After a year and 120 hours in my Chief I have really come to love this airplane. When I first bought it, I was new to tailwheel flying and I now know what so many pilots are missing. I have rebuilt the oleo struts, zero timed the engine with a MOH, replaced pulleys, OH prop, and pretty much been through the whole plane. The adverse yaw does not even register with me anymore because I automatically compensate for it.
I flew my wife's 172 Cessna and thought there was something wrong with the rudder because it was so sluggish. It performs better at gross weight than My Cessna 150 did. We flew it to the beach in the hottest part of a Southern Summer and it still did just fine (except for it being bumpy and a bee landing on the wing strut, he got tired of waiting and flew on ahead). On a calm day it is an absolute joy to fly and on a windy day it keeps my skills from getting rusty. It has changed my perspective on flying, I now look at trikes as a nice way to get somewhere fast but not near the fun.
I take alot of people flying in it and I love the reaction of other pilots that have only flown modern aircraft have. To put it in perspective, the aviation design technology was only about 35-40 years old when this plane was built. Sure a Mooney will get you ther faster, a Cessna is more forgiving, and a Piper is easier to land in a cross wind but they lack the feel and fun of these old planes.
My Chief has alot of quirks but it is 6 years older than i am so it is alout to have some. I watched the sunset over the mountains today and ended my flight as the sun went below the horizion (pattern altitude). Thanks for a great Airplane Aeronca. Jim
