New Owner!
Hello all!
Well, I finally did it. This past month I finally checked an item off the bucket list; I bought my first airplane. I purchased a 1964 Piper Cherokee 180C. We're out in Colorado Springs so the 180 was the lowest HP I could reasonably go with (in my mind). The 180C has been a favorite for a number of years. I'll try to post pictures later. I haven't had many opportunities to fly since I purchased it; the weather has mostly been terrible, but I'm hopeful that my work schedule and the weather will cooperate to allow me to go enjoy some air time soon. My 7 year old son is excited to get up in the air as well.
Hope all is well!
Sean
Comments
Congratulations!
For that first ride with the kid, if not already part of the plans, consider cherry picking the weather with calm-ish winds going down the runway as much as possible. Reasoning is that it is hard to undo a first impression if going up in bumpy stuff and the child does not react well to a bronco ride.
Related topic, avoid doing touch-and-gos and just fly somewhere. If the child has (yet undiscovered) motion sickness, T&Gs will more likely trigger the effect. And once motion sickness triggers on a first ride, it might prove tough to get the child to go up again.
Also, don't be afraid to balk last minute on taking the kid up for a first ride and try again another day. Been there. For the first ride with one of my kids, I briefed from home as I usually did. ~90 minutes later as we pulled the plane out from the hangar, the cloud layer was a bit lower than forecast but still good for VFR. Right as we were both belted in and I was about to call "Clear Prop!" the deck lowered to IFR and heavy rain started. With that, the local field went to IFR. No bueno for a first ride. So we pushed the plane back in the hangar and got wet in the process. The first flight took a couple more weeks for weather and schedules to align, and this one turned into a success 🙂
Hi Sean,
Welcome to the group!
Lots of very knowledgeable people here on the forum, ready to help or answer any questions you might have.
Yes, post pics of your plane!
Jim "Doc Griff" Griffin
PA28 - 161
Chicago area
Welcome to the Piper Owners group