Frasca pick up
Posted at 10:23pm central time on the 16th, not on the 17th as the stamp says…
I got a quick trip in today in the Comanche. This was one of those from my boss where he says…”Are you doing anything?:” Nope. “I need to run that Aztec over to Frasca.” (Yes, as in Frasca Simulators) “Can you run over to pick me up?” Yep. Today was one of those days that no one need to ask twice about flying. Hazy, but perfect in every other way. Friday, 72 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and light winds. My boss, Ken, has been friends with the Frasca family for a long time. I’ve known them for a few years, and I jump at each chance to go visit their airport because you never know what you’re going to see over there. They have a real Spitfire, a P-40, a Yak something or other under reconstruction, and the list goes on. The collection is very impressive, and today, I got a first hand look at their newest addition. I’ll get to that in a moment.
First, the flying…Ken walked out first and had the engines running when I got out to the Comanche. When I got started, they had made it down to the runway, and I was pulling out on to the taxiway when they departed. As I said, the winds were light, 240 at 6, and runway 20 was in use. Flying solo in the Comanche is quite nice. They have a bunch of room in them, and with all those ponies up front, it climbs very well, even on a warm day. I only went to 3500′ since Frasca is only about 40nm away. Got a good shot of the windmill farm…
When I was 7 miles out, Ken called 5 miles out, so I almost caught him! They actually run about the same speed at that altitude. I turned a bit to the north because I didn’t have him in sight, and didn’t want to run him over in my decent. His next call was downwind, and I made a two mile call at that point. I made right downwind entry for runway 27, winds were calm over there. Ken had back-taxied the runway, and was off as I turned final. I made a pretty good landing, but definitely not one of my best.
As I taxied in, I noticed something very small sitting over near the Frasca maintenance hanger. You never know what you’ll at this place. Their newest acquisition, is a 1936 Aeronca C3 “Bathtub”.
The only place I have ever seen one of these, was hanging from a ceiling in the EAA Museum, and in a restaurant at Lunkin Airport in Cincinnati. This one had FLOWN in to the airport, and was about to be run while we were there!
Anyway, what a site to see this little antique taxi around the airport. It really looks like a bathtub with wings! Parked next to the Aeronca was a Stearman being fueled…
We needed to get going back home, however, so after chatting with Rudy and Tom Frasca for a few minutes, we hoped in the Comanche for the 25 minute ride home. I flew, Ken rode shotgun. Runway 27 for departure, and on up to 4500′ back to Bloomington…windmills on the right this time…
I made a short approach to runway 20, winds were now 240 at 12, and made a very nice touchdown with Ken saying “Nice job!” Good to hear.
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