Hello from Dayton!
Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:44 pm
I'm Moe and I'm a nostalgia nut. I own a Harley and an Airstream, and learned Morse Code for my ham license. For many years, every time I've seen a little yellow Cub, I've dreamed of flying one. In the past few years, with my spare time busy sailing, I've said flying looked like something I wasn't going to get around to in this life.
But recently, my attitude about that's been changing. I decided I wanted to learn to fly in a tail-dragger. Tens of thousands have over the years. I made my kids learn to drive in a standard shift so it just seems fair. I decided I'd prefer it to be on a grass strip. And if my dreams really came true, it would be in a Cub, or at least a Champ.
My wife and I went to the nearby Greene County airport today and talked to the folks there. I asked if they taught Sport Pilot. They said, "no, you can go to Waynesville for that." I asked if anyone taught flying in a Cub and they said, this time with a big grin, "Waynesville does." My wife jumped there many years ago, and we've ridden by several times, thinking it was just a gliderport. So we drove down just south of Waynesville, to Red Stewart Airfield, about 25 miles from our home of some 20 years now.
Talk about a dream come true! And literally in our back yard all these years. A 65HP J3 was sitting right out front and a Pitts warming up for take-off on the wide grass strip. They also have a second J3, 85HP, and a Champ which was restored by the EAA Chapter 284 that meets there and holds an annual "Taildragger Fly-In." The folks there were really friendly, and they train both Recreational and Sport Pilot licensing. I asked about doing ground school self-study and they said they encourage it.
So, I'm pretty sure where I'm going to learn to fly. I found a cool site with a Java J3 W&B calculator and it looks like there's a matter of me losing some weight to come in under MTOW with an instructor, so I'm targeting next year, after spending the winter studying. I'm pretty motivated now!
Thanks for hosting this site.
But recently, my attitude about that's been changing. I decided I wanted to learn to fly in a tail-dragger. Tens of thousands have over the years. I made my kids learn to drive in a standard shift so it just seems fair. I decided I'd prefer it to be on a grass strip. And if my dreams really came true, it would be in a Cub, or at least a Champ.
My wife and I went to the nearby Greene County airport today and talked to the folks there. I asked if they taught Sport Pilot. They said, "no, you can go to Waynesville for that." I asked if anyone taught flying in a Cub and they said, this time with a big grin, "Waynesville does." My wife jumped there many years ago, and we've ridden by several times, thinking it was just a gliderport. So we drove down just south of Waynesville, to Red Stewart Airfield, about 25 miles from our home of some 20 years now.
Talk about a dream come true! And literally in our back yard all these years. A 65HP J3 was sitting right out front and a Pitts warming up for take-off on the wide grass strip. They also have a second J3, 85HP, and a Champ which was restored by the EAA Chapter 284 that meets there and holds an annual "Taildragger Fly-In." The folks there were really friendly, and they train both Recreational and Sport Pilot licensing. I asked about doing ground school self-study and they said they encourage it.
So, I'm pretty sure where I'm going to learn to fly. I found a cool site with a Java J3 W&B calculator and it looks like there's a matter of me losing some weight to come in under MTOW with an instructor, so I'm targeting next year, after spending the winter studying. I'm pretty motivated now!
Thanks for hosting this site.