Download - Midwest Flyer Magazine

1934 SR-5 StinsonTakes Flight Once Again!Tom Rench of Racine, Wis., had the distinct honorof sitting in the left seat of the 1934 SR-5 Stinson,which he once own. Rench bought the airplaneand had it trucked to Wisconsin from Alaska in the1980s before selling it to Keith Swalheim (right) ofCottage Grove, Wis. in 1988. Swalheim restored theaircraft to better-than-new condition with the helpof his friends, but he did most of the work himself.(L/R) Aircraft restorers Roger Amundson, BillAmundson, Keith Swalheim, Dick Weeden, andOtis Lokken with Swalheim’s 1934 SR-5 Stinson inStoughton, Wisconsin.After 35 years sitting idle, Keith Swalheim of CottageGrove, Wisconsin, recently completed a 7-yearrestoration project of his 1934 SR-5 Stinson with thehelp of his friends at the Stoughton and Brodhead, Wisconsinairports. Swalheim, a retired truck driver by profession,bought the plane in 1988 from Tom Rench of Racine, whosaw an ad in Trade-A-Plane by a broker who was selling it forRichard Lee, a gold miner in Nome, Alaska. The plane wasactively flown in Alaska from 1946-77.Rench said that the Stinson was flyable when he bought it,but decided not to take any chances and had it trucked fromAlaska to Wisconsin where he eventually sold it to Swalheimfor $14,500.“I got a lot of pride doing most of the restoration workmyself,” said Swalheim, “although I got a lot of help from myfriends, especially Bill Amundson of Stoughton.” Amundson’srestoration work is known worldwide. Dick Weeden ofBrodhead, Wis. took care of the paperwork to meet FAArecertification requirements. Aircraft restorers RogerAmundson of Stoughton, and Otis Lokken of Madison, alsohad their hands in the project. It was a total team effort with46 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 MIDWEST FLYER MAGAZINESwalheim at the helm!“It was too big of a project for one person,” said Swalheim,who wished the plane could talk so it could share stories flyingin the Alaskan bush. It was a ground-up restoration. Most ofthe wood in the aircraft had to be replaced, as did the interior,and of course the fabric, and the engine was completelyrebuilt. The finished product is showroom quality!Swalheim owns an private airstrip in Cottage Grove, Wis.,but stores the Stinson elsewhere because it is too large to fitin his hangar. He is looking forward to flying the plane toPhoeniz, Arizona yet this fall, where he hopes to put a fewhours on it before eventually selling it. There are less than 10model SR-5s in the world, and fewer flying.Barely missing putting the aircraft on display at EAAAirVenture 2012, Swalheim held an open house for the planeat the Stoughton Airport on August 11, which attracted acouple hundred close friends and relatives. Among the specialguests was Tom Rench, who had to take a few minutes to sitin the plane alone, and contemplate what it would have beenlike to have done the restoration himself.q