Warbirds have always been my favorite kind of airplanes.
After going to Reno races , I just needed to have one.

Lots of fun to fly, been training for type transition , flies nicely, but systems are very different, after I get more comfortable flying it, a friend who flies with me in the backcountry in a 170 (hint) will give me some acro training.
Although no gravel bars, this plane will go to grass strips for sure.

SWEET!

If you are going to do aero, I highly recommend having a PROFICIENT instructor demonstrate and teach you how to recover from inverted spins along with the other maneuvers. Also, you may or may not get sick or feel a bit "queasy" your first few aero flights, that is normal for most people, it takes some flights to build up an aero tolerance before you dont feel that way during aero. Have fun, cool machine!

Kurt
ex T-6 and Stearman owner

GUMPS, GUMPS, GUMPS, GUMPS! Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Prop, Safety. Always gear down before flaps!

I’ve got a lot of time in a Yak-52 and 18T. They are a hoot, and working on the M-14 is pretty fun.

Good advice on getting instruction before you mess around. They can bite. You need to make your spin recovery (PARE) 2nd nature.

Very envious!!! And definitely not in a bad way! Love all the old warbirds but none of them are within my crasp, sans maybe an 'L-bird' type.

WWhunter wrote:Very envious!!! And definitely not in a bad way! Love all the old warbirds but none of them are within my crasp, sans maybe an 'L-bird' type.

That was my thought until I saw the prices of Yak 52s and Nanchangs, they cost like a 1970s 182 or cheaper.
Great bang for the buck.

My buddy has a great Yak-52 for sale here in CA right now. It’s cheap.

It’s a great 2 place aerobatic airplane.

motoadve wrote:

WWhunter wrote:Very envious!!! And definitely not in a bad way! Love all the old warbirds but none of them are within my crasp, sans maybe an 'L-bird' type.

That was my thought until I saw the prices of Yak 52s and Nanchangs, they cost like a 1970s 182 or cheaper.
Great bang for the buck.

Yes, I agree as I have seen that for reasonable prices. My concern would be feeding it, and the on going maintenance might be to much for the average guy. They were pretty cheap when they first started coming into the country.

Parts are a lot cheaper than Cessna parts, fuel consumption is about the same as my 182,at maybe 10 to 15kts faster, although you need to add a quart of oil per hr, so need to add that cost.

They are pretty rugged and well built.

For example, a cylinder costs $600, vs $1,000 or more for a Continental.

Systems are different, and some require more maintenance water filter for the compressor to be checked and changed every 25hrs (cheap cost, desiccant put in oven and change the felt $3.00).

Radial engine , so need to make sure you always pull the prop thru always, you forget and you can ruin the engine.
Love the sound and feeling of the radial engine though, its nothing like it.

Thanks motodave! Informative info!