By Lorrie Penner
“Most of the time when I visit an airport, people look at the plane and scratch their heads. They have a hard time guessing what it is,” said Leith Stevens about his Robin R-2160. Leith lives in Boulder, Colorado, and has owned the Robin for the past 18 months. The 1981 black and blue aircraft is a tri-cycle gear side-by-side aerobatic trainer produced in France. Its Lycoming O-320 turns a two-bladed prop and is rated for +6g/-3g.
Father and son flew the Robin from Colorado to Green Bay, Wisconsin, a few days before the opening day at AirVenture. They only had one small hiccup. Scheduled to arrive on Monday, July 24, in Oshkosh, they were delayed by a flat tire. It was a surprise, because they had already changed out the tube before arriving in Wisconsin.
During preflight, there was no apparent defect, and it was only discovered as the airplane was on the taxiway headed to take off. A local mechanic had a tube in stock, but the tire had to be express-delivered from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty. The repair took place on Tuesday, and by Wednesday they happily landed at Wittman Regional Airport.
The Robin got a lot of attention Wednesday when it parked at the IAC area. Once again, there was a lot of chin-scratching and wondering, but Leith and his father were happy to provide information about their unusual bird.