Saturday morning in the Aeronca Champion

Champ Pilot Jim and I took to the skies Saturday a.m. in the 1946 Aeronca Champion (Champ). It was a somewhat hazy day as the air was filled with moisture, but Cap'n Jim and the Champ handled it with aplomb.

We flew around the area for about an hour and a half, including flying over my house in Deland...that was cool!!

Also, we landed at the neighboring Orlando/Apopka airport, which has a paved runway. Cap'n Jim did a major league slip maneuver to scrub off some speed as we were approaching the runway. During a slip the plane is flying at an angle to the runway...it felt almost sideways...very neat.

The new butyl rubber tires chirped with delight as they made contact with the runway and Cap'n Jim gently massaged each rudder pedal to keep the mighty Champ straight and true on the runway. Then we fueled up and were on our way again to the friendly grass runway of Bob White field which the Champ calls home.

Here are a few pics...my house is the sorta mustard colored one in the pics...that's Lake Victoria across the street from my house.