Starting the new year off right

Plane: Cessna 172
Route: 40I-MWO-40I
Weather: Clear, 30 degrees, wind 200 degrees at 3-6 knots

It's a bit of a Stewart tradition, to begin with. I first became aware when we were down there to fly the 150 on New Year's Day in 2009. I heard a noise and looked up. What I saw was something uniquely Stewart - the Stearman, a Cub, the 150, maybe a Champ all in formation. For years, they've flown a bunch of their airplanes to breakfast before they open on January 1st.

So, morning person that I'm not, I thought it would be fun to take part when Tommy texted me the other day. We booked the 172 and met at the (very cold) airport just after sunrise this morning. They already had the preheater hooked up to the 172 but it still took me 20-30 minutes to clear the frost off the wings. For the non-pilots, a tiny bit of frost might seem like no big deal. It is. Even a small amount can reduce lift by 30% or more. So it has to get brushed off!

Our eclectic collection of airplanes on the ramp in Middletown

Wings clean, engine running warm, and everything checked, we took off and joined the other three planes in the sky. Tommy was flying the Fly Baby, Jamie the T-Craft, and Steve (and his wife) his own Cub. We flew in formation (ranging from loose to relatively close) to Middletown, where a Big Boy is conveniently located near the end of the runway. Part of the tradition, it is.

Enroute to breakfast after meeting up in the air

I followed Jamie and Tommy broke off and joined Steve as we neared MWO. They were all using the grass runway, or so I thought. I was on final for Runway 5 when I saw Tommy touching down on Runway 23. No biggie - I went around and made a short field landing on Runway 23 behind Steve. Hit the first turnoff (750 feet past the threshold), in fact - not bad for a 172!

We all enjoyed a tasty breakfast at Frisch's - I had eggs, hash browns, and toast - while chatting about (what else?) airplanes.

In loose formation with Jamie and Steve on the way home

Jamie snapped this shot of us from his vantage point

I stayed on Jamie's wing all the way back to the airport

We were back in the air around 10:00 for the short, 13-mile flight back to Stewart. I made a low pass as Jamie landed then circled back around the pattern. The winds had kicked up and there was a decent crosswind as I touched down on Runway 26.

Flying, friends, food, and family. I'd say that's a great start to 2014!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.8 hours
Total Time: 301.0 hours

Checked out in the T-Craft

Plane: Taylorcraft
Instructor: Jamie
Route: 40I-2OH9-40I
Weather: Partly cloudy, 75 degrees, wind 240 degrees at 5 knots

After last week's first flight filled with flying (how's that for some alliteration?) maneuvers it was time for my second flight that would permit me to add a new airplane to my rental stable. Jamie and I took the T-Craft up in between this afternoon's lines of storms. Seems like the darn things have been ever-present for weeks at this point! There were heavy thunderstorms north near Dayton and a line was visible to the south but we had more than enough room in between. Heck, the sun was shining for the whole flight!

S-Turns and a bunch of landings - just the good ol' basics

We went around the pattern at Stewart a couple times and then hopped over the gliderport for a couple more landings. The goal was a power-off 180 but I was having some trouble losing enough altitude and speed and landed long pretty much every time. Unlike the Cub, the T-Craft does not adopt the aerodynamics of a brick when you put her into a full slip - at least not at slower airspeeds. Jamie showed me that by pushing forward on the yoke and picking up another 20 mph the plane manages to drop quite impressively.

I put that trick to the test on my final approach to Stewart. Although I didn't manage to hit my spot perfectly I did touch down just a little further down the turf. It's just going to take a bit longer to get a feel for the controls. I'm sure I'll be able to plant the T-Craft wherever I want some day, when I have 50+ hours in it too!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 1.0 hours
Total Time: 274.2 hours

Time to fly the Taylorcraft

Plane: Taylorcraft
Instructor: Jamie
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Scattered clouds, 85 degrees, wind 210 degrees at 7 knots

It may not be instrument training (I know, I'm slacking...) but today's bit of flight instruction let me check off another goal. The Taylorcraft found a home on the rental line last summer. For many years prior she was on floats and the Stewarts kept her up in Michigan during the summers, if I'm recalling the story correctly. Down here in Ohio the floats are no more (well, they're in the hangar) and I've been thinking about flying her for quite a while. Today I finally did.

This afternoon's trusty aerial steed, the Taylorcraft BC-12D

Jamie and I talked about some of the basics while standing under the wing - the preflight isn't all that different than the Cub or Champ, save for a couple things in different places. The biggest difference is that this lovely taildragger has both an electrical system and a starter. No hand-propping and there's even a radio. That's downright luxurious!

We went over the panel in detail (the cabin heat, carb heat, and fuel shutoffs are all next to each other and have nearly identical knobs - what could possibly go wrong?!) and then started the engine. It fired right up after a couple blades and I confirmed we had fuel pressure. With everything in the green, I taxied over to the end of Runway 26. The gear uses bungees like the Cub but it felt like we were wallowing around much more as we rolled over the turf.

Airplane and instructor on the soft grass field

Lined up on the runway, I gently advanced the throttle and a firm push on the yoke brought the tail up off the ground. Soon we were climbing out - quickly. I've heard that Mr. Taylor built a plane that squeezed all the possible performance out of an 85 hp Continental; you won't hear me arguing that point. It was a hot, humid summer afternoon and we climbed at 500+ feet per minute all the way up to around 4,000 feet. Impressive.

