Short Wing Piper Club

So nearly and now too late

So nearly and now too late

By Richard Ansell

Jam tomorrow promises now spread a little thin?

I am guessing that most of us spend far too much time wondering what on earth is going on in Arsene Wenger’s head, and none of us will be any the wiser for it I am sure. It is only my long association with Arsenal that is driving my interest now because I have given up on Wenger and expect nothing to change until he has gone.

We have had lots of winless streaks, many during my support of the club, but it is this one that has really got under my skin. The closest I can remember to it was under Terry Neil when we were just short of being a title winning side, and then instead of seeing decent players coming in we had to watch first Brady and then Stapleton quit the club. These departures of course spelt disaster and we then endured some of the worst players I have ever seen pull on an Arsenal shirt – who remembers the Hankin / Hawley strike force? I am afraid that we are about to see a similar pattern emerging now with the Nasri / Fabregas fiasco.

It is the fact that we have been so close to greatness that really irks me because it is just completely frustrating. We watch the same players let the team down week in and week out, we all know we need some decent, experienced defensive signings, an experienced quality keeper, and a big centre forward to give us that much required plan B, and yet NOTHING ever seems to happen to improve matters. Now it is like déjà vu and for Brady / Stapleton read Nasri and Fabregas. Of course our better players have had enough, just like we have, of Wenger’s jam tomorrow promises. We have heard it too many times now and don’t believe him anymore.

Based on past experience my bet is that both Nasri and Fabregas will be sold near to the end of the transfer window and Wenger will claim that he did all he could to keep them and will then say of course there is now no time for replacements to be brought in. The alternative is that he forces them to stay; Nasri runs his contract down, losing the club £20M, Fabregas’s value falls and we have two players at the club that don’t want to play for us. Either way it is a mess of Wenger’s own making.

I don’t expect to see any proper defensive signings, and predict that Jenkinson (just out of short trousers) will be our only addition in this respect. Clichy was no big loss but Gibbs for me still has a lot to prove, and I don’t think Traore is up to it. Then on the right we still have Eboue waiting in the wings to f**k things up when Sagna is injured. It will be great to have Vermaalen back but overall we will be no better than last year defensively because we know that the defence is not up to the job. Song is no Vieira and Frimpong, although promising, is still very much work in progress. In goal we have Szczesny who looks good, but how about Given for £3.5M as back up rather than Fabianski or God help us Almunia if we haven’t managed to loan him out somewhere.

The Biplane Forum: Preferred Monoplane for two wingers

The short wing piper club wants an arm and a leg just to talk to them. They didn't used to, so I'm gonna ask here. Why does it seem that short wing Pipers are always wheel landed? Do they lack tail power for a full stall? Are they too short legged? What's up with that? I've always liked the Vagabond but intend because of my Pitts project to stick with full stall landings.  Uh Oh. I'm not sure how to read that Bill. When you landed on grass did you find it unusual in any way? I know my uncle wadded up his Pacer in his first 10 hours of ownership, but I'm not sure what to make of that. He's somewhat of a brain donor. Ideally one wants some significant useful load and genuine conventional gear. I'm not picky, just a good airplane at a fair price.  the vagabond is the reason it took me 80 hrs to get my private! i started in a tripacer, then they got the vag to rent out at the airport.  i got my tailwheel signoff on it and spent the next 25 hrs or so just doing takeoffs and landings and popping around the 3 local airports.  never did anything towards the requirements for the private, was having waaayyyy too much fun than should be allowed!  i was 16 years old, that was back in 96.  i have about 40 hours total in one, and love them.  i didnt think it was difficult to keep from departing the sides of the runway at all.  did my first few landings on the grass, every one after that was on blacktop other than flying to a local grass strip.  it had 800x4 cub tires on it, so that may have helped.  you can also fly all day on a teaspoon of gas with the cute little thing as well!  i almost bought one but got a steal of a deal on a c-150 (step in the complete other direction) but i couldnt turn that down.  grab a pa-17 it will make ya a great pilot! Yes. Gotta be LSA Chuck. I'm in pretty good shape but I'm just not willing to test the local ME crowd again. My best friend horsed around too long and had his revoked. Now LSA is not open to him. The 140 is a great airplane. The one I flew in Alaska had wheels, floats and skis. Why oh why is it not included. It's that gross weight thing. Horsefeathers.  Thanks Smizo. I think what I recall from talking to Vagabond pilots at flyins agrees pretty much with what you've described. The choice right now is between the PA-17 (or a 15 with dual controls) and the 8A Luscombe. I've only ever flown an 8F from the late '50s and it was a great airplane. Vagabonds are rare though.

Short Wing Piper Club, Commemorative History

Flying

The AOPA pilot, voice of general aviation

Aero Trader & Chopper Shopper, June 1996

Encyclopedia of Associations: pt. 1, sections 1-6 National organizations of the U.S