Airplane SE Piston

Antonov AN-2 Colt

April 24, 2025 by Bob Stoney Leave a Comment

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Antonov. Model: AN-2. Nickname: (NATO codename) Colt
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane SE Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane SE Land
> Engine Description: Single engine piston

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 11/5/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 0.5
> Number of Times Flown: 1
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: n/a

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 94
> Date First Flown: 6/27/1997
> Location First Flown: North Las Vegas airport
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Maloney

Recollections: I flew the Colt during a staff field trip. We were visiting nearby Nellis AFB, NV (to see some really cool airplanes which–at the time–were quite classified) and took a day to contract for Qual Evals. I flew the Colt, an R-44, and a Beech 18. What a day!

I flew the Colt for just half an hour but I did 7 landings! Not sure I ever left the pattern. I remember finding the airplane pretty easy to land a really a lot of fun to just sit in. It is HUGE. The wings and tail are fabric covered and, being a Russian design, many of the system controls were unusual to my eyes. A wonderful QE in terms of stressing our “adaptability”.

Douglas A-1 Skyraider

April 24, 2025 by Bob Stoney Leave a Comment

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Douglas. Model: A-1. Nickname: Skyraider or SPAD
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane SE Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane SE Land
> Engine Description: Single engine piston

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 6/25/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 1
> Number of Times Flown: 1
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: —

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 105
> Date First Flown: 6/27/2000
> Location First Flown: Olympia Airport, Olympia, WA (KOLM)
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Name redacted, Olympia Flight Museum

Douglas Skyraider (EA1-E) N188BP. Stock photo copyright jetphotos.net, Mike Head

Recollections: By now, you’ve read about the reason for and importance of the “Qual Eval program”. This particular flight, conducted on a student field trip, was lining up to be a total dream come true.

The Skyraider, or SPAD. Gotta be the most beautiful taildragger ever. Ginormous engine, incredible lines…it just LOOKED like it would fly GREAT. I was on the schedule to fly the airplane of my dreams, with a very famous national aviator. In the end, the latter’s attitude and air of superiority ruined my experience with this beautiful design, to the point that the flight is a bad memory. Thankfully, I can count on two fingers the times I’ve had experiences like this in aviation, with a person who was so difficult to get along with as to defy reason. I’m just sorry it happened with this machine, one of my “top 10” designs.

Piper J-3 Cub

April 24, 2025 by Bob Stoney Leave a Comment

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Piper. Model: J-3. Nickname: Cub
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane SE Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane Single Engine Land
> Engine Description: Single engine

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 11/5/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 1
> Number of Times Flown: 1
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: various “Cub” models, including PA-18

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 86
> Date First Flown: 9/28/1996
> Location First Flown: Van Nuys Airport, CA
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Unknown

Recollections:
Ok, first…why do I count this as a different airplane than the Super Cub, upon which I’ve also written a recollection? The answer: because I will never forget flying this J-3 from a Los Angeles area airport while conducting a “Qual Eval” as part of a USNTPS Class Field trip. I believe it had the original 65 HP engine. I do NOT remember who I flew with but I remember taking off, enroute to conducting some “high work” (test pilot stuff like stability and control tests) and listening to the “pock-it-a, pock-it-a, pock-it-a” of that little motor. What seemed like 20 minutes later, and we were climbing thru 1000 ft AGL. Needless to say and owing to the very low climb performance, I elected to truncate my high work before returning to the pattern for 5 landings. Everyone loves the CUB. Generations learned to fly on it, people praise other airplanes by saying “it flies just like a cub”. This flight in the J-3 showed me the beauty and serenity of the cub in it’s purest form…with little power available but with wonderful flying qualities.

Piper J-3 Cub. (Stock photo c Ruud Brins, airliners.net)

North American T-6/SNJ Texan/Harvard

April 24, 2025 by Bob Stoney Leave a Comment

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: North American Model: T-6/SNJ. Nickname: Texan or Harvard
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane SE Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane SE Land
> Engine Description: Single Engine piston

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 4/20/2025
> Number of Hours Flown: 12
> Number of Times Flown: 9
> Other Aircraft Models Associated:

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 40
> Date First Flown: 3/30/1998
> Location First Flown: NAS Patuxent River, MD
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Bob Ellis, Kalamazoo Air Zoo

Recollections: My first flight in a T-6/SNJ was with Bob Ellis of the Kalamazoo (Michigan) “Air Zoo” museum in 1988. He brought the T-6 to Pax River for a student Qual Eval and I flew it as part of the Staff. Next time was in 1997 for a very similar exercise (this time with a different vendor, whose name I did not record). The next time was in 2024 for my “FAM 1” with amazing Warbird Pilot Michael Kopp after having purchased into a partnership! The airplane is amazing, in part because it flew with the South African Airforce from WWII thru 1995. Having been professionally maintained by an Air Force for all those years means it’s in wonderful shape and has virtually every mod. That has continued to this day with a great group of partners dedicated to preserving this wonderful machine.

The T-6/SNJ was the Army Air Corps’ and Navy’s advanced trainer in WWII. Aspiring aviators would fly the Stearman and then the Texan/Harvard.

Being lucky enough to be part owner of one now, I appreciate the complexity of this WWII design, with an interesting hydraulic system and full instrument panel. It’s a pleasure to fly and I feel lucky to be able to preserve the history.

Hawker Sea Fury

January 27, 2025 by Bob Stoney Leave a Comment

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Hawker Model: T.20 Nickname: Sea Fury
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane SE Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane Single Engine Land
> Engine Description: single (radial) piston

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 6/25/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 3
> Number of Times Flown: 2
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: Several variants of the Sea Fury

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 47 (error, see below, error not corrected)
> Date First Flown: 9/26/1988 (note: when putting together this website, I realized–too late–that I’d made an error; my first flight in the Sea Fury was actually 9/26/1986, making this actually my 26th airplane flown; discovering the error too late, I did not correct the website).
> Location First Flown:
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With:

Recollections: I flew this amazing machine during my year as a student at USNTPS. I flew it first for “Qual Eval 3” and a few weeks later as a “special project” that my best friend and TPS Classmate JB Hollyer had devised and gotten approved by the staff, to allow us to compare and contrast these two WWII fighters. The P-51’s first flight was October of 1940, contrasted with the Sea Fury’s first flight which occurred in September 1944. Although the P-51 clearly went through continued development during those war years, the complaints I had about the P-51’s control forces and roll rate (refer to my P-51 recollections) were virtually gone in the Sea Fury, showing just how quickly technology had advanced during the war. The Sea Fury was a pleasure to fly, light-ish on the controls, with rates that more resembled the post war airplane that followed.

Hawker Sea Fury T.20 N924G at 2014 Reno Air Races (stock photo)
(c) wikipedia/D Ramey Logan

In case you’re wondering why I don’t have pictures of myself in front of many of the airplanes I report on, there’s two reasons: (1) I haven’t gone thru all my old photos just yet and (2) I’ve always been reticent to take a bunch of pics, for fear of appearing as a poser. I also have a strict rule (that many who have flown my O-1E will tell you): “No hero pics BEFORE the flight, only AFTER!”. All of that said, I now wish I’d taken more photos.