Re: Aeronca 11AC Chief - Opinions?
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 5:05 pm
" BUT - entry to and exit from that cockpit for a beat-up 65 year old was painful and difficult".
Shouldn't be. I'm 74 with torn rotator cuffs in both shoulders, and it takes less than 2 seconds from my flipping the prop to sitting in the back seat strapping in. About a second longer for front seat. No pain involved. My buddies call my entry technique the 'backward flying butt leap'. Been using it for over fifty years.
Most of the planes I fly are over 70 years old. Newest is a 1966 Piper Cherokee 150C. Much more difficult to enter and exit than a J3.
If I remember correctly, took me 7 hr 10 min to solo in a J3. Had my arm in a sling from wrecking a Harley, and my instructor wouldn't release me for solo till I got the sling off.
Shouldn't be. I'm 74 with torn rotator cuffs in both shoulders, and it takes less than 2 seconds from my flipping the prop to sitting in the back seat strapping in. About a second longer for front seat. No pain involved. My buddies call my entry technique the 'backward flying butt leap'. Been using it for over fifty years.
Most of the planes I fly are over 70 years old. Newest is a 1966 Piper Cherokee 150C. Much more difficult to enter and exit than a J3.
If I remember correctly, took me 7 hr 10 min to solo in a J3. Had my arm in a sling from wrecking a Harley, and my instructor wouldn't release me for solo till I got the sling off.