But were it not for the noise, relentless hurricane-force wind sometimes mixed with bullets of rain in the face, occasional bug in the mouth, near impossibility of communication, danger of hypothermia, unshielded exposure to the sun's deadly gamma rays, nonexistent baggage space, low-pressure airflow over the cockpits that can suck out cigarettes and charts, dismal forward visibility and it's otherwise shameless impracticality, an open-cockpit biplane might just be the most ideal aircraft ever conceived -- surely, the most wondrous of all man's wonderous machines.
Re: I Stole this from another forum
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2020 12:20 am
by Colonel
If you like riding motorcycles in the rain, you're going to love flying open-cockpit biplanes.
My grandfather and his brother found them a tad chilly in February in France
at altitude, in War One.
PS. Doesn't actually need to be a biplane to be wonderfully open-cockpit
But I personally prefer a biplane
Re: I Stole this from another forum
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2020 2:29 am
by Chuck Ellsworth
Give me a 600 H.P. Stearman.
And a Turbo Goose.
Re: I Stole this from another forum
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2020 2:52 pm
by Colonel
Ok, but don't invert them on the runway, like TC's darlings, ok?
Re: I Stole this from another forum
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2020 7:09 pm
by cgzro
Open cockpit/biplane + radial adds a lot of new challenges. Really fun though when you get the hang of it.
Here is an 80 year old airplane landing at a 100 year old airport (and subsequent BCATP airport).
This aircraft was used for BCATP training in Quebec and logs of at least one DFC pilot show training in this exact aircraft.
Re: I Stole this from another forum
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2020 9:58 pm
by Colonel
Nice!
PS. I had no idea that Bill Barker died there doing an airshow in 1930,
which of course explains the name of Barker Field (1931) in Toronto.
...with one exception: Iroquois Falls. There used to be a kindly old man who ran the place with a ton of pride and would always put the kettle on when we called up on the traffic frequency. They had the good sense to name the airport after him several years before his passing, while he was still there daily.
Re: I Stole this from another forum
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:09 pm
by Liquid_Charlie
I used to fly out of Barker field.
When did you start flying. Barker Field closed about 10 years before my first solo. Damn I feel young -- haha
Re: I Stole this from another forum
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:56 pm
by Chuck Ellsworth
When did you start flying.
June 1953, at Central Airways at the Toronto Island Airport.
And I guess I am getting old , but my plan is to still be flying when I am 100.
