I just flew a T6 Texan!!!

[GRUNHERZ]

Originally posted by cpxxx
So Grunherz, when are you going to take the plunge and learn to fly for real?

Soon, I just gotta get a few things settled away first. It's a big investment nad i'm not quite ready for it, plus the thought of Cessnas is higly unapealing so I'm wondering if there is a place I could learn on Stearmans. I understand that might not be the smartest thing to do cost wise or from the pov of practicalty, so i prolly wont go that rounte, but then again...

[cpxxx]

I wish you could train on Stearmans, but I doubt the owners want to rack up all those hours on their precious charges.  

You don't have to train on Cessnas.  There are all sorts of trainers around.  Cessna's may appear boring but I've rarely been bored in one.   The Cessna 150 may appear as boring as a bus but it's a good trainer. I had some fun times in 150's chasing clouds burning Avgas.  But really it doesn't matter what you fly as long as it's fun.  Learning to fly is one of those things many people say they would love to do but never get around to it.

Believe me it's worth it. Look at Chairboy. Flying as a pilot in command is a privilege that few people ever achieve. I treasure every flight I make, whatever the aircraft.

[mietla]

Originally posted by Eagler
Neg but I did meet Bodhi there who gave my family and I a personal tour of the hangar. Very cool.

Who is Bodhi? Any chance I've met him/her during my stay at Tom's Warbirds School?

And you are right , the hangar is just awesome. You can get lost in it for weeks.

[StarOfAfrica2]

Originally posted by GRUNHERZ
Soon, I just gotta get a few things settled away first. It's a big investment nad i'm not quite ready for it, plus the thought of Cessnas is higly unapealing so I'm wondering if there is a place I could learn on Stearmans. I understand that might not be the smartest thing to do cost wise or from the pov of practicalty, so i prolly wont go that rounte, but then again...

Come to Hawaii.  

Next year, if we stay on track financially, I'm being allowed to sign up.  I was just going to go for a Sport license, but after talking things over we decided a real pilot's license is what I've always wanted, and settling for less is never going to truly satisfy.  Plus, the winds here make the smaller ultralight and sport class planes a dangerous option.  

I believe there are 2 Stearmans operating here on Oahu, one by a guy who gives tours and the other (I think) gives lessons.  I've taken a couple of the tours, and I keep meaning to go back and ask about the lessons.

[GRUNHERZ]

Originally posted by StarOfAfrica2
Come to Hawaii.  

Next year, if we stay on track financially, I'm being allowed to sign up.  I was just going to go for a Sport license, but after talking things over we decided a real pilot's license is what I've always wanted, and settling for less is never going to truly satisfy.  Plus, the winds here make the smaller ultralight and sport class planes a dangerous option.  

I believe there are 2 Stearmans operating here on Oahu, one by a guy who gives tours and the other (I think) gives lessons.  I've taken a couple of the tours, and I keep meaning to go back and ask about the lessons.

Yep, I flew with Bruce out of Dillingham. Airfield this February when I was on oahu.

If anybody here is intersted in the check out his website here:

http://www.peacock.com/biplane

[CyranoAH]

Grun, when you are learning to fly, the thing you want to do the most is... well, fly. That means that you want to fly cheap, and vintage planes are anything but cheap.

If you want something more of a challenge, skip Cessnas and go for a low wing plane that has stick instead of horns. I did my PPL course in a Robin HR200 and it was fantastic, very fun to fly (never been particularly fond of Cessnasa myself).

Once you have your PPL, try aerobatics. Look up your nearest club and give it a go.

In my experience, and while it's all very much fun, I wouldn't do aerobatics in vintage planes. While they can be very well maintained, old planes are very unforgiving compared to modern aerobatic airplanes.

Just my € .02

Daniel

[GRUNHERZ]

Yep, I figured as much.  I think i will try to avoid cessnas though, if possible.

Another issue fopr me, at least in the past few years is vision. My long distnace vision has gotten bad so I'll have to take care of it somehow.  i hear FAA is not too happy about lasik surgery so I think ill have to get glsses..

