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A few, hopefully fresh, super-cub hints if you want them.

I noticed that no one (not even that 26 point list) bothered to check to see if the tie down ropes were off and out of the way - especially that tail wheel rope.
 
I never thought leaving the tail tied could cause an in-flight emergency, but it did one day. I saw a super cub flying the pattern with a concrete block tied to the tail. The pilot made a landing, but the block wasn't as experienced. The block bounced the landing, then went through the horizontal stabilizer on its second attempt.
 
Here is one. A good friend asked me to point this out. In Palmer but this could happen anywhere, we had a lot of wind. Ya imagine that. It was blowing around 40. The wind was not lined up with either runway. So, he landed in the grass between the runways where he could be lined up with the wind. Probably saved the aircraft (thus saving himself from a few scratches). Sure, were supposed to use the available runway but in terms of a somewhat emergency and with few to no other options, why not land in the ditch. Worked good. We complacently (hopefully I spelled that correctly), believe that we have to land on a runway at the airport. But, what if? What if our option is to land across the runway or a taxi way? Heck, sure beats sliding into the ditch uncontrolled.
 
Beluga lake weather:

My one lesson from an experienced sail boat guy, (in a million dollar sailing yatch headed around the world with his family) was "Reef before you have to".

The lesson there is turn your plane around before your palms are sweaty.

One boss was so familiar with the area he started finding himself at 100' and 1/2 mile in showers following the shore. (185 float plane).

He realized that he was comfortable in weather that was really dangerous, so he set his minimums by flaps, when he pulled the third notch of flaps on, it was to turn around. Twenty years later and he is still around.

The idea that you can always turn around and go back does not always work. Snow is the worst, because you turn around and the showers have closed in behind you, or started behind you and now you are in the middle of no where, going no where. If you are unlucky enough to be near freezing temps, you might find yourself with the snow sticking to the wings (been there with a 90 hp champ).

Do not let a situation get to the point that if you do not land you will be coming out of the sky. Better to stay controlled and set it down than load up with ice, or CFIT, (controlled flight into terrain).

Don't panic. If you have fuel and a ground reference, circle it. Keep circling until you can see, or have it figured out where you are and what direction you need to head. Set GPS, localizer, call flight service, what ever; and calm down.

Once you can see to move in the proper direction for safety, (nearest airfield), head that way at a safe speed, when you run out of safe forward vis., pick a point and circle again... it works. it may take some time, but you can proceed to a place to land without flying 0/0. Circling with low power settings helps fuel economy also.

As far as icing... Watch Gilligan's Island, a three hour tour... I have taken a couple of three hour tours in the bird and been gone a site longer... wing covers are not that heavy, nor big, and can be a tent also. This time of year, put them in!!!! It will save your ars at some point. Buy a ratty pair and just leave them in for emergencies...


To the go around discussion earlier, got to admit it all has to do with the situation. Going around on the river where I can fly at 6" for ten miles is different than going around with 100' trees in front of me... sometimes I choose to turn rather than climb. Pitch control is the key, gaining, maintaining or draining speed to achieve the proper climb profile. One point to remember, rapid jerky control inputs drain energy more than smooth applications...
 
Here is one. A good friend asked me to point this out. In Palmer but this could happen anywhere, we had a lot of wind. Ya imagine that. It was blowing around 40. The wind was not lined up with either runway. So, he landed in the grass between the runways where he could be lined up with the wind. Probably saved the aircraft (thus saving himself from a few scratches). .....

Yep, Redlake Manitoba, 40kt cross wind, C-185. I made 1st attempt and realized that I did not have enough rudder or aileron to keep it straight. There is no cross runway option, but I called and asked about the grass along side the runway. After confirming no pipes, ditches, etc... I landed in the grass which was much more forgiving of any side loads at touch down. Later, when asked to move the plane to another slot, my dad and I were pushing the plane cross wind. I let go to scratch my nose or something and the wind blew the tail over so hard it knocked my dad down.

Speaking of go-around techniques, when flying high powered prop planes, I teach push the throttle up immediately to the 1/2 way point and ease in the other half. I have seen too many trim stalls and prefer to avoid them at 50' AGL. You C-185 guys know that of which I speak.
 
Howdy.

It's that time of year again where I'm getting more students, more bi-annuals and going deeper into aircraft debt. So, I figured I'd throw another topic on the fire. The topic is multiple airplane ownership and the effect it has on staying current.

