Sport Pilot Talk

SportPilot wrote: With your limited experience

" And there are willing allies among pilots perfectly happy to defend and cling to the old designs/materials, old instruments, paper charts, and convoluted regulations." < refers to you.

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SportPilot wrote:. . . "Most of us with many hours and years of experience have developed a love of flying and appreciation for almost anything that flies. Climbing in an old J3 or Ercoupe with little more than needle, ball, and airspeed can be more fun than flying with the latest glass panel. Experience is a great teacher." . . .

Could not agree more. You hit the nail right on the head.
Some of my fondest memories were of flying the most simple machines, especially during my earliest years.
I vividly remember thinking . . . "ya' know, if I can fly this OH-23D, then there is no reason why I can't fly a 727 someday."
It all happened before I knew it.
I have loved anything I could "break ground" with.
It has gone by fast . . . seems like just yesterday I was sitting in that Hiller.
I could not have ask for a more rewarding career. It was like taking a day off . . . and getting paid for it.
What a ride!

And . . as far as I am concerned . . . I am not done yet.

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"I came from and engineering background in Silicon Valley so when I started to fly I readily accepted the advanced aircraft design as embodied in the FD CTLSi equipped with all glass PFD/MFD and touchscreen GPS/EFB and Angle-Of-Attack meter and TIS-TCAS and ADS-B and 2-axis autopilot and BRS chute. And I have avoided leaded AVGAS too."

Just think of it, in just a few years somebody will be blasting the FD CTLSi as being a piece of old junk using old technology and outdated materials. Running on…oh my God…fossil fuel!

Somebody will be wondering who would have been fool enough to fly one, let alone buy one!

All this (peripheral) banter got me thinking about the C-162 and the Garmin 300. Wonderful system - even complicated flight planning with multiple waypoints and direction changes are a snap. Just keep the little airplane on the line and you can't miss. So what did I do? Found a flight school at Thun Field (KPLU) that has a J-3 Piper (1946!), and arranged an intro lesson for next Saturday. I'm sure the ride will be scary, at least at first, as I have become quite spoiled with the Garmin and I know squat about flying a tail dragger. But Hey - it's a true American classic!

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SportPilot wrote:I have 59 hours in a J3. It's great fun. You'll love it.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm hoping this will be nostalgic. My first ever flying experience was in a Piper Cub. A grayish-green WWII surplus boxkite flown by my Dad's WWII enlisted pilot Army buddy. I was just 6 and could barely see over the nose. Mom was mad as heck when she found out.

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I got my tailwheel endorsement in a J3 at Homestead General south of Miami in the late 1970's.

Great fun!

Went on to accumulate over 1,500 hours of tailwheel time, including personal flying in one of two Citabrias, teaching tailwheel transition and aerobatic courses in said Citabrias and ferrying cropdusters and a homebuilt.

I just LOVE taildraggers. Too bad my Sky Arrow can't easily be converted!

FastEddieB wrote:I got my tailwheel endorsement in a J3 at Homestead General south of Miami in the late 1970's.

Great fun!

Went on to accumulate over 1,500 hours of tailwheel time, including personal flying in one of two Citabrias, teaching tailwheel transition and aerobatic courses in said Citabrias and ferrying cropdusters and a homebuilt.

I just LOVE taildraggers. Too bad my Sky Arrow can't easily be converted!

You should bought that gorgeous Bristell Taildragger that was at Sebring

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I learned to fly in a Citabria 35 years ago, and since then have aquired quite a bit of tailwheel time (1500 plus) in many different airplanes. This includes about 130 hours in a J3 I owned, and most of that was instruction given. Recently I have been doing some instruction in a Luscombe 8A. While the J3 is fun to fly and nostalgic, it is my least favorite vintage tailwheel airplane.

Since my flight school is on Piper Memorial Airport (birthplace of the J3) I see a lot of them. Yes, great nostalgia trip, but a lot like owning an antique MG (which I have - one hour of repairs for every hour of driving). They say that's why it has two seats. One for the owner, and one for the mechanic.

drseti wrote:Since my flight school is on Piper Memorial Airport (birthplace of the J3) I see a lot of them. Yes, great nostalgia trip, but a lot like owning an antique MG (which I have - one hour of repairs for every hour of driving). They say that's why it has two seats. One for the owner, and one for the mechanic.

I haven't found the old airplanes to be anything like that maintenance wise. The little A-65 Continentals provide solid performance, and the airframes are simple. Most can provide years of reliable service, if they were set up right to begin with.