skyscooter
Well-Known Member
Today was an exceptionally beautiful spring day here in the Wichita area, which allowed me to experience a broad range of flying. Early afternoon found me flying my Skyscooter to nearby Newton airport to fill up on mogas. $3.60 a gallon full service. It certainly beats $6 a gallon 100LL when I first completed the plane 5 years ago! After that I flew last winter's building project, a reduced scale Miss America old timer free flight that I built from a kit from the 1970's, when .020 powered mini old timers were all the rage. It was the first time that I covered with silkspan and dope in over 30 years. I learned that I appreciate the nostalgic smell of butyrate dope much more than my wife does! Instead of free flight gas as it was originally designed for, I installed an electric motor and miniature RC equipment. It was somewhat difficult to fly, given that it was intended for free flight. I once read that converted free flight models do not necessarily make good RC airplanes.
My last flying experience for the day was flying my Horizon Hobby WhipIt Discus Launch Glider. This was my second outing with this little glider. I've been flying RC sailplanes on and off for almost 40 years, and this is my first experience with a DLG. RC sailplane designer and author Dave Thornburg once wrote that you can learn more about thermal flying below 50 feet than above. I think he may be right. It was fun observing the local meteorology of the school yard trying to catch thermals starting and avoiding the nearby sink. The last flight ended when I caught it in my hand. Always try to quit while you are ahead!
Anyway, it was a memorable day of flying for me. It is not often that one gets to fly airplanes ranging from 1.5 ounces to 1100 lb in a period of 4 hours! Flying such a broad range of airplanes in such a short time gave me an appreciation for both the similarity and difference each brings to the challenge of flying.
My last flying experience for the day was flying my Horizon Hobby WhipIt Discus Launch Glider. This was my second outing with this little glider. I've been flying RC sailplanes on and off for almost 40 years, and this is my first experience with a DLG. RC sailplane designer and author Dave Thornburg once wrote that you can learn more about thermal flying below 50 feet than above. I think he may be right. It was fun observing the local meteorology of the school yard trying to catch thermals starting and avoiding the nearby sink. The last flight ended when I caught it in my hand. Always try to quit while you are ahead!
Anyway, it was a memorable day of flying for me. It is not often that one gets to fly airplanes ranging from 1.5 ounces to 1100 lb in a period of 4 hours! Flying such a broad range of airplanes in such a short time gave me an appreciation for both the similarity and difference each brings to the challenge of flying.
