10-24-06

Greetings fellow Stampeistes:

This web site is intended to help us all maintain our great Stampe flying machines.

I went missing from the world of Stampes near the end of the 1970s. Back then, spare parts for aircraft and engines seemed to be relatively available. If we could not locate what we needed in the States, we could call the “Continent” and obtain almost any part needed to get or keep our Stampes airworthy and in the air. Upon my (2003) triumphant return to this wonderful world surrounding the greatest flying machine ever perfected, I found an entirely different situation. Parts for airframe and engine have become a lot harder to find. – But most do exist.

I purchased my present Stampe in 2003 from a gentleman and former WWII fighter pilot in Oxnard, California. His name was Stewart Mimm. Stu had kept my Stampe, ser #1100, safe and sound for 23 years after purchasing it from a person in Indiana who had imported it in 1972 and used it along with another in a flying circus act. My airplane was painted up like the “Red Baron” and was “shot down” by Snoopy every Sunday for a while before Stu bought and flew it to California in 1980.

I am sorry to report that Stu passed away in November of 2005. I only learned about his passing yesterday upon receipt of a letter from his son Greg. Stewart was a fine man and I will be eternally grateful for his gift to me in the form of allowing me to purchase and further care for his beloved Stampe.

Serial number 1100 came to me in great “original” condition. The only Americanized bit being the addition of a feet-reading altimeter in the aft cockpit. I took the airplane apart and trucked it from CA to MD (KDMW) where I bolted it back together, flew it for a summer, then stripped and re-covered it the winter before last.

I suppose I should not have been greatly surprised to find that both airframe and engine parts were in very short supply here in the States and not a lot more availible in France, England, and Belgium where the bulk of the remaining Stampe fleet still resides.

I found the Stampe Club here in America had been discontinued near the end of the ‘90s and there seemed to be little in the way of regular communication between Stampe owners.

I struggled to find the few parts I needed (mostly air start system bits – 1100 had not had a working air start since the 70s for the want of just a couple of parts. I also began to gather the parts I would need in anticipation of the inevitable need to rebuild my Renault which has not been opened up since the French air force found some metal in the oil screen way back in 1965. My Renault has an estimated 900+ hrs on it since then according to the engine and aircraft logs. (Yes, it does seem impossible.)

Although that original Renault was running just fine, I did not want to let it go much longer, then spend years trying to find the wherewithal to make it go again. While I appreciate fully the conversion to alternate power that a lot of us have adopted, I really like the look, sound, originality, explosive starting system and everything else about the original Renault engine.

I was again very lucky in that my efforts to find elements that I would eventually need paid off in the form of a series of great people who own and care about Stampes and Stampeists. I found Hal Bishop. Hal led me to Don Peterson. Don led me to others.

I'm now flying a freshly rebuilt Renault 4POi (a pre-war 4PO3). Don Peterson graciously put me in touch with Walt Dunden who had a pair of Renaults which with the addition of many bits and pieces that Don already had plus a LOT of experience and expertise were molded by Don into my new engine. Don also led me by hand through the assembly process so that I will need considerably less of his help to rebuild my original Renault engine. As of today, the "new" Renault has 25.8 hours and is running fine.

Point is, I could never have made much progress without other Stampeists and every one of us that I have spoken to or communicated with has been willing to help.

I feel kind of strongly about keeping Stampes in the air here in North America and believe that the sharing of experience, spare parts, means and methods of coming up with whatever is necessary is the key to doing that.

I hacked into the FAA files and found the official list of registered Stampes in the U.S. and mailed a letter to all (52) suggesting we get to know one another and share our knowledge and experience as well as often critically needed spares. I have so-far received a response from 19.

Hopefully, most of the rest will realize eventually that this effort is for mutual support, not profit, and will join the communication.

I have been able to help locate critical parts for several Stampeists within the last year. The effort is helping to get airplanes back in the sky. I feel good about that and hope that together we can extend that success throughout the fleet by means of simple communication and mutual support.

This web site will not contain a lot of historic information, nor duplicate information already on the web. Just search for Stampe.

This website is intended for sharing: a) our experiences, b) our expertise, c) our spare parts in an effort to help and support each other.

Please share the site with other Stampe owners that you know and encourage them to communicate for mutual benefit.

I’d like to hear from each Stampe owner on the North American continent. Several are missing. FAA files are in error. Mail comes back undeliverable. See "Wo We Are"

If you have needs, or extra parts that you can make available to others, please e-mail me and I will share the info here.

Airplane for sale? Let me know. Other Stampeists are your best salesmen.

Project airplanes hidden in the barn? Someone will want to restore and fly it.

Got a fun, interesting story to tell. Share it.

We have all worked out solutions to hundreds problems with our Stampes. Please share.

E-mail me a picture of your airplane. I’d like to get all of the North American fleet photos together here. We have the most beautiful flying machines in the world.

John Kraus
jlkraus1@comcast.net


Caution: Cleavland Brakes
It has come to our attention that the installation of Cleavland brakes includes, in at least one case, the addition of a spacer on the axel that moves the inner wheel bearing almost 2" outboard on the axel. This adds a considerable bending moment on the gear leg inner piston. The original wheel has the inner bearing almost directly under the bottom of the leg. The Cleavland wheel inner bearing is NOT under the leg. Just try to make nice smooooth landings! - and remember: DON'T STOP THE WHEELS WHILE THE AIRPLANE IS IN MOTION!


New Gear Leg Rubbers
Russ Macrini has just replaced the rubber bumpers in his gear legs. He says it made a great deal of difference in the ride in taxi, take off, and landing. Reccommends highly. The rubbers aren't cheap. Best price I have found is from Guy Valvekens. valvekens.stampe@portima.be They cost 24 euro each and you need 18 for a full set. Guy is in Belgium. I've just ordered a set and will soon post the American $ and shipping costs.