Funk Owners' Showcase
"My name is Jon Schroeder. I am the current president of the Funk Aircraft Owners Association. We have an annual meeting in Coffeyville, Kansas each year where as many as 20 Funks appear from all over the country. I was introduced to the Funk airplane at the age of six. My father had one (with a re-manufactured Ford automobile engine) and I flew along to make sure the people he loaned it to didn't put gasoline in the radiator. I flew a lot during the war in Funks (my favorite) on Civil Air Patrol (CAP) missions over the gulf of Mexico.
I owned my own Funk when I was eleven, fixed it up myself with the help of some fellows at Delta Airline & Dusting Service. Flew that Funk all over the country. Now I had owned other types of aircraft after the war, but none compared in flight performance, the quality of flight....getting from here to there and back like a Funk. I taught all my buddies how to fly. Their girlfriends still remember having to wait while their true loves learned to fly. Took about three hours in a Funk where it might take twenty in a Cub. I loved those little airplanes....still do. I would buy one, clean it up...paint it and park it proudly on the ramp in Monroe, Louisiana. Someone would come over and ask me what I would take for it? I would always tell them it was not for sale....but after they made me a price....I asked them where they wanted it delivered?
I experimented with paint trims and color schemes....but it was hard to beat the scheme the Funk brothers, Joe and Howard, devised. I have searched through the cobwebs of my mind and have come up with a number close to thirteen as the number of Funks I have been associated with....either the ones my Dad owned or the ones I owned and fixed up to reluctantly sell. I own N81167, Ser. 297 (1946, 85 h.p.) at this time....Or rather I should say my son Tom owns it because I gave it to him. In this way...I figure it will have perpetual care and I can fly it any time I feel like it.
We fly off a little grass field in Central Texas called Kitty Hill (77T) and it's great. Just a bunch of old duffers that fly their carefully restored rag-covered tail-draggers. Our Funk and a friend's Funk that shares our hanger are the darlings of the field. If you are out and about in your T-Craft or Spam-Can, drop in at 77T and we will take you for some Bar-B-Q or something. The number to call to get my attention is: (512) 259-1141.
Remain on this Frequency!!!"
Jon Schroeder, Funk N81167 at 77T
(Photo courtesy of Ray Pahls)
(Photo courtesy of Ray Pahls)
"I bought the airplane in 1992 from Rudy Myers of Lizton, IN. Like all Funks, it's a dream to fly. I just wish those Funk boys would have made it six inches bigger in every direction.
While at the fly-in this last year, a fellow who painted Funks at the factory told us that the color scheme on this airplane is correct, although
the orange is not quite dark enough. He said it was a rare paint scheme that was not often used.
I would like to install the lowered floorboards and dual brakes, but haven't gotten around to it. I did install a six probe EGT/CHT gage, but
only because it was laying here and I didn't have anything better to do with it. When we ran out of cylinders to attach it to I installed a probe in the carb and another for OAT.
Other than that, I have nothing outstanding to report about this Funk. But it stands ready to come to the defense of our country at a moments notice!"
Regards,
Todd L. Petersen
"Wayne Messenger, 81, first soloed in October of 1941. He has been flying ever since, 57 years. He first flew his Funk in 1954 which he then bought the following year. This aircraft was built in 1946 and was restored as "good as new" in 1985. It was recovered with ceconite and the engine, a Continental HP 85, was overhauled.
The plane has been flown 1,750 hours and is in a private hanger in Cody, Wyoming. Wayne is still putting a few hours on the plane when his grandson Nathan isn't taking it out for lessons!"
Gerry was test pilot, assemblyman and inspector with Funk during 1945-46.
Gerry had been flying P38s at Coffeyville in the Army Air Corp, met and
married Margie Hall of Coffeyville, left the Army Air Forces, and 53 years
later, still calls Coffeyville his home town.
When Tilman finished his rebuild of N77712, he was curious as to who was
this "G.E. Cooke sign-off" on the first flight in March 46. With some word
of mouth research, he discovered that Gerry lived right here in San Antonio.
A quick meeting between the two and an agreement was made that Gerry would fly the
first flight after the wings were hung. Forty-six years later to the day Cooke
again flew N77712.
Check your log book --- Gerry may have flown your bird off
the line too!!