This story first ran in the September/October 2019 version of Vintage Airplane.
From Trikes to Taildraggers
Jill Manka, EAA 1179193, of Lakeland, Florida, is no stranger to taking in orphaned waifs. Her adopted dog Vega is a prime example of the inner beauty Jill sees in strays. Short and squat, with mainly snow-white fur and brown specks, she resembles the Winnie Mae, the around-the-world, globe-trotting Lockheed Vega made famous by Wiley Post. So, it was no surprise when Jill spotted a derelict frame of an Aeronca Champ, lying forlorn among the rafters of a hangar in Michigan, that she knew she had to rescue the plane. But that’s getting way ahead of the story. You see, Jill herself did not pursue aviation until a wayward barnstormer named Rob “Waldo” Lock pursued her. Smitten with the lanky flyer, Jill packed her bags and moved to Florida from her home state of Illinois and joined Waldo Wright’s Flying Service at Gilbert Field (KGIF) in Winter Haven, Florida. Jill quickly realized the joys that flying brings out in people from all walks of life and wanted to be a bigger part of aviation. But in order to step into the cockpits of Stearmans, New Standards, or Travel Airs, Jill knew she had to earn her wings.
“I started out in a Cessna 172,” Jill said. “And a light bulb went off, and I’m like, the tailwheel aircraft I’m going to be flying are going to be much lighter than a 172. So, I stepped down to a Cessna 152 because I wanted to feel everything, like how the wind pushes and pulls you in different directions as I developed my flying skills. But I also realized that in order to be a stick and rudder pilot, what I really needed to do was fly tailwheel airplanes to develop so many more senses like hand-eye coordination, proper rudder control, and a more seat-of-the-pants type flying. That was the big draw for me in tailwheel flying. I wanted to feel everything. I wanted to be a participant in the flight experience.”
Jill had been flying with Rob in his Stearman before she ever flew the 172, so her heart naturally was always in tailwheel flying. Jill recognized that both the 172 and 152 helped her with the initial comfortability of flying, but she admits that even in the 172 and 152, she hated the feeling of a nosewheel airplane at touchdown.
“I was always concerned about a prop strike,” said Jill. “To me, the tailwheel attitude when you come in and flare felt more natural in both a wheel landing and a three-point. It felt more appropriate to me. That little nosewheel versus tailwheel feeling of angle when you land, for me, was a big connection point. I think when it comes to lighter horsepower aircraft, you need to do what’s fun and do what’s best for you.”
Another challenge Jill encountered as a student pilot after she had soloed the 172 was her realization that, “I don’t have anything to fly once I finish this process. And I have no idea what one I want to fly.” So, she put her flight instruction on hold and went searching for a tailwheel airplane with its own personality. Jill admits it’s unclear who found whom, and in reality, it doesn’t matter all that much. What mattered was that the two became soul sisters and experienced a journey of a lifetime.
Restoration Therapy
In 2009 Jill came in contact with a 1946 Aeronca Champ, serial No. 1888, that was hanging in some rafters at a friend’s hangar in Mason, Michigan. The Champ was far from a flyer, and even though the skeletal remains were covered in a fine coating of dust, Jill saw the potential beauty of what could be.
“With the Champ, I knew I wanted a tailwheel aircraft,” Jill said. “But I didn’t know what type, so I went a nontraditional route. I started asking a lot of the people I’d considered senior in tailwheel flying or professionals in tailwheel flying or mentors in tailwheel flying, and 95 percent of them learned in Champs. To me, that was quite an endorsement. If I would’ve had a lot of mixed recommendations, I would’ve definitely had a tougher time picking the airplane, but to have these recommendations from these people that I considered to be very well-respected air show pilots and professionals in the aviation field, that was kind of my nod. Then to see this thing staring at me from the rafters, it’s, like, hello! And it just connected.
