Hi I'm new.. OK maybe not

[BSWIFT]

Don't blame me, The 701 is just a little contagious !

Kevin

No problem there. I haven't kept up with the FAR's since '91. The changes that have been made allow for home builts to be practical. Seeing my Dad interested is really cool. I can tell he misses flying after doing it nearly everyday. After he retired, he flew virtually everyday. Motorcycles or airplanes are a toss up for me, I love both. I just didn't think I could afford more than a parachute with a fan strapped to my back. The 701's short field capabilities turn my place into an airport with the removal of a few trees.
I've tried to avoid PK's threads on flying because it depressed me to think about it. This thread didn't have a "give away" in the title so I checked it out, glad that I did.
Brian

 

[kmccune]

Yes it does! I'm good on trees, but I have to fill in a ditch on the west end... just for comfort. ;)

 

[Papakeith]

500 ft? kinda long ain't it ;)

 

[Papakeith]

Besides Brian, even if you wanted to go with a certified airplane, there are many that can be had for cheap (relatively) because of the gas prices.

 

[kmccune]

Its that risk management thing they teach ya :nod: But I gotta guess that crashing a 701 while landing is not as bad as stepping off over a jump. As long as you were not way off track in the first place. But an engine failure while pretending to be a helicopter on takeoff might not turn out so good. So I'm going to take advantage of every foot I can. :nod:

Kevin

500 ft? kinda long ain't it ;)

 

[2strokerfun]

I also grew up in the right seat (or front seat) of planes. Dad flew for a living and always had biplane or two at the airport 200 yards from our house. Helped him build a Starduster Too and V-Star as I was growing up. Unfortunately, as I became adult, I discovered the real expense of this "hobby." The only plane I've owned myself is a Kolb Flyer I built and owned for a couple of years. It had every bad habit of any plane rolled into one!! Too light, underpowered (two Solo two-stroke engines), taildragger. God was it fun!! My dad flew it on his 81st birthday and lost an engine on takeoff. He managed to put it in a field past the runway, but bent the fuselage tube. So my poor father comes limping up to me with a bloody knee apologizing for crashing my plane!! It was so sweet, I almost started to cry because I was worried about him, not the damn tinkertoy plane!! So we carried it back to the hangar and had our last father-son project as he helped me recover one wing a prop sliced open. I still fly occassionally, but am not current right now. I sometimes miss flying, but I miss talking about it with my dad a whole lot more.

 

[Papakeith]

Its that risk management thing they teach ya :nod: But I gotta guess that crashing a 701 while landing is not as bad as stepping off over a jump. As long as you were not way off track in the first place. But an engine failure while pretending to be a helicopter on takeoff might not turn out so good. So I'm going to take advantage of every foot I can. :nod:

Kevin

I'm hoping that I'll be able to put a strip on my father's farm some day in the future. I don't think I'd be comfortable with less than 1k feet for length, even with a STOL airplane.

 

[kmccune]

I hear ya, mine will be 500' but the rest is hay to the 40 acre line, so safe overrun, but with a lot of paint clean up!

Kevin

 

[kmccune]

Thats pretty cool, my Dad.. "don't ride that motorcycle you'll break your damn fool neck"..."don't fly that airplane they are dangerous", "you building a what, an airplane, are you insane" ...I guess so :whoa:
PS my Dad is a great guy, just a weeeeee bit conservative :)
Look at me the Republican calling my Democrat Father, conservative :laugh:

Kevin

I also grew up in the right seat (or front seat) of planes. Dad flew for a living and always had biplane or two at the airport 200 yards from our house. Helped him build a Starduster Too and V-Star as I was growing up. Unfortunately, as I became adult, I discovered the real expense of this "hobby." The only plane I've owned myself is a Kolb Flyer I built and owned for a couple of years. It had every bad habit of any plane rolled into one!! Too light, underpowered (two Solo two-stroke engines), taildragger. God was it fun!! My dad flew it on his 81st birthday and lost an engine on takeoff. He managed to put it in a field past the runway, but bent the fuselage tube. So my poor father comes limping up to me with a bloody knee apologizing for crashing my plane!! It was so sweet, I almost started to cry because I was worried about him, not the damn tinkertoy plane!! So we carried it back to the hangar and had our last father-son project as he helped me recover one wing a prop sliced open. I still fly occassionally, but am not current right now. I sometimes miss flying, but I miss talking about it with my dad a whole lot more.

