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Originally Posted by FA-18C
bug - like the concept. When in grad school in Monterey had visited with John Denver at the airport talking about his LE plane. Sadly was playing golf and watched him fly down the coast the afternoon he crashed. Very cool airplane, looks like a fun toy!
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Wow, the same day?!?!? That’s crazy.
The Naval Graduate Campus in Monterey is beautiful.
His crash is an interesting one to read about with so many different factors. Spoke with a mechanic and an active LEO at the time (now retired) about the accident. The mechanic who let him use a tool the same day, was pulled into the investigation just because of the tool use. Without going into the weeds on the accident, it was a tragedy all the way around. I did locate a rock with a plaque dedicated to JD along the bike trail at the point he went in.
The design is one I have always liked, saw my first one in the early 80’s and it looked like a UFO. Even saw one reported recently as a UFO when someone shot a pic of a LE on final and low altitude.[emoji849] My good buddy who is a Ret Col in the Air Guard turned me onto his. He said it’s the closest seating configuration I’ll get to a F-16. It’s fast and efficient. The biggest thing in my mind is energy management. We launched from Placerville and headed to Lincoln for the long runway and fields, at about the halfway point I pulled it back to idol and still rolled into the pattern at 130mph. Let’s just say my first landing was a chit show. I was so far behind the plane it was funny, and a bit dangerous. He was in the back and switched into F-15 instructor mode real quick. Gonna take me a little bit to become proficient in the VariEZ and not fly it like a 150. When I tell people the differences, the LongEZ flies like a gold-wing, where the VariEZ flies like a sports bike.
I’ve posted this pic before but it shows the differences in designs. I can’t wait to get it into the air. Although I am looking into visiting RAFE this next year to get checked out in their dual control speed canard first.
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