Piper Cub?

iceracer said:

In reply to Cousin_Eddie :

Do not wear a ring when hand popping.   I have proof.

Sorry.

aircooled said:

A 401 CJ said:

I wonder how they’d do with a BMW motorcycle engine.  I doubt it’s any heavier.  Half the cylinders and up around 100 hp.  No redundant ignition though.

Aircraft engines generally run at around 2500 rpms at a pretty constant 75%+ power.  They are basically torque monster motors.  A bike motor is likely optimized for much higher rpms (requiring a reduction box) and would be very strained.  Air cooled aircraft motors, in general, have very basic designs which makes them very reliable.

Car motor conversions have been tried many times.  They tend to require so many modifications to make them come up to the standards of a Lycoming / Continental that they end up being almost as expensive.

That’s a good point.  One I hadn’t even considered.  I knew it already but I made the classical “peak hp means everything” mistake.  

BoxheadTim said:

Great, now I'm wondering again if I should take flying lessons while I'm trying to figure out what to do re motorsports.

You guys aren't helping, I tell you.

Once I finished my Navy service I was given the EZ option of converting my license for civilian use. 

The idea of spending $400 a month  ( the cost of rental and fuel to fly someplace , stop to get a hamburger and have your license signed ) to keep it current and passing a strict physical annually ( another grand or so )  convinced me not to.  

Plus once the magic of flying is gone ( and it tends to disappear ( unless this is what you are actually born to do ) in the 200-400 hour period. 

Then the joy of flying comes from the fun/adventure/ risks of flying. Compared to landing on an aircraft carrier there isn’t much in civilian flying that approaches that.  

I get nearly the same thrill racing sports cars

BoxheadTim said:

Great, now I'm wondering again if I should take flying lessons while I'm trying to figure out what to do re motorsports.

You guys aren't helping, I tell you.

You can't buy time, just rearrange it.  It's ~$9k to get to the point of soloing a power plane.  Soaring club costs $500 to join.  For that you get to use a high performance two seater and all your instruction is included, you just pay for the tows ($35).  To transition from glider to power is ~20 flights and a check ride.  No third class medical required for gliders.

Excellent visibility!

In reply to frenchyd :

A grand for a physical?!?!?  Unless you're flying commercially or have "issues" it should be nowhere near that.

triumph7 said:

In reply to frenchyd :

A grand for a physical?!?!?  Unless you're flying commercially or have "issues" it should be nowhere near that.

I assume you have insurance that covers a normal physical then?  To be honest I haven’t looked at it since 1974 when it was a couple  hundred dollars, but yeh, it didn’t make much sense not to get a commercial multi engine license.  I just guessed with the rate of inflation in the medical industry it would be something like that.

That should be saved.

Maybe I missed it. Where is it located?

In reply to 914Driver :

I've been toying with the idea of flying a glider - I've actually had a couple of lessons flying one before. Actually before our hurried move from Nevada to the East Coast I was planning to see if I could get some sort of one-off instruction ride in both a glider and a motorized plane. Might be time to resurrect that idea.

Ooh look, there's a soaring club about 1.5h away from here. Actually more than one.

OT, but Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck is a great read.  It details the author's restoration of a Cub and subsequent cross-country flight....at age 16.  

Flight of Passage

It's like looking at a Porsche 356 and contemplating pulling the engine.  Someone should save that plane.

In reply to 914Driver :

No need

In reply to Tyler H :

I read that.

One thing I remember is the problem finding a place low enough to cross the rockies.

In reply to frenchyd :

It's been a few years since I've had one but it was always like a 15 minute in and out.  Once you have a commercial ticket things change but if you want to fly and don't plan to do it for money you *might* be able to surrender your commercial ticket and have it reissued as a private license.

Someday... More like when the kids are able to support themselves, I may be able to convince myself it is a risk worth taking.

