Text 9479, 47 rader
Skriven 2008-01-03 21:15:04 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Plane Crashes
=====================
Hello Robert,

On Thursday January 03 2008 16:24, you wrote to me:

 MV>> The denied flight plan was when we flew the Piper Cub. That is
 MV>> real seat of the pants flying. No nav ads, no radio, no nothing. A
 MV>> compass and an altimeter, that was it.

As far as nav ads were concerned that is. There was an air speed indicator, an
engine rev indicator, and a fuel indicator which consisted of a piece of steel
wire with a cork at the bottom end. The main fule tank was mounted on top of
the engine and the wire protuded trough a hole in the fuel tank cap.

I think there was also an oil temp meter, but I am not sure aboy that...

 MV>> When you were in the air, you were on your own. No asking for
 MV>> direction when you got lost.

 RB> That's rough.

Not really, it was lots of fun. The Piper Cub has no electrical installation.
It has to be hand started. At fourteen, I was not strong enough for that but I
was trusted with the controls, So when there was no one else around, I was in
the cockpit while my father did the prop.

 RB> All my flying was with a Piper Colt, and that had a radio, artificial
 RB> horizon and various other stuff.

Later we flew other planes that were better equipped. The radio required an
additional certificate btw. We flew Morane Saulnier and later Cessna 150 and
172. The latter usually being fitted with ADF, VOR and some with ILS.

 RB> Even so, I found it hard to keep my bearings in the air and spent most
 RB> of my time trying to recognize landmarks. I was working so hard I
 RB> never got any fun out of flying and finally gave it up.

Hmmm, I do not recall us ever having much trouble finding our way. Maybe The
Netherlands is easy in that respect. Plenty of landmarks. Rivers, lakes and
cities all around. And if you really get lost, you can always fly west until
you hit the coast and then fly along it until you meet something recongnisible.
No, we never had to do that. ;-)


Cheers, Michiel

--- GoldED+/W32-MINGW 1.1.5-b20070503
 * Origin: http://www.vlist.org (2:280/5555)