Goodbye to an old friend

[slowmover]

There have been alot of sad goodbyes around here lately. This is not one of them.

In 2001, I bought a Super Cub in Alaska and flew it up there until I moved south in 2004. But it was never the same. My Super Cub deserved to be in Alaska in the hands of a conscientious pilot that would take care of it and fly it. This spring, I sold it to just such a guy. Part of the deal was that I'd deliver it to Missoula, Montana for him. This is the story of my last trip in 3907K.

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/01_Sam_and_Joe_before_departure.JPG
We started in Arkansas where my young son met my Super Cub for the first and last time.

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/04_Arkansas_River.JPG
We headed west along the Arkansas River where I have landed on many gravel bars, waved at many boaters, and nearly hit several birds.

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/11_Yates_Center_Kansas.JPG
We saw an inviting grass strip in Kansas and stopped for a stretch.

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/22_Platte_River_NE.JPG
We followed the Platte River across Nebraska and into Wyoming.

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/37_Weird_circles_N_of_Casper_WY.JPG
We saw some strange circles near Casper. Anybody know what these are?

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/48_Running_from_a_monster_with_Thermopolis_in_the_ background.JPG
We stopped for gas and a Pepsi in Thermopolis and then had to run away from a thunderstorm that was dropping lots of lightning!

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/52_Abandoned_water_tankers_at_Greybull_WY.JPG
We saw some abandoned fire fighting aircraft at Greybull, Wyoming. Later, I had a good talk with a Neptune fire fighting pilot in Montana and showed him this picture. That sounds like a challenging job!

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/66_Ridge_crossing_west_of_Wilsall_MT.JPG
We crossed some ridgelines southeast of Helena, Montana. The scenery was great for an Arkansas pilot! It was windy, too.

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/74_Seeley_Lake_MT.JPG
We stopped at a picturesque grass strip in Seeley Lake, Montana. I had a good chat with a Husky pilot, borrowed a car to get some lunch at the Chicken Coop, and enjoyed the smell of the ponderosas. It had been a while!

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/83_The_transfer.JPG
Finally I delivered my airplane to the new owner in Missoula. He later reported a trouble-free trip to Alaska. Now the cub is back where it belongs!

Lots of good memories with this airplane. 9 years, 1040 hours, 1 Oshkosh, 1 New Holstein, 1 trip from Alaska to Arkansas, and lots of fun in between! Now, it is on to a 180 so I can take my wife AND my son somewhere at the same time!

And for the accountants in the group, it worked to $86/hour over those 1040 hours. That includes insurance, 6 years of hangar rental, all the fuel and maintenance, and a number of mods like 31" wheels, lifetime struts and forks, 3" heavy duty gear, and more.

Thanks for all the tips over the years. I'll still be around, but as a 180 owner. And I might have to change my username!

[Snert]

very nice

[Ursa Major]

Thanks for the update Joe. I remember admiring 3907K back before you bought it. If the timing had been right back then, I might have bought it myself. If anything, it looks better now than when you first got it. Good luck with the 180 and stay safe in the Herc.

[Steve Pierce]

Thanks for sharing that Joe. I have a few found memories myself of you and 907K. Good luck on the C180 hunt.

[Richard Deblack]

Great post, and nice looking airplane!
Thanks for sharing the accounting at the end, that's awesome.
Do you have a 180 picked out yet?

[slowmover]

Thanks for the comments. It was a good ride.

I do not have a 180 picked out yet but I have options. You can read in the "early 180" thread about one that I am no longer looking at. It's a learning process, and I am taking the time required to make sure I get a good one.

[Dave Calkins]

Very nice update Joe. Thanks for the photos and such. Good luck on the 180 search, they're also a great airplane that can do almost what a Cub will when empty. D

[WapitiWarrior]

SlowMover:

Great thread and documentation of your last trip with your bird.

I grew up in Casper WY and am currently 112 Miles north in Buffalo WY. The strange circles are alien landings :-? No not really. At one time Casper was a large oil town and had numerous refineries (6)? to process the oil fro the fields that surrounded it. The rings are the remnants of days gone by and are actually the dirt containment dikes of large tanks that stored the oil. Locally known as the tank farm. There is only one small refinery left and a handful of tanks.

Hope this helps.

[slowmover]

Containment dikes... now that makes sense. But the alien landing area is a much more interesting story!

Thanks!

[WileyHunter]

Joe,
Thanks for sharing this "last trip" with us. It was sure good meeting you on your way through. My son was sure pleased with the cub, kept showing pictures to his sister and mom.

[Kat]

I used to own N3907K in Alaska in late 80's. Actually that was the plane I learned to fly and soloed in -87. Sold it a year or two later to buy a 1977 model.
Someone did a nice work on it, since it was just a basic Cub when I had it.

[ColoZKS6]

Nice story...Don't be surprised if the Cub shows back up in your life when your son decides to get his ticket...Airplanes are funny that way :D

[slowmover]

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/3907K_before_me.jpg
Hey Kat, is this you? I found this picture on the internet several years ago but have never been able to ID who/what/when/where and the logs were spotty.

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/data//1066/DSC01729.JPG
And, I found a nice 1980 180 over in Georgia that had been flown by the state for 30 years... yeah!

Colo, I think you're right. I believe that I am not done with tube-and-fabric taildraggers yet! Already looking for a super cub project that I can pick up and stick in the hangar for later...

[kevin]

Slowmover, That is a nice looking plane. Congratulations. Now you are fastmover. :D

[RedBaron]

Slowmover,

That's funny, just a couple weeks ago it seems, that Cub moved in to the parking space just next to mine at Lake Hood strip! And the guy that bought it from you is just like you said, the perfect new owner...I fly my Cub for a living (among other things around Lake Hood) and I've really enjoyed the conversations I've already had with your airplane's new owner. He' a good guy.

RB

[Kat]

Slowmover, affirmative...that's me. :) Taken probably 1988 or 1989 in Alaska and after I landed on a river bank somewhere there(would have to check my logbooks to know the exact location&date).

[Steve Pierce]

Congratulations Joe. Looks like a nice one. Gonna change your user name?

[Bushwhacker Air]

Amazing how we get attached to these planes, isn't it?

Hey Steve, relatively speaking, isn't a 180 really still slow?? :-?

Great post - love to see photos of flights like this - this is what it's all about! Thanks, Joe, for sharing.