1 hour ago, Orbit said:

Anyone else headed to Oshkosh this week?  

Did you rent a bo-at?

I solo'd a 65 hp 1940 Piper Cub the weekend before last.  Finally... flying a Cub.  And it is spectacular.  Restoration was done 20 years ago... and when my friend bought it, only 180 hours had been put on it since the restoration.  

Planning to fly it a fair amount.  

IMG_3152.HEIC

Edited July 23, 20196 yr by HuggyU2

5 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:

I solo'd a 65 hp 1940 Piper Cub the weekend before last.  Finally... flying a Cub.  And it is spectacular.  Restoration was done 20 years ago... and when my friend bought it, only 180 hours had been put on it since the restoration.  

Planning to fly it a fair amount.  

IMG_3152.HEIC 888.97 kB · 14 downloads

Jealous... I’ve flown the super cub And hands down the best flying I’ve done. There’s something about doing touch and go’s at a grass field, with the windows open, and the sun setting. 

Jealous... I’ve flown the super cub And hands down the best flying I’ve done. There’s something about doing touch and go’s at a grass field, with the windows open, and the sun setting. 

Buddy of mind got stationed up at Wainwright.

Bought a house complete with wooded grass airstrip and a Super Cub. His weekend fishing/camping pictures almost made me want to go to Wainwright. Super jealous.




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7 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:

I solo'd a 65 hp 1940 Piper Cub the weekend before last.  Finally... flying a Cub.  And it is spectacular.  Restoration was done 20 years ago... and when my friend bought it, only 180 hours had been put on it since the restoration.  

Planning to fly it a fair amount.  

IMG_3152.HEIC 888.97 kB · 28 downloads

Awesome!  Few things better than cruising around at 500 feet with the door open and being able to smell fresh cut grass.  From what I can see, that's a nice looking Cub.  I have a handshake agreement to buy a 1947 (Ponca City) 90 hp Cub.  It was restored around he same time as the one you flew and has about the same hours.  Was supposed to be delivered last Thursday but storms, then schedules got in the way.  Hoping to get it this Sunday. 

10 hours ago, SurelySerious said:

Did you rent a bo-at?

haha I'm hoping it is all dried out by tomorrow 

Never have flown a Super Cub... yet.  

I'll get some more pics of the Cub and post them.  The restoration was done by a place at PVF (Placerville, CA), and is supposedly a well-known place.  

The guy that bought it is a former U-2 guy who is meticulous about his aircraft, and keeps them in top shape.  He's got a Ryan PT-22.  And his Stearman was previously owned by the head of the Stearman Restoration Society (or whatever it is called).  As you might expect, it looks better than the day it rolled out of Wichita.  

I'm lucky that 1). he is allowing me to fly his beautiful plane, and 2) that he is allowing me to fly it after seeing how I flew it with him on my checkout.  It wasn't particularly stellar.  

I haven't flown the U-2 in 58 months.  I'd be way more confident in my abilities in it tomorrow than I am in the Cub.  But the learning curve is a great thing.  Loving it! 

Edited July 24, 20196 yr by HuggyU2

Man I'm jealous, that's a good buddy to have!  The panel of the Cub makes it evident that he takes good care of his planes.  Post pics of the Stearman if you have some.  Hoping to acquire one down the road.

 

Was his Stearman owned by the current President of the Stearman Restores association?  That dude is a real under achiever...he was a Navy rescue swimmer, then Seal, then decided to be a 160th SOAR pilot and now flies crop dusters. 

 

https://www.westpointcoh.org/interviews/a-career-filled-with-detours-from-seal-to-night-stalker

https://readyfortakeoffpodcast.com/rft-284-navy-seal-cropduster-mike-rutledge/

Edited July 25, 20196 yr by SocialD

6 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:

Never have flown a Super Cub... yet.  

I'll get some more pics of the Cub and post them.  The restoration was done by a place at PVF (Placerville, CA), and is supposedly a well-known place.  

The guy that bought it is a former U-2 guy who is meticulous about his aircraft, and keeps them in top shape.  He's got a Ryan PT-22.  And his Stearman was previously owned by the head of the Stearman Restoration Society (or whatever it is called).  As you might expect, it looks better than the day it rolled out of Wichita.  

I'm lucky that 1). he is allowing me to fly his beautiful plane, and 2) that he is allowing me to fly it after seeing how I flew it with him on my checkout.  It wasn't particularly stellar.  

I haven't flown the U-2 in 58 months.  I'd be way more confident in my abilities in it tomorrow than I am in the Cub.  But the learning curve is a great thing.  Loving it! 

Have a buddy with a 160hp Super cub on alaskan bush wheels that I get to putz around in once in a while. That is an amazing aircraft. Its a breeze to fly and is extremely capable with the 160hp on it. He'll put it down out on the bay when it freezes over and go ice fishing. Definitely recommend flying one, low and slow. I think being able to open the whole side of the airplane is the greatest. They also own a Stearman....Keep it in a hangar at the house coupled with a 2500' grass strip. Talk about heaven. Haven't been lucky enough to go up in that yet though. 

SocialD,

No, it was a former President of that group.  I believe the plane was originally based in Chino, and if I remember correctly, he got it around 9-10 years ago.  I'll get a picture if he doesn't mind me posting it online.  

