Flying the Thurston Teal in New England, USA

This airplane was manufactured in Sanford, Maine. The airplane was well cared for and displayed an excellent Kennebunkport paint job. This aircraft's primary mission was flying into lakes and ponds in Maine, New Hampshire and New York, so the pilot and passenger could enjoy some really fine fly fishing. Most of the locations were impossible to reach by any other mode of transportation. What a great way to visit moose, beaver and other wild life. I considered myself to have been very lucky to be a part of this.

The Teal handled like a much heavier aircraft than it was. It was surprisingly stable and responsive considering the high thrust line. It did have a slight tendency to surge during cruise. I did not see it as a training aircraft, but a wonderful aircraft for a competent pilot.     ☺

Click on the Teal picture to continue the adventure.

Seafire

The Seafire is a high performance amphibian designed by Dave Thurston. Seafire was intended to be a production aircraft, but it was never produced. The design was later offered to the public as a kit. A very difficult kit for a home builder, so only three were finished. The story of one of those three aircraft is available here. It is a story of dedication that few of us can match.     ☺

Click on the Seafire picture to continue this adventure.

Flying The Gyrocopter

A real out front open air flying experience. Now this really is a new experience. Some of the capabilities of the helicopter without the jarring expense.     ☺

Click on the picture above to continue the adventure.

Flying The Ultralight

Not only flying an Ultralight, but float flying at the same time. This is a real kick to try. The Ultralight is a different experience from regular powered light aircraft.     ☺

Click on the picture to continue the adventure.

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Cessna 150 Seven Rotation Spin
0:42

Just for the excitment

Frank Soloed

Every Pilot has a soft spot in his or her heart for the first airplane soloed. Mine was a 1947, Aeronca Champ (7AC). For me the event took place in 1957 on an airfield in front of the Marcy State Hospital, between Utica and Rome, New York. I remember that the aircraft handled much better without an instructor on board. And so it has been since the beginning of aviation.

The airplane in the first picture is not the actual airplane I soloed, but it is the same make and model. Do not have a color picture of N1198E, the plane I soloed in, so this picture is a surrogate. The black and white pictures are the actual airplane. Pictures were taken in 1957. Many planes of this make and model are still flying today. It is obviously a good strong design.

This type of aircraft does not have a starter motor on the engine. It normally takes two people to start it. One in the cockpit holding the brakes on, controlling the throttle, and turning the ignition switch to On and Off as needed.

The second person stands in front of the airplane and spins the propeller by hand. If done correctly this is not un-reasonably dangerous. This is often called "Propping" the airplane.

The body (Fuselage) is constructed of steel tubes bent to shape and welded. Some shape was added using thin wood stringers cut to shape. This structure is covered with linen and doped. The engine cowling is medal. Today the covering is often fiberglass cloth instead of linen.

The wings are spruce spars with stamped medal ribs. All is covered with linen.

There is no seat adjustment available in this type of aircraft. The rudder peddles can not be adjusted for comfort. If the pilot is too short for the build-in measurements then seat cushions must be added until the pilot fits. If the pilot is too tall, there is no solution.

Including the flying in Virginia, before taking lessons, and New York, while taking lessons, I had landed on a paved runway one time before soloing. All activity was on grass. Today the experience is reversed for most students.

Instrumentation is sparse in this type of aircraft. Flight instruments are Airspeed, Altimeter, and Compass. Engine instruments include: Oil Pressure, Oil Temperature, and RPM Indicator. There is also a Gas Gage, that is not very accurate.

It doesn't get much simpler than this and be called an airplane. No radio or GPS, no electric or vacuum driven gages, only a compass and windows to find your way.

This is a basic airplane. It responses to the controls in the conventional way. Response to the flight controls are predictable and correct. It is a very good basic trainer. The  60 to 70 MPH design speed is too slow for long cross country flights, but is good for local flight.

Many variations of this design have been manufactured by several companies. Both the Army and the Air Force had variations and they were flown in combat in both WW II and Korea. Observation, mapping, and fire control were some of their duties. They are the ultimate in low and slow flight, and with military "soft" landing gear they can operate on very unlikely pieces of ground.     ☺

The Old Aeronca Champ (7AC) Is Back In Production

Click on image to go to manufacturer.     ☺

Our Airplane Named Sparkle

Many years ago this was our family airplane. We owned her for about five years. She was repainted, reupholstered, and the engine was majored. Had less than 25 hours on the engine when a tornado crossed the Merritt Island, Florida airport and broke her into four pieces. It was like losing one of our children. Sold her to the insurance company.     ☺

Glider Flight
2:47

Actual Radar Presentation

My past work in aviation; radar, radio, navaids and piloting experience has given me an enduring interest in the electronics environment of aviation. There are now web sites that provide actual radar display from various airfields around the US.

They are using an interesting concept in that the radar information is overlaid on a local road map. This makes for a display that is informative in a way I have not seen before. The displayed radar symbol is a processed image and not a raw radar image. The processed image is a great improvement because seeing only the raw radar data would be disconcerting and perhaps meaningless to a person not trained in viewing that form of presentation. The display is delayed about 9 to 10 minutes, but appears to be real in other respects.

The available airfields are:

...To view the radar display. When you are looking at the web page click on PASSUR selections to view the radar displays. (Link tested 01/26/07 03/18/08)    ☺

Flight Aware

Another radar tracking display. This one is in a format similar to an FAA Center display. The display updates about once per minute. Delay is about ten minutes.

...To view radar display. (Link tested 01/26/07)     ☺

Scanner Audio of ATC

This link connects you to an audio feed that is provided by LiveATC.net. This feed is Air Traffic Control in action at a few airports. LiveATC.net is a scanner web site.

...To listen to ATC in action. (Link tested 01/26/07)    ☺

Take a flight through the clouds
2:45

History of This Page: Originated 02/08/97
Last Improvement 10/03/03 11/20/03 01/27/04
06/14/04 05/25/05 08/11/05 01/26/07 03/17/08
03/19/08 04/09/08 01/30/09

Web Page Created By Frank C. Odell
Merritt Island, Florida, USA

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