Take to the skies...
 

Well this past weekend I went to an event my boss' neighborhood put on. He lives on a fly-in - a neighborhood situated around a 2500' grass runway. I took the Beat out there and parked it in the car show section - not that many cars, but I had some people interested in it.

Due to weather, only about 8 planes showed up, but it was cool. A guy took me up in his RV-7A and actually let me fly it once we got some altitude. The RV-7A is a fully aerobatic plane, and we did a roll and some fairly steep climbs after buzzing the runway at about 40 ft! I think we pulled between 2 and 2.5 g's on the climbs, and he said he was taking it easy on me. This airplane is capable of 200 mph and was a joy to ride in and fly.

Now I want one. Seriously. It's an experimental plane and is a kit you build. The owner said it took him 4 years to build it. You can even buy the kit in four stages, which makes it even more affordable. To throw some GS-worthy discussion in here, it is more efficient than just about any other airplane. For example, it will cruise at 190 mph while still getting better than 20 mpg, which is good for a small plane.

It won't be any time very soon, but I am feeling pretty confident I can get myself into one of these. :) Oh, and the wife took a ride in my boss' airplane, and she loved it, so it won't be too hard to convince her.

planes make more sence then owning a sports car, a freind of mine has a little 4 seater airplane, and a corvet, they both get about the same MPG, only with the air plane there isn't a risk of speeding tickets, and you can travle in a straignt line, also most small air ports apparently have a curtisy vehicle, so once you get to a distant town, there is a vehicle you can use.

Keep in mind operating cost for plane is considerable more than that of a car. Fuel alone is almost $6.00 a gallon. Everything that has aviation stamped on it cost 2x+ what it would for a car. From plugs, oil, tires, and insurance it is pretty outrageous.
There's an expression in aviation. " If it fly, floats, it's cheaper to rent". That being said there is nothing better than flying even though if it under 150 miles you could drive there quicker.

Nice Cub in the pic's did you get to ride in that also?

Flying isn't for everyone but it is fun. Sometimes you can pick up a partially built kit for a good price from somone who has grown tired of building.

Personally I fly for fun and scenery as opposed to going anywhere since weather can be a problem. My plane is kept in the garage on a small trailer and I can even tow it around with my Suzuki Swift. No hanger fees, semi inexpensive, no taxes, safe, fun, uses car gas. Here's a pic.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../P5301541s.jpg

Q

My wife got to ride in the Cub with the previous owner flying it. It's my boss' plane. He's almost got enough hours (insurance-wise) to take passengers, so I figured I'd take a ride in the sportier plane that wasn't his. I'll be able to go get a ride from him whenever I want once he gets his hours up.

:eek:
I want one, tell me more!

Thats pretty cool :thumbup:

First the bad news... It only gets about 10 mpg. But since it only flies at about 30 mph you can still fly for 4 hours on 10 gallons.

It's called a Powered Parachute or PPC for short. There is much info on the internet although the main site is temporarily down. More PPCs are sold than any other type of small aircraft. PPCs are safe, easy to learn, easy to store and transport. You can fly a foot off the ground or over 10,000' high. Take off requires about 300' and can be done from airports, pastures, parking lots, anyplace there is room. Landing takes under 100'.

To get going you simply lay the wing out on the ground behind the cart, buckle in, start the engine, then as you roll forward the wing comes up overhead. Give it throttle to ascend, less throttle to descend. Push right peddle to turn right, left peddle to turn left. Your hands are free for taking pictures. The whole thing is very simple.

PPCs aren't really meant for going anywhere but people have flown them across the US. They're generally not flown mid day when thermals are happening, but instead during early morning and late evening. Wind should be under 10 mph on the ground during takeoff in order to keep the wing on the ground while you get set up.

I've been flying mine for 10 years now, over 1200 hours in the air. I also use it for aerial photograpy. The picture is one I took of my friend as we were flying near the Sisters Mountains in Oregon near my home. My machine is similar to the one in the pic. Flying a PPC is really fun, I enjoy every minute of it.

Here are links to a couple more pics. This is my 17 year old daughter flying another PPC along side me. You can get a better idea of the machine itself.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../mollyfly2.jpg

Flying over a lake in eastern Oregon at sunrise.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/QDM/water.jpg

Reflection in North Twin Lake.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/QDM/157.jpg

Q

Absolutely breathtaking photography QDM!

Just an update - nearly 80 hours into the project, I have completed my first major sub-assembly - the horizontal stabilizer:

https://photos-481.ll.facebook.com/ph...64102_5517.jpg