john smith wrote:

Red's philosophy was to start primary students in the Cub's (3) and
Champ (1) for the first ten hours. If you stayed with it that long, you
moved up to the C150 to learn how to use the radios. (This was back in
the late 70's/early 80's). In the winter, they would put one of the
Cub's on skis for rent. This lasted until one of the skis delaminated,
then it cost too much to replace, so that was the end of that. You can
get checked out in a Stearman and solo it if you provide your own hull
coverage.

This was still true when I left in '99. When I was there, they had
skis, too, so they must've repaired them/bought a new pair. And all of
their airplanes require you to bring your own insurance (which makes
their fabulous rental prices a little less fabulous; I used to fly the
Champ for $34/hr, and the 150 for $41/hr).

Now, as an instructor myself, I wish *I* had a Champ to use as a primary
trainer. 'Course, the insurance company would never sign off on the
deal. Those guys are ruining aviation, and I'll stop there before I
start ranting. Politics and insurance....

--Dave Buckles

http://www.flight-instruction.com