L Edge
Master member
Back in 80's, my Jedi son(9 years old) and I was doing the pylon racing circuit. Remember, radios had no expo, ATV adjustments, dual rates or any other gizmos. So that touch of the stick was important. Our club was asked to perform at an airshow and they included my son at intermission time. We appeared that day were over 10,00 people showed up for the airshow. We showed up real early to see some of the WW2 planes as well as the other commercial pilots coming in. He got a pilot's badge and all I got was the mechanic's badge that allowed us to go up and down the flight line and see all of the aircraft up close. We found out from the "airboss" that the airstrip would be closed for awhile, so we got permission to do a quick test flight before the show.
So my son did our pre-planned stint of starting, full throttle launch and speeding up to 130-135 mph and make believe pylon laps about 600 ft apart pulling tight turns and flying 10-15 ft off the deck like on a rail(that's his style, that's why he was picked). Then he goes upstairs, shuts the engine off and comes in "deadstick" landing right in front of him.
The Perks-- after that test flight, my son and I visited during the day all the planes, pilots could not believe his ability and we were given tours and even allowed to sit in some the cockpits. My special perk was the Corsair, I got to sit inside the cockpit and re-live the past. While in the Navy, I was a mechanic and flight engineer and while going to school learning about mag drops, got to start a Corsair 5 times!!!! That was nifty to talk "engines" with a pilot. My son was more impressed being able to see the collection of planes up close than doing the intermission show.
So my son did our pre-planned stint of starting, full throttle launch and speeding up to 130-135 mph and make believe pylon laps about 600 ft apart pulling tight turns and flying 10-15 ft off the deck like on a rail(that's his style, that's why he was picked). Then he goes upstairs, shuts the engine off and comes in "deadstick" landing right in front of him.
The Perks-- after that test flight, my son and I visited during the day all the planes, pilots could not believe his ability and we were given tours and even allowed to sit in some the cockpits. My special perk was the Corsair, I got to sit inside the cockpit and re-live the past. While in the Navy, I was a mechanic and flight engineer and while going to school learning about mag drops, got to start a Corsair 5 times!!!! That was nifty to talk "engines" with a pilot. My son was more impressed being able to see the collection of planes up close than doing the intermission show.
