When is a Skylark not a Skylark?

Jeff Whiteley, who then ask a friend to help him restore the disused Skylark

When it has a tail, big wheels and something strange on the leading edge of the wings – slats. This was a Cessna 175 Skylark built in 1958 but which has spent some twenty years parked, waiting for an enthusiast to decide a rebuild was in order.

That person was Jeff Whiteley, who then ask a friend to help him restore the disused Skylark, turning it into a backcountry aircraft capable of landing in most places, doing things most Skylarks are not supposed to be doing. Whiteley’s friend was aircraft restorer Kyle Bushman, and together the two men decided that besides turning the 175 into a tail-dragger, slats would also be a good idea.

Leading-edge slats are high-lift devices that are nothing new. They have been around for many, many years, but have never become really popular even though slats are useful for squeezing out every drop of lift for flight. There are a number of no-longer in production aircraft as well as those still popular. The major airline manufacturers use slats on the wings of airliners. The Helio Courier, a cantilever high-wing light C/STOL utility aircraft designed in 1949, was produced until 1974. The wing design featured four leading-edge slats that deployed automatically and large trailing edge flaps.

The Wilga, a Polish short-take off and-landing civil aviation utility aircraft, an outstanding bush plane and one of which was modified to such an extent that the FAA reclassified it as an experimental exhibition aircraft. No longer considered a Wilga 2000, the owner renamed it the ‘Draco’ meaning dragon or serpent. The Zenith kitplane is still very popular. These aircraft all have one thing in common – they all use leading-edge slats to significantly lower stall speed.

Where to get the slats?