The Canadian HM-8 Replica Project

by

Paul Pontois

HOW IT STARTED

While travelling in France in June 2003 before the Montpezat gathering, we saw a beautiful HM-8 in Angers's museum and two more in Marennes inside Michel Monnereau’s hangar. My friends and I realize that, even though the HMS foundation in Brodhead had a wide range of Flying-Fleas from the 1934 HM-14 to the HM-293, 360, 1000 Balerit and to the latest Cordouan, there was nothing to evoke the years when Mignet still believed in the classical aircraft.

SOME HISTORY

Some background for those readers who are not familiar with the history of the Flying Flea: Mignet, after designing and building 7 prototypes of various configurations had designed and flown a small monoseater, "une avionette", the HM-8. This occurred before he discovered the staggered-wing formula which should have revolutionized the aviation world, and hopefully one day will.

In 1929 he published a hand-written book describing his philosophy of flight and which contained the plans of the HM-8 with accurate building instructions.

About two hundred aviation fans, for which purchasing a factory-built airplane was financially impossible, built and flew their own HM-8. The machine flew quite well, but, as every classical aircraft, was not stall-proof. One day, Mignet crashed his HM-8, fortunately without injuring himself. This incident made him realize that the HM-8 would never be the totally safe airplane he was dreaming of and he burnt his own idol!

Henri Mignet went back to the drawing board, built a small wind tunnel, and carried out extensive research. 3 years later the first Flying Flea, a tailless plane using the slot effect between wings was flying. Consequently, the HM-8 is now almost forgotten, which is a pity; it was a very nice light plane, contemporary and comparable to the Heath Parasol and to the Pietenpol. It triggered the homebuilt movement in Europe in the late 20's and the early 30's.

The Mignet history would be incomplete without including the HM-8 and we were quite sorry not to have one to show to the many visitors of the HMS Pou collection.

WHO WILL BUILD IT?

Back home, I recall the woodworking workshops a few friends and I organized in Beloeil, near Montréal. A few years ago in André Létourneau's place and under his talented supervision, we built two ¾ scale Piper-Cubs. Would André agree to build a HM-8 replica for HMS?

I discussed of it with the HMS staff, who immediately accepted the idea and asked me to make the necessary contacts.

I got in touch with André Létourneau, who was very interested. He loves vintage aircraft and his own project, an amphibian Osprey II, was close to making its first flight after 14 years of meticulous construction.

I gave him a copy of the handwritten book "Comment j'ai construit mon avionette". I also gave one to Paul Fournier, another member of the Piper-Cub workshops team, an amateur builder and a talented draftsman who had already built a Zenair CH 250. We scheduled a meeting for the following Wednesday.

Both of them agreed to do the job, André Létourneau was going to do the woodworking and Paul Fournier was going to refresh and update the plans, build the ribs templates and fabricate the metal parts.

NEW PLANS FOR A VINTAGE AIRCRAFT.

Why did we have to redraw the plans?

In the beginning, it was André Létourneau's request. He is from a family of organ builders and is accustomed to working with detailed plans that do not leave anything to the builder's initiative. The Osprey 2 and the Cubs he built also had detailed plans. The broad-brush approach Mignet had of building with long written explanations and artistic sketches, in his view, gave the builder too much initiative. He did not feel familiar enough with Mignet's spirit to interpret the drawings.

The second reason the plans were re-drawn was that, after long discussions with the HMS staff, we decided to build a HM-8 that could be displayed in flight. It is not really much more complicated to build a flying model than a static display replica; it is more rewarding for the builder and more interesting for the visitor. We have the examples of Old Rhinebeck in the United States and La-Ferté-Allais in France that clearly illustrate this point.

But, as we had to fly it, we had to make sure that the aircraft would be as safe as possible. Some details needed to be updated, which is not unusual for a 70-year-old design. The proper choice of wing airfoil is an important safety factor, and Henri Mignet left several possibilities to the builder.

Most of the original HM-8s had utilized sharp-nosed ribs, which is no longer considered an optimal solution. Mignet may have already had this feeling, as he mentions the possibility of using a round nose airfoil. We decided to use a Riblet airfoil, derived from a Göttingen airfoil contemporary to the HM-8 and very close to the airfoil that was used by Lérin, one of the most talented HM-8 builders. This airfoil is currently used on several light aircraft with excellent results.

Another example of the original design requiring updating: the ailerons. At the time, ailerons were very often activated by a single cable that was kept under tension by some kind of spring (Mignet speaks of a piece of saw blade). We could obviously not take the risk of using this method, even though it could work quite well. So we decided to use a very classical device with standard bellcranks. A differential control would eliminate the risk of adverse yaw.

Mignet also gave three possibilities of wing shapes, rectangular, rectangular with round tips and elliptic. He obviously had a preference for this third version, as most of the artistic drawings he made depicted elliptical wings. His preference pointed us the proper direction.

ANOTHER HM-8.

Looking one day at the American Flying-Flea web page, on the chapter dedicated to the HM-8, I was extremely surprised to discover that the HM-8 drawings, which I had so often looked at without really seeing them, were different from the classical HM-8 plans shown in Mignet's book. I could not believe my eyes and enlarged the drawings. No confusion was possible. The drawing figured the HM-8 D, a late and apparently unknown version which was not shown on the book.

