On Fri, 7 Apr 2006 12:36:20 -0500, "Jim Macklin"
wrote:

You can't get a little pregnant, neither can you almost fly
an airplane

Actually, that's exactly how the French taught flying in WWI, and
therefore how most American pilots learned to fly. They employed a
"Penguin" that could taxi but not fly. You got in, taxied like crazy
across a field, turned it around, and the guy on the other side
stepped in and taxied back, and so on until everyone had had a turn.

I suppose the idea was to save money and not have the student pilots
tie up an actual airplane (and risk pranging it) while they learned to
taxi -- a considerable skill in a taildragger.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email: usenet AT danford DOT net

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