Aeronca Adventure

The Aeronca Champ appeared immediately after the end of WWII. It had an appearance and performance characteristics similar to the Piper Cub, but with some design refinefments that made it a bit more comfortable flyer. Foremost among these was a taller cockpit and a weight distribution that allowed a solo flyer to sit in the front seat.


Wikipedia

We spent a lot of time in Aeroncas around the time I was ten or twelve thanks to my uncle Jack who piloted planes for some Seattle department store executives. The float planes were especially handy for getting into remote Cascade lakes with good supplies of rainbow trout.

A favorite spot for those airborne fishing outings was a small lake surrounded by steep fir-covered peaks that took some tricky flying to get into. Once, after stowing the inflatable boat and starting the takeoff run, my uncle noticed the plane listing a bit to one side. He showed me how to steer with the rudder pedals and then got out on the float to see what the problem was. I wasn't tall enough to operate the pedals and see out at the same time, so he yelled out directions.

It turned out that we had grazed a submerged snag and put a small hole in one pontoon. I think he may have tried to bail out some of the water with the pump from the boat, but he soon hopped in and headed us quickly back to shore, beaching the plane near a group of boy scouts who had hiked in to the lake. They helped us pull the plane all the way up onto the beach. Jack stuffed some rags into the breach, the boy scouts helped push off the plane, and we made a hasty takeoff from the lake.

Jack had more harrowing adventures flying in three wars, but the trip in the Aeronca was one of my more memorable flights.

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Aeronca Ad, Popular Science, July 1946, p.219