RivetBangers.com

Got to fly 1.5 more hours of TW time today - we went to a grass strip 5nm north of my home airport and did stop and goes. What a great day - flying a C-140 off grass. I won't say it was easy, but I got to do 7 takeoffs and landings in a moderate x-wind and Stu only touched the controls once. It really is fun doing the rudder "dance" on takeoff and landing, and the airplane is far more forgiving (especially on grass) than I was led to believe from reading some things online. I'd forgotten how much fun flying off grass is - I hadn't done it in >10 years.

Also got my annual done on the 172 - flew it to Marion, IN (KMZZ) where they let owners work on assisted annuals - only 200$. I highly recommend this shop if you are nearby - all the mechanics are top notch, Dave has been there > 20 years, and Eric's specialty is Texans (T-6s) and radial engine / ragwing birds (Stearmans in particular). Working together with Dave we did my annual in 6 hours, including redoing the strut seals, wheel bearings, and fixing some parts on the pilot's door. He is very thorough and works very efficiently.

Now that the annual is out of the way hopefully I can get the elevators done before the wings get here - 6/6/05. Still waiting on the replacement parts for the R elevator...

Thomas

Grass is more forgiving of small errors than paved runways are. I've owned a Cessna 120 for more than three decades. It loves grass runways. I taught myself how to do good wheel landings on a grass runway. I've had our RV-6 into three grass strips so far. It likes them too. One was so rough, I won't go back to it, but the other two were really nice.
Hang in there with the 140, it will teach you things it's tri-gear brothers never could.

Bobby S

I LOVE grass runways! I learned to fly on an airport that had both, and everytime the wind favored the grass, it was a great day! Of course, my instructor made me practice crosswind landings the whole time.