This year at the Salton Sea Fly-in I traded in my beautiful little FB Simonini Trike Buggy Classic for a hybrid CT Thumper Briggs & Stratton 4 Stroke on a Trike Buggy Deluxe. I've done some bone headed things before but this one is the worst.
I should have known this wasn't going to work that first day on the Salton Sea. On the maiden flight I parablended my favorite cap right there in front of everybody. The 4 stroke was so quiet I didn't think to put on my helmet and ear protection. Imagine....A machine so quiet you don't notice your not wearing ear protection... until your cap goes through the prop. That's a dangerous machine! Yea, I did go to idle the other day to use the cell phone... but so what?
Every day I find another flaw in this crappy machine. I used to love driving out to Centennial Airport for AV Gas. They let me drive onto the tarmac with the GA guys so I could fill my two 5 gallon gas jugs. I'd drive to the back of the line and wait my turn. Sometimes it took awhile to fill those big birds and when I got done reading the latest issue of Ultraflight I'd get allot of good thinking done sitting in the truck. Now, I don't even need the jugs, I just stop at the gas station on the way to the field and fill the buggy right there in the truck. Where is the romance in that? And that reminds me of another thing. What am I going to do with those cases of TTS in my garage?
And speaking of the garage....my "Man Cave"... I haven't had a good night working on the machine in months. Yeah sure, I can re-rig the footsteering or mount a strobe but mostly I just sit there and gaze at the machine. No changing tension springs on the exhaust or rebuilding the carb. Heck, I'm having a hard time finding a place that needs a little safety wire. It just isn't the same I come in after 3 hours in the garage and I don't even need to wash my hands. It just sucks!
And the flying is different too. Gone is that element of uncertainty, I sit down, buckle the seat belt and turn the key. There is no sense of accomplishment in that. No fooling with the carb or pulling on the starter till I'm bathed in sweat. The other day I flew 15 miles from the LZ and didn't think once about what a drag it would be if I had to land out. Sure, I still keep an eye out for emergency landing sites but it's really just an exercise anymore. I can still remember the thrill of an engine out, what a rush!
So take my advice, if you love the lifestyle, don't by a 4 stroke.
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