I consider myself pretty lucky. I get to fly all kinds of airplanes that belong to someone else and usually get to burn their gas. Sweeeet. Some actually give me money. But, there is a downside. I never get to fly my own junk. So, when I do it takes me a certain amount of time to get comfortable. Now, i'm no Piper ninja and don't claim to have gazelle like reflexes. I have been told I'm not a bad dancer but we will leave that for a different website. The point is that even though I'm technically current and can pretty much jump from airplane to airplane, I suck at just jumping into my airplane and pulling off a 100 footer. It takes me a couple of hours to recover that which I lost by jumping in other airplanes. The saying, "Jack of all trades and master of none," comes to mind.

What does this have to do with anything you might ask? Well, there are a pile of us that own more than one aircraft. So, this question is posed. How do we change gears when we jump planes. I know, for example, If I jump from the N-5 into the 185, I need to take a few minutes and become reacquainted. Just like spelling reacquainted, I have to think about what I'm doing. (It just took me 3 minutes to spell that)

Anyhoo, I noticed two planes are fairly common. You can be comfortable in one plane that you fly in the winter but maybe your not as comfortable in the big cube Cessna on floats. So, just a small note to take the time and think about type differences instead of just jumping in and trying to land in the river. It may make a difference this summer. Oh, and to help myself adjust back into my old trusty rusty bird. I will make a few touch and go's before I head into the field. That way I'll look good when I scare the hell out of myself.

Later Dudes.
Artic
 
Good Day. That's what my Co-pilot says to me when I say, "Hello." She is an expert in the English Language. Me, not so much... I was going to be a pig farmer. How much do I need to know to communicate I need pig A to go to pen A and pig B to go to pen B? That is pretty easy and not conducive to two years of English classes. So, imagine my surprise when I find out that good communication is conducive to good marriages (honey, the oil is not going to change itself), and flying. Even though I still can't seem to get her to change the oil on a regular basis I can change how I do things in the air.

I know this is a little long winded but here are some of them tip thingies. If you want to say "yes," use the term "affirmative." If you use "Roger," Roger on the "Radio" frequency will wonder if you said yes or just wanted to say hi. Roger? The use of the term "Tally-Ho," reminds me of the time I was in Talladaga. You know what I'm saying... I won't let my students use it. Insignificant I know but I have to scold them if they say it. Roger just rolls his eyes and has to ask again if you see the traffic. Hopefully he gets a "affirmative," or "traffic in sight." Roger means that you understand and copy means that you copied it. So the pinnacle would be getting info from Flight Service Roger. You could say, "Roger, Roger, copied, affirmative, traffic in sight." Also, that "other FSS frequency on the little info box on your chart, in your flight bag in your Super-Cub? That frequency is for flight planning with Roger and weather and flight plans. They use that so as to not muck up the CTAF frequency. In Palmer it would be the 122.4 instead of 123.6.

Last, I was going to throw together a airspace class for the local area if anyone is interested. You might be able to tell us something. We may be able to tell you something. It could be good. I can schedule it for some afternoon at the new office. It is good for all of us low level, below 1000' slow flying coyote killers. We have hordes of locals that have been duped into thinking they are in the clear, flying in class G airspace. So, an hours worth of free instruction or whatever you call it may be worth not getting that dreaded letter. Especially if you have an airplane model that starts with P, M, C, T or E. Essentially, I like to lean a little on the...well let me say that "Illegal is a sick bird..."

Let me know. We can even meet up on the gravel some evening and do it there.

Artic
 
Thanks Artic
Hope to make it and will bring veggies and dip...just need the airspace... time and place...Keep us posted.....Rod
 
O.k. I yacked with the Manager and we will throw a class together for Tuesday the 10th of July at 6pm. I'll do it at the school location which is right next to the Noisy Goose Restraunt in Palmer. (The old Pitt Stop) It will be free of course and we can make it count for the ground portion of a flight review with conditions. Give us a call at 907-746-2290 or drop us an email so I know how many chairs we need. I think it is worth the time to come in and yack for a hour and go over the local airspace. I'll cover that airspace over by Beluga, Knik, Talkeetna and so on. Hopefully it will help us from running into each other a little bit. Come one come all...
 
I'm still going to throw that airspace/ how to hot-rod your Cub around Alaska and not get into trouble class Tues. the 10th of July @ 6pm. next to the Colony Kitchen. If your interested stop on by. The door is by the fuel pumps.

