Jim Hoyle's Project - The Little Looper - Taken Over by Michael Grisham 20th July 2007:

(Current Status: Flying as of 19th May 2008 - waiting for pics and comments)

The Rotec R2800 will be used to fit out this old timer. All of us at Rotec are excited, and honoured, that Jim has purchased our R2800 engine to power this unique aircraft.

Wings under Construction ... ...

Engine mounted... ... ... ...

Landing gear ... ... ... ...

Attaching Wings (mock-up)... ...

11th March 2004: Jim Hoyle writes: ... Use the ones (pics - Iused them all as they were all great!) you want. They should be self explainatory. The fuel tank you see is a combination fuel/oil tank. Since the fuselage is so open I am attempting to hide the oil tank. The front 3/4 is fuel. The rear 1/4 is oil. There is a double partition (vented) between the two to keep the oil temp from pre-heating the fuel. I hope it works. ....
Jim Hoyle.
.

More on the tank ... overall progress... ...

...Ailerons........Inter-plane struts...

......Rudder ... ......Horizontal Stabiliser Elevator...

Ready to be covered ... ... ..

Great work and the best part is that there is More to Come!

Jim Hoyle writes:

The antique aircraft I am building is a replica of the Beachey-Eaton Biplane. You can find info on it on the web site lincolnbeachey.com and go to the Beachey-Eaton Biplane or Vern Dallman and the Little Looper. The replica I am constructing is still without shape. I have finished the wings and am starting construction on the fuselage ( if you can consider three rails and a seat a fuselage). I will send you something as soon as it has a fuselage with the engine in place.

Here's a little history on the plane...

Sometime in 1914 Lincoln Beachey sold the original "Little Looper" and I understand it later crashed and was never rebuilt. In approx. 1968 a replica was constructed by Walter Bullock (who was seventy years old), and flown sucessfully. The replica eventually ended being owned by Vern Dallman who lived about fifty miles from me. Vern recovered the aircraft around 1989 and went on a show tour flying in plane in airshows. I happened to see Vern fly at one of the shows. It always stayed with me. When I considered the possibility of constructing a second replica, I found that Vern had passed away, but his replica was in a aviation museum approx. one hundred miles from me. I gathered info from a number a sources and was given complete access to the replica.

............

Photos Courtesy Carroll F. Gray Aeronautical Collection

Photo #1 is the Little Looper Drawings. Photo #2 is Vern Dallman's replica that hangs in the Hiller Museum. Photo #3 is a replica of a Curtiss Headless Pusher that Walter Bullock also built, but it's not the Little Looper.

Jim Hoyle [jimbinoc@volcano.net]

Email: jimbinoc@volcano.net