I asked the web page editor where these sketches (and the corresponding text) were coming from and he referred me to one of the booklet published by Raymond Buckland, who for years worked tirelessly to spread the good word about the Mignet formula. That gave me a perfect opportunity to renew contact with Buck and I was pleased to hear that he was OK and busier than ever with his writing. Buck informed me that he had picked up the text and drawings from an old issue of the EAA Experimenter. With his usual cheerful kindness, he mailed a copy to me.

The text was a translation of a French magazine dated 1932 "L'Almanach de l'Aviation" and it became more and more obvious to me that the HM-8D was the missing link between the conventional HM-8 and the first Flying-Flea, the triplane HM-11. The front part of the fuselage and the shape of the wingtips were already very close to what Mignet designed for the Pou-du-Ciel.

I told Pierre Mignet about my conclusion and I must say that he was very surprised, as he did not remember anything about a last version of the HM-8. He suspected some kind of fraud and when I asked him if we should build a replica of the HM-8D, he persuaded us not to do it. We were quite sure that he was wrong and that the drawings were authentic, but, after discussion, we decided that we could not go against his advice and we started working on the classical HM-8, as per the book.

Nevertheless, I continued my investigation and called M. Ravel, the director of the Angers aviation museum. There is a HM-8 on display in this museum and I thought that M. Ravel could give me more information. M. Ravel stated that he knew only of the conventional HM-8, but he suggested me to call Daniel Château, a builder and collector very interested in the Mignet designs and who had built a web site about the HM-8:

Daniel was very interested in my research. To the best of his recollection, there was no HM-8 D version. However, he started to pore through his documentation and finally unburied the original article published in the "Almanach de l'aviation". He selected the principal drawings and published them in our behalf in a new web page:

 http://perso.wanadoo.fr/aircollection/hm8d.htm.

That was the proof we needed to convince Pierre Mignet.

I printed this page and mailed it to Pierre.

His reply was immediate: "I was wrong" he said, "the HM-8D really existed. I am now convinced and it is the model you have to build!" Meanwhile, Daniel told me to get in touch with another collector, Maurice Garsault, who confirmed the existence of the HM-8D. He sent me more info, in particular an article by Henri Mignet in the Magazine "Les Ailes" that pointed out that about 50 HM-8 D had been built. By the way, he also gave me previously completely unknown information about the first flights of the HM-11 Flying-Flea, opening new horizons of wisdom.

Unfortunately, for the HM-8D, it was too late for us, as a part of the ribs of the standard HM-8 had already been built by André Létourneau, and as Paul Fournier was already well advanced in the his drawing efforts. We consoled ourselves by reasoning that the model we were going to build was the one built most widely, nearly 200 aircraft. And the elliptical wing is so beautiful!

I have decided to build a scaled replica of the model D, which does not deserve to sink into oblivion. My friend Chris Frank, from New York, another Flea-builder, has volunteered to help me build this model. It will be on display near the classical HM-8 we are building.

Paul Fournier starts redrawing the plans.

The first plans he does are the drawings of the elliptic wing as shown on pages 164 and 190 of my 1931 edition. On this sketch, the ailerons stop before the elliptic tips, but Mignet indicates that it is accepted to let them go to the tip of the wing. It is the solution we choose as it is what is now done on any plane.

The ailerons controls will be copied on a modern plan and will be differential, as the solution adopted at the time by Mignet (ailerons pulled down by a cable with a piece of saw blade as spring to tighten the cable) could be dangerous.

The airfoil cannot be the original sharp nosed airfoil, as flying tests have shown that it could cause very sharp stalls. To keep faithful to Mignet's drawings, I discovered on page 63, drawing 14, the airfoil Göttingen 426 which is very similar to the Riblet airfoil. Consequently, we will use this Riblet airfoil which proved to be very efficient and reluctant to stall on several aircraft, included the German Horsa military glider and the Private Explorer of Bernard Laferrière. This kind of airfoil can be found in several places in the book, b-e page 229 fig 104.

Mignet does not recommend the plywood D-Cell for the wing leading edge, as being difficult to build. He prefers to use some kind of textile ribbon.

Because of the importance to have a consistent airfoil shape, and as this technique was commonly used for later HMs, we decided to use it on our HM-8 C ( name given by Mignet to the HM-8 with round leading edge airfoil, as shown on page 86).

- 2003 September and October

Two months of uncertainty.

I discovered by chance an unknown version of the HM-8, the HM-8 D and attempted unsuccessfully to convince Pierre Mignet that it was the last version of the HM-8 designed by his father. I contacted several collectors and builders in France who sent me unknown documentation to confirm my first discovery, I sent it to Pierre Mignet and when he was finally convinced it was too late, Paul Fournier had completed the elliptic wing drawings and did not want to start everything over again. Consequently, we will build the HM-8 C version as previously decided.

André Létourneau starts making ribs from the templates made by Paul Fournier, but is mostly busy preparing his Osprey 2 for its first flight (after 14 years of building time)

- 2003 November 26

André Létourneau's Osprey 2 makes its maiden flight. André is very pleased and will from now on have more time for the HM-8 construction.