The topic came up today about currency. I had someone tell me he could jump into his airplane 10 years from now and do what he does today. I thought about that statement and got to thinking. What is more important; total time or currency. We know that we become better by trying new tactics while learning the particular airfoil were using. Since were talking about the Cub here we will try to stay with that. The standard theory is we start to become more comfortable with our planes with time. But what are we getting used to? Two things. We are getting used to how the Cub acts and how we react or proactively manipulate the airfoil. O.k. so what could possibly change for the worse over time? The plane never changes. Unless we VG them or we tire them or we throw Nitro at them, the plane never seems to change. So, where am I going with this? Well, the Cub has always been pretty easy to fly. We push them in the hangers and get back into them two weeks later. Usually no problem. We fly as much as we can and in these times if I see someone who flew 100 hours a year, I'm pretty amazed. The times I have been seeing are usually less than that. During those times I rarely see a stall or steep turn or pretty much any flying maneuver logged. So, when I do a Flight review it is usually like plow, slow and painful. I never see anticipation like when I'm about to throw my dog a grape. I am convinced that currency in the aircraft is different than currency for a Flight-review and total time helps yet does not trump currency.

An example is the guy who has 3000 hours traveling back and forth in his 18 on floats to Lake Louise. He maintains his airplane and has never had a problem. He only flies on days that are perfect because he looked at the weather the day before. He takes off from Lake hood strip with a West departure and starts heading for the inlet. He has never really flown with any wind, cross or otherwise. He does it everyday. Your his passenger and the engine dies at 500 feet.

Example #2 is the (and this really happens in my world), is the kid who's awesome dad just gave him the keys to his beater cub to use. He just finished getting his license in this crate and he just spent 10 grand learning to fly it. It quit probably 3 times during training. He has practiced up winds, crosswinds, downwinds, upside down winds. He has spent his whole savings in that plane which comes out to 55 hours of total hell. He has practiced emergencies on take off, landings, forced landings, forced takeoffs and God know what else. I think his Subaru could quit and he would spit out a Cub procedure. He takes off from Lake hood strip with you in the backseat. The engine quits.

Who would you think might win this game?

I am putting my money on the kid. Why, he has a plan in his head. Sure, he may not be able to land on that 120 foot strip and do J-take offs but he knows what to do at the very least. Lets call it like it is. We are either flying happily along or we are testing ourselves. The margins between the two are somewhat hazy. If your like me, I can't afford to fly 300 hours a year. I am so glad people pay me to fly... I like guys who spend the time to make themselves keep up with the fundamentals of flight. I also like to fly with the guys whom have take the time to learn a little about their Cub and it's quirks. Yes, Cubs have them and they have more than one.

Now, this is not to say that the "kid" couldn't pick up a few pointer too. In fact, if he keeps up with training and spreading his wings like he is supposed to he should not have too much of a problem. Hopefully, his Flight Review instructor won't see that slow degradation of basic skills, especially emergencies. So, here are a few tricks that I see good pilots do to increase their currency.

1. Get a review.
2. Get another rating
3. Watch Ted Nugent speak.
4. When landing at your home airport do two landings instead of just landing. (this is a big one)
5. Try a few strong crosswind landing with your instructor.
6. Pick up some stall/spin training. (it will save your bacon and more importantly your 125,000 dollar Cub)
7. File a flight plan once in a while. It will keep our FSS open and help with the above mentioned bacon.
8. Pick a nice day and do some spot landing with some emergencies.
9. Put down the cheeseburger and get healthy enough to get into and out of your Cub. Deep knee bends.
10. Understand what your limitations are and understand that they can always be improved.

I'm going to do some myself. I hope you don't mind my preaching.
Always a pleasure to yack and work with you guys.
Artic


 
Hi.

Haven't been keeping up with the gang lately. My computer decided to take a smoke break. In fact, so did my phone, and my back up computer. I have had catastrophic breakdowns with everything computer. I needed a break. I guess they did too.

Speaking of breaks, I think I needed one. I let all my computing, calculating, business, everything take a break. I even let Super-cubs go for a month. I think that the hustle-bustle of flying the jet, running the school, trying to be a super-cub stud, and so on was having a real affect on my hot dance moves. My friends thought I fell off the radar, or maybe that whole alcohol, holstein-cow, dumpster incident finally caught up with me. More on that later...

