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The Rearwin Sportster is a "low and slow" flyer. It doesn't get there
fast, it only goes about 95 mph. If there's a decent headwind out, then
the cars on the highway will be passing you. It doesn't have a lot of
power, but it is amazingly fun to fly around just watching the scenery.
The 1939 Sportster is a 2 place, tandem seating, stick and rudder airplane.
Sportsters were built through the mid and late 30s by the Rearwin company in
Kansas City. My example is powered by a 90 horsepower Ken-Royce engine.
The engine is 5 cylinder radial, featuring manually greased rocker arms and
valve gear. Every 2 to 3 hours of flight time it is necessary to squirt
grease into the rocker boxes, and every 20 hours or so clean out the accumulated
grease and reset valve clearances. After an hour of so of flying the grease
melts and the engine throws out some grease blobs, which distribute themselves
all over the airplane. I view it as part of the charm.
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