Flight of the Champ

Two days in a row I found time to fly! Today being 10% off Tuesday at PC Aviator, and there being an interesting plane in the 50% off weekly sale special, I dropped a cool $6 and change on an Aeronca Champ:

The Champ is a small two-seater like the Cub I flew yesterday with similar (slow) performance, but easy to fly and as I've learned, with better visibility. I went back to the same airport as yesterday, Post Mills in Vermont, but with the Champ instead of the Cub.

Like the Cub, the Champ is much simpler to fly than the Skylane or other planes I've used. Very few controls, almost like flying pre-WWII. The cockpit on this version, made by CR1 Software, is very detailed, right down to the plywood floorboard!

Taking off was a snap compared to yesterday. I don't know if the Champ is just more stable, has less torque, or if I was just prepared for it this time, but I was able to climb straight out without the hard bank to the left I experienced with the Cub.

I explored further today than yesterday, crossing a little ridge and checking out another lake, a river, and a highway. You can't see it in this image, or in the out-the-window shot I also took, but there are cars moving on the highway below as a result of my higher detail settings now that I have a better computer.

After a few minutes, I turned back to the original lake and the airfield. I made my first approach attempt, but like yesterday I think I started too high and with too steep a descent. When I tried to slow it down towards the end, I just floated over half the runway before realizing I no longer had room to land. I radioed in an abort, went back to full throttle, and climbed back above the trees and hills to circle around for another try.

This time I started lower and slower with a shallower approach and got my speed down to about 40 mph on idle throttle at the runway threshold. Landing was very nice with no bounce at all and I even got the main gear down before the tail wheel (from a post flight replay review):

I'm starting to get the feel back and I'm happy with this purchase. Hard to beat a new plane for $6-7 and this one comes in several varieties, including a float plane and one on skis for landing in the snow!