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I respect the issues Glen raised in his rebuttal, but I believe that, overall, Fred Weick succeeded in his objectives. As was already pointed out, Fred was designing-out the landing cross-controlled stall/spin rather than spins at altitude. To this day, in modern, docile, stall-resistant airplanes, pilots of all skill levels continue to stall-spin on the base to final turn. Everyone knows what not to do, but it happens anyway. It's still one of the leading accident causes. As for the tail-draggers, it's very simple: excluding the homebuilders, they are all either old airplanes or old designs still being produced as long as someone will buy (aka American Champion). Even modern bush plane designs (Cessna's Caravan and 206) are nose wheel. The reasons are simple: fewer ground-handling mishaps. I've flown both. I simply don't care for the aggravation of managing the tailwheel bird. If the love of my life was a pretty Cessna 170 or Waco, I'd deal with it as a consequence that comes with the bird. My home airport has a concrete runway that is aligned with the wind only when it crosses when changing sides! For me, the 'coupes demonstrated 25kt crosswind capability and ease are an endearing feature. Last fall I was also considering the Cessna 120/140 and got a checkout at a local FBO that rents one. About that time, Dennis Speigel took me along on a memorable excursion to a private grass strip BBQ where we joined up with Bill Coons and had a great time. It was a particularly windy day, both at home and at the grass strip, and we were facinated watching the vintage taildraggers wrassle their craft down onto the turf. By the time we got back to Schaumburg late afternoon, the wind was howling at 90deg to the runway and even the flight school instructors weren't chancing it. Dennis planted his 'coupe without breaking a sweat. He's a former Cessna 120 owner with a ton of taildragger experience and I asked him: if he still had the 120, would we have had this enjoyable day? NO! He wouldn't have even taken the ropes off. So now I have an Ercoupe of my own. I've been a pilot since 1966. I've flown Cubs, Champs, and now the 140. I've kept myself out of trouble with low altitude spins and crosswind landings. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I just don't need the aggravation. You still have to be careful and know the 'coupe's limitations and shortcomings, but staying out of trouble in a 'coupe is a bit easier than with other planes. That suits me just fine, and I think that's all Fred was hoping for. Paul __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ __________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiLm.aVzvvT Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01 ==^================================================================
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