Piper Cubs

[Randy Sohn]

The other guys give the Cubs a head-start?

Well (chuckle), at that blistering cruise airspeed they sure should'a!

(Strange feeling hit me just now after writing that, I was confronted with a vision of Harry Alton wagging his finger in my fzce saying - "Now Randy, you stay out of this!")

best, randy (small gathering at BP today)

[Randy Sohn]

My very first airplane ride was in the front seat of Uncle Art's J-3.

Try'na recall, IIRC while single piloting one, we could sit up front in the Supercubs (PA-18s), in the J-3's we had to sit in back?

best,randy

[Tom Charlton]

Try'na recall, IIRC while single piloting one, we could sit up front in the Supercubs (PA-18s), in the J-3's we had to sit in back?

Hi Randy,
Yup, pretty much with some exceptions. Some J-3s with additional tanks in the wings can but don’t have to be soloed from the front. PA-11s, and 18s front seat solo.

As you likely know most biplanes are set up rear seat solo. However I just came across an exception: the Fleet biplanes. Don’t know if all or just some. Something about tending tail heavy and spin recovery considerations.

Regards,
Tom Charlton (a rear seat kind’a guy)

[Ralph Jones]

(a rear seat kind’a guy)

Yeah, I always thought it kinda funky to fly from the rear and watch a ghostly pilot moving the controls -- and there was a turnbuckle just above your forehead that moved when you applied aileron.

[Tom Charlton]

. . . moving the controls -- and there was a turnbuckle just above your forehead that moved when you applied aileron.

The beauty of the Cub in showing kids how airplane flight controls work. Ya move this stick to the right and it pulls this here cable. Cable goes around this here pulley and that pulley and pulls on that thing on the aileron. When you’re flying you can actually –feel- the air going past the airplane with your hands.

Looking forward to getting three grandchildren, of a friend, in the Cub in the next week or so. Gonna be more than a ride, Gonna be more like a –fun- first flying lesson.

Such an honor and privilege to be able to do this sort’a thing.

Regards,
Tom Charlton

[Randy Sohn]

[QUOTE=Tom Charlton;n5155]Such an honor and privilege to be able to do this sort’a thing./QUOTE]

Concur!

best, randy

[Jeff Hartmann]

Hey Tom C. I have rejoined the low and slow crowd... (faster than a Cub though)

Its a little rough, 30 years on the Stits fabric.... and paint... Hangared. 7EC C-90-12 electric start and battery (cheating)

[Reams Goodloe]

Looks good in the sun, Jeff!

- Reams-

[Mase Taylor]

Looks like the one I did my first solo in, 1964, 'cept ours was yaller with a C-85.

[Tom Charlton]

Hey Tom C. I have rejoined the low and slow crowd... (faster than a Cub though)

Its a little rough, 30 years on the Stits fabric.... and paint... Hangared. 7EC C-90-12 electric start and battery (cheating)

Hi Jeff,
Most excellent. Not only faster’n a Cub but an improvement in many ways. Like: easier to get in/out of also<g>. Champ is tons of fun to fly. The C-90 heaps better than the original ole A-65. Load’er up n go. Feeel the air moving past the flight controls in your hands. Savor a playful afternoon of x-wind takeoffs & landings. So much fun<g>.

I love the nostalgia of my J-3 but a Champ is big fun too! Keep us informed of your adventures.

Regards,
Tom Charlton

[Bill Bridges]

Hi Jeff,
Most excellent. Not only faster’n a Cub but an improvement in many ways. Like: easier to get in/out of also<g>. Champ is tons of fun to fly. The C-90 heaps better than the original ole A-65. Load’er up n go. Feeel the air moving past the flight controls in your hands. Savor a playful afternoon of x-wind takeoffs & landings. So much fun<g>.

I love the nostalgia of my J-3 but a Champ is big fun too! Keep us informed of your adventures.

Regards,
Tom Charlton

Tom,

Did you ever fly an O-1?

[Jeff Hartmann]

Bill, I have a good friend who was in the 219th Aviation company "Headhunters" 0-1 pilot, back where you used to .....

[Tom Charlton]

Tom,
Did you ever fly an O-1?

Hi Bill,
Da “Bird Dawg”! Nope. But I did use’ta fly a Cessna 170 . . . Same tail feathers<g>. Would love to fly a Bird Dog round the patch.

Also, flew a civilian O-2 quite a bit, Cessna 337, Sky . . . er, ah . . . Mixmaster. T’was specially modified for the aerial mapping that was a big part of my life.

Would -not- love to have been assigned either in the RVN<ng>.

Regards,
Tom Charlton

[Tom Tyson]

“Would -not- love to have been assigned either in the RVN<ng>.”

Remembering “Rake 22” - John Wiley