The 5th Panther to take to the skies is Buddy Henson’s build SN017. He recently sold his tail dragger Panther to Janson Kinsley – a local Haller Airpark resident. You see – Buddy is a habitual builder, has been for decades, building homebuilts and mixing it up with restoring classic cars. So now he is building another Panther – this time a tri-gear model.
Anyway – Janson had Panther SN017 painted the classic primary trainer yellow from the 1940s (Buddy sold it to him bare metal and primer fiberglass). He will continue adding trim and we will update as he gets this completed. He put the aircraft together this morning at the airport 20 miles south of us (where he had it painted) and flew it back this afternoon.
It is looking great! Panther SN017 is the LS model (long wing) with the Lycoming O-320 and a Cato 3 Blade Prop. It has our 5×5 Matco wheels and brakes, optional fuselage step and the 6″ tail wheel option installed.
Here are a few photos we snapped this afternoon. More to come later as it is trimmed out.
