Well, after much toil, tribulation, calling, emailing, talking, thinking, weighing, thinking, talking, driving, etc…..(you all can relate) I finally bought myself a flying contraption.
I went from Pacers, to S7’s, to Kitfoxes, to Maules, to Super Cubs, Citabria’s…………anyway, I looked at em all.
I wanted something that would be good to learn in, easy on fuel, and maintenance, and something that I could hang with the local boys in for years to come. I think that I picked something that fits my criteria pretty darn well. I feel like I got a fair deal, and the airplane is almost brand new. It needs a few things, but I guess that is standard in an aircraft purchase.
I called my Ol buddy Greg to see if he wanted to make the trip with me and possibly fly the plane back to the Buckeye State. He. of course said hell yes and we were on the road to Tennessee by 4 pm Sunday. Got to the hotel in Bulls Gap, TN outside Knoxville by 1130. Stayed the night there and ate some powdered eggs and waffles for breakfast and then we were off to Limestone, TN to the famous Roach Airport (65TN).
We caught a glimpse on the backside of the hangar on the way in
And walked the rest of the way around to find N866SA
The numbers aren’t quite big enough, I’m gonna have to fix that.
This airplane is a 2007 Zlin Savage Cub. It’s very, very, similar to the earlier Rans S7’s but as we found, different in a lot of ways, and I am still finding out how much so. It does have the 100hp Rotax 912ULS, which I’m extremely happy about.
The owner was on his way back from Sebring, and he ok’ed us to test fly it while we waited for him. So since I’m not certificated yet and plan to finish my training in this airplane I figured it best to let Greg take it up and give me his thoughts.
After Greg decided it would fly ok we both went up and I got my turn.
We decided to go eat lunch and talk about it (basically I’m shitting my pants at this point because I am about to spend my entire life savings on an airplane that will do nothing but continue to drain my bank accounts and fuel my addiction issues further). So, I just talked myself into it!
We haggled on the price, and came to an agreement, and the rest is history!
It was getting dark in the south so my ferry pilot had to get in the air, being that a nasty winter storm was on the move our way.
I drove back and had to divert to Gallipolis, Ohio to pick Greg up as the ceilings were getting lower by the minute and I wanted to see my friend again, plus it was dark to boot! So the five hour drive turned into eight but I got Greg home and was in my bed by 2AM. The plane is still in Gallipolis with my new friend and mechanic, Andy. We are going through the plane now fixing a few items and doing an annual and hope to be flying it again soon!
This is a lifelong dream accomplished.
