Buying and bringing home my Tri-Pacer, Denver, CO - Snohomish, WA
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- Join me on my adventure to purchase and fly home a vintage 1958 Piper Tri-Pacer 160.
Purchased from seller at Rocky Mountain Metro Airport, in Broomfield, Colorado.
With the weather forecast and winds aloft, I decided the best route home was up through the Rockies in Montana where the passes are wide and fairly low, plus I could overnight with family if I beat the weather into Missoula.
Please forgive the unsteady video recordings. I had light to moderate turbulence the entire way home.
I now know of the importance of gust locks, which I did not have at this time, but now keep in the plane!
Brings back great memories of the early sixties. My late father used to ask me if I was feeling OK on a school day. I knew right what he meant. I'd say not too good dad and he'd say let's go flying! We'd have lunch at the bellingham Airport and he'd rent the tri pacer. Great times! Thanks for the video!
Beautiful bird and scenery. In an older, past life, I owned a 54 and 56 Tri Pacer. Back in my day, they were called "flying milk stools".
Hadn't heard that in a long while. Lol
They still are in Britain.
I know exactly what you did and how it felt. I got my cert in September and the next day flew 5 and a half hours towards my home airport. It is such a cool and amazing trip that first one. Every trip thereafter is great too, but the first one is special. I just sold my plane and delivered it to Florida from Denver and once again it was a special trip full of nostalgia and amazing sights never seen before in that manner. On the United flight home I flew the same route just a "wee bit higher'. Even more stunning to realize I just flew the other way down there.... Flying: once you do it you never cease to look up. Now what? Get another plane of course....
What a wonderful flight! I got my private in a Piper Colt in 1969. Dreamed about owning one, or it’s sibling the tri-pacer…
Forgot to mention I was flying out of a farmers field just east if Denver.
Loved this! I live in Denver and am looking at purchasing a Tri pacer. You make it look as fun as it sounds! Thanks for sharing.
Oh so MUCH fun! Especially with the 160 and VG's!
Nothing sounds as pretty as the whistling of a Tri-Pacer passing overhead. You are truly blessed to own one!
Wonderful your PA22. I Also owned and loved one, s/n 22-7397, for.10 years until 2014. Registration CC-PGF in Chile.
My father had a Tri pacer when I was growing up. I just loved that airplane. Yours is sensational.
I imagine most viewers are loving all the scenic shots, but I would have loved to see a few pics of the cockpit and instruments. Show me the interior, not just the exterior. After all, the video is about the plane too!!!
.
With a woman instructor I flew the Piper Colt in College. This had 108 hp no back seat with no flaps. I moved up to the 150 hp tri pacer aft my private. Great airplanes.
Very underrated aircraft, at low altitudes a Tri pacer will fly circles around a Cessna 172
Has a higher ceiling as well..... or so the paperwork says. I have only brought mine up to 10,500 but it sure climbed up there nice and easy.
Well damn, I already wanted a Tri-Pacer, but this comment makes me want one even more 😅
Yes, the absolute max is something like 19,000'. Previous owner had it up to 16,000' in the Rockies without issue. I've only been to around 11,000' over Mt Baker. Going to try to do Mt Rainier at 15,000' someday. It will be posted here of course when that happens.
Took balls to fly that tri pacer that far first trip. Love the Floyd. Cool video 👍
I restored a 1955 Tri Pacer and converted it to a Pacer tail drag-er and put the 160 hp in it. I flew it for 10 years here in N. Idaho and the Everette area. Great airplane, Great video that brought back a lot of memories
Great video, dude, thanks so much for sharing your trip. My father was a CFI teaching from Carpenter Airport outside of Charlotte in the 60's, and took me flying numerous times in a TriPacer. The Piper fleet back then was only 20+/- yrs old...can't believe the craftsmanship shown with you flying N950ID 50-60- yrs later. Wow ! I don't believe there will be many Cirrus's or newly designed aircraft flying 60 yrs from now, although I may be wrong. Fair winds and sunny sky's to you, mountain skimmer.
KBJC is my home base. I own and fly a 77 Grumman Tiger AA-5B out of there with my son. That's a sweet Tri-Pacer you have there. Enjoy! By the way, just realized the pre-purchase inspection was done at RMAS... the owner, Justin Parrow, is also my A&P! Small world!
Tri-Pacer was one of the airplanes I grew up around in the Keys in the 1950's. Still love them today! Thanks for a wonderful video!
