N5502B

N5502B is a 1956 Cessna 182 that I own and fly when I want or need too(Cost of fuel ?) so I mix regular 92 Octane with 100LL -about 35-50% . I have a hanger at Boulder City,NV.(61b) airport. Every once in a while I'll load up some old Ugly sticks and go out to way out airstrips for a day of fun. Fly the Grand Canyon a lot. A&P /I.A. ATP Helicopters and airplanes Flying full size since early 1960's . Former Military (U.S.Army Warrant Officer ) Helicopter Pilot -now retired in Southern Nevada . Thanks Again Bill Reid

IFlyEm35

My Feedback: (5)

I do a little full scale flying.

[link=http://youtube.com/watch?v=qFnQFoj1R_o]My visual approach into KPEA.[/link]

dcarpenter62

I have been flying this Swift for 26 years.....It was an outgrowth of my involvement with model airplanes....they kept getting larger!
Dave

merlin51

Hi current fly c172 which I bought three years ago. Great plane to learn in. Working on inst now. Hope to have that ticket in my pocket by Aug. Full scale is fun but you can do more with the r/c. Also have a friend and he flys a Mig 21 every Sunday @ ILG he also has a L39 and L 29 that we race out in Reno.

Ranfred Radius

My Feedback: (8)

learned to fly in the late 70's. Always wanted to build my own. Hopefuly I'll finish N701RB, a Zenair CH701 STOL aircraft before i'm too old to see off the end of the cowling!

Not mine, but it should look something like this

TerryW

If anyone would be interested, I have a 5/8 replica Hawker Hurricane project forsale. E-mail me for details One heck of a buy !!!!!

ArcherIIDriver

Another full scale flyer checking in! As my name implies, I fly a PA-28-181 (family plane) w/ some Knots2U speed mods and carbon-fiber "upswept" HID wingtips. My dad is a semi-retired G-IV SP captain, and I grew up loving all things that fly. Been in RC for 15+ years and soloed full scale about 3 years ago. Haven't been flying much lately (work always get in the way of fun), but trying to get back in the air soon. Dad flies the Archer fairly regularly, when he's not flying "big wigs" in the Gulfstream. I'll look for a pic of the Archer to post.

arrow66x

My turn to check in - got my PPL in 1988, instrument in '90 and commercial in '91. Then decided I would get a multi engine rating in 2000 in case I won the lottery, which I haven't, so I don't have much twin time. I did get a tailwheel checkout and 10 hours of aerobatics in a Citabria and Pitts S2A in '99, but was too expensive to continue. I've owned a 1976 Arrow II for the last 15 years, and if I didn't need it to visit my family on the MS gulf coast, I would sell it and buy an aerobatic plane. That's where the RC planes come in....I can fly aerobatics with them for less money. Wait a minute.....I've spent more money on RC then I did renting the full scale ones. Plus, I honestly believe it's harder to do precision maneuvers with an RC plane than the full scale ones.
If you ever get the opportunity to get your PPL, do it - you'll never regret it!

divergoff

Guess I check in as well. Been flying my entire life of 19 years, but have only had my ppl for 2, soloed at 16 license as 17. Instrument rating coming this summer. I too fly an arrow, ours is a 1970 but has all the current avionics GNS430(WAAS), MX20 w/ jeppview, AP w/ ALT hold and GS coupling, we just added GPSS to the autopilot. Absolutely an amazing plane with all the lopresti mods, minus the cowling. Flew it to Sun N' Fun last weekend and trued out at 140-141 knots all the way, not bad for the old fat wing arrow. And anyone here who hasn't flown into Sun n fun or Oshkosh, put it on the do to list. Fly and camp right on the field. Your alarm in the morning is the sound of airplanes taking off. To put it simply its a week of heaven on earth for aviation lovers.

slick95

I have been telling this to people for so long. Both shows are a MUST!!

SLICK

divergoff

Yes they are, it is totally crazy flying in/out of both places, but an absolute blast to do. Here is a picture of my baby parked at OSH last summer.

divergoff

Here a a couple of the panel, quality isn't the best b/c it was taken with my phone. One the one picture you can see the nexrad radar returns from on the MX-20, the nexrad comes in via XM

Taildragger726

Flying into S-N-F. My backseater shot this one!

slick95

Nice plane! I was at Osh last year as well. Stayed for 9 days. I'm planning on flying up again this year in the Clipper.

SLICK

F-89 Driver

Wow! What a parade of airmen who also fly R/C. First time I've read this forum. Absolutely fascinating!

Dad learned to fly in 1927. Soloed in an OX-5-powered Curtiss Jenny. He barnstormed in a Longwing Eaglerock and held me in his lap to convince reluctant farmers that flying was safe - - much to my mother's chagrin! I was hooked on flying at an age before I had recallable memory. Dad flew Curtiss O-1 "Falcons" in the Army Air Corps Reserve from 1931 to 1941. He began flying for American Airlines in 1935 - - Stinson Trimotors and Curtiss Condors. When the DC-3 arrived, he called it the "ultimate airliner." He couldn't envision anything that could surpass that technology. (He retired 33 years later flying B-707's.) I built models as a kid. Or, at least I TRIED to do so. If my rubber-band-powered, 10-cent Baby ROG actually survived its first flight, I was ecstatic. As a sideline, Dad actually bought a model shop in 1946. I was like a kid cut loose in a candy store!

