Thinking Out Loud: .... About Last Week's Airplane Wish List !
Here's a reader's answer to last week's day dreaming. I couldn't resist passing it along!
This is the first time I’ve run a reader’s response in Thinking Out Loud. The following bit of word butchery is actually an e-mail I received in response to last week’s thing about airplane wish lists. It was so different, I thought some might enjoy reading it. This reader is expecting to be very bucks-up and was tossing out his bucket list airplanes in preparation to actually buying them.
View this as an instructional guide so, if any more of you hit the lottery, you’ll already have a buyer’s guide at hand.
BTW - I received quite a number of e-mails similar to this one that weren’t in the form of comments on the blog page, so no one saw them but me.
Thanks to all who responded.
In my e-mail response, as presented below, I inserted my answers to his questions between the paragraphs of his e-mail. Those are all in bold. I’m going to stick a few photos in, where it makes sense, or involves an airplane some might not know. Mostly, I stuck them in just because I felt like it. Plane porn and all that!
From: A Very Lucky Guy
Date: Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 3:31 PM
To: Budd Davisson <buddairbum@cox.net>
Subject: I won the lottery
Dear Budd,
Right now, it looks like I will shortly be winning my own version of the lottery. Turning 71 next week, I'm about two months from selling my tech company for more zeros than I have a right to expect, so it's time to finally think about buying a few of those airplanes I never expected to own or afford. I'd like your advice on what to buy.
It's not that I'm without planes. I have a Thorp T-18, a Quickie Q-1, and a Davis DA-2C, which is just a DA-2A with wing tanks. But I'd like to add a handful of planes from the 1930s. Fifty years ago I was an apprentice at the Shuttleworth Collection in the UK, so I know what I am talking about, but I'm not tied to British designs.
Starting off, I'd like an entry-level biplane trainer like a DH Moth, a Great Lakes, or maybe a Meyers OTW, though I wouldn't reject a Jungmann. Which of these would you choose? Which two?
Of that bunch, the Jungmann is the most enjoyable and the most maneuverable. And it’s the only one you’ll need. It is, however a little tight in the cockpit. How tall are you and what do you weigh? The Moth is like flying a powered maple seed, the Great Lakes has a tight cockpit for some, and is very sedate with only the modern four-aileron 180s worth owning, The OTW is a class act, lots of room and fairly rare, but sort of stodgy.
I'd like a classic cabin monoplane like a big Stinson, Howard, or Beech Staggerwing. Maybe a Harlow, but probably not a Spartan Executive.
I LOVE the Staggerwing (this is the postwar G17S, the sexiest of the bunch) but it needs a little more maintance than the Stinson, which would be my second choice. They have similar cabins but the Staggerwing is A LOT faster and sexier. Forget the Harlow (I’ve never actually seen one) and the Exec is one helluva airplane but few change hands.
I'd like a WW-2 military trainer like a North American Yale or AT-6, but I think not a Stearman.
Forget the Yale. There aren’t many of them around and they aren’t very fast. The T-6 is a no-sh*t warbird. Gives you all the fighter experience except for the speed. It needs a really good check out that focuses on low-speed handling and some attention is needed on landing. Ideally, get a G, model as that has all the latest of everything. The D’s are good too if they have the steerable, rather than locked, tailwheel. SNJs are the same airplane, however, unless modified, all of their tailwheels are locked or full swivel.
At this point I'm going to stick with one engine, so no twins.
And I'd like a WW-2 fighter, though probably not a P-51 unless it's an A, B, or C. Maybe a Spitfire V or IX, a Corsair, Sea Fury, a Bearcat, or even one of those reproduction Yaks or FW-190s.
How’s this for purity of design?!
This is a totally different world. ( Repro Yak-3 Pictured) For any of them, you need a resident mechanic who REALLY knows the airplane. Bearcats are easy to fly and in their own category in terms of performance. It’s also unbelievably easy to land.
Don’t think Spitfire unless a Brit mechanic comes with it. Same thing for Sea Fury unless it has the 3350 conversion. The Centaurus they are born with are a sleeve valve engine and VERY British.
Corsairs are fun, but like the rest, they need a good mechanic.
Although there are a handful of bird-cage Mustangs (A, B, C) out there, I don’t think I’ve seen any for sale and I don’t remember the last time I saw an A. Being Allison powered, the A would be the easiest Mustang to live with (If you could find one). The Mustang is the easiest of the warbird bunch, to support but only because there are so many of them out there so parts and support is easier to find. You can count on having lots of maintenance done to keep them safe. They are not hard to fly but are intolerate of lazy flying. Top notch training is available at Stallion Five-One in Kissimmii, FL
The repo Yaks are a huge bang for the buck and easier to support (Allison engines are far easier to support than Merlins) but it a VERY serious airplane. It won’t tolerate mistakes because of its highly tapered wings and higher-than-normal wing loading. Flown right, they are a real kick!
My personal choice would be the Bearcat but, again, there’s only a small handful out there and spare parts are rare!
Finally, I'd like a faster homebuilt like a Glasair III, SX-300, or even a good White Lightning.
SX-300, pictured. Well designed with a fairly big community flying and supporting them. Only a couple White Lightnings were built and I don’t remember the last time I saw one. I like the Glasair III but the 300 is better and faster.
Oh, and I’d like a Pilatus PC-12 for traveling.
That’s a helluva good airplane! A lot of people flying King Airs or smaller jets should be flying the 12. Slow approach speeds, works well off of smaller runways, not jet fast but speed is HIGHLY over rated. Range and comfort are the important factors. Plus the 12 is one of the better airplanes to be owner flown.
Since you have flown more of these than I have, which would you choose and why? Feel free to answer in your Substack, by the way, it sounds like a great column.
I can appreciate your feedback to the guy about airplanes to have in the dream world (where I live most of the time anyway). I should have written last week with my wish list, but I hesitated for the simple reason I have almost the perfect array as it is. Sure, I could improve it with some REAL money… Gulfstream 650 or some such monster… but I ‘almost’ envy no one. I’ve had a Bücker Jungmann for 46 years. I bought a torn up Cessna 180 a few years ago. Cleo and rebuilt it and go everywhere in it. Sitting in the corner of my hangar is my next project, a Monocoupe 90A (yes, Kelly Mahon let me have it). With the 165 Warner, it will round out a nice three airplane fleet. Oh, I’d like a Cub for grandkid rides/instruction, but my good friend has a Clip-Wing (and three Jungmeisters, but who’s counting!), so I’ll live. I flew ONE of a friend’s Super Pintos to OSH a couple of years ago. Cleo loved it! She said if we had the $$$, that would be her choice. Who knew? Side note; my first Pinto flight was in Steve Snyder’s up in NJ about 24 years ago. It made me the resident expert when the need here arose, lol. It seems we have similar appreciative tastes. I could take or leave most borebirds, but a Bearcat has appeal. Then again, so does an F-5. My conclusion is pretty much the same as it’s always been… I need more money. I pretty much want for nothing, but I didn’t get to this point by not dreaming!
Guy sounds like a crackpot...