Trial flying lesson - update 1

"Jay Honeck" wrote in
news5f1f.402702$x96.73947@attbi_s72:

"We did Nebraska in 7 1/2 minutes today. I think that's the best
way
to do Nebraska." A quote from a sled pilot in the book Sled Driver
by Brian Shul.

Did you actually *buy* that book?

Shul was selling it at the Reno Air Races last year. I 'bout fell
down when he told me he wanted $400+ PER COPY!

I, of course, instantly abandoned the notion of putting one on display
in our "Blackbird Suite"...

:-)

Wow. I had no idea the price had gone up to the Blackbirds's
altitude!

My records show I bought two copies at the Stockton Air Show on
October 3, 1998 for $40.00 each. I got to chat a little with Brian and he
autographed both copies (one was for me and the other was a gift for my
instrument instructor).

Out of curiosity, I some simple research on avaialability and prices.
Amazon does NOT have any new copies. Used copies start at $299 with
autographed copies going as high as $476.47. At Barnes & Noble, used
copies start at $314, autographed for $415.

An autographed copy was just listed on Ebay (about 3 hours ago) with a
starting bid of $295. So far no bids have been placed. Item #4580765190.

Even more curious now, I went to Brian's web page www.sleddriver.com.
It looks like the current printing is a limited edition (only 3,500) and is
a special version created for the Centennial of Flight. It is much fancier
than the one I bought 7 years ago (or the one's on sale at Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, and eBay). The format is now horizontal rather than vertical, the
text has been expanded, pictures added, and it is autographed by Brian and
3 other sled drivers. List price on the web page is $427.00

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)

Martin Hotze wrote:

they worked for the DHS?

Sort of. Without them, DHS wouldn't exist.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.

Jay Honeck wrote:

Shul was selling it at the Reno Air Races last year. I 'bout fell down when
he told me he wanted $400+ PER COPY!

I, of course, instantly abandoned the notion of putting one on display in
our "Blackbird Suite"...

Not that it's likely to make you run out and buy one, but Amazon has a copy for
"only" $299.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.

I used to fly photographers, and took a lot of pix myself, when I was
renting 172s. I'd generally throttle back to about 90 knots before opening
the window. I'm sure there was a pitch change, but I don't retrimming so it
can't have been much. Maybe putting in one notch of flaps helped.

Also, when you bounce a landing, it's nice that your CFI can look down and
note drily "Wheel's still on. Try it again."

Seth
"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:RXa1f.966$la.401@trndny05...
Seth Masia wrote:

There's also a difference in visibility. The Cessna, because of the high
wing, gives you an unrestricted view downward, so it's great for
sightseeing and taking pix.

The window has a retaining strap near the bottom. Disconnect that strap,
and the window will open fully in flight. Once opened, air pressure keeps
it up against the bottom of the wing. The plane then has a tendency to yaw
to the right, requiring lots of left rudder to keep straight. The pitch
also changes, but I don't recall which way I had to trim.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your
neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.

Seth Masia wrote:
I used to fly photographers, and took a lot of pix myself, when I was
renting 172s. I'd generally throttle back to about 90 knots before opening
the window. I'm sure there was a pitch change, but I don't retrimming so it
can't have been much. Maybe putting in one notch of flaps helped.

Flaps might have helped, but it also may be that the 172 behaves differently
from the 150/152 aircraft. Mine was a 150.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.