wally
Well-Known Member
I was feeling kinda down yesterday.
I had been off work for a week but honey-do jobs and other family obligations and weather had been keeping me from going out to the airport. I work weekends so even when I do go out to the little grass strip where I rent a hangar, I am usually by myself.
Well about mid-morning, a friend called and said he was taking the afternoon off and would I like to go for a ride in his "new" plane. After checking with my spousal unit, I said sure! He said he would be at the ariport about 2pm.
His new plane is the one I went to help change the oil on just after he bought it back in February. He was getting it ready to bring it to his hangar near mine. It is a 1943 Fairchild PT-26. YeeeHaaa!
What a sweet old airplane. Big roomy cockpits and with the canopy closed, not too much noise. The canopy must be open for takeoff and landings and there is a lot of wind in the back seat then. It has the inverted Ranger engine and it runs so nice. He said it burns about 11 gallons an hour gas and about a quart an hour of oil. The oil burn can be up to 2 and a half quarts an hour and still be ok. It climbs about like a 65hp Cub and is maybe 10 mph faster so we weren't going anywhere in a hurry. It has nice visibility and a pretty comfortable seat.
He let me do 3 takeoffs and landings. It has big tires and shock struts and is so smooth landing. I was able to get it down with just a little coaching from him.
Then, since he had a couple of things to do on his J-3 before it was ready to fly, I took my Pitts up for a little ride. That was nice too.
When I got back down, he had his Cub ready and asked me it I wanted to go again in it. And so I propped it and then struggled into the front seat. for those who have not tried it, there is just no graceful way to get into either Piper Cub seat!
He let me have about 30 minutes stick time and we maintained the minimum altitudes as discussed in another thread here. Honest, we did! And he let me have a landing which I also did pretty good even with the edge of my shoe getting caught in the narrow space down there. I need to have diffrent shoes if I really try to fly it much more, it is really tight near the rudder peddals with the diagonal brace tubes so close.
By that time, it was getting late, so he put off my offer for him to take my Pitts around a little while. He has flown it a couple of times already and likes flying it too.
All in all, a fine day. That is what friends are for!
Wally
I had been off work for a week but honey-do jobs and other family obligations and weather had been keeping me from going out to the airport. I work weekends so even when I do go out to the little grass strip where I rent a hangar, I am usually by myself.
Well about mid-morning, a friend called and said he was taking the afternoon off and would I like to go for a ride in his "new" plane. After checking with my spousal unit, I said sure! He said he would be at the ariport about 2pm.
His new plane is the one I went to help change the oil on just after he bought it back in February. He was getting it ready to bring it to his hangar near mine. It is a 1943 Fairchild PT-26. YeeeHaaa!
What a sweet old airplane. Big roomy cockpits and with the canopy closed, not too much noise. The canopy must be open for takeoff and landings and there is a lot of wind in the back seat then. It has the inverted Ranger engine and it runs so nice. He said it burns about 11 gallons an hour gas and about a quart an hour of oil. The oil burn can be up to 2 and a half quarts an hour and still be ok. It climbs about like a 65hp Cub and is maybe 10 mph faster so we weren't going anywhere in a hurry. It has nice visibility and a pretty comfortable seat.
He let me do 3 takeoffs and landings. It has big tires and shock struts and is so smooth landing. I was able to get it down with just a little coaching from him.
Then, since he had a couple of things to do on his J-3 before it was ready to fly, I took my Pitts up for a little ride. That was nice too.
When I got back down, he had his Cub ready and asked me it I wanted to go again in it. And so I propped it and then struggled into the front seat. for those who have not tried it, there is just no graceful way to get into either Piper Cub seat!
He let me have about 30 minutes stick time and we maintained the minimum altitudes as discussed in another thread here. Honest, we did! And he let me have a landing which I also did pretty good even with the edge of my shoe getting caught in the narrow space down there. I need to have diffrent shoes if I really try to fly it much more, it is really tight near the rudder peddals with the diagonal brace tubes so close.
By that time, it was getting late, so he put off my offer for him to take my Pitts around a little while. He has flown it a couple of times already and likes flying it too.
All in all, a fine day. That is what friends are for!
Wally
