Warbird Information Exchange

Anyone have any ideas. I am thinking of getting one. I am a 450 hour pilot with 20 hours tail wheel. I have a former Red Baron pilot to that should be able to instruct me when he gets his rating.

Are they "difficult" to fly for a stroller pilot like me

Any maintainance issues. They would seem about as straight forward as any aircraft.

Our museum has 3 Hueys, 2 flyers and a parts bird. The flyers need the main mast AD and tail boom AD done, but otherwise are great. I'm thinking of getting the O1 as a trade/sale of the other aircraft.

If you can go for it they were flown by guys with a lot less hours than you. as with any plane its not just the cost of the gas, you gotta bank money for every hour flown to keep it in the air....unless you are rich of course.

I belong to a great group that has everything you need to know about Bird Dogs. Go to ibdaweb.com and you will find anything bird dog. Great basic airplane, not really tricky if you are a compentent tail dragger pilot.

Great little airplane! If you can find a good one you can afford go for it.

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"They can teach MONKEYS to fly better than that"

http://www.heritageflight.org
http://www.bravo369.org

I have a bunch of friends that fly or flew the Bird Dogs for the Royal Canadian Air Cadet gliding operations and they LOVE(D) them.

One thing they did say is unlike a spa---- Cessna 172 (or similar), you have to concentrate 100% of the time you're in it. Making it onto the ground doesn't mean you're done flying it, until you've stopped. There are many vintage military videos about ground looping those things.

But, having never flown one myself, I cannot say whether they are any easier or harder to groundloop than any other taildragger.

After all that, every Bird Dog pilot I've talked to absolutely adores the machine.

Good luck in finding a good one, and fly safe!

Cheers,

David

The airframe accepts, if I recall correctly, a Robertson STOL series 10 kit installation (172/180/182/185). That, of course is if you would like to leave the pattern almost vertically in a 15 kt. wind. Contact SIERRA in Tehas, they own the STC's now.
I understand they are pretty much a 'drive it with the rudder' flyer.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

I towed gliders with them years ago. Fun airplane. Very straightforward to fly and land with the added bonuses of great visibility and plenty of power. Generally a blast to fly.

It's hard to imagine needing a STOL kit for the thing, though.

Steve

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Steve
www.eaglesmereairmuseum.org
www.net2nite.com

Yeah really, I think that when you add a STOL kit on to a bird dog it ends up needing to be re-classified as a helicopter, or a VTOL.

-Dave

I was talking to the IBDA (?) president today who was parked next to our L-5 at Randolph. He said that they're very easy to fly, except for landings... He said that when the army got their first batch they wiped out a large percentage of them on landing accidents. Apparently the O-1s after that have this special anti-groundloop gear on them. He also said that they figure they loose about 3 aircraft a year to landing accidents. I guess if you can learn to land them well, and are careful with crosswinds, you should be fine.

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

They're nice, but you can do better for a LOT less money in my opinion. You're probably looking at 75-130k for nothing more than an OD Cessna 170. Vastly overpriced for the number of airframes out there. Heck you could get a high-time T-6 for what some people want for a nice L-19 / OE-1 The only upside it a lot of the parts for them are available. If you want an afordable taildragger L-Bird, go L-5. I may be biased though.

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Taylor Stevenson

Cheap, huh? Just how much did that L-5 cost you again?

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

good point

We talkin about an award winner or a good flyer?

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Taylor Stevenson

I'm talking a good flyer, and the trade for the Hueys should cover the cost. I would like to stay with the FAC theme as I already have the O2-A.

Thanks for all the input

I think they are great and easy to fly. Did some glider towing also. If you are a smooth pilot and have good tail wheel procedure you will find it a great plane, if you are having to work at it on every landing don't go solo.

Pirate Lex
http://www.BrewsterCorsair.com

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An ego is no match for gravity.

I think they are great and easy to fly. Did some glider towing also. If you are a smooth pilot and have good tail wheel procedure you will find it a great plane, if you are having to work at it on every landing don't go solo.

Pirate Lex
http://www.BrewsterCorsair.com

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An ego is no match for gravity.