PT-19 is home

The old gal made it back like a champ. We had to add only a gallon of oil for the entire run and she never missed a beat. Started the third click of the impulse drive on one mag every time except the last. That was a quick fuel stop at the old Naval Air Station at Millington, TN, (Memphis), the engine was still hot and she took 7 clicks that time. I flew her about half way and she was a dream this morning in calm air. Just kept the stick cradled against my right forefinger and end of my thumb. She needed only nearly imperceptible nudges for over an hour. She was easy to keep dead on course and inside a 20' range of altitude. It was a little tougher coming out of Florida yesterday dodging thunderstorms, but we went through only a couple of very light showers. John Ellis would set the course and shake the stick which meant for me to take her. She got pushed around some but was easy to straighten out every time. It was a fun trip.

We Drove John's SUV down to Memphis Friday morning, left it with his son, got a rental car with a GPS, and arrived in Ocala at 4:00 AM Saturday. We holed up at the Hilton, got up at 10:00 AM, dropped off the car and Bob Scanell picked us up ant took us out to his place. He lives at Leeward Air Ranch outside Ocala and I've never seen anything like it. 140 homes, most with attached hangars, some with attached and detached, but they all had at least one hangar, and 300 airplanes in the community. Every neighborhood has 60' between the backs of the houses to provide a taxiway and they can also taxi on the streets. Talk about the big boys with all the toys, this must be it. Bob had the PT-19, his two planes, and one he's building in his house. His neighbor had a small twin, was rebuuilding a PT-19 as a PT-26, (with a sliding canopy on it), and an unheard of NEW AT-6 WWII trainer. Yes new. Some guy in Texas had found enough NOS parts to build one, got started on it, croaked, and Jerry bought and finished it to museum quality and fies it at least once a week. I've got a few pictures and will try to post them somewhere later.

We visited for a while, cranked up the PT and went to Birmingham, AL with a gas & supper stop down below Montgomery a ways. This morning it took about 2 hours to reach Memphis where I got John's SUV and drove it home. He beat me back by an hour and a half.

Congrats, sounded like a great 'road trip'

You're a lucky man John D. getting to fly a PT19 around the South! I truly envy you!

It's always great to be flying, right John? Got my RV4 back in the air last month after spending 2 1/2 months repairing items I found in my annual condition inspection. Boy I hated sitting on the ground all that time but you've got to do the work to keep them flying. Now that my MG is alive after 16 years of a rest, I'll probably spend the rest of the summer getting all the bugs out of it. Then this winter, its time to get back to building my Pietenpol Aircamper. Hope to have the Aircamper in the air by Spring of 2005. Then with two planes, when I have one down working on it, I can be fooling around in the other one and not getting any work done at all! Ain't life grand?

Marty, I think that was you that said they converted their bird to car gas; smart move for a light plane, we can't do it on the PT. Most 100LL is about 3 bucks a gallon, Canadian car gas prices. When we stopped for gas down below Montgomery, AL John asked the price and the guy said $2.38. "What??!!" John couldn't believe it, but the way he said it the guy thought he'd screwed up and said the wrong price.

By the way, I spent about 20 bucks on the whole trip and some of that went for tips. When JE asks or invites you to do something for/with him you are his guest. He damn near wouldn't let me buy him a bag of peanuts and a Coke at one stop. Man, he's a hard headed sucker, but a hell of a guy.

Nope, John, you have me confused with someone else. I have only owned Ultralights, lots of fun to fly, the "essense" of flying, looking between your legs at the ground, at about 3500 feet AGL is really fun!!

Damn! an RV4! Like flying a Honda Gold wing. A MAN'S airplane. Go by yourself, fly like you want to, keep your mouth shut about how you had fun. A friend of mine, Papa John Farqhwar, (a metalsmith's metalsmith), builds Van's airplanes for people and John Ellis is thinking about getting into it. They're about the best all metal kits with the best support going. Gyrocopters are the closest thing to flying a motorcycle, but too many of them dudes snuff themselves with PIO. I think it's because they couple up the controls too tight (quick acting). I'd love to have one, but I'd put a real long swing on that stick.

Know what you mean. The first time I flew on a gyrocopter I was "filming" the take-off and climb out with my video camera. When I took the camera down, looked past my knees at the ground about 500 feet below, I damn near jumped out of my skin.

Max altitude we got on the PT coming up was 1,700 above sea level. Hell, we fly beside and between TV towers. 3,500 AGL! Is it safe to take an airplane that high? You can't even tell what kind of cars you're looking at in those country junk yards.

John, that must have been fun!! My buddy is a pilot and when we go up, (even in a Cessna) have a lot of fun!! I love it!!

If you ever gat a chance to go open cockpit, or even no cockpit like Marty, do it! Closest thing to it is unsafe speeds on a motorcycle.

Well, that is one of my weaknesses!! I love to go fast in an open anything!! That is why I love skiing so much!! I swear I hit 60 mph!! That is when I am praying that I don't wipe out!! :o) I love speedboats, motorcycles , skiing and sports cars!!

Glad you made it back JDW...no fly-over in Gurley though....I never expected you guys to straight-line it from Ocala to B'ham but then didn't know about your stop in Memphis to pick up car....

We had a GPS up front. JE would set the course and have me hold it about half the time. It's much easier for me to follow a highway because I don't have to pay so much attention to the instruments. That puts a lot more small airstrips in your view too, they're never too far from a good road.

The only time I got that high was over a 5 mile stretch of water. I wanted plenty of altitude so in case the engine puked, I could go "feet dry." We ordinarily flew between 500 and 700 feet. You ever see a pumpkin patch from low altitude? Really cool!

No, but I heard about a pipline flyer in NC that kept seeing the same big tomato patch out in the middle of nowhere that looked like nobody ever picked the tomatos. He reported it and it turned out to be Marajuana with Christmas tree ornaments on it.

Ocala is known for it's thorough bred horse farms, but also has air park ranches. One other is Jumbolair, where John Travolta of Sat. Night fever fame flies his Boeing 707 in and out of.