Enjoyed this so much. Thanks for the video. The Tri Pacer is beautiful. Glad you had a safe flight. The scenery was incredible. I hope you enjoy your plane and have many safe hours of flight.
That is a sweeeeeet plane! I love my old tri-pacer
Great video…thanks.
My first airplane ride ever was in a Piper Tri-Pacer in 1959 out at (now gone) Zahn's Field in Nassau County, L.I., N.Y. Your fine video reminds me of that day. I went up first with the pilot and my brother, I believe, and then a second time that same summer day with my father (his first flight ever as well). As a licensed pilot myself, years later, I would fly frequently from Zahn's before it was turned into a suburban housing community. Thanks for the memories!
Beautiful plane !!
That was some exciting flying over and through those mountains glad you made it safe and sound!!
Thanks for bringing me along.
Tripacer and colt are great airplanes best bang for your buck !
Best looking Tri Pacer , and I live in Tri Pacer country !
I purchased N4773A 1956 PA22-150 in 1977, eyes went tu 1986 and sold it but put almost 400 hrs on it. Was living in the mountains north of Spokane. Wonderful back country plane with a 49 pitch prop it would jump in the air and climb 700 fpm with full fuel and 4 170 lb riders @ 90 degrees and 2700 msl. Not a cruiser about 105 fully loaded. Nice looking find you have.
Your video is cool. Your airplane is magnificent. Thanks for preparing and sharing the video of your journey.
Beautiful. My first flight was as a boy in a Tri Pacer near Greenfield, Indiana. Thanks for the memories!
What a fun trip! You gotta love “short winged Pipers” I was able to log a few hours in a tripacer as a young private pilot. Great airplane and yours is exceptional.
Thanks for sharing your perfect video...beautiful plane...perfect choice of the Floyd Boys music! You are an inspiration!
Love the video. My wife and I are both from Wyoming and now live in Montesano Wa. We are looking for a Tri Pacer to purchase some time in the next year.
I own a Bonanza but OMG!.. Tri Pacers are absolutely adorable and I want to buy one!
The Fly Chaser!
I want a pa20 or pa22/20 really bad, planning on having one by the time I'm 25 hopefully. Can't wait to fly it home one day.
What a great looking plane awesome!!!
Beautiful aircraft.
Wow what cool plane you have. You certainly flew over some beautiful country!
Money well spent if you can find a set of Ace Demer Droop tips, they do improve performance more than any other. The most impressive thing is the stability improvement, will cut pilot fatigue considerably. Believe me I have owned 5 of them from a 53-135, not advised, to a 59-160. Converted to a pacer they are fun to fly but can be a handful on the ground.
That is a fine looking aircraft. I've been a private pilot for years but haven't done much flying in the past decade or so. I've been looking to get back into it, and a Tri Pacer is right at the top of my list. As far as I can tell, they are pretty much the best bang for the buck...provided I can fit in one.
I was out of it for about 12 years. Decided to jump in with both feet and buy a plane and start working toward a commercial license and become a CFI. The Tri-Pacer was the best fit for our family load-wise.
Beautiful plane, beautiful country :) Hi from London UK
My first love, enjoy your new ride.
"Mountains and MORE mountains" you commented.
REMINDS me of the famous LEWIS & CLARK entry in their logs in which they, believing that the PACIFIC OCEAN was just over the NEXT (and first) ridge they encountered, said "Mountains as far as the eye can see".
They were still over 300 miles from the Pacific...hey Lewis, hey Clark...keep on trekin'. LOL
Nice flight you had...stay safe...sorry to lose a beautiful plane from CO!
Since you're in WA...please consider taking a MOUNTAIN FLYING course.
Come back to CO and start in CO Springs and fly to LEADVILLE,CO the HIGHEST airport 9, 927 feet above MSL.
I'm hoping to get out to Idaho for a Mountain Course there.
Better camera work than most Tri Pacer videos !
Beautiful airplane. Jealous. Great vid.
BeautifuL dream...congratulation
Really good looking plane.
Very capable aircraft. Fun flying. Cheap insurance.
Loved those Tri-Pacers
Pink Floyd!! Nice!
Супер! Красавец! ✈👍
Welcome to the club of ownership.
Thanks for the ride, "tore the flap off? Maybe that was a good thing.
Heck of a Trip
It's been a few years since you shot this video...I'd love to hear your impressions of the aircraft so far.