I trimmed the plane for cruise and tried some dutch rolls to get a feel for the controls. Because of the way the yoke is shaped, I found it easy to inadvertently push or pull while trying to quickly deflect the ailerons. It took a minute but eventually I managed some relatively yaw-free rolls.

After that I did a couple steep turns in each direction, hitting my wake every time. That's always fun. Then I did a couple power-off stalls; the wing has a tendency to drop more than you see in a Cub, but it's not too bad. Work the rudders, stay coordinated, and you get a clean break with minimal roll. Jamie asked for some slow flight so I slowed down to 45-50 mph and made gentle 90-degree turns with the rudder.

Climbing into the tight cockpit requires some fun anatomical maneuvering

We were already rather nose-high so I pushed in the throttle, held the yoke back, and was rewarded with a very gentle power-on stall. Unlike the Cub, which just kind of suddenly stops flying, there was a noticeable buffet as we approached the stall. Relaxing the stick at that first indication resulted in essentially no altitude loss. I did another and held back longer; the break was still quite gentle.

Need to lose a couple thousand feet? Time for some forward slips. Full rudder to the stops, opposite aileron, and down we went. Not spectacularly fast, however. The airframe is quite streamlined; we never could exceed about -1,400 feet per minute in our descent. There's no vertical speed indicator in the Cub so I can't make a definitive comparison but it certainly seems to drop much faster. I wouldn't be surprised if a J-3 can drop at a clip of -2,000 feet per minute or better in a full-on, to-the-stops slip.

A tad more sophisticated than what you'll find in a Cub!

On my way back to the airport I practiced one turn around a point. It had been a while since I last did any and I spotted a water tower that I've used for similar practice many times before. So I rolled into a gentle turn and held it in position under the left wing. As I said to Jamie, when you've got a GPS logger, even something as simple as flying in a circle can be a little fun...

Google Earth don't lie - I've still got it! ;-)

We entered the pattern and I flew a rather stabilized approach. I knew the sight picture would be different (you sit higher than in the Cub) so I would have a tendency to flare late. To compensate, I added power on short final with the intention of holding the plane off the ground - and we soon touched, ever so softly. Jamie said some nice things and my ego felt good but I'm honest at heart. I told him that it was mostly pure luck - I thought we were higher and it was only that soft because I had added power our descent rate was basically zero.

New sight picture starting to register, we went around twice more. The second landing wasn't anything to write home about. Like I said, that first one was more luck than anything. The third was much better, however, quite gentle if not a perfect three-pointer. At that point, we taxied over to the fuel pump and topped the tanks with nine gallons of 100LL.

Jamie asked if I wanted to fly the pattern solo a couple times. After all, why just taxi back when you're already at the end of the runway and the tiedown is in the middle of the field? I said he'd better stay in that right seat. Not that I thought I'd bend any metal... but I figured it was the smart thing to do.

So I took off for one final lap around the pattern and proved that to be a wise call. Not because I flubbed the landing, mind you. Au contraire - I managed a beautiful, three-point, total greaser where all the wheels gracefully kissed the grass right as I brought the stick all the way back into my chest! Had it been solo you could've dismissed all this as haughty pilot bloggery. But no, now I have a witness. Game, set, match.

My first impression is that the BC-12D certainly is a nice little airplane. It goes faster than the Cub on the same horsepower and feels a tad more stable in cruise once you trim it out. The climb rate is certainly better, too. In short, it would be much more comfortable to take on a trip. In terms of pure fun, however, the Cub's still at the top of my list. The controls are far more responsive (they feel downright sluggish in the T-Craft) and everything just feels sportier in a J-3.

And you can fly it with the door open. Checkmate.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 1.6 hours
Total Time: 271.7 hours

A little 1940s-era flying

Plane: Cub, 65 hp 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Partly cloudy, 51 degrees, wind light and variable

Mike sent me a message this afternoon and said he was going up in the big Cub after work. He said to see if another aeroplane was available so I could tag along. I'm not current in the Champ (it's all that was available when I called Stewart) so I was planning on a quick re-checkout with Emerson. However, the little Cub opened up when I got there so I grabbed the J-3's keys instead.

I propped Mike (which took a while - nothing like a slightly flooded C-85 to make hand-propping a fun process...) and he took off, heading south along the valley. Tommy had just pulled into the airport and decided to join along in the T-Craft. He propped me and then the two of us took off together in loose formation about fifteen minutes after Mike had launched.

Vintage aviating - thanks to Elizabeth for the great photo!

Tommy turned east out of the pattern and I flew off his right wing as we headed towards the lake. We traded positions and he slid in off my left wing as I slowly turned back towards the airport. I spotted Mike in the other Cub at that point and the two of us joined up on him. You can see how that turned out above.

We followed Mike into the pattern, flew an extended downwind while he landed, and then made a pass over the runway together. A couple solo passes later, the sun was sitting just below the horizon. I slipped over the power lines for a near-greaser and Tommy followed behind me.

The air was about as smooth as you'll ever find tonight. Just a perfect evening for this kind of flying. The fall colors are getting good around here, too - though I didn't get to spend too much time looking at them today. All in all, it was definitely an awesome night for any pilot!

Today's Flight: 0.5 hours
Total Time: 245.5 hours