PonyCarFan

We took the 2018 Polaris General out for one last ride before hunting season starts. This is peak fall colors time, October, 2022. The General is a great all-around UTV that we use for snow plowing in the winter, and both fun and work in the summer. The Ride Command was well worth the money at the time, and I believe the 7S is worth it, despite the upgraded price tag. Let me know in the comments if you have the 7S, would love to hear your thoughts.

It's an awesome day for flying! Let's fly over Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range. Links: https://ironrange.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Range

This is video commentary on my Mustang flight from 2019. I wanted to explain some of what you may have seen in the previous videos, and also share a bit of what it was like. Previous videos with more flying time: Stallion 51 Flight of a Lifetime, Part I: P-51 Mustang Takeoff and Practice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3GfBOtGxQk&t=273s Stallion 51 Flight of a Lifetime, Part II: P-51 Mustang Aerobatics and Landing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qtk01mtw5M In a lot of ways, this was an “intro flight” – where prospective pilots are given their first chance to handle the airplane and learn what it’s like. With an instructor to bail you out (and who will help on the controls a lot more than you realize), your experience is much more empowering. My instructor pilot (his USAF callsign is Homer) didn’t just let me fly, he taught me lessons that I can use in flying other airplanes, and I’ll always be grateful for that. This may not mean much to non-pilots, but I wanted to share some conclusions: 1 – The Mustang doesn’t have any adverse yaw that I could tell. I’m sure it does, but with the totality of my hours in airplanes with a lot of adverse yaw, I was incredibly impressed. 2 – Slow flight was much easier that I expected. Approaching a stall gave us a lot of buffet and except for dropping a wing the stall was very easy to recover from. Handling was very good, slow or fast. 3 – With 12 unmuffled exhaust pipes pointed at the cockpit, that engine is LOUD. I had earplugs in, underneath my headset, and while that muffled the engine fairly well, I could barely understand Homer’s commands most of the time. You can hear him much better than I could. 4 – Synchronize your altimeters before you leave the ramp. I didn’t think to ask him for his setting and missed the barometric pressure. In a moment of poor judgement, I set my altimeter to the airport elevation and ended up missing all of Homer’s elevation calls. 5 – Airspeed says what???? The airspeed indicator was another point of confusion, because it wasn’t like anything else I’ve ever seen. Homer would tell me to hold an airspeed and I tried my best to guess what speed to hold, based on what my gauge said. I honestly don’t believe my airspeed was correct, but it’s probably just the way I was trying to figure it out. 6 - Finally, probably the most important lesson: A successful landing starts way beforehand. In my case, we had to turn away from the runway on the downwind leg, because we were high and fast. That messed up my turn to final, because I didn’t allow for the longer distance on the base leg. We landed way off the centerline. Because the wind was light, it wasn’t a problem. But, it’s something I have worked on since then. Stallion 51 does a great job of making everyone feel like a VIP. You walk away feeling awe for the Mustang and confidence in your ability at the same time. The Mustang really does own the sky, I don’t know of any other way to describe it. The experience is expensive, but well worth it. One warning: You’ll need to go back and do it again, so don’t plan on checking it off your bucket list (it will always be on your list, ha ha). Please let me know if you fly Crazy Horse I or II – I’d love to know if you have similar experiences.

This is Part II of my flight in the P-51 Mustang, “Crazy Horse”, from the Stallion 51 headquarters in Kissimmee, FL. In Part I, I was introduced to the Mustang and was given the opportunity to learn the feel of the controls as well as slow flight characteristics (and what surprised me was a relatively benign stall, when coordinated). In this part, we start exploring what the plane was made for – aerobatics. The Mustang has virtually no noticeable adverse yaw with aileron movement, which I didn't expect at all. I found myself unintentionally turning right when pulling up, and you can hear "Homer" telling me several times to keep the wings level. This was the first time I’d actually done aerobatics, or had it explained to me, so I took it easy. It doesn’t look like it, but all pull outs needed between 3 and 4 G’s. We originally briefed to make a continuous turn from the downwind leg to final in the landing pattern, but my turn was a little tighter than it needed to be and I wasn’t lined up for the runway centerline. This put me to the right of centerline all the way to touch down. Without a crosswind, not a big deal, but I would’ve liked to have done better. The Mustang owned the sky. I can see why it was such an effective air-superiority fighter, and why pilots fall in love with it. Thanks to instructor John “Homer” Black and Stallion 51 for the flight of a lifetime!

In Part I, we take off and spend time getting to know the airplane. The P-51 Mustang is a WW II fighter made in the 1940's. "Crazy Horse" was originally a single seat fighter and was converted to a dual-controlled Mustang in the early 70's. While it was very sensitive to trim changes, it was actually very easy to make it go where you want it to go. I see why so many Mustang pilots love the airplane. The flight took place at the Stallion 51 headquarters in Kissimmee, FL. I flew with instructor John "Homer" Black. Everyone there treated us like old friends and it was a very inviting atmosphere. The facility is unbelievably clean and orderly. Part II will be uploaded soon. This will be footage of aerobatics, the overhead break over the airport and landing. While Part I was the "normal pilot stuff", the next part will be the "fighter pilot stuff". This was an awesome experience! Thanks to Stallion 51 for the flight of a lifetime!