“The frame was up there, and it didn’t have any wings on it. And it just looked so lonely up there. I made him an offer for the project and pulled it out of its resting place.”
Jill always refers to herself as a kind of a woodshop girl and enjoys working with her hands. Although she had never restored an airplane before, she wasn’t intimidated with the process. She also knew she could lean on her aviation friends to help guide her forward. In addition, she liked the instant gratification of a project where she would work a little on it and slowly see the results develop in front of her. One of the Champ’s wings was original, but the other one had to be rebuilt due to a previous ground loop. According to Jill, the woodwork that was done on the original spars was flawless.
“You could see the splicing, and it was impeccable,” Jill said. “Those folks are truly craftsmen. Their artistry was magnanimous, but I will say we worked with Rainbow Flying Service of Moses Lake, Washington, on rebuilding the right wing. Their work was equally as beautiful. Rainbow had some beautiful spars that they sent us, so we were honored to have the Rainbow spars on the wing, as well. I also had a wonderful chance to read Jon Goldenbaum’s — president of Poly-Fiber Aircraft Coatings — book, How to Cover an Aircraft. It helped me as I was going through my fabrication of the Champ.”
As a brand-new pilot in training, restoring the Champ also gave Jill additional confidence for the plane in which she would eventually earn her private pilot certificate. From the restoration side of it, Jill knew she wasn’t flying someone else’s problem along with knowing she wasn’t flying something for which she had a lack of knowledge about the systems, because she was the one who built all of the systems.
“I knew exactly how the controls were put together, how the rudder pedal cables were assembled, and how the engine worked,” Jill said. “I put the accessory case, crankshaft, camshaft all back together under the watchful eye of an A&P so I knew how it worked. I saw the push valve housings and the pistons, and I learned very intimately not only what was in my airplane but more importantly what made it tick.”
On May 3, 2015, after countless hours of sanding, turning wrenches, painting, and more sanding, Jill was finished with the restoration of her Champ. Sitting on the ramp, with its fresh coat of forest green and Diana cream colors, Jill knew she had to call the airplane something other than Champ.
“Her name’s Lucy,” Jill said. “When I looked at it, that’s what she looked like. Also, it was just kind of a nod to the era of the aircraft — 1940s, ’50s, and a little Lucille Ball nod, a kind of comical genius. I was hoping that I would have an aeronautical genius that could help me along with getting familiar with tailwheel aircraft and making sure we had fun, as well.”
Jill eventually earned her private pilot certificate in Lucy. As a trainer, the Champ was a perfect airplane for Jill. With the aircraft weighing only 800 pounds, Jill said she can maneuver it on her own. “I can just push it out of the hangar, fire it up, and go have some fun and tuck her back in the hangar when we are all done.”
For power, Jill chose a Continental C85-8 engine for the Champ instead of the standard A65. Jill worried about the density altitude in Florida. And as a taller pilot, she also wanted to make sure that she had a little extra giddy-up, especially if she had another guest on board. Swinging a wood Sensenich propeller, Jill has to hand-prop Lucy; she finds it will start on the first blade or two every time.
“The Champ is bare-bones basics, but she’s a lovely piece of equipment,” Jill said. “And with the lighter horsepower, it’s more affordable. It’s a whole lot of fun, especially when you’re practicing landings, and you might be doing a wheel landing. And you maybe think, ‘Okay, I’m doing really good at these wheel landings. Maybe I’ll try, like, one wheel. I’ll do it on the left side. Then I’ll do it the right side, just to play.’”
Traveling Buddies
Jill confessed that her favorite time with Lucy is on long cross-countries. She has taken Lucy from Florida to Michigan three times now. Like a migratory bird, Jill will fly up to Michigan every May, and every October, Jill will bring her back to Florida.
“When I’m in Michigan, I’ve flown her into Oshkosh twice,” Jill said. “I’ve also had a chance to take her to Blakesburg, Iowa, once. I’ve taken her to the Champ fly-in in Middletown [Ohio] once and to Poplar Grove, Illinois, for the Ladies Love Taildraggers Fly-In. I love taking the Champ places.”