 

[2strokerfun]

You might be suprised at some of the things your dad did before you were around !! And as much as I loved my dad, he really wasn't around that much as I was growing up because his airplanes sometimes came before his family. But I guess life is never perfect.
Really, each and every one of us just muddle through each and every day without a darned manual !!

 

[BSWIFT]

I've got considerable time in a taildragger. Learned in a 46 Luscomb and put lots of hours in a converted 150. The cost has been the single thing that has kept me away from aviation. Lots of reading to do and then some more. I know of two 172's wasting away in hangers. Both owners just pay the $200/mo hanger rent and don't even go out and kick the tires.
BTW, Kevin, have fun at Oshkosh!

 

[Papakeith]

how long have they been wasting away? Are they salvageable? Any chance the owner(s) will talk turkey?

 

[kmccune]

Oshkosh Airventure is awesome! We took my Mother in law who will NOT fly in an airplane? Sounds strange, but after the first day it was all she could talk about :cool: Anyway, had a much better time then I thought I would...see Mother in law comment above ;)

There is a 150 in my buddys shared hanger, it has not moved for months! Some announcer during one of the air shows at Oshkosh said something like ( announcing going on in the back ground during F22 Raptor demo, so I was not really listening!) there are 1000 fewer pilots in the US ten there were in the 70s! Cost is the only thing I can think of. Hey the new CH750 kit is match drilled...so you cleco it together and rivet...done. It has 0-200 FWF support and a mid-time 0-200 is about 8K so its a pretty quick turn around for a kit plane. See 750 attachment.
As for me I'm still pounding out 6061 ribs for my 701 :cool:

Kevin

 

[BSWIFT]

how long have they been wasting away? Are they salvageable? Any chance the owner(s) will talk turkey?

One has been there 15-17 years, no idea what condition.
The other has sat for 10 years and both wing bladders are shot. I don't know if either would even talk about a sale. They didn't a few years ago but I could make inquiry.

 

[Papakeith]

If they haven't moved in that many years it would be more of a project than I want. It's so sad seeing all of the ramp queens with flat tires and compressed strutts. :( They will pay the ramp fee faithfully every month as we watch them rot away.

On a happier note I visited a grass strip in RI this weekend and got the grand tour from the owner. I got to sit in a Cessna 180, and a Stinson 108-1. I'm really digging the Stinson, and if I get a chance I might just buy one.

 

[2strokerfun]

Stinsons were great planes. But they sure were interesting to land with any type of crosswind!
I've been semi-following the drop in number of GA pilots since I got my license in '79. I think cost is definitely the No. 1 factor. When I got my license, you could buy a really nice little 150 for about $5-6,000, could buy a cub or Taylorcraft that just needed recovering and an engine freshening for $4-6,000; could buy a good used Continental 0-200 or Lycoming 0-290D2 engine for $1,500-$2,000 (but a piston for the 0-290 was $200!!!--In 1978 already!!), a new wooden prop for $4-500. All still expensive for the average Joe slaving 40 hours a week, but doable if your priorities were staight (OK, skewed). Now, geez. Go price a good used engine with any type of time left on it.
I think the No. 2 reason is loss of local airports. Amazing how many small community field have been replaced by housing additions in last 35 years. Of course, there are a few more dedicated housing additions with strip in the middle, but the price of the houses and hangars on most of those are only for near-millionaires.

 

[kmccune]

The Stinison is pretty cool , leading edge slatts and speed!

Kevin

If they haven't moved in that many years it would be more of a project than I want. It's so sad seeing all of the ramp queens with flat tires and compressed strutts. :( They will pay the ramp fee faithfully every month as we watch them rot away.

On a happier note I visited a grass strip in RI this weekend and got the grand tour from the owner. I got to sit in a Cessna 180, and a Stinson 108-1. I'm really digging the Stinson, and if I get a chance I might just buy one.