By STAN KASPRZYK

FlightLog Archive

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Aircraft Flown

Flying the Bristell 915 LSA - Jul 2025

I had just refueled my Warrior at the Auburn airport fuel pumps, and a gorgeous low-wing Bristell taxied in to also refuel. I walked over to talk to the pilot, and met Devin Dufenhorst, who was taking a friend up for his first flight. I noticed that the Bristell was powered by the new Rotax 915iS turbo engine, and got some background and an offer for some Bristell flight time on a future flight, since Devin was now based at the Auburn airport. The following week Devin contacted me, and I mentioned that a flight up to Friday Harbor would be a great way to checkout the Bristell and also get some good seafood.

Built in the Czech Republic by BRM Aero, the Bristell 915 has a roomy 51-inch wide interior and a huge canopy that folds forward, can be opened and closed easily with a single latch, and has a molded top section to block the direct overhead sun. Visibility is outstanding! The Bristell has mostly aluminum construction, with the cowling, rudder and cockpit panel made of carbon fiber. It has adjustable rudder pedals providing good steering on the ground, but I found out that the rudder pedal adjust handle allows for mis-matched rudder placement if they are not both moved in or out together, but can be easily re-set on the ground or in the air.

The Bristell holds 31.87 gallons of fuel, with 30 usable, and can be flown with either 100LL avgas or 90 octane auto fuel. The primary limiting factor for full employment of the Bristell is due to current LSA aircraft rules, limiting the maximum gross weight to 1320 pounds. With an empty weight of 860 pounds, the useful load is only 460 pounds. With two large occupants, fuel must be managed carefully to stay under max gross weight. With the new MOSAIC/Sport Pilot 2.0 LSA rules, which take effect in July 2026, the weight limitation is removed. In its place is a new set of rules, with the primary limitation for the aircraft now being a maximum landing configuration stall speed (Vso) of 61 knots calibrated airspeed, which the Bristell easily achieves at 43 KCAS. Good news for Devin and his Bristell, since European certified Bristells are already flying with a 750KG/1650 pound max gross weight.

I'm more comfortable flying in the right seat of most aircraft, with the throttle in my left hand and stick or yoke in the right. The Bristell 915 engine is conveniently controlled with a single power lever, with no mixture or prop control required. The Rotax 915iS started easily with the characteristic clatter on start, then settled to a smooth RPM. Taxiing out, the hand brake was sensitive but easy to learn. The hand brake conveniently locks in place as a parking brake or when you are ready to do a run up. The steerable nose wheel is a plus over a castering nose wheels found in many LSAs.

Once applying takeoff power, Devin and I rapidly accelerated and climbed at a very steep deck angle at well over 1000 FPM, even pitching below the Vx and Vy climb angles for a better view over the nose. The Rotax 915 performance really shines with the light weight and clean aerodynamic design of the Bristell. We climbed quickly to our cruising altitude, and proceeded to the north, passing Harvey Field and Skagit, then cruised through Whidbey's airspace direct to Friday Harbor. Devin flew the first landing, and demonstrated a slip to get down to the visual glideslope, keeping in just a bit of power in the flare. Seafood at Downrigger's was excellent, as always.

I flew the takeoff on the return flight, again enjoying the impressive climb angle on departure. We cruised low level around the San Juan islands, enjoying the outstanding visibility, then I pushed up the power for another impressive climb, swiftly getting to 6500 feet for close up views of Three Fingers mountain and the glorious terrain of the local Cascade Mountains. On our return to Auburn, I checked out the maneuvering capability, enjoying the light stick forces and crisp flight control responsiveness. While slowing, I noted that the Bristell does not have a stall warning horn, and will check out the approach to stall and stall feel on a subsequent flight.

We flew the right pattern to land on runway 17 at Auburn, with another smooth touchdown. I'm looking forward to more flights in the Bristell, checking out the IFR capability with the G3X and GNX 375 combo, and experiencing again the Rotax 915's climb and efficient cruise capability. Thanks for the Bristell introduction, Devin!

