Anybody Near Ft. Collins, CO?

Okay, this is a strange request, I’ll admit, but considering the circumstances, I think it’s understandable why I’m asking. The company which built the aircraft engines that the Tuckers used is still in business and located in Ft. Collins. I’ve called the number listed on their website, but I keep getting connected to their fax machine. I’ve sent them a fax, saying we’d like to buy some of the manuals for the A6-335 engine, but haven’t heard anything back. Given that the place is 1200 (or so) miles away, I can’t just pop over and pound on the door, or whatever. I’m hoping that someone here is in the area, and can spare a few moments to find out what’s going on with the place. The street address is:
136 Racquette Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80524

Thanks.

This is from a year ago. Didn’t read in depth but looks like they might have been phasing business out.

There’s been some talk of that, but the website was recently updated (within the last month) announcing that the very manuals I’m interested in are on sale, so they can’t have completely shutdown operations, and when I call the number on their website, I get the outgoing message on their answering machine and then the fax machine tries to “talk” to me, so someone’s still paying the light bill and the phone bill.

Have you tried snail mail?

Franklin Aircraft Engines
136 Racquette Dr
Fort Collins, CO 80524

(It is odd that their single phone line is handling both voice and fax. Their earlier fax number was 970-493-9266, so maybe you could try dialing in on that line if they have chosen to “retire” it but it is still in service.)

I am, in a galactic scale of things sense. Why?

Ah, Fort Collins. The town in which I slept though a tornado that went right by my cheapie motel in the summer of 1996.

Memories…

(carry on!)

My brother is in north Denver (1 hour from Ft. Collins), is a former aviation mechanic and might get a kick out of meeting these guys…want me to contact him? Email me.

-Tcat

Oh, and I’m sure he’d want to learn more about your restoration too…

Actually, I live in Fort Collins. And as luck would have it, about 2 or 3 miles from the address you gave.

If you haven’t gotten a response, shoot me an email (it’s in my profile) and tell me exactly what you need. Be glad to help out if I can :slight_smile:

Problem with snail mail is that it’d take at least a week for my letter to get to 'em, then, assuming they called right away, and we got some ordered and shipped out that day, it could take at least another week or two (boss ain’t gonna splurge for Fed Ex, even if the place offered it) for the manuals to show up. That’s a best case scenerio, which would mean the manuals would arrive here shortly before the car’s scheduled to be picked up. If it takes them a few days after getting my letter to get around to contacting us, etc., etc., etc., then the car will be gone by the time the manuals show up, and I want to be able to spend at least a little time going over the engine with the manual in my hand so that I can see how great the differences are between the helicopter design and the car design Iin theory, there’s not much, reality, however, is often quite different).

Tom, and Cherry, thanks for the offers and check your emails.

Did you try faxing them to let them know about the problem? Write something such as, “I’m a potential customer, but I am unable to call in due to the fax machine constantly hijacking the call. Please contact me at this number…”

Never mind. I had glossed over the part where you said you had faxed them.

There’s an e-mail address and an alternate fax number available at this page:

Ovar Har.

I’m not sure how up-to-date it is.

Tried 'em both last week. Fax line has been disconnected and no response (as of yet) to the email I sent.

Tuckerfan , I made the trip over there this morning. I sent you an email about the situation. Let me know if you did not receive.

Hey! No secrets!!!

What is “the situation”?

Well, Cherry2000 went above and beyond the call of duty, not only did she drop by, but she did quite a bit of detective work as well. The short of it is, there’s a building there, but no signs, the windows are covered up, and a check of the state records yields little more information. Almost like something out of the Twilight Zone.

Thankfully, I remembered that Johnny LA is a whirly bird pilot, so I dropped him a note to see if he knew of any sources for the manuals, and he managed to turn up quite a few.