André Létourneau completes the ribs and prepares wood for the fuselage construction.

We draw the fuselage flanks on the table and André and Paul Fournier build them.

We check every detail (tail wheel and l/G support) and make minor changes before covering them with plywood.

Paul Fournier works with Andre Letourneau to sand and inspect the ribs. He also gives André the drawing for the wing tips bows.

HMS sends me an email: How about we make FLOATS for HM8 also?

Another email from HMS: "I really love the idea of floats/maybe we should show it off at Maine Seaplane event, weekend after labor day (US) in whatever year."

I give a call to Paul Fournier to make sure that he agrees to redraw the float plans and I start investigating.

On the HM-8 book, between page 106' and page 107, there is a beautiful drawing of a HM-8 on floats with a sketch and some notes about building them.

Between two snow storms, I deliver to Beloeil the plywood I purchased in Trois-Rivières from a boat building supplier.

Work on the fuselage flanks, see the laminated wing tip bow made by André. See the first metal parts made by Paul Fournier (Tail skid, cabane brackets, etc). Try to figure the engine stand for the Praga engine. Called Gerry, as carb and muffler are missing. Gerry says he will try and fly to Beloeil next Saturday, weather permitting. He says also that fitting the Praga on the frame may be uneasy. Ordered the streamline tubing for the cabane from Claude Guilbaut.

- 2004 January 23

HMS suggests that if the Praga does not fit easily on the HM-8 fuselage, we could install a Poinsard. However, I suggested Gerry on the phone to try and suppress the carb. heater to fix the Praga more easily.

- 2004 January 28

Gerry could not come to Beloeil last Saturday due to the cold weather (the engine of his Cessna did not start)

Work on the fuselage flanks assembly. Careful checking with the book and photographs led us to cut 1" at the bottom of the firewall and modify Paul Fournier's plans.

The fuselage assembly is glued and the look is perfect. The way André Létourneau harmonized and blended the plywood sheets is very artistic and will allow us to varnish the hull like on several HM-8 we saw in our museum tours.

Paul Fournier came with the hardware he had made during the week We adjust the control bar on the fuselage. Everything fits OK

                  .

André made a great job during the week. All turtledeck bulkheads are cut and positioned. The alignment with water level and plumbline is perfect. The sternpost is completed with the vertical rudder main spar. All parts are ready to assemble for the vertical and horizontal rudder. The 3 of us agreed to replace the piano wire of the rudder trailing edge with curved sheets of plywood. The look after fabric covering being the same as the original. Paul Fournier adjusts the sternpost bracket on the sternpost.

Two important steps:

-The empennage, (vertical and horizontal) is glued.

-The cabane streamlined vertical members are adjusted on the fuselage frame, ready to be fixed to the horizontal member.

A compression spring is purchased in Montreal for the tail skid (die-cut spring).

- 2004 February 24

A real progress during the week:

-The turtledeck bulkheads are completed and glued in place.

-The empennage (horizontal and vertical) is adjusted in place. Hardware completed and positioned.

-The firewall is glued.

-The control floor bar is in place.

-The cabane horizontal bar is attached to the vertical members.

-All wing ribs are varnished.

We had visit and help from a new pouducielist, future HM-380 builder Claude Martin and skilled assistance of Jean-Pierre Gagnon.

- André Létourneau worked a lot during the week. The turtle deck is plywood covered and so is one side of the vertical rudder. The fuselage looks great, like a modern sculpture.

- Claude Martin and myself varnished the inside of the fuselage.

- Paul Fournier keeps adjusting the hardware, brackets, controls, etc (long and accurate job)

- Decisions are made:

The fuselage will be totally varnished, mahogany color, like a boat. The wings and tail will be painted white. The front fuselage turtledeck and the front roundness will be made of brushed aluminum.

I did not realize from the beginning the difficulty to find proper spoke wheels, looking like 1930 wheels.

For a few weeks, I now lurk around junkyards (beneath the snow), garages and bicycle shops. I also dig about into piles of specialized magazines.

I alert HMS, Pou-guide and Foxpapa. The problem of the HM-8 wheels becomes an international concern.

A light at the end of the tunnel on Thursday 4: A nice lady in a bicycle shop tells me that the kind of wheels I need can only be found on hose-race sulkies.

I immediately rush to Trois-Rivières' race-course field and, looking at some sulkies, it seems to me that she could be right, if the weight and the axle diameter are OK.

A groom who is stabling horses gives me the phone number of a sulkies supplier who sets an appointment for next Monday. I keep my fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, a call from André Létourneau tells me that he is short of plywood for the spar's walls. He also asks for instruction about the orientation of plywood fibers for the horizontal walls. Pierre Mignet and Hans Engels give me the proper information in just a few hours.

My daughter Pascale, having to make shopping in Trois-Rivières purchases the sheet of plywood.

I pick up the sulky wheels in Trois-Rivières.. Beautiful and cheap stuff, stainless steel. No risk of rust. Outside tire diameter 22 ½". The drawings on the book are rather 20", but it should look about the same. The spokes and the tires give a fine look of vintage aircraft.

