NZFF

(Another one of my "stories").
Mr. Harte employed me to fly his Cub back to Waiteke after some work on it was completed at Ardmore.
Mr. Harte's Cub - for real.


MSFS Cub ZK-YLO










I sincerely apologize to Mr. Harte if he finds this post offensive. In my defense, I love Cubs.

Great shots , nothing like a good story , and who couldn't love a cub.
I remember(as I do a lot these days) actually hovering in a Cub over Whenuapai ....It was flown by a great old gent , Tom Waklen. He was the BP tech who looked after all the fuel filters, pumps, hydrant carts etc on base.
The wind that day was quite strong, I can still hear him saying "look at that son....Altitude 1200 feet, airspeed 0 and holding"
Sorry to Hijack the post.

Good stuff!
Is that the CAS J3 Cub?
I have been pondering that one, I believe it is as good as the real thing.

@splitpin - my dad flew "Grasshoppers" in WWII. I regret to say I never got to fly with him.




@charl - yes, it is the CAS Cub. It is a hoot to fly. I'm still learning ground handling in a taildragger

JMB ....wonderful photos of your Dad. Did the U.S use these like the brits used the Lysander? ...maybe I should have googled

It's good that you share your family history with us in this way. Many contemporary documents disappear into archives or are monetized here in Germany through “publication fees”. You rarely see these. This also leads, and I see this as a real danger, to our country in particular losing its history. That makes me very thoughtful.Thank you.

Thanks to your excellent post, I'll be looking for a book simply called The Grasshoppers.
There's a story, not sure if it actually happened, about a Grasshopper out doing his job when the pilot spotted a Storch doing the same thing for the other side.
If it's true then it must have been a fairly slow fight.

@ splitpin - they were used for liaison and spotting work. I don't know about behind-the-lines stuff 'tho. Lysanders were larger and a bit more rugged weren't they?
After the war, we lived in the US Zone in Germany at Bad Hersfeld. My father flew the L-5 patrolling the US Zone-Russian Zone border.

@hasegawa & simonh - Yes, it is a way to leave some bits of history for the future. Too much "history" is being lost or forgotten. Perhaps some of these posts will survive.
The story is true. The Cub pilots forced the Storch down with a Colt.45 pistol. It was the last aerial engagement of WWII in Europe according the Piper Museum.

Here are two very good books I have on "Grasshoppers":


One more of my dad and his Grasshopper:


My MSFS L-4 :

Thank you for that sir. I'll start looking for both those books.
And thank you as well for clarifying the engagement between the Cub and the Storch, I appreciate that.

Good evening sir,
I received a book on the Storch today and after a quick look through it , it mentions fight between the L-4 and the Storch.
I'll have a good look at it over the weekend.