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On Tuesday, October 20, my wife Susan took her Private Pilot Checkride in her 1930 Waco RNF. Not only did she take the ride in the Waco, but took it with a local legend and monthly columnist for FLYING magazine, Martha Lunken (Lunken Airport...Lunkenheimer Primers). And to top it off, Susan's Waco was restored by a woman named Pam Cooley. The ride went great and here is how my wife described the event in the emails sent to friends:
"We were looking over the chart for the cross-country that I had mapped out from Moraine to Terre Haute... my first checkpoint was Farmersville (10 miles west of Moraine) and she started giggling...and said...
oh...it's hard to look at these charts -- so many funny stories in some of these places.. I was hoping she would elaborate -- but didn't at the time. I suspect that will be another article in the future! It seemed like the oral part was over very quickly -- we talked a lot ... told some stories... she works her questions into the stories - very disarming and puts you completely at ease. She handled the original Waco RNF Owners manual that I brought along (closest thing to a POH) and handled it like it was one of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Oh my you need to take very good care of this.... to which I replied -- I know -- I just brought it in for this -- we have copies that we use for day to day stuff. She was giggling while reading it...just delighting in its simplicity. In no time at all we were headed out to the RNF. As we got close to the hangar ... she stopped and sighed...ooohs and ahhhhs....
just soaking it all in. It's lovely to see someone appreciate the old birds like that. Of course, Andy and a few of my other airport buddies were standing/pacing around like expectant parents, while I walked Martha through the pre-flight, explaining the unique qualities of 663Y.
I put her in the rear cockpit so she could see what it was like...she giggled again over the trim rope and throttle brake. We pulled 663Y out into the sunshine and got Martha loaded in the front... I showed her the controls up front and what to expect. Andy propped 663Y to life and within seconds I hear Martha over the intercom... "I LOVE THE SMELL!!!"
I told her there are few things better in the world than the smell of mineral oil blowing in your face!
It was a pretty windy day yesterday -- winds were 220 12G20 and we were using 26. Needless to say, 663Y jumped off the ground and we crabbed our way up to 3000 feet flying runway heading to our first check point.... we were about half way there and she said..what would you do now if you wanted to divert to Middletown... my brain kicked in to over drive -- is this a trick question...what am I missing... and as I rolled 663Y into a steep turn to the left.. I said...uhm... turn left because it's just off our left wing about 10 miles south. So then she wanted to do power off stall -- which is fun in the RNF -- she just noses right over (unlike the 150 which seems to want to realign your spine in a stall never going the same way twice!) Then we went for the power on stall -- I really wanted to turn the tail to the wind for this because of the wind but did as I was told despite throttling back a bit - we were darn near vertical before the nose finally dropped over... I think the wind caught the flat side of the wings and was almost pushing us backwards! It was amazing! Then we did some simulated instrument stuff
-- she said... "oh just stuff your head down in the cockpit and fly a 180 in about a minutes time... so I did... then she said... "keep your head down in there" and she took what seemed a longer time to set up the unusual attitude stuff...I think she was having fun flying the RNF! You can feel everything in the RNF -- it's like wearing a thin silk glove!
Got us back to straight and level and we head toward Middletown for a landing... got there and it seemed like many of the grass runway markers were missing and there was a lot of plowing going on -- so she said -- oh lets go to Waynesville... so I turned the nose east toward Waynesville...and she said -- how do you feel about a pavement landing..
I said -- As long as the wind is down the runway I'm good with that -- so she said - take us to Dayton-Wright Brothers -- crossed the runway midfield...turned for a left down wind, slowed her up and as I was turning final put 663Y into a nice slip and just above the displaced threshold straightened her out -- slipped a wee bit more and landed just past the numbers in a nice 3 point. We had about 8000 feet of runway to go -- so we just took off again... flew out of the pattern did a turn about a point and she said -- take us back to Moraine.... at which point I said -- did you get enough time flying the RNF earlier or would you...." I didn't even get to finish the sentence when I felt the stick wiggle back and forth... I said "your plane" and we were off -- dutch rolls, wing overs, steep turns, just zig sagging across the sky at about 2500 feet -- she was having a great time as was I and we were almost back toward Moraine when she said -- okay -- take us home! So I made a steep right turn into a left downwind for 26 in the grass, slipped right down to the landing spot...straightened her out and she rolled out onto the grass and stopped after about 30 feet because of the wind. I gave Martha the controls to taxi back so she could see what the throttle brake was like .... she said it was like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time! I said -- it doesn't take long to get used to it. We took pictures and visited for awhile. We did our debrief and the one thing she said -- "I really don't have any comments but I will tell you -- you know how to fly that plane!" I was delighted! Then she climbed into 72B and headed back to Lunken.
It was a magnificent time...a wonderful lady to fly with and I would recommend her without hesitation. She still has that "thrill" for flying which I hope I never lose. You really need to meet up with her sometime -- you just want to sit around and listen to her talk about all her travels. She's off on Friday to Tennessee to give some check rides in a DC3. One thing she did comment -- the ONLY other check ride she's had (and you know there are a lot!) that comes close to comparing with the RNF is back seat in a P-51! I thought that was really neat and 663Y deserves such a compliment."
I will post a couple photos when I get near a computer at home.
_________________
President National Waco Club
Curator for the Waco Historical Society Air Museum
Writer for VINTAGE AIRPLANE, SKYWAYS, BARNSTORMERS.COM EFLYER
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