Inspection / First Flight!

[Bdflies]

A brief observation; The landing gear system is wonderful! I once commented that Cessna-style flat spring gear might be a good fit on these planes. Well, I was wrong. Bob's design absorbs my 'carrier approaches' with no rebound at all. The Patrol has already made me a better pilot. A very pleasant surprise!

Bill

[Bdflies]

Hard to believe that it's been a year! This evening, we took a nice flight around the "neighborhood". Time to start the condition inspection. Only 62 hrs in the Patrol this past year, but I've been kinda busy. I can report no airframe problems. I seem to have solved my high oil temp issues, or maybe they solved themselves. The cowling 'cooling lip' helped a lot. Patience probably helped the most. As the (Bob overhaulled) O-360 broke in, the temps came down. The engine runs flawlessly!
The Patrol is solid, comfortable and performs admirably. Entry and exit are easy and yes, this is an important factor as we age... It's a true STOL airplane, but it makes no compromise to do so. At any cruise power setting, it's about 15mph faster than a Husky, which makes the Patrol a real practical travelling machine. I'm not even going to compare it to a Super Cub. Finally, it's a great looking plane that generates questions and compliments wherever we land!
If any of you are wondering if all the work is worth it, well yes. It is worth it!

Now go build something!

Bill

[Flygirl1]

Congrats on your 1st year. I know, it's true what they say--"time flies when your having fun". ;-) We agree 100%. All the hard work was worth it! Only thing we found on our annual was a small amount of cable wear in the wing. More like a shiny spot where it rubs against a plastic grommet. D.