My kids decided to give me a rtide in a Navy1940 N3N-3 biplane. All original except large float under fuselage and smaller wing floats. It was a 30minutw ride and had full dual controls, last time I flew private planes was when I had my license 35 yrs ago, and it was an absolute blast. I am in the middle of the pic with my brother, sister, son, and duaghter. Flying in an open cockpit is nothing like flying Cessna's, Steven was my pilot and let me do some aerial work, he himself gave us a few barrel rolls and loops. The N3N is similar to a Stearman except it has angle aluminum for the fuse and wings, and aluminum skin for both, thus quite a bit heaver and flew like it. Being used to the light controls of Cessnas, I was surprised how much effort it took to perform steep turns and especially climbs.It literally took both hands on the stick to move from level flight to a steep climb. Entering a loop, Steven dove a bit to increase out a/s to 120, then entered the loop ending at just over 85 on top. It's stall speed is a mild 80mph. It has a 9 cylinder radial engine and turns heads with its loud throaty sound. Really fun to land as it is standard to perform a tight curved final for visibility, which was a kick from my old 1 mile final straight and level days. It definitly was a bucket list which I highly recommend to everyone. After the flight Steven showed us his hanger full of toys, which included a restored Cessna 120, Beechcraft Bonanza under renovation, a Pitts Bipe, and a Thunder p-51 3/4 scale with 12 cyl engine capable of 400mph. The p-51 cost about 1 million to build, and left the hanger with my jaws dragging the ground. (pics)
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