About five months after ordering my new Sting S3 at the Sebring Light Sport Expo, I found myself at North Little Rock Municipal Airport (KORK), the home of SportairUSA, for the delivery. To say the preceding five months had gone quickly would be lying. Every day seemed to be two days as I waited for my new airplane to first be manufactured in the Czech Republic and then make its way across the pond to Little Rock. While it seemed to take forever, in reality, Sportair delivered the plane right on schedule.

I arrived in Little Rock on Tuesday evening having just taken a one-way trip from New York by human mailing tube. The plan was to start training and familiarization early the next morning, but I couldn’t stand the wait and went straight out to KORK as soon as I arrived. To my pleasure and relief, I could see N312MW off in the distance in the SportAir hangar being tended to by Bill Canino in preparation for the next morning’s delivery. Problem was that a chain link fence separated the two of us and I didn’t know the combination to the gate nor did I have Bill’s cell phone number. Not letting a lousy airport fence and some threatening “stay-out” signs keep me from my new airplane, I drove the perimeter of the airport until I eventually found a chink in the airport’s armor (an unlocked gate) and I was soon standing next to the airplane. 

TruTrak EFIS/AP

As many of you know, Bill is a southern gentleman who takes customer service very seriously.  Although surprised by my early arrival, Bill couldn’t let a new customer just “look” at his new purchase, and he and I were in the air 20 minutes later for my first introduction flight. Even on the first flight, Bill didn’t miss the chance to start indoctrinating me into how to properly handle a Sting: how to taxi (don’t ride the brakes!), how to make the famous 180-degree power-off landing approach, and generally how to make the airplane sing.

This training continued for the next three days. During that time, I had essentially unlimited access to two excellent CFIs, Tony Darby and David Jones, both very familiar with Stings. Bill and I also put in a couple of hours in the air together. Interspersed with the flying was some intensive ground school. We went over the Rotax 912 engine, how the plane is put together, weight and balance, avionics, maintenance, the parachute, you name it. By the time Friday afternoon came around, I had spent three full days with Bill and his crew and put about 8 hours onto Two-Mike-Whiskey, with the last hour being some solo touch-and-go confidence boosters. As predicted, by that point I felt I knew the plane and felt entirely comfortable with the idea of heading home the next day. The training was made a lot more fun by the presence of three other new Sting owners, Doug, Tim, and Adam, who were also involved in the various training elements, not to mention many meals out. It was great comparing notes and generally hanging out with these guys.

The pilots: Neil (left) & Mike

It should be noted that Bill takes this familiarization training very seriously. There is no rushing, no cutting corners, and each new owner is encouraged to take whatever time that owner needs to get acquainted with the airplane, whether it requires three days or several more. Bill provides the CFIs and even provides the gas. The reason for Bill’s commitment to this process is clear. No Stings have yet ended up in the NTSB databases, and he wants to keep it that way.

It is often said that a manager can be judged by the people he hires. If that is the case, Bill is an excellent manager. Larry, Mark, Ralph, Suzanne, and Donna are each an absolute pleasure. Tony and David, the CFIs, are hand-picked for their teaching skills and their professionalism. I enjoyed meeting each one of them, and look forward to seeing them again soon. The local barbeque ain’t bad either.

The mighty Mississippi

For the flight home, my buddy and fellow aviator Neil met me at KORK on Friday afternoon. The plan for the return flight was, at least on paper, quite grandiose. On Saturday, we planned on visiting Bowling Green, KY so we could tour the Corvette assembly plant and museum. This was of special interest to Neil because he had just purchased a new Corvette and was going to take delivery the next week. On Sunday, we planned on visiting Batavia, OH (home of Sporty’s Pilot Shop), and Sandusky, OH (home of Cedar Point Amusement Park and the world’s highest roller coaster). With these stops completed, we would then fly the final leg to New York the following Monday or Tuesday. At least that was the plan. As things turned out, however, the plan evolved as they often do in GA flying. On the first day, Saturday, we did, in fact fly to Bowling Green, getting there in about three hours. Enroute, we stopped in Dyersburg, TN after crossing the mighty Mississippi. Dyersburg was interesting. While hanging out there, we chatted with a pilot and his wife who were waiting for their preacher to arrive at the airport so they could transport him to an old-fashioned revival meeting somewhere in Michigan in their old Bonanza. When the preacher finally arrived, he seemed to like the Sting a lot better than that seen-better-days Bonanza, forcing me to gently break the news to him that, no, we were not flying to Michigan, and, yes, the plane can only carry two people. We also discovered that Dyersburg Airport has the honor of being the only airport in the world that has Monte Warne’s (the founder of Boss Hoss Motorcycles and a famous resident of Dyersburg) patented “vented toilets.” I never found out exactly what these toilets “vent,” but I left a business card for Monte just in case he has any more good ideas (I am a patent attorney).

312MW in the hangar

Sunday, we woke up in Bowling Green to our own revelation, namely that flying north to Sporty’s and Cedar Point was likely going to cost us an extra week of sitting out some fast approaching weather from the northwest. Enjoying pilot shops and roller coaster, but not liking them enough to add several days to the trip, I made the command decision to head for NY that very day. As predicted, tailwinds helped a lot. Three more hours on the Hobbs and we landed at Morgantown, WV, for a crosswind landing (easy in the Sting) and some lunch. While at Morgantown, the line guys were nice enough to offer us a lift to and from a great nearby restaurant. We also had the opportunity to hand out some of the Sting brochures that Bill had packed for us. Bill let us know before we left Arkansas that Stings get a lot of attention on the airport ramp so it is good to be armed with brochures. He is right. 

After leaving Morgantown, we started the final 2.5 hour leg to my home airport in Poughkeepsie, NY (KPOU). Amazingly, only in the final hour or so of the trip were we required to deal with any weather, in this case, some building broken cumulus that made us have to descend into the bumpy air to stay in ground contact. Nevertheless, this was pretty much a non-event and was our only weather-related encounter on the whole trip.  As advertised, it felt great having the XM weather on board to confirm that none of the puffies were becoming angry. Once you fly with that weather capability, you will never want to be without it. The days of calling Flight Watch and receiving only a vague story on what it is lurking out there are gone. 

In thinking about the trip to Little Rock and the transit home, I am more convinced now than ever that I purchased the right aircraft. I had a fantastic experience with everyone at SportAirUSA in Little Rock.  And on the trip back from Arkansas, the airplane performed like a champ, covering about 950 nautical miles in 8.5 hours in total comfort, safety, and, of course, FUN.

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