I've had a few great flights recently but let me skip ahead to post the subject fly-in photos from last weekend.
Photos Here
Enjoy!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Log 117 - Concrete, WA Fly-In
Saturday, I heard from friends who were heading north to Concrete and of course was ready for another fly-in. At Paine Field, Paul Allen has the Paine Field Airfair going on, with cool planes on display and military equipment like tanks and bombs. I checked them out for a while then took off to Concrete, WA. There was over 130 planes who flew in for the event. There was an orchestra playing at one of the hangars, concession stands, great people and many things to check out. The fly-in was well attended and such a great atmosphere to sit and talk with other local pilots. I spend the day there, the flew home in the evening. Pictures are Here .
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Log 116 - Catch up post, Into Summer 2014
Well, I don't have my log book in hand but have had numerous flights since the last post. Notably, around the northwest but other places too.
May had a few good flights. I've been spending other time hang gliding finally this year, but as for the plane, previously posted about my flight round trip Seattle to Phoenix for mothers day. I've made a few trips to Ocean Shores. Had a good time at Paine Field Days, my home field. John Sessions had a large display of planes and Paul Allen too.
I took 4 kids for Young Eagles flights for EAA (experimental aircraft association), and a great dinner for the volunteers. It was a descent turnout even with some weather in the morning.
June, I flew around Three Fingers mountain, the lookout and the tragic mountain slide at Oso. I flew the last flight as owner of Cessna 6570 foxtrot, sold to a friend. What a good plane, now flying out of Eatonville, WA. Kurt Hartzog and I flew to Orcas Island, long boarded to Mt. Constitution, climbed, got a ride down, long boarded back to the airport and flew home for dinner (a little sore the next day).
(Flights photos from July so far, plus Tacoma Airshow and July 4th)
July, flew to the Tacoma Narrows Airshow. It was a good show for the public and aerobatics. Tacoma tower let me do a low approach with a lap around the field before parking in the display section. Cool to meet some great pilots and see some friends. July 4th, flew along with friends in 4 other planes to Western Airpark near Olympia to have lunch with, and to honor WW2 pilot and one of the older aerobatic gentlemen. After, I flew to Eatonville, Ranger Creek (first time in this field by Mt Rainier) then back to Paine Field in Everett. Great people, good weather, good flying. July 11, 12th I flew from work to the Arlington Fly-In. Great times visiting friends, planes on display, a really great airshow and get together at Dan Tarasevich and Jimmy Cullers place on the field for music, food, friends and fun. Sunday morning, my wife, Gigi flew with me for the first time in the glasair. We took off for Lake Tahoe for a few days! It was four hours each way. We stopped at Redmond, OR on the way down and Bend, OR on the way home. The air was generally smooth but we had some weather around, smoke from fires and it was warm out at low altitudes. It was a good trip both ways.
All these events were great but let me focus on a current event. Monday, I got word at work that the White Knight is flying to Paine Field from the Mohave Desert in CA. Now this is really something for me and I heard a rumor it may be staying in the northwest. Let me explain for those who don't know the White Knight, and please check it out!
The documentary is Black Sky which is a 'must watch'. The company after the man is Scaled Composites and the man is Burt Rutan. Burt recently semi-retired and moved to the northwest near Coeur d'alene, Idaho. Maybe he'll be at the AOPA Spokane Fly-In. I've been admiring everything about this for many years and posted to the hang gliding club the White Knight flight track was going towards our site, Dog Mountain only to check later and see it flew up and down Riffe Lake next to our site, very cool! Paul Allan, one of the founders of Microsoft, was the main sponsor for Burt Rutan to create the aircrafts to get to space to win the X-Prize. Paul has the flying heritage museum at Paine Field and it made sense, the museum is acquiring the White Knight. The White Knight will be at the Skyfair this weekend! I taxied after work to the museum just after the White Knight arrived and parked close by for some photos. It was like being by the Wright Flyer, so much history. There was also an Alpha Jet escort there, just the three of us for a while. What an experience! I taxied out of there and a T6 was at Alpha6 ready for take off, I heard,"paine tower, T6....ready for take off 16 right, would like low approach and departure to the north" and tower confirmed. I then said, "paine tower, Glasair 88 echo tango....ready for take off 16 right, would like low approach and departure to the north" and tower confirmed. The T6 was already turning crosswind at altitude when I was on the upwind. When I turned downwind, the T6 requested short approach and dove to the runway. Ya, I did the same thing... After low approach the T6 was already north out of my sight so I just headed to Arlington as planned to visit friends. What an afternoon!
