A Carousel to Convey Classics
There is a 70’ x 70’ hangar, at Falmouth Airpark on Cape Cod, that presently houses three classic airplanes: a 1959 PA-22-20 Piper (converted Tripacer, now a 150hp Pacer taildragger), a Piper Super Cruiser, a 1947 Piper PA-10---all beautifully restored, plus a new Piper Sport LSA. Piper and the Czech aircraft company that manufactures it, made a deal to distribute them here in the U.S., and sales are expected to be in the vicinity of 600 within a year.
Who owns these? John Garabedian, President of CAPA (Cape Area Pilots Association). The aircraft and a number of others of the more than 20 airplanes he owns operate largely from Falmouth Airpark.
What’s unusual is a covenant in this aviation-oriented community with attached hangars that requires a certain percentage of house must go with hangar sizes. For John’s, it meant building a large square footage house: 11,000. But the most unusual fact: he has space for four planes because he has a four-plane ‘turntable,’ so as to speak, that can rotate the aircraft chosen to face the hangar door. The day we were there, the Super Cruiser faced out.
More shortly about the carousel, but worth noting first are Garabedian’s other aircraft: a Remos GX (LSA), carbon-fiber, which has a useful load of 660 pounds; J-3; J-5C; PA-11; PA-15 Vagabond; PA-18; PA-23 Geronimo (only two in the world of which have fuel injected IO-360’s); ‘46 Ercoupe; ’46 Stinson; ’46 Aeronca Champ; ’46 Taylorcraft BC-12D that’s fully IFR; 1938 Aeronca 65-LA, predecessor to the Chief with Lycoming O-145 engine; Navion Rangemaster (doesn’t have sliding canopy---rather, doors); a Piper J-4 still being finished; PA-16 Clipper, restoration just about complete; Cessna 120; Cessna 140; and a 1946 Funk. At this point Garabedian paused, and said, “How many airplanes do you need? It’s like ‘How many shoes do you have?’ I guess I’m the Imelda Marcos of airplanes.”
He went on: “The story of the carousel begins with the story of how I got to Falmouth Airpark. I collect classic and antique airplanes. I like to buy them as wrecks and restore them so they’re brand new. Flying around in a 40-year-old airplane---who knows the inside---who knows how much corrosion there is---whether the wing spars are corroded, or the inside of the wing struts is corroded, ready to collapse---so I feel safer in a 50-60-or 70-year-old airplane than I do in a new airplane simply because anything that’s gone wrong with it has come up on a service difficulty report (SDR) and the FAA has addressed it. The Taylorcraft BC-12D 1946 only had four AD’s against it, until they came out with one about five years ago saying that the wing struts ought to be replaced. Every known problem with the aircraft design has been found.
“So, anyway, I saw an ad in Trade-A-Plane for a Beech Staggerwing, which I always thought was one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built. Usually when you see an ad in it, it’s in Idaho, or Texas, or some far-off place, and you think, ‘How in hell am I gonna get this thing back?’ But this one had a 508 area code. So I called the guy up and he said, ‘I’m on Cape Cod, and if you want to come on down and look at it, I’m here most of the time because I’m an airline pilot and I’m here usually.’ He was an American Airline pilot; his name is Bill McClure and he wanted to buy another aircraft. So I flew down with my mechanic (at the time I had a full-time A&P working for me). Looking out of his hangar, I thought, ‘Wow, this place is cool.’ I have a place in suburban Southboro, where I also have a private runway, and one in Northern Vermont, and thought about the Cape that there’s hardly any snow on the ground, summer is cooler, Fall lasts longer, winter is milder. So I bought a lot here, and the one beside it, built a house, and had a hangar, and loved it here. But I needed more space, (because) most of my planes were up in Vermont in a 16,000 square foot hangar. McClure told me that he learned of a guy at OSH selling this carousel thing; you build a square hangar and you can put four planes in one hangar. (Meanwhile) I also built T-hangars (to take more planes)."
Asked about technical details, Garabedian noted the carousel spins in one direction, you pick the airplane you want, and you open the door. The benefit is that it doesn’t take a lot of land space (as do T-hangars).
Garabedian went to Fargo, North Dakota, to meet the owner of the company, and went to his factory across the line in Holley, Minnesota. The company builds conveyor belts, crane elevators, and such. The owner and his sons are both pilots and had the company design this carousel setup a number of years ago. He also offered and Garabedian accepted the East Coast dealership. His side comment: “If anyone wants one, give me a call.”
He elaborated, “The carousel is not cheap. It costs $32,000 but it is extremely well built, like a tank. Each platform that each aircraft sits on has its own motor, and there are Teflon tires that ride around on the floor. The carousel sits eight inches below the entrance level, so the ramp is at the entrance level.
About Garabedian himself: He’s a broadcaster who produces radio shows seven nights a week and hosts his own show on Saturday nights over 30 stations. He has broadcasting facilities in each of his three homes. Three years ago he was elected president of the Cape Area Pilots Association, which has grown from 30-some to over 130 members, with your regular Skyhawk pilots, airline captains, homebuilders, banner tow pilots, flight instructors, and commuter pilots, in a group that has safety meetings, social events, and scholarship fund-raising for students pursuing aviation careers.
By Herb Hill