Even in her adopted home state of Florida, Jill can get in Lucy and fly 45 minutes down the road to Venice.
“It’s an airport on the beach,” Jill said. “I can go down there, have lunch, hang out at the beach for a little bit, come back home. Nice little day trips. I have a 13-gallon main tank and one 5-1/2-gallon wing tank. When I restored the other wing, I left a space for another 5-1/2-gallon tank. So far, I don’t think I need it, because my range is three and a half hours. I usually stop after two and a half hours just because your heinie starts to hurt. But it’s been a wonderful cross-country airplane.”
When Jill and Lucy fly north, she will fly over the Smokies, over the southern route, south of Chattanooga, with its rolling hills and valleys. Jill likes to flight-plan typically between 800 feet AGL and 1,200 feet AGL.
“I don’t like to go much higher than that,” Jill said. “I like to see things when I fly, and for me, that’s part of the reason why I like cross-countries. You can peek in people’s backyards or see the world from a different perspective and take in the topography of nature. When you’re coming up on the Smokies and you go over the first ridge, you’re at maybe 2,100 feet AGL, and you’re still maybe 500 or 600 feet above the treetops. And then that first ridge hits the valley, and suddenly below you, the ground drops 1,200 feet. So now you’re 1,600 feet above the treetops. That, to me, is such a magical experience, and it feels so incredible.”
But one of Jill’s most memorable and fun experiences was when she was back home in Illinois. Jill always flies in and keeps Lucy at Frasca Field, near where she grew up.
“My mother, Barb Manka, had never flown with me before,” Jill said. “She had never flown over her family farm before. So, to be able to have my mother along with me in Lucy and to fly over the church where she got married, the farmland that her family had nurtured for so many years, I will never forget her saying, ‘I remember growing up and everything seemed so far away, and if I would’ve seen it from this perspective, it’s so close together. We’re not that far apart from each other.’”
Jill also enjoys sharing the experience of Lucy with other young women and other people. Jill assures any first-time flyer that they will not be breaking any speed records with Lucy.
“It’s an introductory flight for people who’ve never flown before or have had a curiosity about aviation,” Jill said. “The Champ is a very simple airplane with basic instrumentation. And people can understand that the stick’s a big pointer, and wherever you point the stick, that’s where the airplane’s going to go. It helps them kind of feel comfortable, as well.”
Friendly Advice
I asked Jill what advice she would give somebody sitting on a fence who doesn’t know what route to take but wants to get into flying for the same reasons she had: mainly to have fun.
“Low and slow’s the way to go,” Jill said. “That’s why I got into flying. I wanted to be an active participant as a pilot. I don’t want to sit somewhere passively and have a computer tell me what’s going on. I have no interest in an instrument rating. I have no interest in a multiengine rating or going somewhere fast. I still scratch the high-power itch because I will be flying Stearmans and Travel Airs. But those are still pretty low and slow aircraft that have a rumble feeling, and they’re fun. I would also add that part of aviation is being able to constantly challenge yourself. That’s why the tailwheel experience, I believe, is, for me, a true experience with flight. Not to say that nosewheel is not true, but I think if you’re on the fence, you should really try both. Don’t let a tailwheel intimidate you, because at the end of the day, it’s all technique. And just like you learned your nosewheel technique, you have to learn your tailwheel technique, and you learn about your airplane and its limitations. The approach is exactly the same as nosewheel, in my opinion. So just try both and see if you’re comfortable with one over the other.
“There’s no right answer. That’s the beauty of aviation — it’s whatever you feel is your journey and your passion. So I think as long as you get in an airplane and you’re flying, that’s the whole point, but for me personally, the tailwheel is just a more honest approach to it. It’s the type of flying that touches your soul and always creates a big smile across my face.”