Quite the climbing Cub

Plane: Cub, 85 hp
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Haze, 79 degrees, wind 120 degrees at 4 knots

You have no idea how much I needed to get in the air tonight. Sure I was looking forward to it as I drove towards Waynesville, but the peace once I took off and flew around the pattern was exactly what the doctor ordered. Work's been completely insane for the past week since I returned from vacation/furlough and I've all but lived there. Add in another 21 hours in the office over the weekend and I was certainly ready to get the heck out and go fly.

I hadn't scheduled a plane and just drove down to Stewart, figuring there's always at least one plane open. Sure enough, the 85 hp Cub was available for an hour and I got the keys and went out to preflight. Winds were light out of the East as I took the end of Runway 8 and added in full power. All that horsepower (hey, 85 is a lot when the plane weighs like 900 pounds) had me off the ground within a couple hundred feet and climbing away like a rocked. I nearly turned crosswind a couple times before crossing US-42, which sits at the end of the aforementioned runway.

Other than my first landing attempt, where I bounced and immediately added full power to go around, the flying was quite smooth. That big engine had me climbing quickly to pattern altitude and I saw from my watch that it was only taking me about 5-6 minutes between each takeoff. It had been too long since I flew a taildragger and it was great to hop back in and brush up on my currency. Plus, there's still nothing better than flying a Cub on a warm summer day with the door hanging wide open.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File
Today's Flight: 0.8 hours
Total Time: 110.2 hours