- 2004 March 10 and 11

Two busy days finalizing a busy beginning of week for André Létourneau and Paul Fournier.

Main jobs done this week:

-Cabane and control bar adjustment

-Scarf-sanding and gluing of the spar walls 

-Gluing the 4 spar caps on the spar vertical walls after inserting spar reinforcements pieces

-Assembling and gluing the spar vertical walls after inserting the diaphragms

-Gluing the spar lower wall

- 2004 March 16 (my marriage anniversary)

Gerry de Grobois and Pierre Gingue fly to Beloeil to meet the team and study the engine location. Pierre is the person who is doing the propeller carving

They place the engine on the top of the front fuselage. Everything seems to fit.

Gerry decides what changes have to be made on the air intake and the exhaust..

- 2004 March 17

A full day devoted to the difficult job of inserting blind nuts inside the spar and adjusting the spar hardware. Claude Martin develops a special technique to screw on the bolts in hidden places. After careful checking in the afternoon, we give André Létourneau the go-ahead to close the spar.

- 2004 March 18

I purchase in Trois-Rivières an extra sheet of 1.5 mm thick plywood needed for the wing D-cell.

- 2004 March 24.

Paul Fournier shows us the beautiful aluminum gas tank he made at home during the week. This tank is going to be enclosed in the wing D-Cell.

- 2004 April 10

The last two weeks have been apparently idle, but only apparently, as several important parts had to be fixed and adjusted. (hardware and controls). A tough job for Paul Fournier.

It is for the four of us a real pleasure to see how smoothly the controls are working.

For the landing gear, brakes and axles  had to be machined and fixed.

The wing box spar has been closed and sanded.  

The plywood D-cell panels had to be scarf-sanded and glued.

André Létourneau just gave me a call:

He placed the fuselage on its wheels and it seems that the look is terrific.

He also started slipping the ribs on the box spar. The look of the huge wing skeleton (33 feet) on the long table  is impressive.  

Paul Fournier and Claude Martin prepare the two skids at the top of the front fuselage which will support the engine mount.

- 2004 April 21

Paul Fournier arrives triumphantly with the completed engine stand which looks like a science-fiction spider. André Létourneau and him adjust the engine stand on the fuselage and the Praga engine on the fuselage. They also check the last details before completing the wing gluing and the installation of the wheels axle on the fuselage to prevent rotation when braking.

Together with Claude Martin, I prepare the empennage for fabric covering. Everything must be smooth and level.

I could just cover the vertical empennage, as I had to prepare the surface prior to covering for both empennage. Next Wednesday, I will cover the horizontal empennage. 

I was anxious when I started because of the special shape of the leading edge, but the final result is perfect.  

Time is passing fast and we can just cover the vertical rudder, but doing the horizontal empennage should be a child's play next week, as everything is prepared.

I was scared to miss the covering of the festoons of the trailing edge, but everything was easier than I feared. The Stits (Polyfiber) process is really great!

André Létourneau gets in touch with a local TV station  and the journalist shows a real interest in our project. He will come in one week to make a report on the "avionnette" and our group of builders.

- 2004 April 23

I receive a call from André Létourneau. He made the 2 ailerons. After curing, they will just have to be sanded and the fixtures attached. One more important step done.

- 2004 April 26

A call from Paul Fournier and another one from André Létourneau.

They both worked all day on the project:

They completed the wheels adjustments. They placed the Praga engine on the engine stand which was given a final off white paint coat last Friday and they fixed the engine stand on the fuselage.

They made the last gluing on the wing before the  D-Cell, especially the straight parts and the  curved parts of leading edge and trailing edge.

When the TV comes next Wednesday, there should be plenty of stuff to show them!

- 2004 April 28  

Today, like last week, I arrive at Beloeil very early, as the empennage must be covered for  the TV interview.

Today, Claude Martin has an appointment downtown and will arrive late.  Fortunately, René Mercier, a long time friend who rebuilt a Pelican U-L about 15 years ago, is with me and we work together on the horizontal empennage covering.

We finish just in time for the lunch break.

After lunch, we are pleased to see Gerry de Grobois and Pierre Gingue coming from Hawkesbury with Gerry's Cessna 172.

Gerry is in charge of the engine of our project and Pierre is making the prop.

They check with Paul Fournier how the engine fits on the stand. Everything seems to be perfect and they take the last measures for the exhaust (which will have to be custom made), the carb intake and the width of the propeller blades.

Everyone is so busy that we do not see immediately the TV people coming.

They want to show how retired or semi retired people are spending their time in Québec and building a light plane seems to be something unusual for them. They take all kind of shots with their video camera and we do our best to answer their questions.

They can see the long (33') wing on its long table. It is nearly completed , the ailerons fit perfectly and the long line of ribs is very impressive. Next step will be the plywood leading edge D-cell. André Letourneau worked very hard last week!

- 2004.May 19

3 weeks without writing on this diary, but we kept working at our retired people pace.

What is new in our construction?

Nothing very impressive, as everything is always longer to build  than planned.

