Log 103 - More Flights, More Fun

I hadn't written anything since May? OMG!

I never really wanted to be a test pilot again, but all's good. It's a somewhat private experience. The people who do it know exactly what I'm talking about. That's part of why I don't post so much lately but it all has been going very good.

Flights:
Last post was May 27th and I've flown almost every day since then. I go to Pt. Angeles, Pt. Townsend, Sequim, Arlington, Bellingham, Skagit Valley, Orcas Island, San Juan Friday Harbor and a few other places. I've been testing CG, fuel mixtures, all instruments, speeds, turns, climbs and what ever else I can think of. I will continue documenting after phase 1 is complete. As of yesterday, I have 39.2 of 40 hours complete!!!

Landings:
I want to give landings there own discussion. I started out with two point landings and have been experimenting with three point, cross wind and downwind landings. None of it is easy. Even when the wind is straight down the runway, it's not easy and there is NO time to quit paying attention. It can get squirrelly, difficult to see, get a little sideways, not easy to see the runway. I've been dealing with this, learning and getting better but lots of practice. Pilots with high tailwheel time are highly respected in my book!

Experiences:
Most has been good but it is a lonely road. You hear every noise, any knocks in the engine or the wheels as you taxi, take off or land, any smell. I've flown by a few hang glider sights and seen friends flying. I visited with a few experts who's shared there knowledge. Terry Birch and I visited and he had advise on landings, general flying, the engine, my modifications so far. Jeff LaVelle and I discussed some of the flight characteristics. I landed at Arlington yesterday and the doors were open at the Glasair shop . A few Glasair employee's greeted me when I taxied up including Ben Watson, who I met recently living at the Whidbey Langley Airport and was working at Boeing till he found a better rounded opportunity at Glasair. Ted Setzer introduced himself, another legend in my book who worked Glasair for 32 years so far. I knew his brother, Tom from Boeing but first time meeting Ted and he had lots of advise and loved to discuss how things are going. Of course, the Scalded Dog is a Glasair 1 and I don't know if there is a lot of these flying around. I'm starting to see a few around though.

Mods and fixes:
Just off the top of my had, I have a small mod on the front of the engine to cut holes for better air flow on #1 & #2 cylinders. My Van's airbox secondary air door keeps breaking the opening cable. I'll find a new design for this soon, but its not to critical. I will test my air lines again and possibly lengthen my pitot tube away from wing. It may be causing my airspeed to read about 10 mph too slow. I'm finding the fuel management to be interesting and always looking for ways to improve that..including when to use the header tank, what 'full' really means, air vent and expansion overflow, general measuring level and tail down..... I have a few other things documented to clean up but all else is going very well.