In the "real" airplane world I soloed in 1949 at age 16. Familiar story - - could fly before I could drive. Got my Private at age 17. Got my aircraft mechanic's license at age 18. Korean War came along. I had a draft deferment inasmuch as I was a mechanic for American Airlines. But, my buddies were over there, so I had to do my part, too. Enlisted in the Air Force on my 19th birthday with 117 hours in my logbook. That made the Air Force Cadet program a piece of cake - - at least in the early going. Became a 2 LT and fighter pilot at age 20. Flew the old F-94-A and F-94-B. Then, flew F-89-D's in Alaska with the 449th All-Weather Fighter Interceptor Squadron Released from active duty at age 23. Hired three weeks later by Capital Airlines as a DC-3 copilot. (Dad's "ultimate airliner.") Flew DC-3's, DC-4's, DC-6's, DC-7's Vickers Viscounts, B-727's, B-737's and retired while flying DC-8s on Hawaii layovers. (Best flying on the airline!) 28,000 hours. Got into R/C in 1961, same year that Capital merged with United Airlines. Now, at age 75 I still have powered R/C birds, but mostly enjoy the solitude of model sailplanes. Despite several other models, I still have an ongoing romance with my Olympic 650 - - still in one piece after 20 years or more of faithrful service. I won my first contest with that bird.

Number two daughter is a B-737 captain with Southwest Airlines. Dad didn't live long enough to see it happen. Too bad.

Hey, I really get excited when I read of all the young folks on this forum who are entering into the piloting world. It was 59 years ago that I made my first solo flight. Still remember it. As others have said, even 37 years on an airline's pilot seniority list goes by in the blink of an eye. Just wait and see. Good luck to all!

Rabbitcreekok

What a great story, F-89 Dirver. My grandfather has a connection to the early American Airlines. He was a maintenance mangager, I believe, in the 30's. I have a sculpture made from the base of a prop that is carved into the logo of American. The date on the piece is May 26, 1934 and has his initials on the bottom of the prop, along with the data on the prop. The eagles wings are carved away from the background. Someone did a lot of work.

My Dad was a mechanic and pilot for Delta before the war. He also worked for Braniff as well. He was a flight instructor during the war and a crop duster until he retired and sold his business in the late 70's.

Like you, I got my first airplane ride at an early age. It was in a Stearman when I was 2, strapped inside the parachute harness of a friend of my Dad.

I love the old days of flying and the airplanes. They had personality and character, up to about the 70's, when they all became tin cans.

Oh well.

F-89 Driver

Speaking of Stearmans (we were, weren't we?) I checked out in a PT-17 when I was 17 years old. Had a heck of a time, initially, landing the thing. I'd only flown high-wing airplanes, and was a bit shy about getting the lower wing so close to the ground. But, I finally got around to making perfect three-point landings and then I got to fly it solo. My dad took 16mm movies to prove that I made beautiful landings with that thing - - on a grass-field airport, of course. (Are there any left?)

With regard to biplanes, when I was 18 I fell in love with a cherry red UPF Waco that a guy had for sale in South Bend, Indiana. He wanted a whopping $800 for it. But, my dad said it was "too much airplane" for me. So, I bought a 1934 Chevy coupe, instead, complete with rumble seat. (My aunt claimed the only reason I bought it was due to the "suicide knob" on the steering wheel.) At 19 I was an Aviation Cadet and began Air Force flight training in T-6's. By the time I was 20, I was a jet fighter pilot. I think Dad could have been just a tad bit wrong when he thought the Waco would have been "too much airplane" for me.

I finally shied away from low buzzing and flying under bridges when a close buddy of mine flew a T-33 into the bridge at Greenville, MS while also trying to be a "Tiger" during Korean War fighter pilot training. It was suddenly a bit sobering. Lost five buddies during and subsequent to the "Police Action" in Korea. Lost a few dozen more close friends in plane crashes during the intervening 55 years since the end of that conflict. 'Twas a bit sobering, - - indeed.

To my mind, the difference between a "wise old pilot" and a dead pilot is just that one of them has mananged to somehow live through his mistakes. And, heaven knows that we've ALL made 'em!

F-89 Driver

Great shot from the back seat of a T-6! Had more fun flying the T-6 (Korean War flight training) than anything I've flown in the past 28,000 hours. That bird is built like a tank! In my youth I tried everything short of crashing it to get something to come apart and fall off. All to no avail. I once did a 25-turn spin just to lay to rest the rumor promulgated by upperclassmen that it wouldn't recover after three turns. I did it right over the base, so everyone could see. To my surprise, somebody called the crash trucks 'cuz they thought I was gonna buy the farm. Seeing this photo, I can hear it and smell it and feel it. Great shot!