Today I put the plane together again. I had always wanted to review the fuel system so Monday I took the panels off, drained all fuel, removed the fuel sensor and inspected a perfectly clean tank and fuel drains. It was good for peace of mind. Today's full blown storm turned to broken clouds, sun and rainbows by the time I was ready to fly this evening so I had fun testing. I even heard someone from Harvey announcing eastbound "departure then southeast to the rainbow", what a funny call, but I was already there.
May had a few good flights. I've been spending other time hang gliding finally this year, but as for the plane, previously posted about my flight round trip Seattle to Phoenix for mothers day. I've made a few trips to Ocean Shores. Had a good time at Paine Field Days, my home field. John Sessions had a large display of planes and Paul Allen too.
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| Paine Field Days, Young Eagle |
June, I flew around Three Fingers mountain, the lookout and the tragic mountain slide at Oso. I flew the last flight as owner of Cessna 6570 foxtrot, sold to a friend. What a good plane, now flying out of Eatonville, WA. Kurt Hartzog and I flew to Orcas Island, long boarded to Mt. Constitution, climbed, got a ride down, long boarded back to the airport and flew home for dinner (a little sore the next day).
(Flights photos from July so far, plus Tacoma Airshow and July 4th)
July, flew to the Tacoma Narrows Airshow. It was a good show for the public and aerobatics. Tacoma tower let me do a low approach with a lap around the field before parking in the display section. Cool to meet some great pilots and see some friends. July 4th, flew along with friends in 4 other planes to Western Airpark near Olympia to have lunch with, and to honor WW2 pilot and one of the older aerobatic gentlemen. After, I flew to Eatonville, Ranger Creek (first time in this field by Mt Rainier) then back to Paine Field in Everett. Great people, good weather, good flying. July 11, 12th I flew from work to the Arlington Fly-In. Great times visiting friends, planes on display, a really great airshow and get together at Dan Tarasevich and Jimmy Cullers place on the field for music, food, friends and fun. Sunday morning, my wife, Gigi flew with me for the first time in the glasair. We took off for Lake Tahoe for a few days! It was four hours each way. We stopped at Redmond, OR on the way down and Bend, OR on the way home. The air was generally smooth but we had some weather around, smoke from fires and it was warm out at low altitudes. It was a good trip both ways.
All these events were great but let me focus on a current event. Monday, I got word at work that the White Knight is flying to Paine Field from the Mohave Desert in CA. Now this is really something for me and I heard a rumor it may be staying in the northwest. Let me explain for those who don't know the White Knight, and please check it out!
The documentary is Black Sky which is a 'must watch'. The company after the man is Scaled Composites and the man is Burt Rutan. Burt recently semi-retired and moved to the northwest near Coeur d'alene, Idaho. Maybe he'll be at the AOPA Spokane Fly-In. I've been admiring everything about this for many years and posted to the hang gliding club the White Knight flight track was going towards our site, Dog Mountain only to check later and see it flew up and down Riffe Lake next to our site, very cool! Paul Allan, one of the founders of Microsoft, was the main sponsor for Burt Rutan to create the aircrafts to get to space to win the X-Prize. Paul has the flying heritage museum at Paine Field and it made sense, the museum is acquiring the White Knight. The White Knight will be at the Skyfair this weekend! I taxied after work to the museum just after the White Knight arrived and parked close by for some photos. It was like being by the Wright Flyer, so much history. There was also an Alpha Jet escort there, just the three of us for a while. What an experience! I taxied out of there and a T6 was at Alpha6 ready for take off, I heard,"paine tower, T6....ready for take off 16 right, would like low approach and departure to the north" and tower confirmed. I then said, "paine tower, Glasair 88 echo tango....ready for take off 16 right, would like low approach and departure to the north" and tower confirmed. The T6 was already turning crosswind at altitude when I was on the upwind. When I turned downwind, the T6 requested short approach and dove to the runway. Ya, I did the same thing... After low approach the T6 was already north out of my sight so I just headed to Arlington as planned to visit friends. What an afternoon!