Nanchangs and Kachinas - Jun 2025

I always look forward to the early summer formation clinic held at the Bremerton, WA airport. For 2025, we expected our Canadian Nanchang and Yak pilots to make their annual cross-border visit with their birds, plus we expected our local Navions, T-28s and a few T-6s to join, in addition to a few new visitors for the summer.

In the weeks before the clinic, I was contacted by my friend Jeff from Pasco, WA, who had been infected with the warbird/formation bug a few weeks earlier at the T-28 and T-6 fly-in at Richland, WA. Jeff researched and bought a Nanchang CJ-6, based at Arlington, WA, that I had previously flown with in formation. Jeff contacted me to help with the 15-hour checkout requirement stipulated by his insurance company. We figured we could get a good portion of the required hours learning the basics of Nanchang flying, then join the formation clinic for initial formation training with the visiting Canadian Nanchangs and Yaks.

I had a fun time with Jeff early in the week at Arlington transitioning into the Nanchang, where the hardest part is learning to taxi! With a castering nosewheel and very powerful (and twitchy) brakes, every pilot that I have transitioned, including myself, has been very humbled while trying to accomplish the seemingly simple task of ground taxiing! Once in the air, the Nanchang is a blast to fly, with very light control forces, especially in roll, great visibility and easy landing habits. Jeff took a bit of time to conquer the taxi gremlins, but quickly and enjoyably mastered the basic flying portion.

Our Canadian pilots were very pleased when we showed up at Bremerton with another Nanchang, since they only had three birds and needed a compatible fourth for planned four-ship recommendation and check flights. Since Jeff had no previous formation experience, my arm was twisted into conducting the close formation and maneuvering part of the four-ship recommendation flights, while Jeff observed. We were later able to accomplish three initial two-ship flights with Jeff getting to observe and then fly the close formation maneuvers after I demo'd them.

After 15+ hours of transition training and many landings, Jeff 'Spank' Hanoff earned his complex endorsement, insurance signoff and three formal formation training flights in his new Nanchang CJ-6A, plus a long cross-country home to Pasco, WA from Bremerton. Very good flying, and he can now even taxi a Nanchang! Well done ‘Spank’!

I also enjoyed flying in a new type at the clinic, a Varga Kachina, owned by Trent Hendricks. With a light airframe and powered by an O-320, it has all the ingredients for a great formation platform - sticks vs yokes, great visibility and responsive flight controls. It's also super-easy to land.

In 1948, American aircraft test pilot/aircraft designer W.J. Morrisey produced a wood-and-fabric light aircraft, the 1000C Nifty. In 1958 he reworked that design with an all-metal structure and increased power, with two aircraft completed as the Morrisey 2000. A further improvement came with the Morrisey 2150, incorporating a 108-hp Lycoming O-235 engine. The company built nine aircraft by the end of 1959.

The construction and design rights were then sold to Shinn Engineering Inc. which built 35 improved Shinn 2150A aircraft with a 150 hp Lycoming O-320-A2C engine, before ceasing production in 1962. The 2150A design rights were sold in 1967 to George Varga who formed the Varga Aircraft Corporation. 121 Varga 2150A Kachinas were built at Chandler, Arizona between 1975 and 1982.

Trent had flown on my wing for his first formation flights during last year's Bremerton clinic, and I was able to fly with him in the Kachina this year to continue his wingman training. I was impressed with the handling and climb capability of the Kachina, and we found that using either an O-1 Bird Dog or a Navion as lead gave the Kachina a very compatible lead aircraft for close formation, trail, pitchouts, rejoins and returns to initial. Trent found his wingman skills increasing by the end of the clinic, getting close to earning his FAST wingman credentials later this year.

Slings, Comanches and Beavers - Jun 2025

I have been interested in the Sling TSi as a very modern, capable and efficient cross-country airplane since I first flew a TSi out of Torrance, CA in 2018.

