Despite the title of this article, there really are no old Stings in America. The very first one came into this country in 2004. Rich Derr's N2UC is one of the earlier ones, A StingSport with serial number TLUSA 126. Yet when he and his compatriot, CFI H. L. Cooper (no relation to D.B., he claims), taxied up to SportairUSA's facility at KORK earlier this month, the airplane shone as though it had just taxied here from the showroom instead of flying all the way from Tucson.

If you like mechanical things, there's little that's quite so satisfying as a well-cared-for piece of equipment, a distinction for which 2UC is well qualified.

The first time we communicated with Rich was in the fall of 2007, when he emailed to ask for information about the Sting. We were experiencing change in our sales operation at the time and didn't get back to him as quickly as we should have. By the time we did, he'd already located 2UC, for sale by its previous owner in eastern Pennsylvania, and was making plans to go after it. Indecisive, he's not. Out of luck, as far as selling him a new airplane, we were. But he forgave us and embarked on a program of incrementally upgrading his airplane.

While he was visiting at KORK, we were curious to know how he’d made the decision to purchase a Sting. Here's what we learned:

• Rich first learned of the Sting by reading the good review it received in AOPA Pilot, a magazine he respects.
• He wanted a low wing airplane and also looked closely at the Evektor SportStar and the CZAW SportCruiser.
• He thought about the arguments for composite vs. metal, and came down on the side of carbon fiber composite being an ideal material for light, strong, durable aircraft construction.
• Of the aircraft he considered, the Sting exhibited the best fit and finish, inside and out.
• After his research, the Sting appeared to be perfect for his needs, which include flying around southern Arizona for recreation, with longer trips to California and elsewhere to visit family.
• A flight in 2UC confirmed his expectations so he brought it home.
• In all of his research, Rich leaned heavily on the experience of H. L. Cooper, the CFI he'd teamed up with in Tucson.

 

N2UC

Although Rich is a recent pilot, he’s a very experienced aviation professional. He began his training in 2005 and wrapped up his sport pilot license in 2006, working with H. L. Then he bought a Rans S-12. But that was after spending many years as a U.S.A.F. air traffic control officer and then working as civilian air traffic controller at Oakland Center for 14 more years. His airspace there extended from Japan to Area 51.

At Oakland, Rich was the Military Coordinator for the FAA. Coordination involved, at times, meeting with brass from Area 51, who always came to him, at night, suited up in civvies, and never let him come to them. At least, that’s what Rich would have us believe. One of these days we’re going to find a way to get him to come clean about what really goes on there on the southern shore of Groom Lake, in the shadow of Yucca Mountain. Our scheme involves the transfer of several bottles of 2002 Vintner’s Reserve from the Croze Winery…

Today we are all urged to reinvent ourselves, as our economy appears to be passing from one paradigm to the next. But Rich was ahead of this game. When he left the Oakland Center he went back to graduate school to earn a Masters in Clinical Psychology, and linked up with the VA in Tucson to counsel veterans coping with post-traumatic stress disorder. Today he hangs his shingle, as a marriage counselor, in Grass Valley, Arizona, but he still works with veterans of our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families.

If Rich Derr is a master of reinvention, H. L. Cooper exemplifies constant dedication to a lifelong goal. H. L. has been building, flying and training in ultralight aircraft for 30 years. When the light sport rule was promulgated, he quickly recognized both the opportunity presented by this new category of aircraft, and the linkages to his own career. Today he’s a Sport Pilot CFI, flying out of 4AZ8, identified on the charts as a private ultralight field about 10 miles southwest of Marana, AZ. H. L. identifies it as a strip of dust in the desert, but because of his presence there it is rich with aviation tradition. His grandfather was Frank Robinson who, with his brother, William, flew in WW I and afterwards started the Robinson Aviation Corporation in St. Louis. Shortly after his company was awarded the contract to fly mail between St. Louis and Chicago they met an impressive young airman and offered him the job of Chief Pilot. His name was Charles Lindbergh. The company was later sold to American Airways, which eventually became American Airlines.

Rich reminds us that one of the most important ingredients in successful flight training is the relationship between a student and his CFI, and he’s obviously found the perfect match in H. L. If you’re in southern Arizona looking for an instructor, you might want to give H. L. a call at (520) 682-7504.

When the time came for the annual condition inspection on 2UC this year, Rich was ready to tackle some major upgrades and decided to bring the airplane to North Little Rock. He wanted to fit his StingSport out with an autopilot and the new Garmin GPSMAP 696, along with toe brakes for the co-pilot, Wig Wag lighting and one of those sliding horizontal umbrella devices to shade the cockpit, otherwise known as a Koger SunShade. He already had the XRX PCAS to display traffic on his moving map and was happy with his steam gauges, VHF radio and transponder.

In the next issue of Sting Notes we’ll report on the upgrade.

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