I was pretty upset last night when the Taurus I had reserved turned up missing at the rental lot at the airport... really upset when I had to wait about 10 minutes to find out what the deal was... but very happy when they gave me this, at no extra charge...mwahaha...
Not a real Mustang, of course, but it does OK with its 4-liter six-banger. Rides real nice, too.
The airport is Brown Field Muni, out on the eastern fringes of San Diego. Here's a (bad) pic of the ramp from the stairs leading to the office of the school that will handle my BFR.
Decided to add a little twist this time- I'm going to try to do my BFR-and get my tailwheel endorsement- in this little sweetheart: a 1947 Aerona Champ, which the staff here refers to as "the Airknocker".
Note the generator; this puppy has no alternator... or battery. I may also be getting a lesson in hand-propping.
I spoke to the CFI on the phone: he's an ex-Navy pilot who's been teaching people to fly in this airplane you see here for about 40 years. I figure if he can't teach me to dance, I may as well forget about taildraggers.
$55/hr. wet time, BTW... the instructor mentioned it was about $5.50/hr when he first started flying it 40 years ago, but it's still a bargain.
Best of all: believe it or not, if I pass muster, they will let me rent this thing solo. That would be cool.
I may get a good panel shot later, but for now, just in case, here's a look: it has a radio and a Mode C tx, but no DG or artificial horizon. The fabric, etc. looks really good- I may ask to look at the service logs later, but I got a real good feeling talking to these old-school desert fliers, and I trust them.
Wish me luck!
