skylark-flier

Got a couple goodies here that you might just be able to use. Back when I restored mine I'd actually written (e-mail) to the President of Great Lakes Aircraft Corporation and he gave me permission to use the company logo on my plane. So, if you know how to make your own decals, you've got the original logo here to work with. The company historian also sent me a shrunk-down copy of the original company design specs from 1931. Am including them here for you, along with one of the original advertisements and an ad for a young lady who was just as famous as Amelia Earhart "back in the day". Dig that price tag for a brand new plane!!

Also have a pic of the "prototype", the very first 2T-1 (black & white, rather fuzzy unfortunately - plane was actually red overall with tan/sand teardrop on fuse side and red & tan wings). Got a modern pic that shows the true colors. There were 2 basic paint designs in the early days. One had the teardrop side like mine, one had the center-stripe like yours.

Feel like an idiot on those last pics I sent - first one, the 2T-1C is actually a 2T-1C1, just like yours - it has the ailerons on top & bottom. Should have paid better attention when I sent it. Second pic, of the 2T-1A2 - the plane's been modified to also have upper ailerons - its true designation is 2T-1A2b. That one shows the connecting rod between upper and lower quite well. BTW, you connect them at the TE of the aileron.

A small bit of history on the 2T's. Some (all early mods [A, B & C] involved here) were/are made with single cockpit, some with doubles - yours is a single. The double cockpits were the norm, and 90% of the OLD 2T's (before 1940) are built that way, 100% of the new ones. The single cockpit was for mail carriers - front cockpit was moved back and a cargo compartment was installed in front of him, behind the firewall. The plane could carry up to 250 lbs of mail, plus pilot, plus full fuel load - average range being in the 500 mile neighborhood.

If you're into designations, the full designation on your bird is GL-2T-1C1. GL (Great Lakes) 2 (wings) T (trainer) 1 (engine) C (3-rd major mod, radial engine) 1 (upper ailerons). The company has only made this one basic design since 1928 and their designation system is quite simple. "A" birds had an engine with the crank-shaft at the bottom, "B" birds had one with crank at top. "C" was radial engines and was the first mod with the larger rudder seen today. WW-2 hit and they made a few planes for the USAAF (all "C"s) but Stearman beat them out and got the big contract for trainer planes, building the PT-17 in huge quantities. Great Lakes all but folded by 1943. "D" designation was skipped - would have been an enclosed cockpit but nobody wanted it. They came back in the late 1950's with the 2T-1E that had a new engine (same engine as in Piper Super-Cubs) - much more capable and with opposing cylinders, giving her today's flattened front-end. "E"s are the main design built today. "Espt" is a special-built turboprop version - something like 800+hp driving an airframe that was originally designed for something like 75 horses. There aren't many of these around, I think all (5 or 6) are owned by one guy that runs an aerobatic team.

Only flying tips I can really give you is fly her gently!!!!!! She CAN roll at an incredibly fast rate, even with just a little bit of roll input. ALWAYS use rudder & aileron together - the adverse yaw with just aileron input is actually entertaining to watch (she's quite capable of "crabbing" in the air once you get used to the inputs - one direction on ailerons, the other on rudder) but frightening if you're the one on the controls. Loops are something impressive to watch - she can nearly rotate on her wing if your CG's right. And she flies quite well on just rudder when you're simply tooling around in the air.

Should you have to come down "dead stick", don't try to extend the glide a whole lot - bring her down fairly smartly and keep some speed on those wings. She does glide decently but at somewhat more of an angle than many others - due exclusively to the drag of being an old-design biplane.

Hey! Good luck with the fun fly!!!