Recently, my daughter moved to Colorado, adding a new requirement to my aircraft mission - hot and high performance capability. My trusty Piper Warrior, powered by a 160-hp O-320, was suddenly unable to accomplish all my cross-country missions. As I began to research new aircraft options, I found out that there were a number of Sling TSi aircraft either based in the Puget Sound, or in the build process and planned to be based in the Northwest. In addition, my friend Kevin expressed an interest in a more modern cross-country aircraft than his capable but 66-year old Piper Comanche, which Kevin uses extensively to travel to Cavanaugh Bay (66S) and Priest Lake, ID.

After contacting a few Northwest Sling owners, Sling owner Rob Smith agreed to give us an orientation flight, especially after he learned of our Cavanaugh Bay destination, since a visit to 66S was one of his cross-country visit goals. Kevin sweetened the deal with an offer to let us both get some seaplane time in his gorgeous Beaver on floats.

Initially, Kevin and I both planned to fly in Rob's Sling TSi together, but Kevin needed to fly his Comanche to 66S on our scheduled Sling orientation day, so I coordinated a formation join up to allow us to compare performance, and to allow Kevin to lead us through a typical descent and approach through the mountains and over Priest Lake to land at Cavanaugh Bay. Rob and I climbed out of Boeing Field (KBFI) as Kevin departed from Puyallup (KPLU), and we used ADS-B for a smooth rejoin at 11,500 feet over Cle Elum Lake in the eastern Cascade foothills.

I had Kevin continue eastbound to Idaho as I rejoined into close formation on his wing, and Rob proceeded to get some good air-to-air photos as Kevin took some shots of us on his wing. We flew a performance comparison, and were all surprised how well the Sling TSi, even with its gear down and bolted, kept up with the Comanche with its gear up, while sipping Costco unleaded autogas in its Rotax 915iS engine vs the Comanche's 100LL and O-540.

As we descended into Idaho, we throttled back in the TSi and moved into trail with the Comanche, and followed Kevin over Coolin, ID at the south end of Priest Lake, then flew north hugging the foothills just east of the Cavanaugh Bay airfield. We checked the windsock, which favored the preferred south landing direction to the uphill 3100'x 120' turf runway 15. Rob followed Kevin on final for a nice touchdown and short roll out on the relatively smooth grass.

After parking both birds at the north end of the field, Rob, Kevin and I then proceeded via a Seadoo Switch shuttle boat to the nearby Tanglefoot Seaplane base, where we helped Kevin move his DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver on floats out of the hangar and down the ramp into the water. Kevin expertly coached Rob through his first left seat Beaver flight, taking a short low-level cruise around Priest Lake up to the Elkins Resort restaurant for a delicious lunch with Kevin's wife Hannah and a friend. Since I am more comfortable with a throttle in my left hand, Kevin gave me the right seat in the Beaver for the return flight. With a fairly strong south wind, the Beaver leaped airborne after a short run from Elkins and Kevin had me fly to the north for a water landing on Upper Priest Lake, and then coached me through four more aggressive water landings as we made our way south back to Tanglefoot.

Once back at Tanglefoot, we rode the Seadoo back to the Cavanaugh Bay airport, where Rob gave Kevin a quick local flight to give him a feel for the Sling. Kevin was impressed with the climbout capability, smooth flight controls and short landing rollout. Since the afternoon was waning, Rob and I bid our farewells, and launched downhill off runway 33. We quickly climbed to 10,500 feet, then descended to 8500 feet for better winds westbound. Rob gave me some practice with the Garmin G3X and autopilot operation as we flew over the Grand Coulee Dam, then across the south end of Lake Chelan, then over Highway 2 and Skykomish to a right downwind to runway 32L at Boeing Field after two 360s for spacing.

Thanks Rob for an update on the Sling's performance and cross-country capability, and thanks Kevin for my five water landings and more Beaver time!

Epilog

Kevin's wife Hannah sent me an impressive poem that she wrote just after our arrival - well done! "The Tale of Sling and Comanche"
By Hannah and the Skywind Crew

At the edge of a sunny meadow near a tall green forest, two airplanes rested side by side.
One was bright red with sharp, modern lines and a silver smile. His name was Sling TSi, but his friends just called him Sling.
The other was painted a deep blue and white, with shiny wingtip tanks and a golden stripe. She was older and wiser, and her name was Comanche 250-though everyone called her Manny.

