Full Story (as provided by Tim Fiedler)

Murphy Rebel N254MR

Murphy Rebel sub kit #1 for Rebel SN 254 was purchased in 1991 by Jim LePard, an A&P IA who resides near Spokane, WA.  Jim started construction on 1/13/1992, and he later purchased Rebel sub kits #2 and #3 on 3/15/1995 (The Rebel at the time was sold as a complete kit or in three sub kits).   Jim substantially completed the airframe by working many hours over the ensuing years. Jim’s workmanship is outstanding on this airframe; all who have seen it have commented on the quality of his construction.

Jim eventually decided to sell the unfinished airframe to Ron Shannon, who lived at the Rakes Glenn residential airpark near Sequim Washington. Ron was an attorney, musician, political activist, record and concert promoter, hiker, sailor, pilot, builder and repairer of houses, boats, and airplanes, computer network designer, father, and husband. Ron picked up the aircraft from Jim in a U-Haul truck on 3/20/2006. Ron elected to finish the airplane and certify it in the light sport category at 1,320 pounds gross weight, originally installing a 120HP six-cylinder Jabiru engine and a dual screen Advanced Flight Systems 3500 avionics suite. (EFIS and MFD).

Ron received his airworthiness certificate on 07/13/2010, four years after picking up the airplane from Jim LePard. Ron had the aircraft painted by Michael Payne, who also resides at Rakes Glenn Airport. (Mr. Payne is currently the Museum Director at the Port Townsend Aero Museum and is an amazing craftsman and antique/vintage aircraft restoration expert). Even after getting N254MR in the air, Ron was constantly “tweaking” the aircraft towards perfection. 

Ron put approximately 350 hours on the airframe once it received its airworthiness certificate, including two trips from his home in Washington to the Oshkosh Airshow. Ron chased fuel tank leaks for most of the time he owned the aircraft, but loved everything else about the airplane and was an avid contributor to murphybuilders.net, the Murphy Builder user community. Ron’s last flight in N254MR was in November 2015. Sadly, Ron never flew the airplane again, and he passed away on April 27, 2020, four and a half years after the diagnosis of brain cancer.

During 2018 and 2019, I was looking to build a STOL aircraft, and initially I focused my attention primarily on the Kitfox and Rans S-21 aircraft, visiting both factories and flying examples of both aircraft.  Both are fine aircraft, but at that time, both aircraft had significant kit lead times, which an involved build process would have followed. While considering various build options, Michael Payne alerted me to the availability of N254MR. After seeing the craftsmanship on the aircraft and taking a short demo flight, I was very impressed and purchased the aircraft from Ron’s widow, Miggles, in the summer of 2020.

I flew the aircraft in the original configuration for about 6 months and decided not to keep the Jabiru engine and light sport certification. Since I live near Idaho, I considered putting a Rotax 915 on the aircraft as the density altitude is a major consideration operating in the Idaho backcountry. Ultimately, despite knowing that the Rebel with the Rotax 915 would be an amazing backcountry airplane, I decided the engineering effort to install and debug the Rotax 915 installation would be beyond the scope of my skills and resources at my disposal.

Today, many, if not most, of the hundreds of airworthy examples, Rebels fly with Lycoming O-320 or O-360 variants.  Of note, a suitable motor mount and cowl for these engines was available to purchase from Murphy Aircraft. Ultimately, I decided to go with an experimental XO-340 (basically a stroked O-320) Continental Titan rated at 176 horsepower (low compression pistons and no fuel injection to preserve the ability to use automotive fuel if needed).   The Titan was developed by ECI as a high horsepower, low-weight engine in conjunction with CubCrafters for their Carbon Cub aircraft.  Subsequently, Continental purchased ECI and has continued to make these Titan “Lycoming clone” engines for CubCrafters and experimental applications.

I placed an order for the Continental XO-340 Titan, equipped with dual Lightspeed Plasma III electronic ignitions. Simultaneously, ordering a custom Catto three-blade composite propeller, the diameter and pitch were based on Craig Catto’s knowledge and experience. I also ordered the motor mount and fiberglass “speed” cowl from Murphy Aircraft. 

 My goal in using the XO-340 Titan and Catto prop combination was to keep the completed aircraft as light as possible, maximize available power, and minimize the weight on the nose. The cost of all this fun was not my top consideration.

I took the aircraft to Bend Builder Assist in Bend, Oregon. Over the course of the next year, Mike Robertson’s talented team completed the transformation of the aircraft.  Initially, while we waited for the Titan engine to arrive, Mike installed a used experimental Lycoming O-320 I had purchased for the purpose of making sure any potential cooling and FWF details could be sorted out before the installation of the Titan engine.  This temporary engine allowed us to get the aircraft airborne and test the new motor mount, cowl, ignition, controls, installation, and accessories.

While the original engine swap from the Jabiru to the interim O-320 engine was being performed, Rob Hickman’s team from Advanced Avionics upgraded the panel via their “Advanced Panel” offering to its current configuration, including a 10″ Advanced 5600 display (upgraded recently with the Advanced 6600 microprocessor), Advanced Engine Management System, Advanced remote audio panel and G3x Garmin backup EFIS. This installation is built around the “Advanced Control Module,” the central hub for all wiring connections. This module also provides electronic circuit breakers for the entire airplane, except for the electronic ignition modules and the alternator. (Note the absence of rows of traditional circuit breakers.) This IFR-certified aircraft features a Garmin 650Xi, ADS B In and Out capability, and a fully coupled Advanced 3-axis autopilot. Safety features include GPS position input to the ACK ELT, a panel-mounted CO2 detector, and an oximeter. 

I flew the aircraft with the O-320 for about 10 hours and proved that the installation details and cowl modifications resulted in excellent CHTs and appropriate oil temperatures.  At this point, the aircraft returned to Bend Builder assist to swap the O-320 for the XO-340 Titan. Initial test flights with the XO-340 showed no anomalies during or after a very short engine break-in period. Paperwork was submitted, and the gross weight was upped to the standard Rebel 1,650 pounds. The metamorphosis was completed.

As for airframe upgrades, Ron built the aircraft with electric flaps and trim.  Additionally, all factory service bulletins have been completed during the build or over the years, including several firewall and landing gear beef-ups, all well-known in the Murphy Rebel builder community. 

Recently, Tim Boughner from Tim’s Aircraft in Port Orchard, WA, installed an upgraded 3200 tailwheel and a new, stiffer tailwheel spring.  Future upgrades include Tony’s TK-1 STOL landing gear, researching rudder trim from Aero Sport, and potentially bigger tires to replace the 22″ tires installed on the aircraft.

The aircraft has a lot of radios and heavy paint, a four-cylinder 176 HP engine, along with off-airport tires and beefed-up tailwheel, so N254MR isn’t particularly light, coming in at 1075 pounds empty weight (N254MR was 1,025 pounds with the Jabiru). The resulting useful load at 1,650 GW is 575 pounds. The wing tanks hold 22 gallons each, with a total of 42 gallons usable. The aircraft cruises (using 75% power) at 109 knots (125 MPH), stalls at about 31 knots, and takes off in about 180′ at full gross, making it a super STOL and backcountry aircraft.  The roomy cabin, side-by-side seating, great visibility, and ample baggage space make the Murphy Rebel a favorite for everyone who has flown or traveled in the airplane.

The aircraft was proudly displayed in the Murphy Aircraft booth at EAA AirVenture 2023.