First flight of my J4A since 1975

[nrpetersen]

N414K a 1941 Piper J4-A had its first flight Friday Apr 26 at SSQ, Shell lake WI, having last flown in 1975. The rebuild was started by others for the first 20 years, then I bought it over about 12 years ago. It has been upgraded with a "freshly overhauled" C-85 engine (put together but never run over 25 years ago), metal prop, Groves brakes, Ceconite cover & Randolph products, Cessna 150 mufflers, and a new cowl and baffling system. I removed the electrical system and put in a lite weight starter powered from a cockpit panel-mounted Piper APU plug & a ground based starting battery.

The 20 minute test flight was done by Sandi Randall of Romeo Aviation, Cumberland WI. Now she gets to teach this 2000 hr 172 driver a tailwheel rating.

[Check 6]

Congrats! She is a beauty.

[JimRice85]

Congrats! She is a beauty.

The plane or the test pilot/instructor?

[rafrench]

Congrats! She is a beauty.

The plane is pretty nice too

[champ driver]

Congratulations, that's a great looking plane and instructor. Once you get the endorsement, increase your experience in small steps. These planes are so light that any amount of wind has a huge effect on them, x-winds for example. Always know where the wind is coming from and what it's doing to you. Know the planes and your limitations and you should be fine. You're going to have a blast flying it.

[cub builder]

Congratulations. Having taught a number of pilots tailwheel in both the Champs and the J-4, I can tell you it doesn't get any easier than the J-4. You're gonna love that plane. It's well mannered and handles crosswind conditions better than many tricycles.

-CubBuilder

[MLang]

Congrats!

I owned and flew a 1940 J-4A out of Brodhead, WI, for quite a few years. It's a very sweet (and highly under-rated) airplane. You'll learn to love it!

[Hal Bryan]

Congratulations! Great to see a classic returning to the air! And have fun getting the tailwheel endorsement - to me, that's the most enjoyable and rewarding kind of flying there is!