Updated August 31, 2007

Cirrus No. 55, N441UJ

Currently Owned by: Robert Bruce

STATUS: In Service

LOCATION:  Boerne Stage Airfield (5C1), San Antonio, TX

No. 55 was imported by Motorless Flight Enterprises of Glastonbury, CT. William Foley of Motorless Flight Enterprises requested in a letter to the FAA in February, 1969 that an N-number ending in "1UJ" be assigned.

The first bill of sale, from Schempp-Hirth to Motorless Flight Enterprises, is dated January 24, 1969. According to the next Bill of Sale, it was sold to Joe Cohn (sic) of Cuyahoga Falls, OH for $8130 on April 20, 1969. The tail number apparently represents "Uncle Joe", Joe Conn’s soaring nickname. Joe’s name was correctly spelled on the registration of April 23, 1969. Joe was an A&P, and the FAA records contain his documented weight and balance of May 1969 reporting the installation of several new instruments and an oxygen system.

Joe sold the plane to Robert F. Miles of Louisville, KY on July 26, 1972. Robert didn’t keep it very long; he sold it to William J. Betts of Falls Church, VA on September 12, 1973.

William Betts kept it for about a decade, and then sold it on June 3, 1983 to a partnership consisting of Judith A. Garland of Arlington, VA and Henry G. Gaudet of Woodbine, MD. (Jerry Gaudet owned and operated a gliderport, Bay Soaring, located at Woodbine, MD.)

Almost immediately thereafter, on July 9, 1983, it suffered major damage (tail broken off, right wing in two pieces, left wing delaminated with holes, fractured canopies, and a cracked horizontal stabilizer) while being flown by Judy at the Bay Soaring Gliderport. The NTSB report (ATL83LA259) states that "The glider collided with a fence during an off airport forced landing. The pilot stated that she did not see the power lines until she was on the final approach. She maneuvered the glider to miss the powerlines but was unable to miss the fence and landed short. She had been flying in thermal lift and upon encountering heavy sink was forced to land."

The official record becomes quite muddled at this point. It’s believed that the ship passed from one well intentioned owner to another, slowly migrating to the southwest until landing in a junk airplane auction in Scottsdale, AZ. There are two bills of sale in the FAA records, both dated March 2, 1988! One is from Garland and Gaudet to Aerosalvage of Arkansas, Inc., of Nashville, AR, and the second is from Aerosalvage to Don A. Hansen or Cheraw, CO.

In the spring of 1991, Craig Freeman bought the ship at this auction through a third party, sight unseen, and the parts were trailered back to Odessa on a flatbed trailer. At this time the ship had no logbooks or airworthiness certificate, but they were later located from previous owner Don Hansen. The bill of sale, from Hansen to Craig Freemen, was executed on February 2, 1994.

The restoration was performed by George Applebay, and completed in June, 1994 when Wally Scott test flew the finished product.

The current owner purchased the ship in 2002, and continues to base it at Boerne Stage Airfield, where it shares the field with No. 5 (q.v.)

It’s interesting to note that the right wing of No. 55 came from the remains of No. 54 (q.v.), which also "donated" parts for No. 5 (q.v.).