I have been flying for the first time of 2024 on Saturday, long overdue! It was a PFT for the flying club, we need to fly with an instructor once a year.
I came early to set heater for the engine of the Cub and also charge the battery. Last time I had tried to fly the Cub, the ATC could not hear us well enough and we had to drop the flight (ATC did end up saying that we were disturbing the frequency, please stop…). This turned out to be because when it’s cold, if you don’t check the generator (driven by air, between the main gears) it could be stuck with some ice, which is probably what had happened on the previous flight, leading to an almost flat battery (the Cub does not have a starter, and thus a smaller battery only for driving the radio and transponder).
Anyway after some time, the engine was warm and we had to hope that the battery had enough charge, so my instructor jumped on board, and I launched the prop… then again, the engine coughed, again, some more coughing and then some more, no need to go to the gym :-) After only about 10 tries, the engine started.
We flew over Frosta, the area just North of the airport and then did a few landings, wheel and 3 points.
I flew to Trento LIDT with my mom in the right seat. The other airport in the area, Bolzano, was packed. They offered 1hr slots to drop off and pick up pax. No parking.
I planned to cancel IFR over Bolzano or divert to Bergamo. Visibility was reported 8000, and from F140 I could see a reflection of the river, so I decided to cancel IFR and descend.
Flying an Italian plane in Italy, I received a warm welcome with the tower staff offering to call a taxi. The apron had lots of space.
It is stressful to fly single pilot after a long break. Especially the P180. For some time, I will be flying with a copilot when my family is onboard. I still haven’t memorized the long checklists and I read-do. I hope to improve over time.
Flying VFR, looking for the airport.
On the ground.
Piaggio is a looker!
Nice
Thanks. Here’s a side view.
By the way, which firefighting category is a P180?
According to the AIP, Trento has ICAO CAT 1 as standard and asks for 7 days PN for any higher category.
It’s cat 3. Some places ask for a written acceptance of lower category. Trento didn’t.
I finally got to fly again, despite the absence of my plane. Spent 3.9 hours flying a Super Cub around Provence. At 75 knots and 2000 feet or so AGL, you get to see quite a lot of things. No pictures, I’m afraid – I was a bit busy flying the plane.
johnh wrote:
At 75 knots and 2000 feet or so AGL, you get to see quite a lot of things
With our Cub at 2400 RPM, we were cruising at a whooping 80kt IAS! The temperature might explain the difference in performance, we had -12°C this week-end.
Some of the pictures I took were by opening the sliding window, but not all since first, it’s only on the left side, and second, it was COLD 
I hope you had fun flying a Super Cub! Soon you will probably be able to fly it with open door, something I have not yet managed to do, the only time it was warm enough, the latch to keep the upper part of the door was not holding the door, all of my other fights in the Cub it would have been too cold.