-Wing: Had to be sanded and varnished, just a few thousands  brush-strokes. During this operation, some details were found which needed gluing and adjusting. The leading edge and the wing tips had to be prepared for covering with the ply-wood, work reserved to André Létourneau and his cabinet-maker skill. Paul Fournier and Claude Martin adjusted the ailerons hinges on the wing and positioned the ailerons control hardware.

Jean-Pierre Gagnon was also often around, helping everyone.

-Engine turtle deck and instrument panel. Patterns were made and the fuselage was prepared to allow an easy assembly and dismantling when needed. The front of the fuselage was shaped  to fit an aluminum rounded plate. Paul Fournier works at home in his workshop to prepare the aluminum parts, engine cowling etc.

-Pilot seat: André Létourneau and I prepared 1/8" plywood plates for the back and the bottom of the seat cushions. I brought them home, varnished them and fitted them with dowels (to prevent the seat cushion from moving on the seat). I brought these parts to my village's saddler who covered them with comfortable leatherette cushions. Very clean and professional job.

-Empennage covering. An excellent builder/pilot, Renald Martin, member of the Louiseville Balerit crew, did, together with Claude Martin and myself, the final taunting and Poly-brush varnishing of the empennage. Adjusting fabric straight grain strips over each rib and circling the horizontal and vertical tail with bias bindings was long and difficult, but very rewarding for the 3 of us when we saw the final look.

More and more, as the construction of the avionnette advances, visitors show their interest and offer their help. They obviously find the original line of the plane and its historical character most appealing.

Remark: We are now in touch with Bob Cornwell who is also building a HM-8 on the other side of the world. It is a pleasure to exchange ideas and plans with him. He is using the same high performance airfoil, very close to the rounded nose airfoil Mignet shows on his book,  but preferred the rectangular wing.

- 2004 May 26

During the week, André Létourneau covered the straight part of the leading edge with  plywood. It was not easy and we realize that it would have been much easier to use birch ply-wood instead of Okoumé. However, it is now too late and the final result is beautiful. Just more work for André. The embedding of the gas tank was very delicate, he says.

Paul Fournier brought with him the aluminum engine cowling, the front turtle deck and the instrument panel he made at home during the week. He made beautiful brushed round patterns on the aluminum, just like Lindbergh did on the "Spirit of St-Louis". He adjusts everything with Claude Martin. They make some alterations and adjustments, especially around the cabane members. Nice looking job.

Both of them plus Jean-Pierre Gagnon also work on the ailerons controls.

André Létourneau and Jean-Pierre Gagnon work on the wing tips D-Cell, a very delicate job which should be completed during the week. It looks totally messy when it is in process, but we know that the final look will be perfect.

The occasional help we get from people such as Jean-Pierre, Renald Martin and René Mercier is really appreciated and helps us to keep up to schedule. Claude Martin who was supposed to be just an occasional helper became a fully committed partner. The experience he is accumulating during the HM-8 construction will allow him to build his HM-380 without any difficulty. 

- 2004 May 31

I receive a call from André Létourneau. During the week-end, he completed the wing D-cell and the wing tips. He seems to be very satisfied of himself.

The wing is now ready for a last adjustment of the ailerons controls and for fabric covering.

It seems that, after the local TV, the History channel is interested in the HM-8, within the scope of a broadcast on aviation history. They should call me back for an appointment a coming Wednesday.

- 2004 June 2

Great day!  The wings are on the fuselage. We can now see a HM-8 like people saw them 74 years ago!  

We spend the day doing minor adjustments of the hardware and we take a photo of our happy group:

(from left to right: Jean-Pierre Gagnon, Paul Fournier, Claude Martin, Andre Letourneau, Paul Pontois )

I brought a bottle of Catalan Champagne (my wife is Catalan) to celebrate the end of the wooden frame construction.

I am leaving for Europe in a few days with a director of HMS to attend a Flying Flea gathering in the South-West of France. We will  bring with us some  photos of our HM-8 to show Pierre Mignet and all pouducielists.

Bob Cornwell, the Australian HM-8 builder sent me a message of greeting for Pierre Mignet and for Rodolphe Grunberg, which I will be very pleased to deliver personally.

André Létourneau is calling to arms several talented builders, as he is going to organize, on June 12, a workshop to fabric-cover the giant wing.  I know that, from now on, everything will move fast.

Gerry de Grosbois told me on the phone that Pierre Gingue completed the propeller.

I will stop writing this diary for the next three weeks. I am curious to know how far my friends are going to be with their construction when I am back!

- 2004 June 28

After a great tour in France with two American friends of HMS.

All a shock when I was back in Beloeil.

My HM-8 friends were waiting for me and could not hide their satisfaction.

Not only the HM-8 wing was fabric covered, but it was painted. So was also the rudder and the fuselage was varnished.

They certainly did not waste their time when I was in Europe.

By the way, during this trip, I spoke with Pierre Mignet who was very happy to see the rebirth of a HM-8. There had never been any HM-8 in North America:

Today, we are spending the afternoon adjusting the landing gear bungees.

Not as difficult that it seemed to be after finding a few tips.

The photo showing Jean-Pierre pulling  the bungees explains more than a long text!

