“You have a plan” asked Hank? “I never had a plan. I just joined the military, and they plunked me into flight school. From there I went into the airlines, and then now to this, teaching folks how to fly tail wheel airplanes at 73 years old. Been doing this for 12 years, since I hit 60 anyway, the maximum retirement age in those days.”
He looked like he came from another era. But then again, Stanton airfield is from another era. And the planes, And the hangars. Stanton (KSYL) is owned by group dedicated to keeping the field open and private for sport aircraft. Operated by a committed core of employees and volunteers, the group was formed to purchase the field from Malcolm and Margaret Manual back in 1990. By that time the Manuals had operated it since 1946, or 44 years. The first nine years they operated it for Carlton College, which had established the field in 1944, during WWII, to train pilots and instructors for service in the war. After Carlton sold it to them in 1955, they operated a multitude of businesses, from a driving range on the taxiway, to a t.v. repair shop, to designing and building catamaran boats, offering skydiving and soaring and, of course flight instruction.
Inside the terminal was a room with artifacts from the history of the field. The blue tub in the picture on the right was a simulator used during the war. It was wired to the desk in the photo on the left, which held a plotter that could track course of the student based on the movements of the controls in the simulator. The room also held the actual beacon used before radio navigation was invented. A pilot would fly at night flying from one beacon to another. They were located around the country, with one always in view from another.
I had flown in with a modern (1978) tricycle geared Piper Archer to start my chapter on tail wheeled aircraft to get a FAA endorsement to my license.
The plan, since the start of my retirement, was to regain my currency through the Prescott Flying Club, so I could prepare for a future in soaring. The Minnesota Soaring Society, a very well run club with two gliders and a Super Cub they use to tow the gliders into the air, is located at Stanton. Upon learning I had time in a Champ on ski’s and floats, a friend of mine who is a member told me the club is always hungry for tow pilots with tail-dragger experience. It was a great way to build time at someone else’s expense, he suggested. I thought it’d be a great way to fly with a simple stick and rudder, like the old days on Pike Lake.
The wayback feeling was enhanced when Hank introduced me to the airplane, a 1946 Piper Cub Super Cruiser. Not only was it built in 1946, but five years ago it had been restored to exactly the way it looked and was equipped in 1946, with the exception of the added modern radio, transponder, and landing lights in it’s wings. Other than that, it is a throw-back. The instrument panel looked like one you might have found in a Buick in those days. Piper built this version of their Cub to appeal to the average family with the intention that they use it for weekend sight seeing trips, in place of their automobile. At that time, it was intended to carry two in the back seat, and one in the front seat. The FAA requirement for a seat belt for each passenger has since made it a two person airplane.
Bringing back pleasant memories, the stick fit warmly in my hand, and the rudders were firm under my feet. The only hitch was in the brakes. In aircraft from that era, the brakes were operated by very small heel pedals that come up from the floor under and just to the left of the rudder pedals. In modern aircraft, the brake pedals are called toe brakes, mounted on the top of the rudder pedals. Because the seat is unadjustable and designed for someone far shorter than me, my knees are very close to the dashboard, with my my shins at a steep angle to the rudders. That leaves no way to press the brake pedals with my heels while holding my feet on the rudders. That's a problem in a tail wheel airplane, because the rudders are the most important control, whether in the air or on the ground. On the ground, good rudder control is essential to avoiding ground loops and other taxiing calamities.
The PA-12 Cub Cruiser flew like a home-sick angel. Things to get used to again include a slow climb, the absence of flaps to slow you down, and a relatively high approach speed. Other than that, it all felt pretty familiar. The day went well, working through a set of maneuvers that should allow my instructor to be a little more relaxed with his classic bird knowing how I handle an airplane in the air. In the meantime, he'll probably keep his feet planted near the brakes until I figure out how to get the plane slowed down on the ground with something other than crossed fingers.
Comments
Post a Comment