"Never leave well enough alone." Ramond Loewy

Under Construction. Not all Links are connected:
This page is for restoration, modification, repair, and development projects, both past and present. Like Loewy, I find it difficult to leave things the way they are just because that is (or was) they way it was always done.

I've been flying and wrenching on Grumman Tigers, and Grumman Cheetahs and Grumman Travelers since 1978. There are very few aspects of the repair, service, and modification of the Grumman-American AA5x that I haven't tackled.  Every time I work on these planes, I think of something that could have been done better to make the plane easier to work on, more comfortable, more user friendly, and faster.  Especially faster. Here is what I've been up to since 1995:

Just a note on Restorations: I had a LOT of pics on here of Firewall Forward transformations, interior upgrades (headliners), engine upgrades, complete restorations, avionics installations, instrument panels, etc., but, I couldn't keep up with the pics on this site.  Like the AuCountry Aviation Facebook page.  They are all there.

STCs:

• Jaguar Cowling Showcase: The culmination of 10 years of planning, testing, and more testing, brings an all new cowling to the Tiger.
• NACA Inlet on an AG5B: Or, how to get one more inch of manifold pressure on an AG5B TIger.

Current Projects:

• N28747: Lots of Mods including cowling, headliner, interior, firewall forward, fuel injected engine, new instrument panel . . .
• a Better Rear Seat Latch: Building a better mouse trap
• Horizontal Fillets:  Fiberglass versions of the plastic horizontal fillets.
• Cooling exit ramps: These are improved cooling exit ramps.  1 inch taller and they won't get oil soaked and sag. 
• Cooling Mod: Getting rid of the nose gear boot.  Just one pic but, you get the idea.  I'll add more later.
• Watch this space

PMA'd Parts:

• Aluminum Instrument Panel Overlays [this link is not up to date]: 
• Fiberglass Eyebrow & Eyebrow Lighting: 

Order yours today.  Call for current pricing.  Just give me a call at (530) 613-6488.

Need-to-Know:

• Baffles: The Good, the bad, and the Ugly.  Plus a few instructions on baffle installation.  Lots of pics.
• Buried antennas:  Now that I have a CAD drawing that I can have the mounts made, it's easier.
• Cowling support rods: Or, "How I keep from accidentally hitting the support rod and having the cowling fall on my head."
• Exhaust Fairings: In my quest for speed, I've tried a few different fairings to go behind the Power Flow Systems muffler.
• Horizontal Braces:  CE-04-34
• JPI vs EI engine analyzers:  This is one of those Ford vs Chevy or Mac vs PC topics.
• Modern Parking Brake Installation : Do you hate the stupid parking brake they used on the Pre '78 Grummans
• Oil Cooler: This is my preferred method of mouting oil coolers on all of the planes.  This one is on an AA1B.
• Power Flow Exhaust: I'm a big fan of the Power Flow Exhaust.  This is how "I" install them.
• Vacuum Filter Mod: Have you ever said to yourself, "What stupid SOB made changing the vacuum filter a two man job?"
• Windshields and Windows: This is how I do windshields and windows.
• Wood and Fabric: Rebirth of a classic: N8571V, an American-Champion 7ECA Citabria converted to a 160hp 7GCAA.