Young Eagles and Rides

In addition to travel, I have been giving a bunch of airplane rides.  A while back I made an offer to our pilot group offering people the chance to fly the Bonanza.  I got more takers than I anticipated and have been working through the list.  So far I have given 6 rides.  At the same time we have taken some friends out for BBQ and then my cousin came through town so I gave him and his wife an aerial tour of Jacksonville.

I was already on the ride kick and our local EAA chapter planned a Young Eagles rally for last weekend.  It had started as a small event but Haller Air Park had planned one a few weeks before but had to cancel and they had registered about 100 kids.  Our little event got big in a hurry as we tried to pick up the slack and while not everyone re-registered for our event, we soon had 80 people to fly.

Our planned date was Saturday but the weather was not cooperating.  On Friday we all huddled and made the call to move to Sunday.  The weather was supposed to clear Saturday night.  Well it didn’t quite clear in time and Sunday morning we gathered early to complete our safety brief and then we sat on the ramp waiting for the weather to improve.

Luckily by 11 AM we had safe weather and commenced the flights.  I did 5 runs flying a total of 13 kids and one Silver Eagle (an adult rider).  The weather kept improving and everything went smoothly.  In the end we flew about 66 kids, still waiting for the official count.

One of the planes flying kids was a bright yellow Aeroprakt-22LS.  This is a light sport aircraft which means it is fully certified but is limited to as to max weights and speeds.  After we were done with the kids the pilots were chatting and I offered the pilot, Ian, to swap rides.   As a bonus the weather had improved significantly.

We taxied back to our ramp and loaded up in the Bonanza.  I took him up North of the airport to see the old rice plantation and then we did some maneuvers before returning to base.

Then it was my turn.  The plane is a 2 seater.  It flies about 100 mph and has a much smaller engine but it is very light and feels quite peppy.  The doors are all plexiglass and actually are wider than the airframe so the views are stunning.  You can look straight down and ahead from the side door.  Takeoff was brisk and the plane climbs well.

We first headed to my house where we circled overhead.  CC came out and waved at us.  The plane is easy to fly with good manners.  The ailerons are actually much heavier than the Bonanza’s and you  need to be sharp on the rudder.  The Bonanza spoils you in that it has an interconnect between ailerons and rudder so for small turns you don’t need to use rudder.  After the house we headed to the beach where I got to try some maneuvers including steep turns and stalls.

The stalls were surprising to me.  First the plane can fly really slowly. We were well under 30 knots before stall.  Also the plane gives you lots of feedback.  You can feel the buffet in the controls and the airframe.

At the stall, the plane just started descending, it did not have a tendency to drop a wing.  Holding it in a stall you could easily control direction with the rudder and as soon as you released back pressure the plane is flying again.

Heading back to the airport I got to see some of the electronic features.  The plane is a 2014, almost new.  It came with both conventional and electronic instruments.  There is a large bright Dynon display that has full flight and engine instruments as well as a moving map that displays traffic and weather.  It even has HITS (Highway In The Sky).  The screen projects rectangles in 3D on the screen.  Fly through the rectangles and it will take you wherever you have programmed.

Ian me showed how nicely the plane could land.  I really enjoyed being the passenger for a change and having more time to just sight see without having to keep my focus on the airplane and engine.  The plane is serious fun and the visibility makes it great for enjoying the sights.