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williamtsullivan(at)att.n
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 Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 8:38 am Post subject: Early Stuff |
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Thank you. Very nice story.
Bill Sullivan
do not archive
On Sunday, April 26, 2020, 12:09:05 PM EDT, Edward Bonsell <smedley945(at)gmail.com> wrote:
Good Morning All,I thought since there's not a lot of posts coming in I would fill in by posting some stuff from my earlier days.
I started flying in 1983. My father owned a tree nursery in Fort Washington PA. One day I was out in the field digging a tree when a little airplane flew over. It wasn't a regular airplane. It was all open I and could see the pilot. The wings were different colors. He was a few hundred feet high. I never saw such a thing and stood there thinking that is so cool. A half hour later he came back going the other way.
I told a friend about it. He said that's one of those new Ultralight planes. They only cost two thousand dollars. (not)
The next week we sought out a place that had them. We found the Davis Brothers had a place in Phoenixville PA that sold the Advanced Aviation "Cobra". The Cobra was like a quicksilver but more sophisticated. It had a 35hp Cayuna engine, silver anodized tubing, double surface wing, steerable nose gear. It was a great plane. Didn't go much over 50 mph. But it flew like a Butterfly. The Dais's had a 2 place Cobra they had for training and fun. We each went for a 20 minute ride. Before I got back I decided I had to have one. I'll have to tell you a few stories about that plane.
I flew it for 2 or 3 years.
One day I ran into Mark Christman. He was flying a Kolb Twinstar out of a field owned by guy named Al Navarrow. A very Nice man. Al had a Cessna Cardinal. He tought may guys how to fly. Marks Twinstar had a red and white sunburst on the wings. I couldn't fly around with him his plane was fast compared to my little Cobra. One day he said "when you get tired of flying that lawn chair with wings I should consider a real plane. Like a Kolb."
They had just come out with the Firestar the first time I flew over to the factory. Needless to say I was Impressed. But the thought of building it looked beyond my ability.
My advanced Aviation Cobra at Deverys. aka. A.G.A. Farm 1984. Behind my Cobra is a Pterodactyl and a Maxair Hummer.
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Richard Pike
Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 1671
Location: Blountville, Tennessee
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| Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 6:34 pm Post subject: Re: Early Stuff |
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Thank you for sharing. I had a Maxair Hummer and put 750 hours on it. It was not as versatile as a Firestar or Firefly, but it was not too far behind. In smooth air - 62 mph cruise, and the later versions with the spoilers it was about as agile. But a lot worse landing in a crosswind.
Interestingly, mine had a Rotax 277, and the mounting system for the engine had no engine vibration. With our Firefly & 277, we could not come up with an engine mount that got rid of the vibration. No matter what we did, it shook. Gave up and went with a 377. Problem solved.
The Firestar & Firefly are excellent little airplanes, but the Hummer was a genuine (easy - no weight problems) ultralight, and was about 85% as good. (Unless you had to land it in a stiff cross wind!)
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_________________
Richard Pike
Kolb MKIII N420P (420ldPoops)
Kingsport, TN 3TN0
Forgiving is tough, being forgiven is wonderful, and God's grace really is amazing. |
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