Decided to drive way up to Oak Island today and inquire at yet another school there... something told me to not call first, just go. I'm glad I did.
Pulling into the parking lot at KSUT, wondering why I didn't call ahead to see if the school could accomodate me on short notice, I spied a gorgeous red 1942 UPF-7 Waco parked on the grass nearby... with a "BIPLANE RIDES" sign next to it.
Hmmm....
I'd considered a hop in another Waco based at Grand Strand, but decided at the time I wanted some flight time, not a ride. But she was so pretty I just had to go look.
Another guy showed up to look at it also- I thought he might want to split the ride with me (2 people can fit in the fwd cockpit), but he decided to try it later. I hemmed and hawed for about three heartbeats, and agreed to pay the full $120 for a brief hop... Carolina Belle was working her magic on me, and Laura, who runs this little business with her husband Jim, was also very nice- we chatted about flying while we waited for Jim to show up. She was nice enough to get a picture of me with the plane before the flight... too bad about my serious case of "hat head", but whatever. BTW, by this time I had totally forgotten about going over to see about a rental checkout in a 172... and a very good thing I had!!
Soon enough Jim arrived. Laura mentioned to Jim that I was a PP with some tailwheel time, so he put the front stick back in, despite my assurance that I really didn't want to fly the Waco.
In no time we were off for a little low 'n' slow sightseeing in this very classy biplane... with the Belle's very capable owner at the helm... intitially.
Level at 600 feet, I took one more picture then went to work steering her over towards Bald Head. What can I say? She was a delight. Kept asking me for just a smidge of right rudder, and I was a bit lost coordinating rudder in the turns (including a pretty good if egg-shaped 270 around the old lighthouse), but it was worth every penny to get myself a fistful of old biplane.
Eventually he suggested I take her back to the pattern... he took over for the entry to downwind and made a marvelous barnstormer's 180 onto 23, keeping the threshold in sight at all times. Made a very nice landing, too, despite some bumpy air over the runway.
That 0.3 hrs' UPF-7 time may not be much, but it sure looks good in my logbook... what a terrific "accident" !!
BTW, if you're ever in the SE corner of north Carolina, be sure to stop by and see about a ride. The site says they still also fly out of Florida, but that may no longer be the case.
http://www.brunswickcountyairport.net/S ... iation.htm
