Tripp
We have just joined a very small group. We heard recently that 0.2% of people have ever piloted an airplane. Few of those ever owned one. We just did something that until recently seemed impossible: we bought an airplane!
One way we bond to things we enjoy is by naming them, and since she’s certainly no exception our 1983 Cessna 172Q is now named Tripp. If you’d like to guess how we came up with that name, post a Comment.
Soon we’ll remove the ropes tying her wings to the ground, and the three of us will ride the skies together. We’ll also sometimes bring one or two other people along (you’re invited). Stay tuned for some new Adventures!
John & Anne Wiley 
Welcome to ownership!!! Mary and I joined the ranks in October of 09.We wish you both fun times, exciting adventures and blue skies!!Tripp….no clue not even a guess. Our Sundowner is Juliet, a spin off of the tail number 08Romeo.
Comment by Gary — 2010/03/01 @ 20:23
It's not related to any political personality, nor directly to the fact we plan to enjoy many great trips. Partly it hearkens back to someone in my wife's family history. Mostly though it began somewhat like your Juliet. We played with the fact she's a 172Q, but shied away from calling her Q after my googling turned up a poster for the movie by that name. I'm told the U.S. Navy radio call for her tail number would be "sixty-six triple sticks." I find that ATC here has mostly adopted my adaptation of the familiar nickname "triple-one." Tripp now seems to have mostly stuck, though I still call her Q occasionally. So perhaps her initials are Q.T.
Comment by John — 2010/03/03 @ 09:06
Nice one. I have only flown once but would certainly like to do it again soon. Although I flew a Piper…
Comment by Rock The Boat — 2010/04/30 @ 08:40
RTB, I used to prefer the cool look and slightly better performance of Piper low wings like the Archer. Having been in the SB Flying Club, I had the fun of flying several planes. I didn’t like the Archer’s single door on the co-pilot side, nor did I like the only window you can open being the 4×4″ hole on the pilot side (I call it the “waving window” because you can squeeze your hand through it). Now contrast that with the Grumman AA5-B Tiger: faster low wing with the same engine, and a sliding hatch providing step-in access to all four seats and you can fly with the hatch open! Still we found ourselves gravitating to “Flash” the 172M because the wing is up out of your way for viewing and photos, it likes flying slower, and the windows can be opened wide by removing a small stop screw. So when we realized it was within our budget to buy a plane we settled on the 172Q for all the advantages of Flash, plus the bigger engine in Tiger and Archie. Tripp is our ideal plane for our preferred form of flight: low (1.5k’AGL) and slow (80kt). She climbs like a homesick angel at full throttle, can manage 125kt or so at full speed sea level, and perks along economically getting 20mpg at 80kt. Can you tell we’re in love?
Comment by 4ja4u — 2010/05/22 @ 21:10