I'm in the market for a Charger, to complement the Charger I'm going to build, and have something to fly for the next 10+ years. I've found what looks like a good one, but it's located 1300 miles away from me.
I'm intending, if I buy it, to get a bunch of dual in the plane before I do anything else (that is to say, travel to the plane, get a bunch of dual, then consider next steps). "A bunch" in this case means between 3 and 10 hours, depending on how quickly I adapt to it (I seem to be comfortable pretty quickly in new taildraggers). I'm sure my insurance would insist on that even if I didn't.
But the question is: is it foolish to consider flying the plane back over 1300 miles of plains, Rocky Mountains, Cascade Mountains, etc. by myself? This is mostly a skills and familiarity question -- I have ~30 hours of taildragger time, of which most is 85 HP 7AC Champ, and about 3 is biplane (1 hr each in Eagle, SDII and Skybolt), but no biplane takeoffs or landings. I'll have more Champ time by the time I complete any Charger deals, currently flying at least a couple hours a month.
I have heard from people who say something like, "I bought a biplane with no taildragger time, and I was fine," all the way to those who say they hopped in their bipe with a dozen hours of tailwheel. No one I've actually run into has said, "Oh yeah, I had the plane ferried home, did lots of dual, and flew a careful and conservative progressive test plan to get familiar with the plane."
I'm intending, if I buy it, to get a bunch of dual in the plane before I do anything else (that is to say, travel to the plane, get a bunch of dual, then consider next steps). "A bunch" in this case means between 3 and 10 hours, depending on how quickly I adapt to it (I seem to be comfortable pretty quickly in new taildraggers). I'm sure my insurance would insist on that even if I didn't.
But the question is: is it foolish to consider flying the plane back over 1300 miles of plains, Rocky Mountains, Cascade Mountains, etc. by myself? This is mostly a skills and familiarity question -- I have ~30 hours of taildragger time, of which most is 85 HP 7AC Champ, and about 3 is biplane (1 hr each in Eagle, SDII and Skybolt), but no biplane takeoffs or landings. I'll have more Champ time by the time I complete any Charger deals, currently flying at least a couple hours a month.
I have heard from people who say something like, "I bought a biplane with no taildragger time, and I was fine," all the way to those who say they hopped in their bipe with a dozen hours of tailwheel. No one I've actually run into has said, "Oh yeah, I had the plane ferried home, did lots of dual, and flew a careful and conservative progressive test plan to get familiar with the plane."
