Chapter Member Les Krumel and his Thorp T-18 Featured in Kitplanes Magazine

Les Krumel invested 22 years building his award-winning Thorp T-18

Les Krumel – Thorp T-18 https://www.kitplanes.com/one-piece-at-a-time/

To determine what airplane to build, Krumel compiled a list from KITPLANES® issues, August 1990, October 1991, July 1992 and April 1993. The list included the Kitfox, Glasair, RANS, RV-3, Pazmany, and Falco. To winnow the list, he compared his accumulated skills to the airplanes’ predominant building materials. Ultimately, “My desire was to find an all-metal, two-seat, low-wing design with a proven heritage and Lycoming engine that offered plans.”

The Thorp T-18 was on the short list; it made the final cut when a friend of his mother, LaVonne, was surrendering his Thorp project and offered everything to him.

……..

Getting ready to cover the wing. The nose ribs without primer denote the wet-wing fuel bays.

…Krumel finished his Thorp in 2015, and begin venturing to distant states, eventually flying to Oshkosh where he was awarded a plans-built outstanding workmanship award.

Krumel joined a gaggle of T-18s on the ramp at Sedona, Arizona, in 2017.

For complete Kitplanes article, click here: https://www.kitplanes.com/one-piece-at-a-time/