Gull's Eye View
Aerial Photography
N88134
1974 Bellanca Citabria 7ECA
If you want to go fast, fly through clouds and take the family... You're going to need a different plane.
Here's what the Citabria will do, and why we love it.
- comfortable speed range: 60 - 120 mph
- stall speed: ~50 mph
- rate of climb: 500 fpm fully loaded
- fully loaded: both of us, camping gear, 3 hours of gas
- burn rate: 7 gph max, 6 gph typ
- great visibility
- super easy to fly
- forgives many mistakes
- easy to land on little grass strips
- relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain
- factory support
 picnic at McKenzie Bridge
|
 there is
self-serve in Oregon
|
 camping at Orcas Island
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 sea cave at Cape Lookout
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 "Camping" with my friend
and flight instructor, Noel
Jones.
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 Tillamook Head lighthouse |
It's not all fun and games...
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The wings
didn't pass the first annual
inspection, and Alex had to rebuild them. Here's a picture
of him smiling hard so he wouldn't cry. Friends had
just helped pull off the wings, and someone said, "Hey, now you have a
low-wing plane!" It was funny. At the time... Or maybe you had to be
there. |
 |
One day, we decided the back seat was a little dark, so we cut out the roof to install a skylight. Simple, right? Then Alex busted the windshield during reassembly. Darva got disgusted and ripped out the faded orange naugahyde interior. There was some ugly wiring... These little projects can go on for months if you don't settle on a stopping point. |
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Some days you just wish you were on the ground. "The worst day of fishing is better than the best day in the office." Can't say the same about flying. But when we're thumping along at 1000 ft, and the Coast Guard thrashes by below us, it puts some perspective on our queasiness. |