Paul Fournier also brought the Étévé Airspeed he built for the HM-8, to Henri Mignet's specs. He would make others at a very reasonable price for Pou builders if requested. Paul Fournier < paul.fourn@videotron.ca >

- 2004 June 30

Back to the Wednesday routine.

I bring with me cake and Champagne to celebrate the painting and varnishing.

Bungees installed, the HM-8 is back on its wheels.

Most of the day is spent installing the struts cables.

Everything is becoming delicate as every adjustment we make is final.

I remove the vertical rudder and bring it back to my place in order to have it painted.

When in France, we saw a beautifully decorated HM-1000 Balerit rudder with the typical Sport de l'air logo, more or less the same logo Mignet had already drawn for the HM-8 book.

I will go to Quebec City some day next week to bring rudder and logo to Jacques Duguay, the painter who painted my Pou-Maquis last year.

I am sure that he will make a beautiful job for a reasonable price.

- 2004 July 4

Paul Fournier made the 2 exhausts for the Praga engine. They will be Tig-welded by Jean-Pierre Gagnon. Paul Fournier will keep in touch with Gerry de Grosbois to finalize the engine adjustment and see how Gerry plans the engine final tune-up.

- 2004 July 7

Positioned on the engine the 2 exhaust look great. Jean-Pierre's Tig-welding is OK.

Gerry is present with one of his student as a helper.

They tint the beautiful propeller made by Pierre Gingue. Same mahogany colour as the fuselage with off-white tips.

Gerry cleans and check everything (filters, etc) on the engine. It is now ready to start.

The rest of the team works on the final adjustments, struts, cables, cowling etc. The HM-8 looks completed, but there is still a lot to do.

After discussion between Gerry and the Beloeil team, Gerry will come back Wednesday July 21 to start the engine and taxy the HM-8.

The team realizes that they have to work hard for the two coming weeks to be ready for this important day.

We have to find a R.P.M. It seems that Patrice Thériault will let us have a used one in good condition at low cost.

- 2004 July 9

I go to Quebec City with the vertical rudder and show the work to the painter Jacques Duguay. The logo chosen by the team is the logo shown on Henri Mignet's handwritten book's cover.

I bring with me a photo of the Balerit seen in Montpezat with about the same logo which represents a glory of sun rays bursting through the clouds and a schematized pou flying. On ours, it will be the HM-8 which will be schematized, like on the book. Jacques loves the idea and plans to go and purchase the paint and varnish the next day.  I am supposed to get the rudder painted in one week. I always have a warm welcome at Jacques's house, as he is a Pou fan and hopes to be able to build a Flying-Flea one day. 

- 2004 July 14

Busy day on delicate jobs. The whole team works on the  final adjustment of:

- Wing positioning on the cabane: A nylon block is adjusted between the front spar and the cabane horizontal beam and an    additional bracket between the rear spar and the same beam.

- Wing struts cables.

- Ailerons controls and control cables.

- Throttle. 

Patrice's R-P-M does not fit on the Praga. We will have to use a handheld one for the first tests.

- 2004 July 15

Received a call from the painter. The job is slower than planned, as the paint is water based and has to dry between coats, consequently, the logo will not be completed before Tuesday 20. Jacques decided to enlarge the logo and to paint  the whole surface of the rudder. He says that we will like the final result. 

- 2004 July 20

The painter kept his word.  When I arrived in Jacques's place, the painted rudder was ready. Very clean job, faithful to Mignet's logo with a touch of  fantasy.  

- 2004 July 21

In Beloeil, our usual Wednesday meeting. In addition to the usual group, René Mercier, André Saint-Pierre, Renald Martin and Yvon Clement come from Trois-Rivières. Yvon and Renald are my Balerit co-pilots and help demonstrating the Pou formula to the uninitiated pilots. Yvon is building a HM-380.

My friends warmly welcome me and the rudder, especially the rudder with its beautiful logo. J

Waiting for Gerry de Grobois, we check the controls, rudder and ailerons. They are incredibly smooth. Paul Fournier made a great job. The ailerons are really differential, which should totally prevent adverse yaw.  

A last check of the cables struts is made and we start taking the HM-8 apart to bring it from the workshop on 1st floor to the ground floor for the engine testing and then to transport it later on to the States.

It is an historic moment. After less than one year of team work, HMS wish is becoming  real.

Meanwhile, Gerry arrives in his Cessna 172 with his student (he was delayed by a thick fog) and checks what Paul Fournier had modified on the engine according to his instructions. Then, they fix the prop on the engine hub. Not an easy job, as the holes are really tight and they soon need everyone's help.  

We start moving the HM-8 to the floor level and do not feel at ease.

Remi Caradot, a French teacher who leaves in Quebec and is interested by the Mignet aircraft, pays us a visit. He is immediately hired as additional manpower.

Ten pairs of hands gently take the 33 feet span wing to the ground through a wide opening in the wall.  

For the fuselage, we hang it with ropes attached to the cabane and the engine to a hoist. Very slowly, we get it down safely.  

All is fine and the engine tests can start.

Gerry hand props the Praga, helped by Paul Fournier and Yvon Clément, who hold in turn a provisional tank on their head (the real tank is embedded in the wing's leading edge)  

Jean-Pierre Gagnon sits in the fuselage and takes over  the controls.  