The most fun you can have in a tricycle gear aircraft! It has a climb prop and VG's on it, so when I am alone and light fuel, I'm off the ground in 400ft and climbing close to 2,000 fpm. It is fun to hear comments from those watching the unassuming little plane climb like crazy. We can still take all four of my household out to lunch/dinner as well. Wish I had better brakes, and occasionally wouldn't mind a cruise prop, but overall, for the cost of ownership and purchase price, I could not do any better.
Hey! I've gotten to fly a few times before!! I love that plane!! I really don't have that view though!! new to you and liked!
thanks for the ride....
Great stuff !
Nice flying adventure....
My dad owned 2 Colts ... two made one great aircraft
great looking plane, I have a '56 - with a 0-320 in it just love that plane
I've really fallen in love with this one. It has a climb prop, so I'm wanting a little more speed out of it, although I can get nearly to 115 MPH at 2,400 RPM, which I am told is not much slower than a cruise prop. I've heard up to 10 knots more though with a cruise prop. Can't beat the 8 GPH, sometimes less, it burns either!
Yeah but @@crash812 don't you really need that climb pitch performance for Density Altitude out there? Or is that not much of a factor for you near your home base?
DA is very rarely an issue in Western Washington especially at Sea level.
What an adventure! Congrats beautiful airplane. How that flap got that damage? Lightning struck? I guess it would have burnt the whole wing. Thankfully it wasn't. A flying debris?
Interested in flying another Tri pacer from MO to UT? Let me know!
Great Video!!!
beautiful plane. Would have enjoyed hearing you narrate a bit but, great video all the same. I wanted this same model many years ago when I first got my ticket. But, I could never find a descent one. All of them were very derelict.
Lucky dog
Congratulations!! Great video, and nice looking plane. I think I've seen that one at SWPC gatherings. I have a '54 135 with an O-320 in it, now being restored and recovered. Too bad about the flap. Always park with the flaps down- it holds them in place. I recommend joining the Short Wing Piper Club. They have some great resources. Also Shortwingpipers.org on the web. Enjoy. They are great and underrated planes.
Thanks! Already on the Club!
>Always park with the flaps down- it holds them in place
...and also stretches the return springs while still allowing them to bang around. Better to use a gust lock between the flap and the aileron.
Just like using the seatbelt to pull the yoke back to stop the elevators from moving is a bad idea. The drain holes for the elevators are on the trailing edge. Parking with elevators up causes the tubing to rust.
I was too young to afford an Airplane @14 in 1964, was void of $$$ I wanted the Luscombe 8-f I flew and Soloed so bad
Buffalo wyoming is my home airport
Cute little TriPacer. Great looking aircraft and what a champ to make that long flight over rugged terrain. So would you do an over mountain trip like that again if you didn't need to?
I would, following a major Highway and only in good weather and light winds, which is why I went the way I did.
Thanks. I'm thinking of buying my son a Cherokee in Denver and wondering about getting it to Seattle. Just starting my research.
Did you do a stop at KVCB in northern california about a year or so ago? I remember running into a tri pacer pilot that was headed to socal from the washington area a while back. Small world if so
That was us! A year ago. Here is the video from that trip: czcams.com/video/6ykMbOu4RuQ/video.htmlsi=BL9WBM0zBnR8GXAz
Do you happen to know if a guy names Steve Frey ever owned that Tri-Pacer?
Excellent venture! I'm looking at buying a Tri-Pacer. I live in the mountains and it would make a good bush plane. Did you have any problem over the mountains? How was its climb performance?
Just me, I get upwards of 1,200 FPM, Yesterday, I was at about 1,900lbs, with a DA of around 5,000 at a mountain strip, and still managed 800 fpm through 6,000 ft. With the 160hp, it does very well. Previous owner had it to 16,000 one time. At sea level, I can get off the ground in less than 400 ft on a cold day, between 500-600 ft on a hot day, if I am light.
No stats? How much fuel, time, and speed? Thanks
1959 I was 9 took my first plane ride with my brother for $5 out of Howell Airport Crestwood Illinois grass runways in a TriPacer
Hey, sad to hear you had storm damage in Deer Lodge. Wish we had room in my brothers hanger when you landed, would of saved you the damage.
I bet the pilot may have thanked that T-storm for finding a dangerous weak link in his new bird before a high gust ripped it off on a final approach and caused him and uncommanded roll at 100' AGL ! T-storm was a blessing. No doubt.
I want to buy one but I can’t find any for sale
How much did you pay for it?
Imagine,I could have bought one for 8 thousand.
Why have aviation videos now become music videos? Not Right!
I am not a good narrator but like to share the scenery. Most of my other videos have pure airplane noise.
O