Any Navion guys/gals out there?

OkieFlyer

OkieFlyer

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Joined
May 16, 2011
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Location
Lindsay, OK
Display Name
Andrew L.
Home Airfield
1K2 Lindsay Muni.
I recently stumbled on a couple of ads selling Navions for pretty cheap prices. I don't know much about them, in fact I've never seen one in person. All I know is I fell in love with them as soon as I saw a picture. Somebody with Navion experience tell me more please. I must know more.

I read one article that very positive about them from a performance standpoint, but I was wondering if these are one of those quirky, expensive to own antiques or something. I just don't see any around. Any idea?
 
Navions are very, very cool airplanes. Hopefully Ron Natalie chimes in here, as he is a long-term Navion guru.
 
I hope he does. I don't know how I've gone this long without encountering one. I really didn't know they existed until today, and I gotta tell ya, they just struck me as beautiful birds. From what little I've read today, they seem like solid, fairly reliable planes with similar performance to a fixed gear 182, spacious cabin, and decent useful load. With the right engine, that is.
 
I've had my B model for 20 years now. After the gopher engine blew up in 2001, I put an IO-550 in it. It was my only trip to the Amelia Park Inn when I ran out to retrieve the flat bed trailer to mount it to.
 
flyingron said:
I've had my B model for 20 years now. After the gopher engine blew up in 2001, I put an IO-550 in it. It was my only trip to the Amelia Park Inn when I ran out to retrieve the flat bed trailer to mount it to.
Click to expand...

Heh. That hotel was "The Alexis Park Inn", Ron. Down here in Texas, we now call ourselves (more aviation appropriately) "Amelia's Landing".

It's about 80 degrees warmer here then it was the weekend you guys came to Iowa... :D
 
Well it was December or January. I do recall there was snow on the ground.

One of my fellow ANS board members regaled me with stories of hookers at the Alexis Park in the pre-Honeck era.
 
Never been in a Navion but have a chance to "buy in" which is really hard to pass on except it is based 100 miles from home. One of those dream planes I wish I could have. There's some great history in Navions. They were Air Army Exec transports.
 
Yep, there's no practical difference in an L-17 and the civilian Navion. Many of the ones you see as Warbirds weren't L-17's, the only way to tell is to check the serial number to see if it was one sold to the Army.

The "C" model Navion was beefed up and entered in the competition for the plane to replace the T-6 as the military's advanced trainer. They lost out to what became the Beech T-34.
 
By the way guys, if you are really interested in Navions, the American Navion Society is holding their 53rd annual convention in Paso Robles June 23-28. You can see lots of Navions, sit in on our technical forums, talk to Navion owners plus we have many socical events (tours, dinners) throughout the week for pilots and non-pilots alike.

Information is available is available at the
http://www.navionsociety.org/old/convention.html
 
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