There are many of us who enjoy flying our Cirrus'es. I always feel badly when someone has a bad experience with the plane. Certainly they are not perfect and have some faults. However, there are many of us who have had positive purchase experiences and wonderful ownership experiences.
I appreciate your sentiments; however, I'll have to take your word for the enjoyable experience. I have literally flown 12-15 of these aircraft SR20 & SR22 and have yet to fly one that everything worked in...each and every one had some system that did not work or had door issues or something of that ilk. This includes demos aircraft at "demo days". I'm not being difficult and I'm sure that there are satisfied owners out there, I'm just not one of them and with the next annual coming up I'm sure my attitude toward this airplane will take another turn for the worse.
Ercoupe... My Great Uncle flew one all over the western US for years. He lived in southern Colorado. He'd been a pilot in WWII (but I don't remember what he flew). He showed me ads from Ercoupe, no rudder pedals and "SPINPROOF". My Mom said it was cute, but wouldn't let me fly with him.
In 1938 when I was a little airport bum I was dropped off at College Park Airport to spend the day there while my brother studied at the U. of Maryland. I saw the weirdest little airplane in the world sitting amongst the big clunker biplanes and when I asked what it was I was told that it was an " Aircoupe". Finally learned that it was the first Ercoupe that was built and they were testing it there. Ten years later I flew one, or it flew me, and once was enough for me. That summer when I was working at Sarasota Airport a couple of guys rented one for a weekend jaunt to West Palm Beach on the east coast They returned the following Monday dead drunk but still flying the Ercoupe. They made three attempts to land and we finally figured out their condition after canceling our assumption that maybe there were problems with the airplane. They did land once but took off again before we could stop them. After the fourth approach and landing we ran into the airplane with the fire truck to keep them from launching again. They were so drunk that they couldn't get out of the airplane so they sat there in a gallon of their urine with an empty bottle of gin and some empty beer bottles. The airplane was a total loss before we ran into it due to having been flown through a hail storm and got shot peened with grape size hail. So, the Ercoupe saved these guys and who knows who else from death or injury.
Woah...if this story had come from anyone but you, Bob, I probably wouldn't believe it!! That is utterly moronic behavior. I agree that it speaks well for the Ercoupe, at least in terms of durability, however much luck was involved!
I don't know if there are records of this incident but the airport manager at the time, Matt Pilcher, was a hard task hard nose and he didn't want a perfect record tarnished by a crash. This drunk almost hit some trees and power lines south of the airport as he was careening all over the sky on his approaches. We thought that he was experiencing control failure at first until he went through several stalls as he flew around the airport and recovered....or the airplane did. Don't recall the name of the pilot but he referred to his passenger as " Coozey."
Bob, I've said it before and I'll say it again -- you need to put all of these reminiscences of yours into a book! I'll buy one; heck, I know that everyone on this forum will buy one!
Thanks, I have put down almost 30K words and I'm up to 1945 at Langley Field and I hope to keep going. I'm 84 & 7/8 th's years old and in the 63rd grade. I might be racing something to the finish line so I write every night and paint every day. I have no idea who in their right mind would publish all this stuff that is sitting in my head. It is really a tough thing to do, I hear, yet people like Palin and Newt crank out two or three in a year...but then, I'm doing my own writing. I have sketches that I did in the air force and some photos to attach, also, so it could be interesting at least to my family survivors. Back to the Ercoupe, when we asked the pilot why he took off after finally making a landing he said, " Just to show Coozey that I could do it again." Working there for three years when I was in college was interesting. Got to meet Zack Mosely, Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Anne Baxter, and Paul Mantz.
Actually Newt churns out his own books... or he used to... but then we was a history professor so writing was not a challenge... I'm sure Palin and everyone else today dictate at best. To tell ya how to run your life Bob, you might want to audio tape many of these stories. One of my many hobbies is oral history. It began when I learned my grandfather had been interviewed by an oral historian. Listening to him tell his life story in his voice was amazing. Now I love to listen to oral histories of people from the WWII generation. (although he was WWI) You might check the local university... I bet some grad student is looking for somebody like you. Something for you to consider.
I would steer very clear of ever flying in an MU2. Poorly designed aircraft - it has no ailerons which has caused numerous accidents.
Dead wrong. Airplane is a dream to fly - very responsive- and is built better than any American made turboprop out there. After the SFAR which mandated training yearly for pilos, the aircraft has recorded the best safety record of any airplane for the past six years.
MU-2 great airplane...not necessarily for the conventional pilot, get to know it and it does quiet well
Thank you for the suggestion, something to think about. The "book" is finished and being considered by a publisher and I plan to present it to others if this one doesn't work. It is 83K words long and laced with my drawings and photos.Not going to hold my breath on it but I'll keep trying.
I have flown the 125 Swift and flown in a 150HP Swift and they were nice and sharp but in my opinion if it has ever been done 450HP is over-kill for an airplane that size.
There was probably only one. Here are some slides I took at Sun and Fun in the late 80's after Piper bought the rights to the Globe Swift design and was looking to re-manufacture them with designer LoPresti ("Life is short, fly fast".) I am not sure of the history of the turbine version, but I fell in love instantly. Might be overkill but if the airframe could take it.... Dave Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
If there is one person on fchat that I would love to meet it would be Bob Parks. Although he would certainly tire of me begging him to tell his stories! What a fascinating gentleman. If you happen to make it to Oshkosh for EAA I would love to buy you lunch!
Seconded. I won't be at EAA, but if you are ever going to be in Northern California, please announce it here so we can plan a dinner in your honour. I look forward to your posts the most!
I'm embarrassed to think that I have given the impression of being someone that I'm not. I thank you for comment and your invitation to lunch at the EAA Convention. THAT would be a treat because I have never been there but age and finances put me in a holding pattern on that one. Jeff, I certainly cannot present the resume' of an expert or anyone who has accomplished very much. I was lucky to have been accepted by many old pilots when I worked at the airport and I got to lay hands on a lot of flying machines that I was permitted to fly or to fly in with somebody, so I got many opportunities to take a quick taste of a lot of planes, old and new. When we were doing the clown act in the 60's and 70's and operated out of Thun Field, the place was rife with homebuilts and antiques that were owned by generous pilots and I got to fly and fly in many incredible machines. I have finished my book and preparing it to present to a couple of publishers. If they don't like it I'll figure a way to do it myself. Again, I'm humbled by you generous and kind comments. Switches
Bob, the guys that know the most always claim to know the least. And vice-versa. It's obvious you are passionate about aviation and it's fantastic that you are willing to so freely share that passion with us. I always look forward to your posts so please keep them coming!
I made a typo. The "125" Swift mentioned was powered by a Cont.145HP not a 125. I flew it with the owner, a Boeing mechanic named Peterson, some time in 1964. That was about the same time that I got to fly the Boeing 247 with my late friend, Jack Leffler. What a tub (the airplane, not Jack). Then , a few years before, I got a few rides in it's progeny, the B-17. Both stiff as a board.
Bob, if you are not looking to make money, you can easily publish the book yourself in ePub format and stick it on the iTunes store or anywhere online that provides a "storefront" for eBooks. Ask someone for help, if googling for it doesn't clarify things enough for you. The manuscript is in some wordprocessing format, right? Or has it been typed on paper?
The manuscript is in Microsoft Word. It has been formatted and edited and I am in the process of preparing all the hoops that people (unknown author) like me have to jump through. It is important that I make some money on it. Those who have read parts of it as well as the person who typed it liked it very much even without all the photos and my artwork that will go with it. Putting this thing together is worse than building a homebuilt but I'm going to do it. Thank you for your interest and suggestions, it helps.
