowers in the church were placed there in loving memory of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Eilber, by their daughter, Mrs. Ward Fritz. Next Sunday will include the receiving of new members into the church by Con- firmation, and the Sacrament of Holy Com- munion. Mr. and Mrs. Alf Smith spent a day at Wonderland this past week. They found it a very enjoyable place to visit. The all Canadian Talent was It is a place that we can be proud of. Sunday afternoon, the Crediton Firemans Association met the challenge of the Parkhill firemen and battled with four other teams in water hockey. Unfortunately, Crediton was eliminated in the first round and Parkhill ended up the victors. Crediton will be competing in another game of water hockey, in llderton on July 12. The Crediton team consisted of: Charlie Browning Jr. Jim, Fink- beiner, Brian Elder, Doug Lightfoot, Larry Jones and Peter Martin. OJT o\e`l There's Never Been A Better Time To Buy Than During Our 46th Anniversary SALE Break A Balloon For Discounts UP TO $5000 Plus...Save The 7% Provincial Sales Tax (Expires June 30) INg 1 Do,7,P Misec,al D.Sglc, islS ted iil tote EVE°ooUGera/)cetOoStS{$;jo, evy? of Don't Like To Gamble? Okay...We'II give You A Straight 5% DISCOUNT Do it the Admiral Way. Model E3L79 30"/76.2 cm. range with easy to clean porcelain finished oven plus many desirable features. The contehiporary black gloss door hos a see-through window. — Easy to remove plug-in elements and retainer ring - Deluxe gloss background with fluorescent console light - Automatic appliance outlet - Digital clock con be set for delayed cooking and automatic off. -_ 30" W, 481 " H, 26 r D. 76.20 cm. W, 123.19 cm. H, 66.99cm.D. *Discounts to $50.00 ToJune 30 Choose from Our Selection of Admiral Model CN481 Admiral's top of the line 14.2 cu. ft/402.14 capoci• ty freezer/ refrigerator with freezer shelf and separate ice cube troy storage comportn,ent. — Frost Free freezer and refrigerotor — 14.2 cu. ft./402.14 capacity (10 47 cu. ft./296.51 refrigerator comportment/131 lbs./59.0 kg. freezer) Frigid Meat keeper Butter conditioner - Cantilever "rod type" steel shelves • Twin crispers - Stylish Teokgroin handle insert Easy -roll wheels. • 62% " H, 30" W. 29" D 158.12 cm. H, 76.20 cm W, 73 66 m. 0. * Save The Sales Taxi To June 30 RANGES AND REFRIGERATORS RUSSELL ELECTRIC (Exeter) Ltd. Main St Phone 235-0505 We Service Bellanca took over in the 60's and has since gone out of business. The airplane has about 2,600 hours total time --which means that it has seen some good use, Ecker said , considering it sat in a garage for over ten years. The 25 -year-old plane is just getting to be old enough to be considered a classic Doug noted. But perhaps the prime reason for owning is the economy of flying. Rental rates are expensive Ecker said, and the Champ can be flown for an hour on about five gallons of gas. Doug hopes to fly the Champ to Oskosh, Wisconsin, someday, to visit the Experimental Aircraft Association's Annual fly -in. Hundreds of homebuilt, sport and restored aircraft attend the annual event. Until then though, Doug and his father fly as much as they can, year round. The aircraft is kept at a small grass airstrip about a mile and a half north of Exeter Flying is limited by the short daylight hours in the winter, but Doug still manages to get a few hours in on weekends, when the runway is free of snow. About 12 other aircraft, including several homebuilts, fly from the field. Times -Advocate, June 24, 1981 Page 1 5 BEFORE — Doug Ecker stands next to his Champion aircraft os it was in the spring of 1980. The entire aircraft needed a good cleaning, and new fabric on the tail and fuselage. �Z. ,44`:U AFTER — Doug Ecker today, standing next to his now airworthy airplane. A new interior and a fresh coat of dope brightened the small plane's appearance. TIGER TIMES from Stephen Central Our final school write-up for the school year 1980-81. Tony Tiger is here to say read our last articles and so long for the summer! Bike Rodeo Finals - Saturday June 6, the Stephen Central winners went to Huron Park to compete against other schools. Our school placed first and won the trophy. Congratulations to all those involved. -Ruth Ann Martin Fund Raising- The grade 7 students sold popsicles during the last week of school to raise money for Camp Sylvan. -Janice Schade, End of the Year Party - Room 11 will have a party at the end of the year. Day 1 had their party on Tuesday June 23, and day two's party is on June 25 being held at Billy Wuerth's home. The parties were planned by the mothers. At the parties there will be hot dogs, chips, pop and dessert. Miss Wallen will attend. I hope all Kin- dergarten pupils have fun. -Carolyn Pritchard Kindergarten Graduation - Monday and Tuesday June 22 and 23, the