He also restored a Clark Tructractor that was delivered to the Navy in 1943 for towing aircraft on the carrier deck.  Just stunning.  Again, I'll post pics if he says it's ok.  

Another cool thing is that there's a different U-2 guy on the field that has a PT-21.  Yeah, PT-21.  It's a PT-22 now (interesting history), but it was the 2nd PT-21 ever built by Ryan.  Hoping to get one or both of these Ryan's to the Beale Airshow in May.  

Finally brought my Cub home yesterday.  Winds kicked up way earlier than expected...was just glad to her on the ground in one piece.  There was zero wind today so I spent the afternoon on the grass.  My dedicated crew chief has a T-Craft based at this grass strip...don't think he appreciated me texting this picture when he was working today LOL.  

Edited July 31, 20196 yr by SocialD

Still no Cub time for me to talk about but I have really enjoyed getting comfortable flying the T-6.  I really enjoy the warbird community. 

 

I also did a backcountry course last summer in Idaho.  THAT was a hoot, I definitely need a few more airplanes!  

I need to make a friend with a T-6.

2 hours ago, Orbit said:

I need to make a friend with a T-6.

I highly recommend it.  

 

(or honestly just find another like-minded individual in the area to go partners on one - that's my next move)

On 7/23/2019 at 10:22 AM, Orbit said:

haha I'm hoping it is all dried out by tomorrow 

Make it?

28 minutes ago, SurelySerious said:

Make it?

Yup, was up there most of the week camping under the airplane.  

I miss formation in the military, and grab any chance to go do it when I can.

This is definitely a different side of "GA Flying".  I shot the pic during the prep for Pylon Racing School a few weeks ago.  

Who's going to Reno this year?

Reno.HEIC

Edited August 15, 20196 yr by HuggyU2

I was dicking around the other day in my RV-8 sending love messages to my bride.  Unfortunately with my newly installed ADS-B she can follow me in real time.  My track from flightaware:

Edited August 29, 20196 yr by Springer

On 7/23/2019 at 10:06 AM, SocialD said:

Awesome!  Few things better than cruising around at 500 feet with the door open and being able to smell fresh cut grass.  

I couldn't agree more as I rarely get above 1,000'.  Dawn patrol over the WI countryside:

It looks like no one here went to Nellis Airshow.  However we got to bring in our A-37B  (S/N 87921) after a 20 year restoration.  It was the first public display of the aircraft, and it was a big hit.  1st photo is from the Nellis ramp this weekend.  

Two Vietnamese AF pilots that flew it stopped by and said hi... very interesting since the jet was delivered in '69 directly to the South Vietnamese AF.  

They flew it for 6 years and about 2200 hours of combat time.  It has the 7.62 patches as a reminder.  When Saigon fell 29 April 1975, it was captured by the North.  We have pics of the NV crews with the jet 2-4 days after Saigon fell, and it actually flew combat missions against the South.  The 2nd photo is of 87921 in NV hands.  

This is the only A-37B currently flying in North America.  I think it is one of only 3 flying in the world.  

We are discussing having me fly an aerobatic routine in 2020 with it.  However it will only be at a few select airshows on the West Coast.  

With full wing and tip tanks and 2 pilots, it weighs 9,000 lbs.  The J-85's are putting out ~2750 lbs thrust each.  Needless to say, for those of you that flew the T-37, there is no comparison.  The acceleration is spectacular.  The owner has done a fantastic job, and the cockpit is like new.  The only additions are an Aspen unit and a new ADS-B and transponder.  The ejection seats are cold.  

Side note:  the Combined Arms Demo that the 57th Wing flew was unbelievable.  ACC must have waived everything they've had in the AFI because for once I was blown away by an AF "display".  The jets were puking flares like it was going out of style.  Loud, fast, low.  Nice job to Maj "Stranger" Davenport and the Nellis folks for a jaw-dropping display.  

 

Edited November 20, 20196 yr by HuggyU2

35 minutes ago, HuggyU2 said:

This is the only A-37B currently flying in North America.  I think it is one of only 3 flying in the world.

There are a bunch of Latin American nations who still employ the A-37B in their Air Forces, unless I'm missing something?

You are correct.  I should have stated "privately owned".  

It's hard to get accurate info for some reason, but it appears that El Salvador may be the only military operator left flying them, although wikipedia says there are quite a few in S.A. still flying as of 3 years ago. We had a former Salvadoran pilot show up at the jet too.  Sounds like he had some good stories, but we didn't get any details.  

Edited November 20, 20196 yr by HuggyU2

Where are all the old T-37’s that were in the boneyard 15 years back? Surprised there aren’t any private ones making the rounds.


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4 hours ago, di1630 said:

Where are all the old T-37’s that were in the boneyard 15 years back? Surprised there aren’t any private ones making the rounds.

It's likely that noone wants to foot that fuel bills for such an "unsexy" aircraft.  Loved flying the 37, would love to fly an A-37.  Too awesome Huggy!

I tried for about 5 years to buy one of the Tweets in the boneyard. Contacted my Senator, some other DOD folks I know, etc with absolutely no luck. Even contacted the State Department about the possibility and it was pretty much a no-go unless the US eventually decided to sell them as scrap.

Edited November 21, 20196 yr by bfargin