My dad was a private pilot and his airplane of choice was the biplane (above). No wonder, it's a plane for people who like to fly. It flies low and slow, lands on grass, is cheap to buy and easy to repair, and glides so well that you need a lot of determination to crash it.
The biggest selling point though, is the open cockpit. This is the way a man should fly, with the wind in his face. You buzz your friends' houses and wave hello to the girls.
After that you rev up and head for the clouds (above) where you fly through caves of cotton candy, without a care in the world. Well, I'm exaggerating. What I described is the way things used to be. Nowadays you can get in a lot of trouble for flying through clouds.
Biplane pilots of old treated their planes with love, like they were members of the family. Pilots were always doing stunts (above) and playing pranks on one another.
They were a lot easier to fly than modern airplanes. Early pilots learned to fly them without ever going to school. For a while you didn't even need a license.
That's the control panel above. Not many more gauges than you find in the average car.
I understand why we have laws and regulations governing flying today. Planes are noisy and you don't want them crashing in your living room. Even so, a lot of regulations could be taken off the books without doing much harm that I can see.
I'd love to see small, inexpensive biplanes make a comeback, especially if something could be done to dampen the pesky engine noise. Turn them loose over thinly populated areas, with common sense limits so they don't interfere with commercial aviation. Let them fly through clouds and over people's heads. Let a few accidents happen, they're inevitable. Let's legalize fun!
BTW: Pappy sent me a link to a promotion for the new Icon A5 sports plane (below). Geez, if I ever become a millionaire....