Breaks, like the proverbial lunch break is there for a reason. It relaxes the mind and body. I clearly needed a month to get my head out of the box. I needed to get out of the game. Why? To get my head back into it. We pilots spend an incredible amount of time living on the edge. We educate ourselves day and night to maintain our edge. We spend an incredible amount of time trying to keep airplanes going, our logbooks current and our families happy while making all the ends connect. Aviation has it's downside for sure. We spend an incredible amount of time keeping this ball rolling. Geez, you would think were obsessed or something. I'm not sure about you but there are times when I think that if it doesn't belong on or in an airplane I don't need it. I live, eat, breath airplanes and anything to do with it. I love it for sure and most of the people I know also feel the same way.

So, why did I need a break? Well, I think it has to do with making sure everything else gets some of that quality time. I know my wife enjoyed the two weeks I was able to put in a new kitchen. Did you know you can get single tub sinks? I can get a whole hind quarter in this bas#@%! Anyhoo, taking the break let me catch up on all those things that kept my mind from doing what I love best...flying the airplane.

Before I took my "break," I noticed that my mind may have not been in the game all the time. I was not the focused (not saying much here), aviator I wanted to be. I took the time to get a little exercise, get the bills paid, fix the house and take some time with the family. It helped to peel off some of those distractors that would impact every trip I was on. They weren't very big distractors but they were a distraction. Heck, I was even thinking while landing the ol-73 that I needed to get home and get the garbage trailer to the Mat-Su dump. On a side note, do you guys know how many fuselage frames are laying there with good gear fittings on them??

In conclusion to this little note about breaks. I will learn how to spell spell distracters, and I will continue to add small periods of time in between flight segments to clear my head. I am starting to advocate this process to my primary students and to my commercial guys. If you're wondering why you feel a little not in the game, take a break. Get your mind out of the game, focus on something else for a while. Grab dinner with the spouse, take the dog for a walk, buy your wife a kitchen. Then get back into you flying with a clear head, and go get those gear fittings. Your flying will be more focused.



Artic
 
Hi.

Haven't been keeping up with the gang lately. My computer decided to take a smoke break. In fact, so did my phone, and my back up computer. I have had catastrophic breakdowns with everything computer. I needed a break. I guess they did too.

Speaking of breaks, I think I needed one. I let all my computing, calculating, business, everything take a break. I even let Super-cubs go for a month. I think that the hustle-bustle of flying the jet, running the school, trying to be a super-cub stud, and so on was having a real affect on my hot dance moves. My friends thought I fell off the radar, or maybe that whole alcohol, holstein-cow, dumpster incident finally caught up with me. More on that later...

Breaks, like the proverbial lunch break is there for a reason. It relaxes the mind and body. I clearly needed a month to get my head out of the box. I needed to get out of the game. Why? To get my head back into it. We pilots spend an incredible amount of time living on the edge. We educate ourselves day and night to maintain our edge. We spend an incredible amount of time trying to keep airplanes going, our logbooks current and our families happy while making all the ends connect. Aviation has it's downside for sure. We spend an incredible amount of time keeping this ball rolling. Geez, you would think were obsessed or something. I'm not sure about you but there are times when I think that if it doesn't belong on or in an airplane I don't need it. I live, eat, breath airplanes and anything to do with it. I love it for sure and most of the people I know also feel the same way.

So, why did I need a break? Well, I think it has to do with making sure everything else gets some of that quality time. I know my wife enjoyed the two weeks I was able to put in a new kitchen. Did you know you can get single tub sinks? I can get a whole hind quarter in this bas#@%! Anyhoo, taking the break let me catch up on all those things that kept my mind from doing what I love best...flying the airplane.

Before I took my "break," I noticed that my mind may have not been in the game all the time. I was not the focused (not saying much here), aviator I wanted to be. I took the time to get a little exercise, get the bills paid, fix the house and take some time with the family. It helped to peel off some of those distractors that would impact every trip I was on. They weren't very big distractors but they were a distraction. Heck, I was even thinking while landing the ol-73 that I needed to get home and get the garbage trailer to the Mat-Su dump. On a side note, do you guys know how many fuselage frames are laying there with good gear fittings on them??

