When I borrowed it, towed it to Sun & Fun and ran it up Dave did
ask me tolimit themanifold pressure to 45 inches of HG. Try
boosting your typical Lycomingto 45 inches ofHG and you will
be killed by the shrapnel :) Dave never really gave up onit. He
 just  ran out of energy to work on it. I have a lot more
 pictures. You  might beable to get itSteve as you have plenty
 of room in your  hangar. I think I can get it tocool.  Maybe
not 400 MPH but  well over 300.

Here is the last address I have for Dave. At the least it should
go in theEAA museum.

Dave Garber
935 Archer Grove Rd.
Athens GA. 30607

Doug Fir knew him too.

Paul Lamar

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Paul, that is an interesting idea.  I'm insane to even consider it
 with  everything else going on.

We'll need to find out if Dave's estate have the parts in good
condition...complete fuselage skins,wings, etc.

If you will help with the engineering  and will do the outreach to
the estate and they will be willing, I would be willing to consider
 establishing
a rotary engine foundation or other volunteer-based, non-profit
 for the  purposes of attempting to get the aircraft reengined and
 flying.  It  would be with the expressed intent that it eventually
 reside in the  EAA museum.

In this regard, let's discuss using using two of our three rotor
engine NA peripheral port engines at least in the initial test
phase.  With the three rotor engines, we'll need to evaluate how to
reduce weight everywhere we can.  Also look at swapping out those
heavy metal C/S props for ligher Hartzel composite CS or other.

Steve Beckham

I'll volunteer my time and travel expenses if somebody can loan us
 a  pickup truck. I think it is stored in a trailer. I borrowed
 Dave's  SUV the last time. Perhaps his widow would loan it out
 again. It may  mean two trips across the US which I don't mind.
 Perhaps the  Mcminnville Spruce Goose museum would be interested
 once we are done  playing with it. The engines are in good shape. I
 would not change  them. Dave spent big bucks on the accessory
 drives.  Dave had them  over hauled recently. The wood spars need
inspection.

Paul Lamar

Paul,

Others

Yes Dave was a great guy and I only knew him for four years but he
was very helpful and gracious in providing me with my Bell 47 parts
for a very reasonable price.

Dave told me he did fly the plane about eight hours but never over
 engine  rpm of 5500, because of the inferior bearings in the stock
 Bell 47.  Paul might have run it faster for a few seconds at Sun and
 Fun:)  Up  until he had a stroke a few years ago he was still hoping
to rebuilt  the DG-1 and do some speed trials.I was helping to
 organize the  project, much to his wife's dismay.

The plane is damaged though as something fell on it while it was
 in the  hangar. I believe he wanted to make new wings and it definitely
needed a new canopy.  The design is not without warts and there
 are several  things he told me he would like to change.  I came up
 with a few myself  mainly in the wing attachment method and the PSRU
 internals design.  Quite frankly I am surprised the PSRU didn't
 seize.  Some of the roller  bearings in the Bell box had flat spots
 on them. He had a good oiling  system in it.  Dave was especially
 proud of the tail and rudder and  remarked that because it extended
 downwards as well it had a lot of  authority.

Dave also let me take of lot of pictures of his Fuji which was
dressed out Japanese colors and pointed out the landing gear
mechanism for my benefit.  From my understanding the Fuji sat for
awhile.I don't know what happened on his last flight but a year
ago I also had an engine lose power on takeoff despite sumping the
wing tanks well
(draining them completely actually) and sumping the front.  Ground
ran it for almost 20 mins as well. But a little water stayed in
 the carb  bowl and of course fuel floats on water.  Depending on the
 climb out  angle the water is sucked into the carb and the engine
 sputters.  It  doesn't die it just doesn't make enough power to
 sustain flight.  Luckily I was prepared for it and had a lot of
 runway ahead of me to  land again.After several more engine
 starts and sputters it ran fine. The local A&P said it is a
 common problem with planes that sit for  awhile.

Contrary to belief Dave  never gave up on the idea of seeing it
 race  and was quite upset at the Reno crowd.  He also licked the
 cooling problem  showing me some custom radiators he had with angled
 baffles. He offered  to sell me the plane or the engines several
 times and as much as I would  have like to, I feel like the rest of
 you it would be a shame to  part it out.  I wanted Dave to see his
 dream come true, fly, and  kick the pants out of the competition or
 at least make some records.  After the stroke he was agreeable to
 having some else fly it.  Now  the wiser choice would be to restore
 it to museum quality.  It needs  some work, paint, and I would guess
 at least a thousand people/hours  to accomplish that.

We are missing out on the company of a great gentlemen.  I can
contact his wife about this matter but for the time being I think
 we  ought to respect her space and give her time to coup.Losing Dave
in a flight accident was one of her biggest fears and she made that
abundantly clear to me when I sat in her kitchen years ago.

Doug in Japan

You can always get silicon nitride rollers for the pinion gears.
They will work at twice the RPM.

Paul Lamar

 Hi,
 How did they start these engines? It is evident from the photos
 that there is no flex plate. I take it that required some one to
 flip the prop to start. Dale Davies

 -
 As I recall they had 24 volt aircraft starters/genrators built into
 the geared accessory sections. I think Jim Mederer designed the
 accessory sections. All I had to do was push the start button.

 Paul Lamar

Hi Paul,
Thankyou for the answer. This was not a low cost install by any means,
with the Bell redrives and the accessory drive gear cases; times two.

Dale Davies



Dale,

I thing Dave told me he bought about three Bell 47 drives for $300 a
piece way back when.

Now they are rare and helicopter guys of course want to hang on to them.
I would love to have an accessory plate like that.  I believe Dave had
the starter and two mags going into them.
I wonder if it was cast or milled?

Doug in Japan