This is an owner's review of the Polaris Sportsman 570 SP with Electronic Power Steering (EPS). We ride through the Chippewa National Forest in Northern Minnesota on a beautiful fall day with colors near their peak.

This is a quick review of the 2024 Arctic Cat Riot 9000 EPS. SInce the 2024 Thundercat is so similar, consider this video to be my review of that sled, as well.

For snowmobilers in Minnesota, 2022-23 has been a season to remember. Let's go for one last ride before the snow melts!

Today, I'm sharing a bit of what it was like behind the scenes of the Arctic Cat 2024 Photo Shoot in Wyoming. This was a great time, and I enjoyed every minute. We all made new friends in snowmobiling, got to ride with legendary professional snowmobilers and try out the new Catalyst snowmobiles. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

I participated on the Arctic Cat 2024 photo shoot in January and published a video about my first impressions of the Catalyst platform. At the time, not much was known, and I promised Arctic Cat that I wouldn't divulge information they weren't prepared to release to the public. I'm no longer asked to refrain from talking about details and this video is a continuation of that first video in January.

There are a lot of snowmobile racing circuits in the snow belt, and this is one of them - ice racing oval league, Central Minnesota Pond Racing. This is a mid-season race for them called Race on Trace, held on Trace Lake in Grey Eagle, MN. The race was held on February 18, 2023, and turned out to be a beautiful day on the ice. I managed to film a few of the heat races, just to expose viewers to what this kind of racing is.

In this video, I'm going to share 4 tips with beginner snowmobilers to help them avoid embarrassment and injury. Keep watching for a bonus tip!

These are my final thoughts on the Arctic Cat ADAPT clutch upgrade. After not being happy with the jerkiness of the original TEAM clutch, I decided to try an ADAPT upgrade kit from Black Diamond Xtreme. This is a quick vide, please watch for my thoughts on it. Also, please like and subscribe for more content like this and to help me share with others.

I'm trying to get my 2021 Arctic Cat Riot 8000 to run its best. I'm not looking for wild improvements, I'm looking to get the most out of the stock configuration as I can. That lead me to Speedwerx in Forest Lake, MN for a clutch kit and "stock" tune. Will it be the cat's meow, or did I swing and miss? Let's find out!

I was very excited to ride what many consider to be the very definition of a cross over snowmobile, with an engine that has received a huge amount of positive attention. Unfortunately, I don't think I was fully prepared for the demo, nor was the sled, and I came away less impressed than I expected to be. The 850 engine was in break in mode (I think the sled had less than 100 miles on it), and the suspension wasn't set up in any way - they put the sled together and let me ride it. I would love another chance, and have actually asked Polaris directly. Maybe, some day, they'll give me that chance.

Ski Doo is a name that's been around a long time, as long as snowmobiling. Sometimes, I think I've been around that long (I haven't, just in case you were wondering). Therefore, you might think I've ridden my share of Ski Doo snowmobiles, but I haven't - this was my first. Is it good? Yes, it is. There are a few things that I'm not used to, and I'll discuss those. What really impressed me was how smooth this two stroke engine was - Swiss watch precision seems like an appropriate description.

The Riot X is a crossover sled that's biased toward off-trail. It has the same Alpha single rail rear suspension as the long track mountain sleds. So does the Blast M, which is an entry level mountain sled (and a 400 cc single cylinder engine). These two snowmobiles are aimed at a market segment that's outside of my comfort zone, and it was really cool to see whether I could adapt. Spoiler: I did.

People flock to the glamorous sleds, the big motors, the flashy graphics - this isn't that. The Indy SP 600 has the old Liberty "Clean Fire" engine, tried and true. Not the fastest, flashiest or flirtatous, the Indy SP is just a good all-around sled. I've spent a lot of time on Polaris 600's and always enjoyed it. Will the new Indy tempt me to trade in my old Indy? We'll see!

This is quite a snowmobile! There's an abundance of power and the suspension is built to accept whatever you want it to do. It may not be as light as the competition, but it corners flat and accelerates hard. This demo was fun!

The Norseman is an interesting snowmobile, because it looks like a mountain sled but pulls like a utility sled. With its long track, 800 engine and wide skis, it doesn't seem to have any trouble navigating any conditions. The ski stance is on the narrow side, and it doesn't corner as well as it's trail cousins. However, I can see why it's so popular, because it can do just about anything.

As an adult, I was lucky to ride the Blast ZR. I learned not to underestimate the fun an adult can have on what Arctic Cat calls a "7/8 sized sled". It feels light and nimble. Not as powerful as most "full sized" snowmobiles, it managed to keep up with the group without any trouble. Beginners will love a snowmobile like this, and I think Cat hit a home run by introducing a snowmobile for them.

This is a demo ride on the 2021 Arctic Cat Riot 6000. I didn't realize when I hopped on it that it was the 600 engine, and by the time I figured it out I was surprised - it felt stronger than what I expected. The Riot is a really good platform for trail riding with occasional detours into the powder. If you want to ride more often off-trail, you're better off with the Riot X.

Ever wonder why your snowmobile is so hard to steer? Or, how little "bite" the skis seem to have in the corners? This could be one reason why - stay tuned, this is a 2-part series!

This is the "big air" demo from Hay Days 2022. Very entertaining!