Seat of the Pants Flying

These two images are likely older than I am, my father took the top one on final approach to a grass runway, covered in snow.  I don't know who took the second one, that is my father at the controls, the engine is running, but the plane is still tied down.  I think this is a Luscome - if I looked back through his log books I could probably pinpoint the date.  I think the plane was owned by a friend of my father.  

Learning to fly in little planes like this, when my father learned to fly in the early 1950's was learning to fly by feel.  The instrumentation was basic, there no such thing as an auto pilot.  You learned to feel when the plane was flying, and even more important, when it was not. To qualify in the 1950's you had to master stalls and spins, in essence when the plane quit flying and how to recover from them.  These are the basics of aerobatics.  Flying by the numbers came later.  Back in the 50's and 60's when you climbed in a plane like this you were more likely to find a AAA road map, than an aeronautical chart - today you would be looking for a glass panel, GPS, and an I-Pad mount.  

I am glad I had a chance to grow up around little airplanes, seat of the pants pilots, flying in an out of little airports.  It gives me a real feel for flying.  

Have you ever flown in anything like this?