kindergarten classes graduated. The pupils had a program and were given a courtesy award if they were not absent any day. Refreshments were served after each ceremony. -Carolyn Pritchard Story Book Gardens- The Kindergarten went to Storybook Gardens. They first had a picnic. The things they saw were everything from ducks to sea lions. They also saw a new ride; it was a rolling barrel which was put in by Bell Canada. After they left Storybook Gardens they went on the merry-go-round. Everyone had fun. -Carolyn Pritchard Playday- Wednesday June 17, Stephen Central held their annual activity day. Nineteen teams participated in such events as football target, tennis serve, kangaroo hop and other challenging games. There were blue teams and red teams. The overall winners were the red teams. -Stephen Anderson Grade Eight Graduation - Monday June 22, the grade eight class held their graduation ceremony. There was a buffet dinner for graduates, parents, friends, and teachers and the guest speaker was Wayne McClean of CFPL Radio. Awards and diplomas were presented to the graduates. -Tony Hewitt Cheerleader Barbecue - Thursday evening, June 28, the Stephen Central Cheerleaders met at the home of Mrs. Marlene Thornton for a barbecue of hamburgers, chips, beans, lemonade and watermelon. The girls spent the evening playing many games such as ping pong and catching frisbees. We'll Do ` the Job Right... rr auk leir 4111 !4 Whatever the proiect, toll on us for Ready -Mix Concrete • RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL • FARM (Including Manure Tanks) FREE ESTIMATES C. A. McDOWELL LTD. EXETER, ONTARIO Plant: 235-0833 Office: 235-1969 WII pay vou up toOOO to get 01100 neat YOU'LL SAVE MONEY BY GETTING OFF OIL BECAUSE THE PRICE OF OIL IS ESCALATING, AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO. Heating with oil is a habit Canadians acquired when oil was plentiful and cheap. Today sources of oil are unreliable and increasingly more expensive, so we just have to kick the habit. The habit won't be hard to break because Canada has an abundance of energy alterna- tives that are plentiful and are ultimately cheaper than oil. The Canada Oil Substitu- tion Program (COSP), is a major part of the federal govern- ment's National Energy Program. COSI' is designed to help reduce the use of oil for home heating in every pro- vince to no more than 10 per cent of total household energy use by 1990. COSP is a 10 -year program that offers grants of up to S800 covering half the cost of equiprnent and labour for changing your space or hot water heating system from oil to natural gas, electricity, propane or renewable energy sources such as wood and solar. The COSP grant is taxable. The oil substitution of a centrally heated building unit that contains two or more self-contained dwelling units can qualify for COSP grants ranging from S1,000 to S5.500. HOW TO APPLY FOR YOUR GRANT Those of you who are ready to get off oil, or have switched from oil since October 28,1980, ask for grant information from: • your nearest natural gas or electric utility; • the federal Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR) office, about conver- sion to wood or solar heat or another renewable energy source. EM R is located at: 2242 Lakeshore Boulevard W Toronto, Ontario M8V -1A5 Cali: (416) 252-5866 or toll-free: 1-800-268-2207 PLAN AHEAD FOR BEST SAVINGS To start planning your move off oil, the federal Depart- ment of Energy. Mines and Resources can help -you: • assess your home's energy efficiency by means of a free computerized EnerSave questionnaire; • insulate your home under the Canadian Home Insulation Program (CHIP) which pro- vides taxable grants of up to S500. Insulation is not a require- ment of COSP. but it makes sense to have a well insulated home before you change your heating system. The better your insulation the smaller -sized heating system you'll need when you switch off oil. Canaa'a Plantogetoffod heat This coupon gives you direct access to the free EnerSave questionnaire and information about CHIP and COSP grants. rSEMEM li.11t11l1111.111.11111l 11111MIEllMO11111titi■110INElt1111l11111tiMI■g1.SIM' 1 ■; Energy. Mme! and einem*. Mises et M Resosrree5 Caned. Peseources Canada 111r. aatname► r 1I I 1 r� —1-7Please send 1 Nein*: 1 1 L 1 1 1_:__1_...,2LLL LL ■ 'i� twee) ❑AnEncrSas•cquestionnaire ■ 1 ► t _ Li _i_l i_i__r _�__iT Li_ e O information about CHII` grants asatlahlc Andrei*. 117-711-_1 i_ : : : : i ' for homes built before 1461 , T '—i -- ..- DCOSPinformation for conversion off oil, 1 cdy/Tow 1 1 T LIJ 1 is 1 �__ - _:_ to ❑propane Owood Lsolar Provinc. l ! �_L.1_11.:_111,171:1.--.: (For gas or electric conversion information , j t FT -Til contact your nearest utilitycompany ) 1 Pwl.l Cod. 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