Editors Note: There have been many organizational changes in the foundation since this was written, so check directly with the foundation and don't take any of this as fact until you verify it.

Doug Combs bought his first Luscombe, an 8A, right after he got out of college. That was nearly 4,000 hours of Luscombe time ago and what was an interest has blossomed into an obsession. A captain for a major airline, Combs' real career is Luscombes

As he was taking his Luscombe Phantom on an extended two year tour of the country in the late 1980's, he spent a lot of time talking to Luscombe owners.

"The talk was the same thing everywhere. There was a universal need for support," he remembers.

"I was really familiar with the Swift Association and what they had accomplished. I mentioned doing something similar at one of my Luscombe seminars and some guys stepped forward and said, if I'd get it going, they'd kick in some money."

For several years the Foundation as "...a checkbook and some letterhead..." In 1991 Combs come in contact with an individual who seriously wanted to produce the Luscombe as a kit plane. He committed to some funding and, with that promise in his back pocket, Combs formed the foundation. The next step was to acquire what was left of the old Luscombe company's assets.

"I called the holder of the type certificate and was really lucky: I caught her as she was getting ready to burn all the drawings. We negotiated a sale-donation deal and signed a contract for a pretty sizable sum of money. We had no sooner done that when the kit plane guy disappeared."

As Combs remembers, the new foundation had $500 in the bank and a debt of over $100,000. "...We became a parts vendor to survive."

His original intent for the Foundation was for it to act as a clearing house for used parts from owner to owner. They still handle a lot of used parts, but they are usually in the form of donations which they either refurbish and sell or use in restoring other aircraft. They have four full time employees and another 10-12 part timers who are part of a A & P training program with a local college. Shades of Don Luscombe!

Little by little they built up their reserves but made a giant jump forward with the help of Bill Kientz from St. Louis. Bill was based at Creuve Coure airport and had lost patience with being flooded out. For years, he had been acquiring the old inventories of past Luscombe dealers and two times had his hangar flooded.

"I was at a party when I got the call on my cell phone," Combs said. "Bill said for us tocome and get it. Everything was ours. I was absolutely stunned. We waded around in mud getting it all out, but it was that donation that put us in the parts business. On top of that, he gave us the original factory fuselage jig."

Then one of their board members stumbled into the original factory plaster molds and wood plugs for the formed sheet metal which were in cold storage in Ft. Collins, CO. He acquired them and donated them to the cause.

In 1993, the Foundation held their first airplane raffle, which they have done annually since. They bring a project airplane into their simple, but effective shop in downtown Chandler and roll it back out as a totally restored airplane with a freshly overhauled engine. They sell a total of 2,800 tickets at $40 each, three for $100 or ten for $300. Much of their operating capital comes from the raffles.

Combs' dream is to set up a museum where a display-only production line shows how the Luscombes were originally built. Right now, however, he has more important priorities and would love to find someone with a large enough scanner and big enough heart to help them put their 50-60 year old factory drawings into digital form. Any takers??

For more information and to enter the drawing, contact:
Don Luscombe Aviation History Foundation
Box 63581
Phoenix, AZ 85082
(602) 917-0969
e-mail: silvair@luscombe.org (also web site address)

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