I'm looking at a PA-11 clear across the country from my location and I don't want to make a mistake here. Last airplane I bought was a Luscombe that I felt ultimately didn't fulfill my expectations and I sold it off. If I don't get back in the air soon I think I may never.

Before I even go take a look or make any commitments one way or another I would like an hour or so farting around in something sort of similar. I suppose a J3 might give me a sense of the possible. I've texted Kevin about an intro to his Super Cub but I'm not sure I'll learn all that much from his bird though. I need a flight review too.

I'm in Reno Nevada. This is the airplane: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry ... rtxt=2054F As you can see it's a Dart Special....no wing wood.....well known builder.

Anybody know of a West Coast J3 I can get a demo flight in? The flight review can come later.

Dan

This guy is not too awfully far away:

https://backcountrypilot.org/profile/769-aviatorpa11

Not west coast, and not Reno area, but if you want time in type there is an airport south of Minneapolis called Stanton (KSYN) that has a pa-11 available for rent and could take care of a BFR. Nice grass field airport too.

If you get over on this side of the hills let me know. I can stick you in the back seat of the Champ and let you fly it around. Might be a possibility of getting you in a Cub too, depending on who's around.

Edit: Missed the PA-11 part...you can fly from the front seat!

I also know the guy who owns this beauty (Aviatorpa 11)...maybe we can talk him into letting you check it out.

I've got a PM in to Aviatorpa 11 as of about 16 hours ago but he hasn't replied yet. That is one beautiful paint job on that one for sure. I suspect that the one I"m looking at back east is going to go pretty quick but I'm not going to make a move until I've at least crawled in one. I hope everything lines up right as I've got the go ahead from SWMBO for it and am eager to dump my projects and get one airplane that is airworthy.

Dan

Just sent ya a text

Tac aero in Hood River, Oregon has a number of rental cubs, from a j3 to a carbon cub. Beautiful area, and an excellent air museum as well.

aktahoe1 wrote:Just sent ya a text

It did not make it Kevin. My phone number ends in 4321. I've got yours ending in 2113. Are we on the right track?

Dan

CFOT wrote:I also know the guy who owns this beauty (Aviatorpa 11)...maybe we can talk him into letting you check it out.

This all sounds perfect my friend. I thought I had you in my phone from when we all hosted Contact for the 2016 races. No luck. I'll PM you my phone and we can link up.

Kevin has me covered too so I'll get this handled here shortly. I'm still waiting on the last couple of pages of logs from the seller. It's got a low cylinder that improves when you spike the exhaust valve so I suspect too much low lead without TCP or something.

Dan

Mister701 wrote: ....am eager to dump my projects and get one airplane that is airworthy.

Good idea. I know several guys who have mucho airplane projects but seem to get little done on them.
Additionally, the projects detract from getting actual flying time in,
and even from getting the one airworthy plane squared away when it develops a squawk.

Also a good idea to get a taste of Cubbing first too, sorta looking before you leap,
but if the airplane you're considering is a good one at a fair price it may get snapped up in the meantime.

One point you need to consider carefully when looking at and flying this plane is that if this is indeed a home built, it is NOT a PA 11. It may in fact be pretty close, but have someone Really knowledgeable look at it very critically. And understand it may or not fly like a PA 11.

MTV

Dan,

I just sent you a PM. While I am not familiar with a Dart Special, I suppose it may be a Cub clone of some type? With a C-85 on it, that should make it a performer...depending on weight. My PA-11 has a C-90 and it is a blast to fly single. With two people it flies great, but obviously climbs a little slower, etc. Just have to be conscious of the weight aspect. I would like to see a picture of the plane, if possible.

Here's a list of some of them.
https://aircraft-data.com/model/dart-ro ... rt-special

Built by a guy named Robert G Dart. Curiously enough, a google image search pulled up a Legend Cub which I think is more J3 like. The Dart Special has a PA-11 type cowl, and a front seat folds oddly about half way down the backrest. The gear is different too. If there was a reliable image hosting service out there I would post a pic.




Dan