Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

mreisz · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Gotta love a Beaver with pink stripes

Now I’m jealous. I’ve never been in a Searey. We were looking at them and starting to get serious when a neighbor bought a Coot (another amphibious plane). He didn’t have room in his hangar, and asked if he could keep it here, and in return we could fly it whenever we wanted. I said “Uhhhhh, Yes.” Thus my quest for a Searey ended.

Dang, I got a cool small video I think you’d dig, but WMVs aren’t allowed for upload. Jack, if you want send me a PM with your email and I’ll email it to you. I need to get a dropbox account or something so I can link to files.

Stich · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Cool Mike PM sent

MiG-19 · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Sorry to flood the zone with a bunch of pics. Retired Marine Corps helicopter (TH-57/UH-1/CH-46/VH-3/VH-60) and Fixed-Wing (UC-12) pilot. Now I fly a Cessna 172 with the local flying club.

MiG-19 · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Going to Winter Haven to get my seaplane rating is something that’s been on my bucket list for a while. Thanks for the pictures!

— Begin quote from "mreisz"

Jack, you mentioned all the fun you can have in a Cub. I have to agree. The most fun I ever had getting a rating was in a Cub. Carolyn’s Dad, Larry is a CFI and he taught her to fly. In our never-ending quest to do something to thank him for all he has done, a few years ago the three of us went to Jack Brown’s in Winter Haven, FL to get our Seaplane ratings. It was a blast.

Here’s the three of us in front of one of the victims of our newbie seaplane skills.
[attachment=3]MLC.jpg[/attachment]
Carolyn coming in from a flight.
[attachment=2]homecoming.jpg[/attachment]
Winter Haven has a bazillion little lakes, and we would just hop from one to the other.
[attachment=1]LittleLakes.jpg[/attachment]
I would try to describe how much fun it was, but Carolyn’s expression says it all.
[attachment=0]HappyLandings.jpg[/attachment]

— End quote

mreisz · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Mig-19,
Thanks for the pictures. That’s a nice picture biography of your flying in the Corps and beyond. Was Marine 1 a full time job for those years? I bet that was a change of pace.

Winter Haven is a neat place to get the seaplane rating. There are little lakes everywhere. You can just take off in one and start descending to land in another before you even hit 400 feet. I don’t know if my instructor was actually counting, but she logged 57 landings in our 3 flights (5.3 hours). That doesn’t sound like a bunch until you factor in that we were doing a fair amount of things other than takeoff and landings. I really enjoyed Jack Brown’s. The only suggestion I would have for someone is that I might do a bit more flying and add an extra day just for the enjoyment of it. The course is designed to get you ready for the check ride as cheaply as possible, and slowing down to smell the roses wouldn’t be a bad option. My instructor was Morgan. She was great and if she is available, I would ask for her.

MiG-19 · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Mike,
Thanks for the feedback and the gouge on Jack Brown’s. It’s a dream of mine to go, and I will ask for Morgan when I do! Marine 1 was a full-time gig for four years.

gangel · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Hi All, I am a new member and excited about learning to play the banjo!!! I am also a pilot (private/IFR), I fly a Piper Cherokee 180 and a Piper Cub. I am a Chiropractor, which happens to be the second greatest thing I ever did, next to accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour!! Life is great, enjoy every breath, learning the banjo is just the next thing on the horizon till the Lord comes! I have a long Italian name given by my parents who came over on the boat back in the mid 50’s, yes that 1950’s I go by my initials “GA” or “Doc”, your preference! Will attempt to attach a few pics!

mreisz · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Howdy GA/Doc and welcome!
Nice Pipers! What kind of Cub is that?

gangel · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Its a 2002 Wag Aero Cubby kit, I did not build it, but the gentleman who did, did an awesome job of replicating of an ole 46ish Cub! Hence the “experimental” on the door.
Saw reference to Sewanee, TN and Bill Kershner, and reference to “ex girlfriend was a professor”, that has to be Catherine, she took over Bill’s school when he passed, awesome lady and pilot, met her in a tour of the Pentagon a couple years ago with our Flight group “Keystone Flight” (out of south central PA). She can fly the wheel pants off of a Cessna 150 aerobat!! Thank you for the welcome “mreisz”, glad to be aboard!

