AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2017 - 84

P&E

DOGFIGHT
Family wagon or single-seat sportster? Editor at Large Dave Hirschman and
Editor Ian Twombly debate the virtues of each for your next airplane.

Know your purpose

Share the love

When it's OK to be selfish and impractical

Flying is best enjoyed with others

BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN

BY IAN J. TWOMBLY

THEY'RE BUILT TO PERFORM-and they offer few frills, and no compromises. What do the Bucker Jungmeister, Spitfire, Mustang,
Me 262, Sabre Jet, Pitts S-1, Edge 540, Global Flyer, and BD-5J
share? They're all single-seat airplanes. Whether fighters, aerobatic
competitors, long-distance travelers, or airshow entertainers, these
airplanes know why they were put on this Earth. They have a purity
of purpose that transforms these airplanes into objects of art.
Add a second seat, however, and the magic is lost. The Spitfire
with a rear blister resembles a camel. The Yak-50 is a graceful ballerina, while the 52 is an ungainly abomination. And let's not even
mention the misbegotten Twin Mustang. The Pitts S-1T flies better
than an S-2B on far less horsepower, and
the F-5 is a beast compared to the T-38.
Single-seat airplanes beautifully
express their designers' vision for the
future. Al Mooney's Mite was a woodwinged, straight-tailed, retractable
model of efficiency long before the company began building family travelers.
And the RV-3, Richard Van Grunsven's
original clean-sheet design, set a stanDAVE HIRSCHMAN
dard for the versatile, mechanically
simple, metal kit airplanes that followed.
Single-seat airplanes are particularly refreshing in our age of indecision and blurred responsibilities. When a single-seat airplane does
something-right or wrong-there's no mystery about who did it.
Despite their superior performance and aesthetics, single-seat
airplanes tend to be much less expensive to buy and operate than
their two-seat counterparts. A Pitts S-1C or S-1S is typically about
half the cost of an S-2A or S-2B, and the same holds true when comparing RV-3s to RV-7s or RV-8s.
Like many general aviation pilots, much of the flying I do is solo.
Having a single-seat airplane absolves me of the guilt I might otherwise feel about going flying with an empty seat. And although I'd
like to believe I'm just as careful when flying alone, sometimes it's
a relief not to be responsible for a student or passenger.
My friend Eddie Ruhl used to own two airplanes: a single-seat
aerobat that he loved and flew regularly, and a four-seat family ride
that was practical for going places with his wife and kids. During a
financial pinch he decided to sell one airplane and, not wanting to be
selfish, got rid of his beloved single-seater. For the next two years, he
hardly flew. Later his wife, Terry (also a pilot), cut right to the chase:
"Honey, you sold the wrong airplane."
AOPA

ABOUT 12 YEARS AGO I booked a ticket to Alaska to get a seaplane
rating. The flying was great, but what I remember most is the people I got to experience it with.
Flight is a gift. It takes the power of physics and transposes it to
poetry. To restrict that magic to only those lucky few who can afford
the time, energy, and money to learn would be criminal. Singleseat airplanes don't represent freedom; they represent an outdated,
macho pilot culture of the solo cowboy flying alone in the Big Sky.
Single-seat airplanes speak only of our exclusive past. In the early
days to experience flight you had to be exceedingly brave, exceedingly smart, exceedingly rich, or exceedingly stupid. Today you need
to buy a ticket on Delta-or, better yet,
head to the local airport and ask.
Single-seat airplanes are sexy.
They generally look better, perform
better, and can be had for less money.
That's all true. And irrelevant.
What would flying be if we
couldn't share it with others? I can go
alone to the best restaurant in town,
but it would be a wasted date without
IAN J. TWOMBLY
great company. The same goes for flying. First solo? OK, that was fun. But
almost all the rest-and best-flying experiences involve people. I
remember my best friend getting sick all over my shoes, my dad
teaching me about instrument approaches, my uncle smacking me
to get my eyes outside of the cockpit, and my first weekend getaway
with my girlfriend. Now she and I love to use the airplane to get our
entire family away for the weekend.
Sure, the equipment is cool. The P-51D is the most impressive
airplane ever created. Yet, it's not my favorite airplane. That is the
Piper J-3 Cub. There is no better feeling than seeing the countryside
from 500 feet through the open door of a Cub, especially when someone is enjoying it just as much from the front seat.
Dave conveniently forgets to mention one important thing. One
of his favorite things to do in an airplane is fly formation. And the
only way to enjoy formation is with one (or two or three) of your flying buddies. So his airplane preference may be single seat, but even
he acknowledges that flying is best shared with a friend.
It's hard to argue that single-seat airplanes are, in most cases,
technically and aesthetically superior. But if the price of admission
is leaving someone on the ground, stick me in a Spam can and I'll
be a happy pilot.
AOPA

EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org

EMAIL ian.twombly@aopa.org

84 | AOPA PILOT July 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2017