Sling stretched his wings and hummed, "Let's go flying! I want to zip over the mountains and see how fast I can cruise today!"
Manny chuckled. "You and your speed! Always in a rush. Back in my day, we didn't have fancy glass cockpits and turbo buttons."
Sling grinned. "Well, back in your day, dinosaurs flew biplanes!"
Manny laughed. "Touché, young spark plug."

They lined up on the grassy runway. Sling revved his Rotax engine, sipping just a bit of fuel like a polite guest at tea. Manny powered up her big Lycoming, roaring proudly like a lion who'd flown across the country more times than she could count.
As they flew side by side, Sling dashed ahead with his slick frame and modern avionics.
But when the air grew bumpy over the hills, Manny steadied herself with her sturdy frame and long wings, gliding smoothly like a bird who'd seen every storm.

They landed together in a hidden valley where wildflowers danced and rabbits watched curiously.
"Whew," Sling said. "That was fun! You're smooth in the wind, Manny."
"And you're quite the mountain climber," she replied. "That turbocharger really works magic."

They looked up at the sky, where clouds drifted and dreams floated.
"Let's keep flying together," Sling said.
"Deal," Manny smiled. "Fast or slow, old or new-real friends always find the same runway."

The End.

Richland T-28s - May 2025

I've enjoyed the unique opportunity to fly a number of formation training flights recently in the powerful T-28 Trojan. Years ago I took an extensive ground school course by T-28 instructor Michael Kopp, and had flown training flights in his former T-28B when it was acquired by Scott Urban.

In early 2025, Scott contacted me about supporting an informal formation clinic that he was hosting at his home field of Richland, WA (KRLD). We had three T-28s and four T-6s arrive by Friday morning for the clinic, with gorgeous early summer-like weather forecast. I presented a safety briefing to help set the tone, and we also received a parachute orientation in the evening, while enjoying smash burger tortillas for dinner at Scott's hangar.

Friday started with our first 'get the rust out' T-28 three-ship, with Roger Collins leading in his T-28C, Charlie Goldbach flying his T-28B with me in the backseat, and Scott Urban flying as #3 in his T-28B. The weather was perfect, clear and low 80s, and our working area was close by, over the Sunnyside airfield. We all had a little rust to work off, especially in comm and rejoins, but everyone took it slow for a safe and smooth flight.

Scott had arranged for all the participating pilots to join for lunch at Ann's Best Creole, nearby at the airport. Everyone was impressed with the large lunch portions, and I enjoyed a delicious catfish Po Boy. Next to the restaurant was the Fixed Base Operator (FBO), Sundance Aviation. I stopped by to meet the owner, Clif Dyer, while wearing my Sundance name tag and sporting my Sundance hat. Clif showed me around, and presented me with a complimentary Sundance Aviation ball cap.

We briefed and I flew a second flight in Roger Collins' T-28C N28LC, with Pete Blood as #2 with John Muszala in his pit, and Scott Urban as #3 with Jeff Hanoff, Richland CAF PT-23 driver, in his pit. We climbed again to the area over Sunnyside, practicing close formation, echelon turns and many rejoins, then flew as a wingman when Scott Urban took the lead. We smoked back to the bumpy overhead pattern at 200 knots, and enjoyed a spaghetti dinner while debriefing. Scott's wife Desiree mixed up two Purple Fox drinks, with Empress gin, tonic water, lime juice and a bit of maraschino cherry juice, for my first enjoyable gin drink in 50 years.

I also was able to check out a number of other impressive aircraft in nearby hangars, including Bill O'Neil's amazing camouflaged Berkut and a pristine yellow Swift owned by George Stanley.

On Saturday, I instructed in my third T-28 flight, with better three-ship comm and less rust evident in most of the maneuvering, still with some difficulty in rejoins, prompting a few overshoots, but everyone felt much smoother and relaxed after the three good workout formation flights.