In reply to triumph7 :  I had a little over 1000 hours mostly multi engine when I got out of the Navy, 

However that was 1974 and the airlines were flooded with us Vietnam Vets.  They thought they could put me on maybe next spring but the starting paycheck wasn’t even what my Navy pay was without the flying bonus, BOQ, and Comrats.  

The grind of flying a bus with wings held zero appeal with even less appeal to rent and fly to keep my license. 

Later in life when the company had a Lear around for my use,  I thought about getting my license again just so I didn’t have to sit in the back anymore.  But the cost of that made me shut my mouth and climb in the back.  

I’m the odd duck.  Flying  a private plane is something people should do at least a few times in their life. The beauty of night landing in a place like San Diego, the freedom of plopping down on a small town runway to chat with a friend and enjoy the country life.  And the tactile feel of flying a plane right on the edge of a stall, honing your skills is such a rare pleasure people should do it while they still can. 

There are bush pilots in lil ol' Piper Cubs that would give you Navy jocks a run for your money in the skills and thrills department.  

frenchyd said:

BoxheadTim said:

Great, now I'm wondering again if I should take flying lessons while I'm trying to figure out what to do re motorsports.

You guys aren't helping, I tell you.

  

Plus once the magic of flying is gone ( and it tends to disappear ( unless this is what you are actually born to do ) in the 200-400 hour period. 

 

My brother in law (JetBlue captain) hates it.  Says there is no way he’s going to fly again once he retires.  He says it’s too expensive and too restrictive.  He’d rather be on a boat.

Appleseed said:

There are bush pilots in lil ol' Piper Cubs that would give you Navy jocks a run for your money in the skills and thrills department.  

 

I was never the cutting edge.  The 1% who fly fighters in combat off of Navy carriers.   My carrier landing scores put me decidedly mid pack at best  flying an obsolete twin engine patrol plane designed to search for submarines. 

I know a few of those guys and wow are they special. The difference is like the difference between a SCCA regional racer and the formula 1 champions. 

When I retired from the Army as a Blackhawk pilot, I really didn't see anything in the civilian job market I was qualified for that looked fun and challenging. I was only qualified in helicopters and thought it would be fun to fly airplanes just to keep in aviation. I took a couple lessons and realized that it was a lot better to get paid to fly helicopters than to pay to fly an airplane. I also realized that to enjoy flying I needed a purpose. I fly an EMS helicopter now and while the flying itself (usually) isn't a challenge, the weather, night, and immediate launch to who-know's-where keep it interesting.

I think that anyone interested in flying should take some lessons and experience flight, but that doesn't mean buying an aircraft. Most people that I know who own airplanes are either dedicated to it, or hardly ever make the time to use it. Buying an airplane like this would best be about the project and 'build'. Not about a step towards flying. The learning curve to make it airworthy will be steep, but for someone who has time and resources to take it on it would be a great project.

The best airplane you can buy is the one you build yourself.  

When I was ten I got to visit a working cattle ranch in western Nebraska.  Farmer took my thirteen year old brother and I out to the barn, rolled out what I think was a Cub, plopped us in it and took off on the dirt road.  [My brother and I were both skinny.]  I was blown away.  The plane had a stick and one gauge and vibrated like it was a tin can.  What an impression that made on me.  The farmer used the plane to track his herds across his (I think it was) 35,000 acres.  It certainly demystified flying for me.

Is this plane at Oxford?  Just curious

There’s a guy that has a hanger across from my FILs with two cub frames, one clipped wing and one standard. Neither have any fabric on them. 

He also has an early serial 240z, and a c3 Vette with the motor/trans out, scattered in various places around the hangar. 

car39 said:

Is this plane at Oxford?  Just curious

No

In reply to GTXVette :

Crap, was a copy /Paste From ...........Ta Da  Atlanta CL. ( Avaiton)  but A New 0 time engine for a GRAND  said was for a Tiger cub ALL NEW . In Gadsen Ala.or S.C. didn't look Dont Matter for a Grand