Dudley Henriques wrote in
:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Dudley Henriques wrote in
:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Dudley Henriques wrote in
:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Dudley Henriques wrote in
:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

We didn't have much trouble with the T-6 and students. When we
finally got the T-28A at Willie (after they machined the
crank)
there were several wings bent which would have broken off and
crashed if plastic. I like metal wings.
I like wood ones!


Bertie

I once saw two Sumo wrestlers that I assume were hired by
Bellanca, jumping up and down on the wing tips of a Viking at
one
of the show sites where I was performing. If I remember right,
it
was Bobby Bishop or Debbie Gary who was demonstrating the Viking
at that time. VERY impressive....and a very strong airplane!

Yes, lovely airplane, though someone did pull one apart doing
aerobatics as I recall. It was someone who had a reputation for
knowing what he was doing, too, not someone who just decided to
roll one one day.

I always thought the little LeBlond powered Junior would be a
nice
little thing to have, or even the later Crusairs. Such a pretty
airplane..


Bertie

I've flown the old Cruisair. Real nice airplane and I always
thought
ahead of it's time.

well, when you look at the competition, no contest. Same engine as
a
108-1 and a good thirty knots faster. Also, that wing is so elegant
looking I just now it has to do exactly what you ask with two
finger
control.
I've seen a lot of them for sale recently for very small money, but
I#ve already got too many toys!


Bertie

It is indeed a beautiful wing. Getting the gear up could earn you a
sore shoulder once in a while (The Grumman F4F Wildcat took some
work
to get the gear up and stowed as well) but aside from that, both
were
beautiful to fly.



Mmm, I can see the F4F would be nice to fly allright. wouldn't have
thought it would be too good to do a routine in, though. I don't know
what type ailerons it had or how they were rigged but nothing about
it
screams out sportscar to me. Maybe it's just it's pugnacious looks.
Cae
to set me straight?

Bertie
Just flew it once on a ferry job. You would be right about it not
being
very good for a show routine. The cockpit visibility alone could be
detrimental to your health in low altitude maneuvering. The power was
fine for the airframe but it flies like a truck. The ailerons were
surprisingly fast for a stubby fighter. The mid wing had a lot to do
with that I'm sure as it balanced out the mass in roll a bit better.
Aside from all this, it flew fine on the cross country I had it on and
the roll I did for the owner at the destination field was ok :-)

Mm, I'm amazed, That's almost exactly how I imagined it. I suppose from
reading about it's exploits in the Pacific and also because it looks
like it would make a dandy rubber FF model. Nothing that would make a
good FF model could be all that manueverable


Bertie