[ASTAC]

Awesome..I aspire to own a t-6..or more properly "SNJ"...you can pick em up for a little over 100 grand which seems cheap for an A/C ..guess I should work on that private certification first though.

[Toad]

You probably don't want to train on Stearmans. Tough bird for a new guy to land in a crosswind. Insurance gets pretty high after you bust a few wingtip bows.  

The problem with most of the Warbird trainers is engines. Some of the requirements and necessities of training are kind of hard on engines. Take the old "engine failure" thing; if carried down to the "dead engine" flare over the grassy field, it probably results in "shock cooling". This is one example.

Now "shock cooling" is not a real good thing for a modern engine. It's not a good thing at all for a 60 year old engine that has very rare parts that can break.

So, train in a modern spam can. Get your ticket and then go fly the fun ones.  

[StarOfAfrica2]

Originally posted by GRUNHERZ
Yep, I flew with Bruce out of Dillingham. Airfield this February when I was on oahu.

If anybody here is intersted in the check out his website here:

http://www.peacock.com/biplane

Yeah, thats him.  Real nice guy.  Good pilot too.  We had some funky weather the day I did my tour following the Japanese invasion route, and he still made it a real pleasure.  Seemed like he knew exactly what the wind was going to do before it happened, and was always right on with the throttle and controls.  If you took that tour, when you headed from Wheeler towards Pearl, you flew right over my house.  

I'm almost positive there was another guy flying a biplane out of the same field giving lessons.  I dont know that it was a Stearman, but for me there's nothing like open cockpits.  I've only been in a handful of planes, and I find I prefer it immensely.  Of course, I've never been in one where range was a real issue either.

[Chairboy]

I learned in a Piper Cherokee, and I know for a fact that I enjoyed it a LOT more then if I had learned in a high-wing Cessna.  The lower wing on the Piper gives much better maneuvering visibility, and it's easier to imagine you're in a warbird.  

Learn in something cheap, then go to fancier stuff.  Would you rent a Ferrari (at $1000-2000 a day) to commute in downtown where you can never get over 25mph?

[debuman]

Piper Cherokee for training here also.  I liked that airplane, but kept wishing it had a stick instead of a yoke, and a sliding canopy...... but the bug spot on the windscreen did make a nice imitation of a K-14 gunsight!

[SunTracker]

Grumman Tiger > Piper Cherokee

[cpxxx]

I'm not sure about the Tiger but the Grummans had a poor flaps. We had a Grumman Traveller in our club. Supposedly it was  fun plane to fly. I was just about to log time in it when one of members tried to land at a shortish strip. He was too fast, decided to go around but changed his mind, landed long, bounced across a field and into a river. It floated downstream until stopped by a bridge and the pilot stepped out. I believe he didn't even get his feet wet. Everyone was mad at him because it flew like a little fighter. He later became chief flying instructor??

Another great plane to learn to fly in was the MS 880 or Rallye 100. It only had 100hp but it had a sliding canopy and a fighter stick. The wings had slats so that it was virtually a STOL aircraft. You could abuse the hell out of it which I did as a crass student.pilot and low time PPL.  How about a steep climbing turn at 80 knots and 300 feet? Try that in almost anything else and you die. Ah happy days. Buzzing innocent farmers in their tractors, formation beat ups of farm strips.  It would take three people but I couldn't get it above 2500 feet thus loaded.  I flew one to the Paris air show in a formation of five. It took most of the day to get there. It had a bigger brother the Rallye 150 and a bigger one again the Rallye 235.

There's not many left now. The last two I saw are rotting quietly in the car park of the local flying school.

Pity there's nothing comparable around these days.  

car park rallye. I flew this one

And a warbird??

 http://www.airliners.net/open.file/593895/M/

[Sabre]

Way to go, Grun.  I've got some stick time in a T-6, too.  Then the owner took the stick back and put us through some aerobatics.  That silly smile remained firmly plastered to my face for days!  Spent about 2 hours total, two different flights.  Once was cross country, the other just out over pasture land near the field.  At one point, we took it down to around 100 feet and zoomed over some cattle.  What a darn good time.  I also spent some time flying around on a couple of flights in a C-21 (exec transport version of Twin Beach.  Ah, will those days every come again?