The classical ceremony of the engine hand propping starts.

In the beginning, the engine shows his disapproval to be awaken bluntly, but he soon acknowledges Gerry as his master and after less than half an hour, the Praga  coughs up and finally runs smoothly enough for a 65 years old engine. Jean-Pierre's engine's expertise helps finding the best tuning. The mixture is still rich, but  Gerry, who should fly the HM-8 in Brodhead is optimistic to get a smooth running.  

André Saint-Pierre who is dealing with old engines for years, and always finds what the other people don't, discovers that the oil piping system, which should lubricate the valves, is missing. That could have caused a problem after a certain time of running. Gerry will remedy this situation before the flight tests.

Thank you, André!

Gerry shows Paul Fournier some oil leakage in the carb and air inlet and asks him to modify the air inlet.

They also decide to shorten the exhaust pipes to prevent vibrations which could be excessive.

All these modifications should be made for Wednesday August 4th. (Meanwhile, some members of the group will go to Oshkosh and attend the EAA convention.)   

- 2004 July 26

After seeing the photographs of the day, one of the HMS members sends us an email:

"HM-8 is beautiful, tail paint job especially".

It is great to be so kindly and warmly supported by our HMS colleagues.

Their support all along the passed year helped keeping the spirits of the team high during the construction period of time.

I receive a phone call from the History channel. They should come to see the HM-8 and interview us next Tuesday.

Another call from Patrick Campbell who is building from scratch a replica of the Blériot XI in the workshop of the Heritage Museum of Ste-Anne de Bellevue, West of Montreal. He will come on Wednesday, August 4,  to visit the HM-8 before it leaves for the States.

The museum team plans to bring their Blériot to Rheims (France) in 2009 to fly on the occasion of the centennial of the first aviation meeting. The HMS Blériot XI should fly there also. Another exciting project.

Passing through the airport for a flight with the Balerit, I meet Maurice Mc Duff, a fellow member of our club, owner of a beautiful Cessna 140. Maurice is a professional truck driver and he confirms a previous discussion: He accepts with pleasure and has his boss' agreement to drive the HM-8 to Brodhead in August.

The other solution would be to tow the HM-8 in a glider trailer, but, so far, my investigations to find a trailer which I could borrowed or rent have been negative in spite of the active and friendly help of Neill Graham from our club who is also involved in a glider club organization in Hawksbury.  I keep trying getting in touch with  the Champlain soaring club which is supposed to own 2 trailers, as indicated by Neill.  As I do not succeed getting them on the phone, André Létourneau, who lives in Ste_Hyacinthe, just a few miles from the Champlain soaring club airport, in St-Dominique. André will see if a trailer is available, if our HM-8 could fit in it, and what kind of truck is needed for towing.

Another call of the History channel: The interview is again postponed to Tuesday, August 10.

If the truck solution is chosen, the loading and transportation of the HM-8 would consequently occur on Tuesday August 10, right after the TV interview.

Jean-Pierre Gagnon and Paul Fournier would load the "avionnette" in the trailer (helped, of course, by the rest of the team), would drive to Brodhead and would unload and assemble the HM-8 at its final destination.

Gerry should also be in Brodhead to put the finishing touch to the engine tune-up, especially to the valves lubrication system (he already collected the tubing links commonly called banjos)

- 2004 July 28

André is back from Oshkosh. He was there just 3 days, too many people and too much dust, he says! But we know that he loves attending the EAA convention every year.

He visited the soaring club. No way to use one of their trailers for the HM-8. They are not wide enough for the chord of the HM-8 wing.

Too bad, in one way, but we also feel relieved, as we know that the truck will be much safer for the plane. 

- 2004 August 4

Today, we have VIPs with us. Our visitors are Patrick Campbell and  Richard Plante, the 2 Blériot builders of the Heritage museum of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue.

They work with our team all day long.  They are for us a real help. It is easy to see at first glance that they are accurate builders. They know what they are doing.

We install again the wing on the cabane, take some pictures on the parkway and make the weight and balance.

We see with pleasure that the centre of gravity is in the limits given by the airfoil.

As the engine is not as heavy as most of the prewar engine, we will have to move the wing 6 inches to the rear, the corresponding holes to fit the long bolt were already drilled in the cabane horizontal member, as shown in Mignet's book.

For static display  or in case of heavier engine the wing will be placed back in the foremost position.

- 2004 August 7

Paul Fournier and  Jean-Pierre Gagnon convince me to go with them to deliver and assemble the HM-8. Gerry will also try to fly to Brodhead in the same time. All a moving!  We will leave Tuesday in the afternoon as soon as the plane is loaded in the truck. Jean-Pierre is in charge of doing a perfect loading and the driver considers this trip as a personal problem. Everything should be fine and we should arrive in Brodhead Wednesday afternoon. André Saint-Pierre, the president of the Louiseville flying club volunteered to go with the driver. Very delicate thought from him that we appreciate. 

- 2004 August 9

A call from Jean-Pierre. They worked all day long on the HM-8, installed the windshield and prepared everything for the TV (History channel) interview tomorrow morning before leaving for the States.   

