Cessna 120-140 Association

Marshall, I understand that many folks need reasons and venues to enjoy their flying. The joy of merely feeling and experiencing the miracle of my wing planing the air and making it plane the air in creative ways is reason enough for me to fly. I often take off with no destination, no venue, no activity or social life in mind and those flights turn out to be some of the most satisfying. The 120 and 140 are particularly good at providing that experience.

Trying to compete in STOL contest in a 140 against a Zenith class aircraft with less than 30 MPH stall speed is a tough gig at best. Zero room for error. From the video, it looks like he was piling up behind the lead A/C and perhaps was trying an 'S' turn for spacing which caught him. Hopefully we'll understand more as the details come out.

What a tragedy...

I'd have to agree John, the pure joy of flying especially in a 140 is reason enough. I have a 2-1/2 year old son that I've been introducing to flying. I now have the perfect "excuse" just to go cruise around.

I guess I'm a bit defensive when I read comments about how he shouldn't have been competing because his aircraft wasn't the best. I grew up with hand me downs and Walmart specials and always disliked it when someone would exclaim, "I would have won the game if I had better skates". I chose the Cessna 140 because its pretty average at everything. It cruises at 100MPH, lands and takes off under 1000ft and burns 5GPH. Right now I like flying into backcountry airstrips. I have put a climb prop on and big tires. I practice STOL. One day when my son is older I will probably transition to exploring the province.

My general opinion is do what makes you happy with what you have. I'm not going to stand in the way of a lawnmower race.

It's easy to Monday Morning Quarterback. Everyone has their reasons for flying, racing boats or jumping horses. What I'm keeping in mind is a family lost their father, & Husband. I think of them.