Short Take Off and Landing planes at the Arlington Fly - In 2000
My favorite aircraft are the STOL aircraft. I love to watch them take off. I once watched a Pilatus Porter takeoff from Boeing field. It was over 3,000 feet high before it passed the middle of the 3,000 foot runway from which it was departing. I sometimes buy rubber band powered balsa planes and add flaps, wing extensions and other goodies to see how slow I can get them to fly. My introduction to flying at age 5 involved a Taylorcraft kept just outside Sheridcan, Wyoming, in a ravine owned by a family friend. Our friend plowed a single furrow from the road to the hangar because the hillside was so steep my dad thought the car might roll over as we drove along the side of the hill. We would drive with the uphill wheels in the furrow until we were clear of the danger.
The Convair L-13. This particular plane is thought to be the only L-13 registered in Canada. This plane can be quickly folded into a small, transportable package. The horizontal stabilizers unbolt and swing flush with the fuselage as do the wings. The landing gear is unbolted and swivelled under the plane. This plane has been seen taking off into a 10 knot head wind after only four rotations of the tires. These planes are extremely rare and photos are hard to find. I would appreciate if anybody could point me to a website with other photos of L-13s. I know there are a few flying in the US.
Auster. This is the British version of the Taylorcraft. Both planes were used in WWII and I consider them STOL aircraft. The first airplane I ever flew in was my dad's red T-Craft. The first airplane I ever took a flying lesson in was a red T-Craft floatplane owned by Kurtzer on Lake Union in Seattle, WA. This plane is exceptional. It has all kinds of safety and emergency rescue placards on the other side.
Fiesler Storch (Stork) One of these planes was used by the German Military Genius (scoundrel) Skorzeny to rescue Mussolini from the top of a mountain where partisans had imprisoned him. Too bad. He and his mistress were killed shortly thereafter and hung upside down by angry Italians.
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