Bought an airplane

dell30rb said:
Congrats, that thing looks like a lot of fun! Give us the details on the modifications / cross country improvements?

I know its not a true x/c plane but i'm sure its nice to have a single seat fuel sipper
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That Flybaby is as much of a cross country machine as a Flybaby can be.

When are you coming down here to visit?
 
no the main gear is stock Flybaby, the tires are the only shock absorbtion
 
Saw another pretty one at a CAF open house in Kansas last month ... and it was for sale. Looks like it would be a kick to fly!

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bartmc said:
Congrats jesse. Now one question... How did you "learn" to fly it?
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I crossed my fingers, climbed in, and off I went. I did read everything I could find on the Fly Baby in advance. I also already had a tailwheel endorsement although it had been about six years since I had flown one.
 
Pilawt said:
Saw another pretty one at a CAF open house in Kansas last month ... and it was for sale. Looks like it would be a kick to fly!

IMG_3166.JPG
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Is it just me, or does that plane cry out for a new spinner... same shape, just modified to look like a big acorn nut? :)
 
jesse said:
I crossed my fingers, climbed in, and off I went. I did read everything I could find on the Fly Baby in advance. I also already had a tailwheel endorsement although it had been about six years since I had flown one.
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You have just absorbed the souls of Wilber and Orville Wright. Congratulations. :)
 
jesse said:
I crossed my fingers, climbed in, and off I went. I did read everything I could find on the Fly Baby in advance. I also already had a tailwheel endorsement although it had been about six years since I had flown one.
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and 5 minutes into the flight you were more proficient than any one has been in that aircraft in a long time.
 
AdamZ said:
Uh I think you mean former owner :wink2:. Congrats again Jess. How long do you think the flight to 6Y9 will take?
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8 hours give or take a few days
 
Rigged4Flight said:
You have just absorbed the souls of Wilber and Orville Wright. Congratulations. :)
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It's worth noting that this was fairly typical behavior some years back. I know folks who still do that, although I consider it ill-advised in many cases.

Pretty hard to screw up a Flybaby. The systems involve stick and rudder, and Jesse is very good at both of those.
 
Congratulations on the new purchase, Jesse. It is a sharp looking airplane, and looks like a lot of fun to fly.
 
Excellent, Jesse! Congratulations on the new addition to your family.

Looks like David made it up there to celebrate with you?!
 
Henning said:
There is only one way to learn to fly a single seat airplane, just do it.
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I thought with planes like the Pitts, you find a similar model that has two seats and warm up in that before diving into the single seat version.
 
Uncle Jim Gardner said that's how they did it when they got Mutangs to replace their P-40s in Italy. A guy squatted on the wing and pointed out the differences and that was considered your checkout. Nobody wanted to keep flying the P-40s against the 109's so they were happy to make the change.
bartmc said:
I thought with planes like the Pitts, you find a similar model that has two seats and warm up in that before diving into the single seat version.
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bartmc said:
I thought with planes like the Pitts, you find a similar model that has two seats and warm up in that before diving into the single seat version.
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If you can find a similar 2 seat model fine, but that isn't always possible, and often enough the 2 seater flies considerably different from the single. All planes fly basically the same, you read the manual, taxi around for a while to get your sight picture, go up and do your air work, stalls and slow flight until you're comfortable and then shoot some landings.
 
Do those strings hold the wings on pretty well? :devil:
 
wabower said:
Uncle Jim Gardner said that's how they did it when they got Mutangs to replace their P-40s in Italy. A guy squatted on the wing and pointed out the differences and that was considered your checkout. Nobody wanted to keep flying the P-40s against the 109's so they were happy to make the change.
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Brave folks without much choice. Far more of them died in training accidents, than were shot down, too.
 
Everskyward said:
What does the number of seats have to do with it?
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Well, you don't want to be flying a two-seater and you be the only one wearing a parachute if something happens. That would just be too awkward. ;)
 
Everskyward said:
Is that why you are wearing a parachute?
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Because I realize there are elevated risks, it's a 41 year old amateur built wooden airplane, therefore if I can sit in there comfortably with a parachute I might as well wear one since it's an airplane you have a chance of getting out of.

This accident nudged me towards that decision:
http://www.bowersflybaby.com/safety/hinton.htm
 
Rigged4Flight said:
You have just absorbed the souls of Wilber and Orville Wright. Congratulations. :)
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According to the infinite wisdom of FAA, this is how every ultralight pilot is supposed to fly. That is why they took away certificates of ultralight instructors and made 2-seat ultralights illegal. No sweat! Regulations are written in blood, they say.

Seriously though, Jesse says he was t/w qualified.
 
Everskyward said:
Well, you don't want to be flying a two-seater and you be the only one wearing a parachute if something happens. That would just be too awkward.
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Good point!
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Yep. There's a real purity in flying a single-seat aircraft. It *is* just you and the sky, with no concerns about risks to a passenger and no feel of waste for leaving a perfectly good seat unoccupied. I'm not sure that makes us less safe or not. I've never did something conciously thinking "Ah, it's just me at risk," but neither have I delayed turning back or going around because of concern of of how a passenger might react.

The parachute issue is a weird one. I had a boss who just couldn't understand why GA pilots and passengers didn't wear one all the time. I tried to explain the difficulty in getting a non-flying passenger (especially a child) to bail out when needed.

A bit after that, he was in a car accident. His head hit the B-pillar, and he ended up with TBI. He recovered fully, but I did tell him that I just couldn't understand why Honda Civic drivers didn't wear helmets whenever they drove....

Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
Yep. There's a real purity in flying a single-seat aircraft. It *is* just you and the sky, with no concerns about risks to a passenger and no feel of waste for leaving a perfectly good seat unoccupied. I'm not sure that makes us less safe or not. I've never did something conciously thinking "Ah, it's just me at risk," but neither have I delayed turning back or going around because of concern of of how a passenger might react.
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How is that different than being solo in a multi-seat aircraft? I'm not trying to be dense here but I apparently don't get it. :dunno: :redface:
 
jesse said:
Because I realize there are elevated risks, it's a 41 year old amateur built wooden airplane, therefore if I can sit in there comfortably with a parachute I might as well wear one since it's an airplane you have a chance of getting out of.

This accident nudged me towards that decision:
http://www.bowersflybaby.com/safety/hinton.htm
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Now this logic I understand.
 
Everskyward said:
How is that different than being solo in a multi-seat aircraft? I'm not trying to be dense here but I apparently don't get it. :dunno: :redface:
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Yes, it's a philosophy thing. Hard to explain. In a single-seater, there's nothing there that isn't needed; all is wrapped around the pilot to support the desire for flight. It's like wearing an airplane tailored to your size, rather than one with a big seat that'll fit a pillow or two. :-)

Ron Wanttaja
 
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