To continue the thread that Mark commented on (solo vs. two-up), there've been plenty of discussions in the past and an archive search will turn up enough to keep you reading for hours. I'll throw in my own comments, along with the understanding that my Pietenpol is open-cockpit, which makes it a whole different animal when taking passengers up. Either they love open cockpit or they hate it, but in either case the front cockpit is not someplace you want to spend hours sitting in.
I'd say that 95% of my flying in the Piet is solo, despite the fact that I welcome passengers and it's great fun to go up in a low 'n' slow airplane like this. Strictly pleasant weather flying, VFR only, so anytime I go up I've already eliminated many of the factors that create hesitancy in a passenger. However, the airplane would be considerably more competent as a single-place. I could dispense with the extra controls and front windscreen (not a big deal, but still); I'd have room for honest baggage, to the tune of up to 200 lbs. of it if I could stuff it in the front hole, I could do away with the front seatbelts and shoulder harness that tend to foul my rudder pedals and feet if I don't remove them when flying solo, and I could provide a cover over the front cockpit and eliminate some of the cold drafts when I fly it solo in colder times. For the other 5% of my flying, it would be just too bad that I couldn't introduce people to the joys of flight, couldn't check them out in the airplane, and couldn't take anyone along as a check pilot for experimenting with anything or taking photos. The case for the single-place is pretty strong. Oscar Zuniga Air Camper NX41CC San Antonio, TX mailto: taildr...@hotmail.com website at http://www.flysquirrel.net