In conclusion to this little note about breaks. I will learn how to spell spell distracters, and I will continue to add small periods of time in between flight segments to clear my head. I am starting to advocate this process to my primary students and to my commercial guys. If you're wondering why you feel a little not in the game, take a break. Get your mind out of the game, focus on something else for a while. Grab dinner with the spouse, take the dog for a walk, buy your wife a kitchen. Then get back into you flying with a clear head, and go get those gear fittings. Your flying will be more focused.



Artic
and just how many red bull's did you consume since the sun last day of sunshine, flat landers want to know? :p
 
Thanks Jerry.

Can't wait to get back into the plane. I have one big, huge question for everyone. Is there an official Valdez Tattoo??
 
In case anyone is interested, I am going to throw a free airspace class. It is helpful if you fly around Alaska and especially the Mat-Su Valley. It is free and it will be over at the school. If you are interested, call 746-2290 and talk to Matt. He will get you on the list. It will be this Sunday 25th, at 7pm. I am putting it on for a few of my students so I figured a full class will be more fun. So, swing on by and listen in. It is usually a pretty good learning experience for you low and slow guys.

Cheers-
Artic
 
Raise your wing and LOOK before you turn!

Try to enter pattern on the 45 if possible.

Dont just announce on the radio your position and intentions, make sure you also listen to the other guys doing the same.

Buy LED bulbs and turn your lights on, the LED bulbs will last longer than your airplane, you wont burn em out.

Quit posting stupid flying stuff on U Tube, it just entices others with lesser capabilities to do the same stupid stuff and it makes the FAA's job easier in busting you.
 
We have a few chairs for tonight still. Swing on by. We are next to the Noisy Goose, across from the fairgrounds. Swing on in at 7 tonight. Sorry, I didn't have the techno for setting up a Web/Skype.
 
Alright, it's official! I'm a 1954 PA-18-95 owner! I can't tell you how excited I am. I soled in a J3 and got about 40hrs in it then switched to a Cessna to get my PPL. Been flying my husbands C172 (180hp) with fat tires off our grass and didnt feel the joy--it felt like cockpit management. He finally saw the beauty in a Tailwheel on our grass strip. We found this SC and its what we were looking for. My question is since I'm a J3 lover , what differences should I expect or watch out for as I learn this plane? We live in a really flat area and I plan on flying it just to grasshop around. Turns out I'm the only one in the family with current Tailwheel endorsement so Ill be the primary flyer for a bit. I respect y'all's experience and hope you have some advice for me! Quite frankly I generally dont do any paved runway landings and will have to work on that with a CFI. Comments and advice welcome!
 
about the "funnest" airplane that was ever built and the view from the front seat is fantastic----just my 2 cents....!!!!!
 
Beth,

Respect it. The super cub is high performance aircraft when it comes to it's capability and flight envelopes yet can be a docile gentle lady. I continue to train annually regardless of my total time. Good maintenance is always a plus. Have fun.

Took my mountain training in a C172 180hp. Great plane. Nice combination.
 
about the "funnest" airplane that was ever built and the view from the front seat is fantastic----just my 2 cents....!!!!!

It seems strange to see the runway in a taildragger. When I transitioned to the Cessna i really had to force myself to not look at a spot on the runway-but ahead and down towards the end. In the J3 i have much better depth perception out the side and ahead. Looking forward to lots of seat time getting to know the plane. Really appreciate all info on the forum.
And Fortysix12-- theres something about being humbled by a taildragger. The C172 is a great go-somewhere plane. But for putzing around looking at crops the SC will be great! I guess i can take dinner in the field now when he's running soybeans...talk about a $100 pork chop (although the small engine wont be so bad)! �� Thanks!
 
May cause continuous smiles!!!!

Be aware that the tail will come around if you get sideways...

Keep a good eye on the gear attach points...

enjoy every day, that is what it is for!
 
Having a great day pulling some junk out of the water that I lost years ago. O.k. it is a machine. I won't get into what kind. So, I just landed and decided to work on it. Luckily I had some tools under the seat. I remembered that my Dad always kept an ax in the plane and way too many tools. He could rebuild the cub with what was under the back seat. What do you guys carry?
 
Every time I work on my cub I try use only the tools in the bag that I keep in the plane. I think I could take entire plane apart except for cylinder wrenches. I does weight a few pounds but when you are on the other side of a big range it is nice to have. Also carry gear and tailwheel bolts. A roll of safety wire, tire patch kit, and duct tape.
DENNY
 
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