Grum.Man
En-Route
My dad bought a Luscombe 8A a few months ago but I finally got the chance to fly in it today with him when he came to help me work on the Venture. His is an original 8A with no electrical system.
First of all, there is just something cool about flying such a back to basics airplane. No headset on, no fuel pump, no intercom, just a hand held radio. This was my first time flying in a high wing in a very long time. It was really cool being able to look straight down especially with his patrol style doors. At the same time it was a little nerve racking seeing straight down haha. I was reminded why I hate high wings once I entered the pattern and kept covering up the runway with the upwind wing. Looking at it I was afraid it was going to be really cramped but in fact it wasn't. It was a little short on leg room for me but head and shoulder room was surprisingly good.
It really humbled me flying it though. I'm so used to flying fast airplanes with really high wing loading and responsive controls. I was all over the place and struggled to keep the ball centered. It has lots of adverse yaw and not much of a centering affect in the controls yet a very effective rudder. Being so light with so much wing you just get pushed and bounced by everything. I think I even got some wake turbulence from a passing buzzard.
I was pleasantly surprised by the performance. With full fuel, his 200 lb self and my 170 lb self it got off in no time with a decent climb gradient but not a lot of vertical speed. To only have 65 HP it was a hoot. Not many runways east of the Mississippi that you couldn't fly it from.
I now have a new challenge in life to get more proficient and comfortable in the 8A. Look forward to getting some Luscombe time in the logs.
First of all, there is just something cool about flying such a back to basics airplane. No headset on, no fuel pump, no intercom, just a hand held radio. This was my first time flying in a high wing in a very long time. It was really cool being able to look straight down especially with his patrol style doors. At the same time it was a little nerve racking seeing straight down haha. I was reminded why I hate high wings once I entered the pattern and kept covering up the runway with the upwind wing. Looking at it I was afraid it was going to be really cramped but in fact it wasn't. It was a little short on leg room for me but head and shoulder room was surprisingly good.
It really humbled me flying it though. I'm so used to flying fast airplanes with really high wing loading and responsive controls. I was all over the place and struggled to keep the ball centered. It has lots of adverse yaw and not much of a centering affect in the controls yet a very effective rudder. Being so light with so much wing you just get pushed and bounced by everything. I think I even got some wake turbulence from a passing buzzard.
I was pleasantly surprised by the performance. With full fuel, his 200 lb self and my 170 lb self it got off in no time with a decent climb gradient but not a lot of vertical speed. To only have 65 HP it was a hoot. Not many runways east of the Mississippi that you couldn't fly it from.
I now have a new challenge in life to get more proficient and comfortable in the 8A. Look forward to getting some Luscombe time in the logs.