Today I put the plane together again. I had always wanted to review the fuel system so Monday I took the panels off, drained all fuel, removed the fuel sensor and inspected a perfectly clean tank and fuel drains. It was good for peace of mind. Today's full blown storm turned to broken clouds, sun and rainbows by the time I was ready to fly this evening so I had fun testing. I even heard someone from Harvey announcing eastbound "departure then southeast to the rainbow", what a funny call, but I was already there.
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| Harvey Field |
 |
| test flight after fuel system review |
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| after the storm |
Friday, May 30, 2014
Log 115 - 2014may another San Juan Islands Trip/Commute to Work
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| Friday morning commute to work from Friday Harbor, San Juan Island |
I woke up early Friday morning, taking a shower at the marina and off to the airport before 6 am. The sun was up and it was clear, cleaning the dew from the Glasair windshield and taking off southbound to Paine Field, next to work. Flying back was no wind and a few low clouds otherwise clear for the 20 minute flight home. A small drive from the airport and I'm back to work for the day....another nice small trip.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
2014 May - Trip to Arizona for Mothers Day
Photos Here. with Captions
It's been a while since I've posted and this trip may be the best excuse to write again. It was a last minute plan so thanks to friends, coworkers and family who let me go. I had just updated my exhaust system on the glasair from mild to stainless steel and made a few test flights. I was planning to fly to Arizona sometime but no reason to go if its too close to summer. Mothers day was coming and everything was right.
Wednesday May 7th, 2014:
A test flight, all systems good but weather moving in for the morning with wind and low clouds. It looked like no way to get out after 10 am. I go to underwater hockey in the evening as usual.
Thursday May 8th:
I pack a bag with clothes and go to work, check the weather, check my routes, check with my boss and off I go to the plane with a plan to fly to Arizona.
Paine Field, Everett, WA - Fuel up while the winds are picking up and starting to drizzle, I take off and fly east to Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades knowing if I make it past there, it should be easy to beat this small storm. I can hear other planes calling and diverting to other airports because of the weather behind me. All is good and just one town/airport at a time till I am clear of the weather but no problems so far. Yes, this is making my hands sweat! The plane is flying good and I am beating the weather.
I slow the plane down to about 150 mph and stay low as I can while still clearing all the hills en route. I love to cruise low and fairly slow sometimes to enjoy the views!
Camera isn't taking great photos due to weather but pictures are here. Note the Captions on the photos. They tell most of the story of the flight. I divert my plans along the way for fuel and pitstops but press on.
Its a blur to know what state your in on a big cross country trip as the sectional maps are just made to indicate best airports, best flight paths, topography and military areas to avoid or deal with. The state lines are vague at best but its OK. I have a Nexus 7 pad with sectionals from Flightplan and created a line to follow for my destinations. Its amazing, I had no idea the path would cross Owyhee Idaho where I flew my Cessna 150 a few years back on my way down to Arizona. The runway wasn't paved back then but there was still no town! The glasair does way better between stops so even though the route was similar, I got to skip a few detours that I did previously in the 150 just for fuel.
The highlands across Nevada and Idaho are very pretty. There are some huge snow capped mountains along this route. I was lucky with the weather. Southern Nevada is a descent into Mosquite to fuel before crossing the Grand Canyon. Because of the high pressure weather and evening approaching, not many Grand Canyon photos.
Summary flying south from Washington to Arizona:
Paine Field, Everett, WA to Pendleton, OR - 1 hr 38 min
Pendleton, to Baker City, OR - 38 min.
Baker City to Owyhee, Idaho - 1 hr 28 min. (Owyhee to go pee hee :) )
Owyhee to Mosquite, Nevada - 2 hrs 24 min
Mosquite to Flagstaff, Arizona - 1 hr 11 min
Flagstaff to Rimrock, Arizona - 25 minutes night flying.
Rimrock to Mesa, Arizona - 35 minutes or so on Friday 5/9.