mreisz · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

I bet that Cubby is a blast. The bump in the post reminded me about some flying I did back in October. I don’t think I posted about it. My wife (Carolyn) and I were in Florida and we stopped by the SeaRey factory to get the tour. We both took demo rides while we were there. That is a really great flying little bird. Here’s some pics:

Talking with the designer, Kerry. Kerry was also our demo pilot. He gives the best demos I have ever experienced. If you get the chance, stop by Tavares (Northwest of Orlando).
[attachment=5]Kerry.jpg[/attachment]

This was the last landing on my demo flight.
[attachment=4]landing.jpg[/attachment]

Carolyn’s demo of a step turn.
[attachment=3]stepTurn.jpg[/attachment]

Carolyn trying to knock us off the deck. That’s our friend Vicki in the foreground.
[attachment=2]flyby.jpg[/attachment]

Dead stick landing. It was intentional. Check out how the downward flow off the wings makes a wake. There’s a nice picture of ground effect in action. Anyway, somehow it was lost in the discussion that Carolyn was a 10k+ hour pilot (with plenty of glider time). Kerry wanted to demonstrate how safe the plane was even when the engine quit and asked if she minded if he shut it down when they were a few thousand feet over the home lake. Carolyn said, “Go for it.” The downside of the lost communication about her being a pilot was that Carolyn didn’t get to fly it, but she got a more interesting flight as a result.
[attachment=1]deadStick.jpg[/attachment]

They had a great little ramp. Someday when we retire, I could maybe see us moving to a lake somewhere and making something like this. It was neat. Of course, with the way things are going, retirement may be about 50 years from now, but that’s a whole different conversation.
[attachment=0]Ramp.jpg[/attachment]

gangel · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Mike, That is way super cool!!! My fiance tolerates my desire to fly, I sooo envy that you share your burn with your wife!!! I want one of those SeaRey’s!! HAHAHAHAA, I wish!! Plane poor already!! Thanks for sharing!! Yes, the Cubby is a blast to just fly, not go anywhere!

mreisz · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

I’m not bragging, but yes, it is awesome to share interests with my wife. We are really blessed that way. Who knows, your fiance might develop an interest. One of my neighbor’s wife learned to fly after she had been married to a pilot for many years. Now she flies much more than he. She is about done with her instrument training. If her lazy instructor (me) would go get his medical it would help.

gangel · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

She was literally scared to death of flying, only in perfect weather would she go and then hide in the back seat under a blanket, oh my , I told her to give it 30 flights and she would get used to it, so one at a time she did it. Now she will ride in the front seat and look out the window and even take pictures . Forget, “would you hold the yoke please for a second”, she has a panic attack at the thought . I wanted my (female) instructor to take her up for a lesson or two, no way !! Oh well, she flies now, VFR only unfortunately, but I’ll take it, with time maybe IFR??

mreisz · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

— Begin quote from "gangel"

VFR only unfortunately, but I’ll take it, with time maybe IFR??

— End quote

Wow, for her to work that hard to overcome her fear says alot. That’s pretty cool. I am impressed. I’d say, take what you can get I don’t think I’d be taking her up in rough conditions unless she showed that she was much more at ease. Even then, I might just leave well enough alone and avoid it altogether. My wife and I don’t fly in bad weather much anymore ourselves (and she’s an airline pilot). It’s not fear, it’s just it isn’t that enjoyable to us.

gangel · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

I absolutely hear that, as expensive as it is, its definitely better to enjoy it, the “challenge” only carries so much weight. After that, its all for fun. Flying commercial is actually much cheaper than flying yourself somewhere anyway, as you well know. Hahaahaaa, probably lots cheaper for you with your discount! Thank God I can do this, its been a great blessing in my life!!

mreisz · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

Don’t get me wrong, I love shooting approaches. But we live in Texas and most of the time if the weather is IFR, it’s got thunderstorms involved. I used to live in KY and we had lots of good IFR days that were overcast and stable. The downside there was we often got icing on such days. Maybe we should all just move to Hawaii?

Harv · February 28, 2017, 1:27am

How Cool!!!

Pictures and Such