Flying the PiperSport

I have always loved flying! I really started thinking about airplanes when I was in high school, but didn’t get to make my dream come true till I was in my 20s. My first plane was a L2 Taylorcraft, and then came a 1940 Taylorcraft, which I wish I still owned. The company I worked for had a flying club, in this flying club we got to fly a Cessna 150, Cessna 172, and later a Cessna 182. I later took on the project of restoring from scratch a 1950 Mooney Mite. This project took me a few years and hours of work, but was also fun. See photos and stories on Jerry’s Hangar.

About six years ago I started hearing about theSport Pilot Endorsements may be coming into rule and realized that this could later affect me. I was not getting any younger. I checked the ruling and also started checking around for an airplane that would fit the rules. The Sport Pilot rule will allow me to fly a Taylorcraft and continue my love of flying. I wanted an airplane project to rebuild (I love rebuilding) and so the Taylorcraft was perfect for me. I have purchased a 1945 BC-12 Taylorcraft that had been damaged on landing. I will be doing a complete restoration on it.

Pilots who hold a recreational certificate or better, but whose standard or special issuance medical certificate has lapsed, will be able to fly under sport pilot rules with a driver’s license and with a self-certification that they are medically fit to fly. Pilots whose medical has been revoked, suspended, or denied will need further review by the FAA and could be required to obtain a special issuance. The FAA’s sport pilot medical Q&A.
Pilots who hold a valid driver’s license and whose medical has not been suspended or revoked will be able to fly many familiar certificated airplanes, including Piper J-2, J-3 Cubs and my favorite because I learned to fly in the Taylorcraft, (they have always been special to me).

The rule also creates a new class of light sport aircraft that will include both kit airplanes and yet-to-be-certified models. The FAA estimates that light sport aircraft should be less expensive than many models now available, and that lower cost will come lower operating and maintenance expenses.

Learning to fly will be more affordable requiring a minimum of 20 hours of flight time to earn a sport pilot certificate, which is a significant savings over the average time of nearly 70 hours to earn a private pilot certificate. Sport Pilot certification brochure.
I hope this information on why I purchased a Taylorcraft and the above links to the FAA will bring you the enjoyment of knowing you can still fly. Today Sport Pilot will allow you to fly even though you may have a medical problem or are getting older.

Take a look at article by AOPA about the new sport aircraft.

PilperSport

This is a paraphrase of information published by Sigma Tek, Inc.

Some manufactures have concluded that aerobatics or the g-loads associated with aerobatic maneuvers will not appreciably harm or shorten the life of operating gyros’ so long as they are free or un-caged during these maneuvers.  Locking the gyros in a caged position during these maneuvers may damage the spin bearings and/or gimbal bearings because of the large angular momentum of the spinning mass and the resulting quadrature forces.  The best possible approach is to have the gyro free during aerobatic maneuvers and use caging to reset the gyros during straight and level flight when necessary.

Directional Gyros:Directional Gyros have a caging feature that is used to quickly erect the rotor in a horizontal plane and align the heading card with the magnetic compass.  During aerobatic maneuvers the heading card may start to spin, if this happens the pilot should pull the caging knob to stop the spinning.  Once he returns to straight and level flight, he should pull the caging knob and align the heading card with his magnetic compass.

Horizon Gyros without Caging:Standard Horizon Gyros without a caging feature have 360- degrees of freedom in roll and approximately +/or – 85 degrees of freedom in pitch.  Controlled precession is used to maintain erection and the correct pitch and roll information during full loops. During most aerobatic maneuvers the Horizon Gyro will maintain its erection (spin axis aligned to the dynamic vertical) and provide correct pitch and roll references.  However, it is certainly possible for some maneuvers to cause the Horizon Gyro to lose its vertical reference and even to “spin out.”  The only problem with this condition is that it may take several minutes (10 to 20) of straight and level flight before the Horizon Gyro is fully erected and providing useful pitch and roll information.

Horizon Gyros with Caging:With caging added to Horizon Gyro, if the gyro tumbles during an aerobatic maneuver the pilot can return to straight and level flight (*using the earth horizon as a reference) and pull the caging knob to immediately align the gyro rotor with a vertical reference.  The gyro indication may be off a few degrees, depending on how well the pilot aligns his aircraft with level flight during the caging procedure, however the pilot will have useful pitch and roll information and the internal erection system will correct a small error within 2 or 3 minutes.

*Aerobatic maneuvers should only be made during VFR flight with a well-defined earth horizon for reference.

Picking up Sheep hunters in the Chugach. August 2009.

Read about this on their site. http://blueiceaviation.posterous.com/

We started the New Year’s Day by going to Stearman Field Bar and Grill (Benton, Kansas)  for dinner. We had the rib eye steak and it was Great! We went back Sunday morning for the breakfast and it was fantastic. We also enjoyed the  aviation decor and looking out on the landing strip. While we were sitting there eating our breakfast,  Dr. Lay and his wife flew in and parked their airplane  next to the Stearman Grill and came in to eat.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts…

To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said, “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.
“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ‘ Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘ Nam ‘,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”

“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

http://gaservesamerica.com Actor/pilot Morgan Freeman lives in Clarksdale, Miss. There are no airline flights to the birthplace of the blues, so Clarksdale depends on its small airport and general …

http://GAservesAmerica.com Harrison Ford, a pilot himself, explains how General Aviation creates jobs and serves communities across America. This a longer version of the TV advertisement that was s..

Pretty neat, huh!!!!

This Twin Beech is the world record holder for the most LoPresti BoomBeams on a single aircraft. This is a great show and you can really see how great the lights are.

This is the first public release of a preview of The Aviators. A new and exciting TV series covering the people, the places, and the planes of North American aviation. The show will premiere in the United States via Public Broadcasting Syndication in June of 2010 and shortly thereafter internationally.

For more information or to subscribe for updates, visit the official website at http://www.TheAviators.