There was only a small amount of weather to dodge. Some places, the ground was 6,000 ft + above sea level but still very enjoyable. Very light winds, snow in some hills, able to pick up local fm radio stations to listen to music and still made Flagstaff but evening. I intended to stay in Flagstaff but there was a search and rescue operation at the airport and no courtesy cars or rental cars. I called my friends, John and Julie in Rimrock at the airport and they turn the lights on for me to fly to their airport, Rimrock and stay the night. Very nice overnight and to visit with my friends. Friday afternoon, I flew to Mesa, Az, Falcon field to tie down for a few days visit for mothers day.
During my stay in the Phoenix area (Mesa is part of Phoenix), I flew to an arts and crafts festival in Prescott, AZ to meet family and enjoy this area. Prescott is in the hills out of Phoenix, about 5,000 ft so a little cooler then Phoenix. I had a good few day sometimes working virtually, visiting friends, family and a local Arizona Hang Gliding and Paragliding meeting. Motorcycle riding and enjoying the heat, usually in the 90 F range. I took my friend, Bill Comstock for a flight to visit Bill Poore in Payson. Both are great friends, Bill Poore is building a light experimental plane we got to see and we had dinner in town before flying back to Falcon Field at night. Fueled in Payson as it was $5:35/gal aviation fuel.
Thursday, May 15th, 2014:
Time to head north. There's supposed to be weather in the Seattle area Friday/Saturday and people are expecting my back this week. Pack up and head out! Looks like I have fuel to make Bishop, California, a new route I haven't gone and morning is smoother then afternoon. I fly out of Phoenix, past Wickenberg, Needles California across deserts south of Las Vegas, Nevada and find some strange light reflectors in the desert. View in the photos. It's Ivanpah Solar Power Facility . This is one of the last areas before crossing Death Valley (Lowest spot in the USA), Saline Valley where I've camped, over the White Mountains, into Owens Valley and land at Bishop, California. I love this area but its vast, dry and hot! I can see Mt. Whitney, highest point in the US (besides McKinley in Alaska) on the Sierra Mts. I fuel up and head north as the valley floor seems to go over 8,000 ft and my plane struggles to cool off. I fly past Mono Lake northbound hoping to see more civilization along the way. No problem as the highways go north and I go into Nevada, recognizing Pyramid Lake northeast of Reno, NV, northbound past the dry lakes of eastern Oregon, flying east of Mt Shasta and crossing highway 395 by Lakeview, OR where I competed in the 1993 Hang Gliding Nationals. Many Valley's and hills before decending into Redmond, Oregon for fuel at $4.99 least expensive along this route. I rest for a short while they fly northbound. Sailplanes are flying around and disassembling at Redmond but I see a few. I fly east of Mt St Helens, west of Mt Adams and Mt Rainier and pick up Seattle Center at 10 miles west of Mt Rainier. Mt Rainier is forming a wave cloud. Seattle Center allows me through class B airspace so I can stay at 10,000 ft and make good time. I descend into Paine Field, my home field and park the plane! And, I think my plane for doing well!
Summary Home:
Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona to Bishop, California - 2 hrs 52 minutes
Bishop to Redmond, Oregon - 2 hrs 27 minutes
Redmond to Paine Field, Everett, WA - 1 hr 30 minutes home!
Total route Link on Skyvector.
It's been a while since I've posted and this trip may be the best excuse to write again. It was a last minute plan so thanks to friends, coworkers and family who let me go. I had just updated my exhaust system on the glasair from mild to stainless steel and made a few test flights. I was planning to fly to Arizona sometime but no reason to go if its too close to summer. Mothers day was coming and everything was right.
Wednesday May 7th, 2014:
A test flight, all systems good but weather moving in for the morning with wind and low clouds. It looked like no way to get out after 10 am. I go to underwater hockey in the evening as usual.
Thursday May 8th:
I pack a bag with clothes and go to work, check the weather, check my routes, check with my boss and off I go to the plane with a plan to fly to Arizona.
Paine Field, Everett, WA - Fuel up while the winds are picking up and starting to drizzle, I take off and fly east to Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades knowing if I make it past there, it should be easy to beat this small storm. I can hear other planes calling and diverting to other airports because of the weather behind me. All is good and just one town/airport at a time till I am clear of the weather but no problems so far. Yes, this is making my hands sweat! The plane is flying good and I am beating the weather.
