Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Go Kart With Wings

"Wow this thing looks like a go-kart with wings!"

That's what my brother said when he saw the Tecnam Bravo that I was preflighting on Sunday the 5th.

I decided to ask my brother to grab his fancy new digital SLR camera and come to the airport for some awesome flying photography action, as the weather was just about as perfect as a guy could ask for. 80°F, low humidity, good visibility and just a few scattered clouds meant that I couldn't in good conscience do yard work while the Bravo sat idle at the FBO.

Now, I just got checked out in the Bravo last week and I wanted to fly it on my own to get more comfortable with it, and with the winds a little calmer than the gales that I had for the checkout, it seemed like a good opportunity.

So, we launched and took some pics of my house, my in-laws house, the local church, and a popular lake. I also wanted to get a landing in at a nearby airport (KGYL) instead of just working from my home base (KFCM).

It was gorgeous up there with good visibility, smooth air, and not too much traffic, though for the first time a passenger of mine spotted traffic before me (a plane flying near my home airport but not in the pattern).

All in all, it was a great flight. I had a lot of fun flying this nimble little go-kart with wings and my brother snapped a ton of pictures, some of which are included here. If you get the chance, fly one of these cool little buggers, they are way too much fun.


Tecnam P2004 Bravo

Flooded Gravel Pit

My House


A Church


Lake Waconia


GPS Track: Google Earth

Logbook:
Logshare

4 comments:

Steve said...

You better post 'em... I want to see your new flying toy, Keith.

Me, I haven't been up in almost 3 weeks - and I'm in the midst of a 2 week vacation. Not sure how that's all worked out. Maybe I'll get up tomorrow...

Steve said...

Wow, that looks like an anemic 150!

(Didn't think that phrase was possible...)

Keith K. said...

Yeah, it's small, but they wisely made the cabin wider and there's really no knocking elbows. But the wind likes to throw her around, so crosswind training really comes in handy.

However, the useful load is slightly more than a 150/152 and it's quite a bit faster. All things considered, it's a good value for the money, and an excellent replacement for the worn out trainers they got rid of.

Unknown said...

Its a nice little plane.