F-89 Driver

I don’t want to make a novel out of this particular bulletin board, but I thought modeler/pilots might find the following to be of some interest.

As a kid, I messed around building model airplanes. Hey, didn’t we all? One day I went to the barbershop with my dad. It was busy, and we obviously had a bit of a wait on our hands. The model shop was right next door. I explained to Dad that I needed a nickel tube of Testor’s glue. So we asked the barber to save our place in line while I went next door for a minute. The barber agreed, and Dad followed me into the model shop. As usual, I just had to peruse the boxed contents of several Comet or Guillows models to determine the complexity and the skill that would be required to build a successful example of same.

In those days, there was no such thing as “laser cut.” The necessary pieces were stamped in ink onto a balsa sheet (usually of poor grade) and it was necessary to cut the pieces by hand. X-Acto knives hadn’t hit the scene yet, so a razor blade was the tool of choice - - preferably a single-edge blade. Double-edged blades would do in a pinch, but that usually resulted in also using-up several band-aids.

By the way, Cleveland kits were nice to examine and ogle, but they were WAY too difficult for me or my buddies. I recall looking, longingly, at the Stinson Reliant and the twin-engine Hudson Bomber. Maybe someday - - -

As I selected my tube of glue, Dad also looked at a U-Control kit (R/C was still in the future) and asked the store owner several questions. Eventually, I made my nickel purchase and we returned to the barber shop where I “got my ears lowered.”

Two days later, I came home for lunch from grammar school. When I walked into the house it was full of smoke! I hurried to the basement to see if the coal furnace or the manually-fired water heater had gone haywire. As I went down the stairs into the basement, I could see Dad through all the blue smoke.

He had a Brown Jr. engine in a vise and was “breaking it in with a rich mixture.” Hence, lotsa blue smoke enveloping the interior of the house. Mom had decided to “visit a neighbor lady” while Dad was engaged in this particular activity. She didn’t reappear until the smoke had cleared - - literally.

On a bench he had plans laid out for a U-control “Shark” and had pieces pinned down waiting for the glue to dry. (No “Hot Stuff” or cyanoacrylic wonder stuff back then.) Dad had gotten the bug, and he became an avid U-Control modeler!

Well, one thing led to another, and whaddaya know? He then made an offer and bought the whole model shop! Since he was an airline captain, he could plow the profits back into the store. Eventually, it was necessary to move into a bigger store across the street. Perhaps somebody out there remembers the C&I Hobby Center on 63rd Street near Kedzie Avenue, two miles east of Midway Airport. I got hands-on experience with all of the models and ignition engines that were around in the mid-to-late 1940’s. I remember having fun with a Morton M-5, and the first Dyna-Jet (sounded like a bassoon), and all of the Ohlsson-Rice offerings. Some fun! But eventually the store was sold.

Anyway, it just shows what can happen when a kid is in dire need of a tube of glue.

DHULEN

My Feedback: (11)

Duane I have a RANS S12

Rabbitcreekok

You mentioned the grass fields. My Dad was a flight instructor at Curtis Field in Brady, TX during the war. Curtis Field was just that, a field. It was about a square mile and was all grass. That way the primary students could always take off into the wind until they learned to handle crosswinds. Lots of Stearmans, BT-13's and AT-6's were based there.

After the war, my Dad bought 25 surplus Stearmans and a bunch of BT-13's and made 450 Stearman sprayers out of them. The Stearmans cost $50 each. They may have paid him to take the BT-13's.

Air4ceFlyBoy

Checking in. I'm a full scale pilot for my day job, but I love flying RC too. I've flown Cessna, Piper, DeHavilland, Beechcraft, Pilatus, and Boeing; single engine piston, turbo prop, and multi engine jets. When I first went to check out an rc club I received a lukewarm reception. The general consensus among rc pilots I was told, was that full scale pilots make the worst rc pilots. Within a month I purchased an already built (RTF) Hangar9 P-51 1.50 with a Saito 1.80 and a Futaba 9CAP, and took it to the club. After taking off, flying around, and landing I was quickly accepted and had a great time at that club from then on until I moved. I now fly my beloved Mustang in Japan, along with my F-4U Corsair, F-16 and F-18 EDF. An L-39 from K&A is under construction and an F-117 and X-31 with vectored thrust are in the works.

IFlyEm35

My Feedback: (5)

so for your very first flight with no prior experience you flew a 1.50 P-51 successfully solo?

fly boy2

I fly prolly the best known F-18............. ( just kiding but I can dream can't I ) (got the pic from the Blue Angels Homecoming of 2007

fly boy2

the Diamond Katana DA-20 is what I really fly. It's a glider with an engine really. Its a nice plane but nothing compared to what I WANT to fly. ( I'm the one in the hat, my instuctor is the person in the white shirt with big glasses but he soon got rid of thoses. That was my first flight. It didn't cost a dime. He shows you what is like before you really start flying lessons. I've been flying since and love it. I am still a student, just about to solo.