j1b3h0
Line Up and Wait
Last week, I got a chance to fly a friend's Stinson L-5. I had flown it before, but only from the back seat. From the front seat it's much different. Good different.
For those unfamiliar, the L-5 is Stinson/Vultee's answer to the (WWII) military request for a utility/liason airplane with STOL and rough field capability. It's very Champ-like in appearance but bigger. It looks like so many ponderous old tail draggers - one might naturally assume that it flies like a Champ...and, from the back seat, it's true. Its design is a triumph of utility over, well, everthing else...aesthetics, comfort, exit/entry ease, noise, speed, etc. It sports a Lycoming 0-435 (predecessor to the 0-540) with 190hp and a wooden prop. Climb aboard, and when I say climb, I mean that quite literally - there are no steps, handholds or any obvious contrivences to help you get in it, you just have to find some appropriate tube, chair or whatever to hoist your carcass in there. Once seated you can feast your eyes on an impressive array of olive drab chromolly fuselage tubing, hoses, control cables, seat belts, a flare gun, a vintage E-6B, a first-aid kit, a battery or starter relay and a very practical intrument panel. Did I mention that there is a fair amount of plexiglass? Note also the litter in the back, to carry the wounded out of harm's way. Doors with windows that open cub-like, for those especially warm days. Utility everywhere you look.
But, flying from the front seat, it's as though it's a completely different airplane. The stick is about 6 inches longer and you quickly learn all the flight controls are silky ball bearing smooth. The trim, beneath the throttle quadrant, is a little winder affair, like a window regulator, but smaller. There is another crank on the overhead, used to droop the ailerons up to 15 degrees, for short fields. The flap lever you'll find beside the Captain's seat, moves up and down like you'd expect, but positions in a notch athwartships for the 4 position flaps.
After doing some pattern work at KHWD, and lunch in Princeton, ostensibly to give my friend some wheel landing pointers, I got to fly the airplane from Half Moon Bay to Hayward from the front seat. Takeoff is usually done (I'm told) with 1 notch of flaps. I got rolling a bit before lifted the tail, and first thing you know, we were airborne. The controls were really light and sweet. I mean thumb-and-fingers light. Big pitch change with flap retraction. From the back seat, it seems like every lumbering old airplane, (like a Cessna 170) not bad just sort of ordinary. But from the front seat, though, with its much longer stick, it flies like a, well, it's lighter and much more responsive than a Stearman, particularly the ailerons, which feel sort of like a Bellanca Cruiseairs'. Feels like a little fighter and completely belies its Champ-like looks. It slips well, though I can't imagine ever needing to, what with a power-off sink rate like that of a Pitts (but much slower airspeed). With full flaps and ailerons drooped, and the power back to idle, someone skilled could probably approach at 1000ft until 3/4 mile final...and land on the numbers! And with its low wing loading and flaps/ailrerons extended, dragging it in, one could easily three point it, and with moderate braking, stop in I dunno, 300ft. It wheel lands very sweetly - much easier than a Citabria. Can't remember when I flew an airplane that was so different from back to front seat. I really liked it. If you ever get a chance to fly one of these old military birds, don't turn it down. And Thanks to my friend, Ken for letting my drive!
For those unfamiliar, the L-5 is Stinson/Vultee's answer to the (WWII) military request for a utility/liason airplane with STOL and rough field capability. It's very Champ-like in appearance but bigger. It looks like so many ponderous old tail draggers - one might naturally assume that it flies like a Champ...and, from the back seat, it's true. Its design is a triumph of utility over, well, everthing else...aesthetics, comfort, exit/entry ease, noise, speed, etc. It sports a Lycoming 0-435 (predecessor to the 0-540) with 190hp and a wooden prop. Climb aboard, and when I say climb, I mean that quite literally - there are no steps, handholds or any obvious contrivences to help you get in it, you just have to find some appropriate tube, chair or whatever to hoist your carcass in there. Once seated you can feast your eyes on an impressive array of olive drab chromolly fuselage tubing, hoses, control cables, seat belts, a flare gun, a vintage E-6B, a first-aid kit, a battery or starter relay and a very practical intrument panel. Did I mention that there is a fair amount of plexiglass? Note also the litter in the back, to carry the wounded out of harm's way. Doors with windows that open cub-like, for those especially warm days. Utility everywhere you look.
But, flying from the front seat, it's as though it's a completely different airplane. The stick is about 6 inches longer and you quickly learn all the flight controls are silky ball bearing smooth. The trim, beneath the throttle quadrant, is a little winder affair, like a window regulator, but smaller. There is another crank on the overhead, used to droop the ailerons up to 15 degrees, for short fields. The flap lever you'll find beside the Captain's seat, moves up and down like you'd expect, but positions in a notch athwartships for the 4 position flaps.
After doing some pattern work at KHWD, and lunch in Princeton, ostensibly to give my friend some wheel landing pointers, I got to fly the airplane from Half Moon Bay to Hayward from the front seat. Takeoff is usually done (I'm told) with 1 notch of flaps. I got rolling a bit before lifted the tail, and first thing you know, we were airborne. The controls were really light and sweet. I mean thumb-and-fingers light. Big pitch change with flap retraction. From the back seat, it seems like every lumbering old airplane, (like a Cessna 170) not bad just sort of ordinary. But from the front seat, though, with its much longer stick, it flies like a, well, it's lighter and much more responsive than a Stearman, particularly the ailerons, which feel sort of like a Bellanca Cruiseairs'. Feels like a little fighter and completely belies its Champ-like looks. It slips well, though I can't imagine ever needing to, what with a power-off sink rate like that of a Pitts (but much slower airspeed). With full flaps and ailerons drooped, and the power back to idle, someone skilled could probably approach at 1000ft until 3/4 mile final...and land on the numbers! And with its low wing loading and flaps/ailrerons extended, dragging it in, one could easily three point it, and with moderate braking, stop in I dunno, 300ft. It wheel lands very sweetly - much easier than a Citabria. Can't remember when I flew an airplane that was so different from back to front seat. I really liked it. If you ever get a chance to fly one of these old military birds, don't turn it down. And Thanks to my friend, Ken for letting my drive!