- 2004 August 10

Jean-Pierre Gagnon and Paul Fournier pick me up early morning at a gas station between Louiseville and Beloeil . Our three suitcases are ready, as we are going to drive straight from Beloeil to Brodhead after the TV shooting.

The HM-8 is ready in the hangar.

Three guys of the History Channel arrive about 9:30 AM .

They make a very conscientious  interview and film the HM-8 from every angle till noon .

Then we all have a drink offered by André Létourneau and eat lunch altogether. 

Exactly as planned, the truck arrives at 1:00 PM. Maurice Mc Duff, the truck driver is very enthusiastic and helps us to make a perfect loading. As everything was planned in advance by Jean-Pierre Gagnon, we have no problem and the truck leaves at 3:00 PM after a last group photograph.

André Saint-Pierre, the Louiseville Club president  is in the right seat. 

Jean-Pierre, Paul and myself leave soon after in Jean-Pierre's Focus.

- 2004 August 11.

After a good night with a snoring contest in a motel and an uneventful drive*, we arrive in Brodhead late in the evening.

* Except that Paul Fournier, who owns a small apple orchard had daringly brought with him 4 of his apples. He was solemnly explained by the customs officer that no fruit can be imported to the States without labeling and proper documents. 

The trucker, on his cell phone, told us that he had to wait 3 hours, but for no special reason.

The HMS staff is waiting for us and we have a superb American dinner in the best restaurant of Brodhead. Gerry, arrived earlier in his car, is also present.

Then we go to sleep, dead tired!  

- 2004 August 12

Maurice, the truck driver, had told us: "I will unload first thing in the morning".  So, we all arrive at 8:00 on the airport. My God! Maurice and André Saint-Pierre are already pacing up and down, waiting for us!

The driver let the back door of the truck down. Everything is in order. We heave a sigh of relief and the HMS staff scrutinizes the inside of the truck to see "their" HM-8.

Unloading and unpacking take less than one hour. We carefully check that nothing suffered from the transport. Maurice, who was hoping to stay a few hours with us, receives a call from his boss. He has to go immediately to Chicago for an urgent load. So is the trucker's life!

We let him go with our thanks for his kindness and his professionalism.

Assembling starts. Jean-Pierre and Paul had brought their tools with them and they know exactly what they have to do. Placing the wing on the cabane, installing the strut cables, readjusting and rechecking everything takes a part of the day.

The look of the gas line installed in Beloeil being really too futurist, we remove it and replace it with a vintage looking one, which we had purchased at a hardware shop on the way to Brodhead.

While Jean-Pierre drives full speed on the runway with his car, Paul calibrates the beautiful ÉTÉVÉ (vintage speed indicator) fixed at the tip of a long pole through the car window.

Gerry installs the missing tubing needed to lubricate the valves.

No time for lunch, but HMS had thought of everything and an improvised buffet appeases our appetite.

At about 4:00 , everything is ready. Two missing parts which had been ordered a few days before from Wicks Aircraft Supplies arrive in Chicago and Jim, the editor of this diary and an officer of HMS, is kind enough to bring them to us.

We are ready for the first taxi (and, who knows, a short leap). The tank is given a last rinse and filled up.

Gerry expertly hand props the engine. Jean-Pierre is at the controls in the cockpit.

The engine starts up first time and purrs beautifully.

Ready for a fast taxi! Unfortunately, smoke comes from the exhaust and Jean-Pierre has to stop the engine. The valve lubrication is too important. Gerry lessens the oil flow by crushing the tuning, but it is not enough and a special adjustment will be needed. For today, we have to content ourselves with short taxies which nevertheless show the perfect behaviour of the plane.

Altogether this day is very satisfactory.

I am lucky enough to drive Jim's Maserati, a lifetime experience and we all have a ride on HMS's Ford model T.

A goblet of Champagne closes this hard day of work in the most magnificent manner and, after a last look at "our" HM-8, we all leave the hangar for a good dinner and a good night of sleep.

Before we drive back home the next morning, still tired but so happy, we receive from HMS the following testimony which will stay in our memory forever: 

"Many thanks for your countless hours of dedication and expert workmanship in the pursuit of our mutual dream.

Your labor of love has fostered the rebirth of an important participant in aviation history,  Henri Mignet's glorious HM-8. But ours is built for the first time ever in North America !

In the years to come, many will gaze upon your creation and experience first-hand the same excitement that must have been felt by all who challenged the skies of France seventy-five years ago, armed only with their courage and determination but guided by Henri Mignet's remarkable spirit and ingenuity.

You are truly his descendants, creating a-new this beautiful Avionnette which will break the shackles of gravity and soar with its sisters over the skies of a new world, an ocean distant from its predecessors, but inseparable in spirit with them."

ANNEXES: 

Calculation of the centre of gravity  (Paul Fournier).

Performances of the Avionnette, as calculated by Paul Fournier using the software developed by Pierre Tessier (artessier@yahoo.com)

 Max speed: 87 mph

Cruise speed: 79 mph

Stall speed: 33 mph

Climbing rate: 668 fpm

Ready to go!