Dream Wacos Collection

NC 607M was manufactured in New York by Fleet Aircraft a company created by Reuben Fleet to manufacture the biplane designed by him while an employee of Consolidated Aircraft Corporation.  NC 607M was one of 90 constructed with the Model 1 designation originally equipped with a Warner Scarab 110 horsepower engine.  It was given the serial number of 183.  The airplane was manufactured under Type Certificate Data Number ATC #122 issued May 29, 1929.

The delivery receipt for #183 was signed by Paul Mantz and the airplane was delivered to its first owner in northern California.  It has remained in northern California for the entire 95 years of its existence. 

The aircraft was originally painted with a light blue fuselage and yellow wings (as it is today) according to Katherine Hulme, Director of the Santa Maria Museum of Flight in Santa Maria, California according to a letter received by Paul Seibert from Barbara Humes, Librarian of the Western Aerospace Museum in Oakland, California on July 30, 1993. 

The airplane was last actively being flown in and around Novato, CA in the early 1960’s and was destroyed in a landing accident sometime in late 1966 or early 1967 as the last logbook entry in the airframe log is dated in October 1966. The Warner 145 engine was purchased in about 1965 by Don Masters at Watsonville.  It came from Salena.  Don sold it to Will Green as a spare for the Fleet.  

Paul purchased the wreck in 1992 and hauled to his shop to begin the restoration which would ultimately take thirty-one years ending in late spring 2023 with its first flight in 56 years. 

The restoration began with extensive research into the history of this airframe and the Model 1.  Paul contacted the National Air and Space Museum, the FAA, and a number of private museums, airplane owners and type clubs for information to be sure he got the restoration as historically accurate as possible.  He was able to obtain Consolidated’ s original drawing list for the Model 1 and use that to locate drawings of parts that could not be replicated from copying parts on hand as well as to check that the project’s pieces were themselves correct. 

Paul also obtained and used in the restoration the “Erection Instructions and Maintenance Manual for Fleet Airplanes” as well as the “Fleet Standardized Repairs List”.  Paul photographed over twenty other Fleet aircraft in his research and his research files are voluminous comprising a dozen boxes and hundreds of letters, articles and note pages.  All this was in an effort to restore NC 607M to as close to original as possible. 

According to a memo produced by Consolidated Aircraft Corporation published in 1929 and furnished by the National Air and Space Museum (and attached here) used by Paul in the restoration the original Specifications, Performance and Weights of the Model 1 are:

Performance

The empty weight of the restored aircraft is 1149 with the Warner 145, modern avionics, tailwheel and brakes.  Aircraft gross weight is 1740 and Useful load is 591. 

Restoration Timeline:

1992    – Paul purchased the project and brought it to his workshop

1993    – Paul strips fabric from fuselage, disassembles airplane and begins repairs to fuselage frame.

1993-3/19/2011 – Removed original cloth fabric covering, inspected wing assemblies, removed and media blasted all steel fittings, refinished all steel fittings with PPG Desoto 515X399 epoxy primer and reinstalled into wing.  Inspected, pressure tested, and installed new Fleet Model 1 aluminum fuel tank as supplied by owner into wing center section.  Installed new Poly-Fiber heavy weight fabric.  Applied Poly Fiber Poly-Tone Sun Valley Ivory number 132 finish coatings of paint. 

1993 – overhauled magneto obtained

1993 – Overhauled Airpath Compass, U.S. Gauge Airspeed Indicator, Stewart Warner Tachometer, U.S. Gauge Oil Pressure Indicator, Pioneer Temperature gauge, Lewis CHT gauge, Kollsman Altimeter installed.

1996  – Kollsman Altimeter obtained and installed. Bendix ASI installed.

2001– Paul obtained Warner 145 engine serial number 114 which he and David Palmer overhauled.

2002 – Overhauled Pioneer Turn and Bank installed. 

2003 – seat belts installed in fuselage

2011-2021 Paul completed the airframe, covered the fuselage and finished covering wings.  He crafted both panels and installed instruments.  The airframe was rigged, and controls installed.  Windscreens were fabricated and installed. 

2014

9/15/14 – Wings to Brian, who also did the lower wings

11/17/14 – Fuselage to Schellville to fit wings and returned on 11/24

2015 – Wings finished at Schellville. Horizontal tail to Brian to paint color.

August 2021 – Paul passed away.

September 2021 – Project purchased by Scott Woods and delivered to West Coast Air Creations for completion.

2021-2023 – Wings were assembled and installed on airframe.  Wings were rigged according to Fleet rigging manual. Control surfaces attached.  The tail section was repainted, Fleet Logo painted, and tail section reattached. The Warner Scarab 145 horsepower engine was installed with a placarded limitation of 125 horsepower at 1720 RPM.  A Trig transponder and radio were installed. The Firestone wheels and brakes were removed and replaced with Grove wheels and brakes and an Alaska Bush Wheels tail wheel assembly was installed. An ACK ELT was installed. 

2023 – Aircraft first flight was April 11, 2023.