Cubbin' with my aunt and cousin

Plane: Cub, 85 hp 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Clear, 72 degrees, wind 070 degrees at 7 knots

One of my younger cousins just started her freshman year at the University of Dayton so some of my relatives were also in town. They were actually also down last weekend for move-in but the calendar was too busy to squeeze in a flight. Today wasn't much better, but at least we managed to briefly take to the air!

Aunt Angela was nervously anticipating her first Cub experience

It was just past 11:00 when we arrived at Stewart and I only had the plane until noon - so we had no choice but to make it a very quick First Cub Experience. Aunt Angela was up first and she climbed into the front seat while I explained the very few things that there are to explain about a simple J-3. It wasn't long before we were rolling down the grass, lifting off, and heading east towards the lake. An abbreviated version of my usual sightseeing route, for those of you who've heard the spiel before.

Once in the air, she definitely enjoyed the view...

Every passenger gets a kick out of seeing our shadow on the ground!

Back in the pattern at Stewart - note the skydivers :)

We flew for 15-20 minutes before returning to Stewart. She told me after the fact that she was somewhat nervous until we landed but really enjoyed the flight. Maybe we'll be able to go up again when there's less of a time-crunch, or fly in something more modern (said tongue in cheek, since the 172's a 1967 model, but I digress). I think she'd like actually flying somewhere now that she has experienced little airplanes in person and enjoyed it.

John climbed aboard after we all chatted for a couple minutes on the ground. He actually flew with us in the 172 last fall (along with his sister, RosaLia, the aforementioned new UD student) when we were up in Michigan for the weekend. Anyway, he wanted to see what Cubbin' was all about as well so I was happy to do my part.

Passenger change - Leo, John, and Gina and me with NC98286

Doing the "Cub Dance" to climb into the cockpit

About to start the engine (hand-propping's the only way)

Mandatory, very brief Cub safety briefing

Strapped in and ready to give John a taste of the Cub

Just as with the first flight, John and I didn't fly for very long. I think we were in the air just shy of 15 minutes. Instead of the lake route, I flew north and pointed out downtown Waynesville, where we all had lunch last weekend. Then I headed back to the airport and made a power-off landing with a healthy forward slip from base to final.

So there you go - a simple but fun weekend morning jaunt in a J-3. I think their photos (which I stole from my aunt's Facebook album) make it quite clear how much they enjoyed the experience. As a pilot, not much beats being able to give folks their first small airplane ride. Doing so in a Cub is just all that much sweeter!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.7 hours
Total Time: 281.5 hours