Thanks for the invite, Scott, and the enjoyable opportunity to fly in your gorgeous T-28, along with Charlie and Roger's awesome birds! Sign me up for Richland 2026!

Mooney Time - May 2025

Many years ago, I was sitting F-15 alert at two different locations - Minot, ND and Holloman AFB in Alamogordo, NM. We swapped out three pilots a week to and from Holloman, initially using our two-seat F-15Bs, then using airline flights to complete the weekly swap out. I looked for a way to complete the swap by using a private rented aircraft, both to get some flying time for our pilots, and also to avoid airline 'cattle car' passenger flying. I worked out a checkout program with the Fixed Based Operator at the Minot civilian airport, who suggested a Mooney would work well for our weekly cross-country, since it was fairly fast and relatively inexpensive to rent for the weekly missions. I let one of the other squadron pilots get the first Mooney checkout, while riding along in the backseat, getting ready for my turn in the left seat. Unfortunately, higher headquarters decided to cancel the program just as I was to start my checkout flight. No Mooney pilot-in-command time back then!

Recently, my friend and Cessna 150 owner Chris, who I had been providing instrument training, decided he needed a more capable cross-country and passenger-carrying option than the venerable Cessna 150. After a lot of aircraft evaluations, he found a Mooney that was available and fit his mission, and asked if I could help get him checked out. Although I have flown over 100 different aircraft types, the Mooney had eluded me. With over 11,000 total Mooneys produced, I felt it wouldn't be hard to find another local Mooney for an initial checkout. I was pleasantly surprised, while parking my Warrior after a flight at my Auburn, WA home base, to find out that Bob was the owner of the M20E parked adjacent to my aircraft at Auburn, and he graciously offered me some time in his bird. Aviation is definitely a small, interlinked, generous community.

Over 11,000 Mooney M20 aircraft in total have been produced across three production runs, starting in 1955 and ending in 2019. The M20E Super 21 was introduced in 1964 as a higher-powered version of the Mark 21, powered by a fuel-injected 200HP Lycoming IO-360-A1A engine. The M20E received the 'positive control' autopilot system in 1965, along with a retractable entrance step, improved nose gear door closures, new bucket seats with recessed arm rests, improved cabin ventilation, and a ram air power boost to improve high altitude performance. 1,264 M20Es were built.

Bob led me through a thorough pre-flight and description of his Mooney and the systems unique to his bird. There are no shock struts on a Mooney’s landing gear, nor sprung steel landing gear legs nor bungee shock absorbers. Al Mooney designed all three gear legs with a stack of rubber donut landing gear shock absorbers to take the impact of landing. The rubber donuts were quite noticeable on the exterior walk-around, but functioned well, according to Bob. I had remembered the cockpit years ago being fairly tight, and was surprised at the 'normal' cockpit width I felt when settling into Bob's Mooney. We took off from Auburn's runway 35, where I immediately enjoyed the ample power from the IO-360, noticeable in the good climb performance. The landing gear retraction was a simple process using the prominent 'Johnson Bar' just below the cockpit main panel between the front seats. Bob's Mooney felt smooth in pitch, with a slightly heavier aileron feel than my Warrior, feeling more like a Cessna 182. In steep turns, coordination was aided by the ailerons having a differential linkage. Aileron up travel is greater than down travel, helping minimize adverse yaw when they are deflected, kinda cool.

Stall warnings and recovery are conventional. With the IO-360 power and clean configuration with the gear up, the M20E does like to cruise and climb fast. When in the descent for landing, you need to keep your speed under control, monitoring the 120 MPH gear speed. Landing gear retraction/ lowering is easy and obvious, with the large 'Johnson Bar' handle throw. Flaps can be deployed below 100 MPH, and Bob suggested 90 MPH on base and 80 MPH initially on final, which all worked great for speeds. Landing is a no-brainer, with a slightly lower flare height that needs to be seen just once. I felt very comfortable after only an hour in-flight! Bob, thanks for finally allowing me some 'Mooney Time', it's a sweet flying machine!