Wow, Cool!
So, I had my psychiatric evaluation today, and got a clean bill of mental health. I brought the letter from the psychiatrist to my AME, who's going to call the FAA's aeromedical division, and see what they have to say. I'm pretty confident, though, that everything's going to work out well with that, so I should be able to get back in the air soon. Right now, I'm trying to decide if I want to "jump the gun" and start flying again before I find out the results for sure - I won't need the medical certificate until I need to solo, and I won't be soloing until after 20 hours of dual training.
Also, I found a flight log posted by someone who flies a Piper Cub from Gillespie Field in San Diego out to Lock Haven, PA every other year.
http://www.pipercubforum.com/buckel.htm
Fascinating. Also kind of disconcerting.
See, the Piper Cub is near the top of the list of aircraft I can afford. A J-3 Cub generally runs between $15,000 and $20,000, as do similar aircraft (Taylorcrafts, a few Aeronocas, etc). That Len Buckel can pull long-duration multi-leg flights like that is encouraging. I figured that it would take multiple stops to pull off - a Cub's standard tank is only 12 gallons, and most Cubs burn around 3-5 gallons per hour, depending on the engine size. With an extra internal wing tank, you can hold an additional 14 gallons, which is what Buckel's doing.
Unfortunately, it's a bit more expensive than I realized it'd be - Len Buckel went through 376.37 gallons of fuel for the round trip. That's kind of a lot, obviously. Based on his tachometer time on this trip, and his longest & shortest ones, it looks like 70 hours of flight time is average, and that it normally takes a week to do (Piper Cubs, you might've noticed, aren't fast).
Something like this, though, indicates that a long-range trip like this would require multiple stops to really pay off. Guess it's a good thing I've got relatives in Wisconsin & Mississippi, and friends in Nevada, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and New York, right?
Also, I found a flight log posted by someone who flies a Piper Cub from Gillespie Field in San Diego out to Lock Haven, PA every other year.
http://www.pipercubforum.com/buckel.htm
Fascinating. Also kind of disconcerting.
See, the Piper Cub is near the top of the list of aircraft I can afford. A J-3 Cub generally runs between $15,000 and $20,000, as do similar aircraft (Taylorcrafts, a few Aeronocas, etc). That Len Buckel can pull long-duration multi-leg flights like that is encouraging. I figured that it would take multiple stops to pull off - a Cub's standard tank is only 12 gallons, and most Cubs burn around 3-5 gallons per hour, depending on the engine size. With an extra internal wing tank, you can hold an additional 14 gallons, which is what Buckel's doing.
Unfortunately, it's a bit more expensive than I realized it'd be - Len Buckel went through 376.37 gallons of fuel for the round trip. That's kind of a lot, obviously. Based on his tachometer time on this trip, and his longest & shortest ones, it looks like 70 hours of flight time is average, and that it normally takes a week to do (Piper Cubs, you might've noticed, aren't fast).
Something like this, though, indicates that a long-range trip like this would require multiple stops to really pay off. Guess it's a good thing I've got relatives in Wisconsin & Mississippi, and friends in Nevada, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and New York, right?