I slow the plane down to about 150 mph and stay low as I can while still clearing all the hills en route. I love to cruise low and fairly slow sometimes to enjoy the views!
Camera isn't taking great photos due to weather but pictures are here. Note the Captions on the photos. They tell most of the story of the flight. I divert my plans along the way for fuel and pitstops but press on.
Its a blur to know what state your in on a big cross country trip as the sectional maps are just made to indicate best airports, best flight paths, topography and military areas to avoid or deal with. The state lines are vague at best but its OK. I have a Nexus 7 pad with sectionals from Flightplan and created a line to follow for my destinations. Its amazing, I had no idea the path would cross Owyhee Idaho where I flew my Cessna 150 a few years back on my way down to Arizona. The runway wasn't paved back then but there was still no town! The glasair does way better between stops so even though the route was similar, I got to skip a few detours that I did previously in the 150 just for fuel.
The highlands across Nevada and Idaho are very pretty. There are some huge snow capped mountains along this route. I was lucky with the weather. Southern Nevada is a descent into Mosquite to fuel before crossing the Grand Canyon. Because of the high pressure weather and evening approaching, not many Grand Canyon photos.
Summary flying south from Washington to Arizona:
Paine Field, Everett, WA to Pendleton, OR - 1 hr 38 min
Pendleton, to Baker City, OR - 38 min.
Baker City to Owyhee, Idaho - 1 hr 28 min. (Owyhee to go pee hee :) )
Owyhee to Mosquite, Nevada - 2 hrs 24 min
Mosquite to Flagstaff, Arizona - 1 hr 11 min
Flagstaff to Rimrock, Arizona - 25 minutes night flying.
Rimrock to Mesa, Arizona - 35 minutes or so on Friday 5/9.
There was only a small amount of weather to dodge. Some places, the ground was 6,000 ft + above sea level but still very enjoyable. Very light winds, snow in some hills, able to pick up local fm radio stations to listen to music and still made Flagstaff but evening. I intended to stay in Flagstaff but there was a search and rescue operation at the airport and no courtesy cars or rental cars. I called my friends, John and Julie in Rimrock at the airport and they turn the lights on for me to fly to their airport, Rimrock and stay the night. Very nice overnight and to visit with my friends. Friday afternoon, I flew to Mesa, Az, Falcon field to tie down for a few days visit for mothers day.
During my stay in the Phoenix area (Mesa is part of Phoenix), I flew to an arts and crafts festival in Prescott, AZ to meet family and enjoy this area. Prescott is in the hills out of Phoenix, about 5,000 ft so a little cooler then Phoenix. I had a good few day sometimes working virtually, visiting friends, family and a local Arizona Hang Gliding and Paragliding meeting. Motorcycle riding and enjoying the heat, usually in the 90 F range. I took my friend, Bill Comstock for a flight to visit Bill Poore in Payson. Both are great friends, Bill Poore is building a light experimental plane we got to see and we had dinner in town before flying back to Falcon Field at night. Fueled in Payson as it was $5:35/gal aviation fuel.
Thursday, May 15th, 2014:
Time to head north. There's supposed to be weather in the Seattle area Friday/Saturday and people are expecting my back this week. Pack up and head out! Looks like I have fuel to make Bishop, California, a new route I haven't gone and morning is smoother then afternoon. I fly out of Phoenix, past Wickenberg, Needles California across deserts south of Las Vegas, Nevada and find some strange light reflectors in the desert. View in the photos. It's Ivanpah Solar Power Facility . This is one of the last areas before crossing Death Valley (Lowest spot in the USA), Saline Valley where I've camped, over the White Mountains, into Owens Valley and land at Bishop, California. I love this area but its vast, dry and hot! I can see Mt. Whitney, highest point in the US (besides McKinley in Alaska) on the Sierra Mts. I fuel up and head north as the valley floor seems to go over 8,000 ft and my plane struggles to cool off. I fly past Mono Lake northbound hoping to see more civilization along the way. No problem as the highways go north and I go into Nevada, recognizing Pyramid Lake northeast of Reno, NV, northbound past the dry lakes of eastern Oregon, flying east of Mt Shasta and crossing highway 395 by Lakeview, OR where I competed in the 1993 Hang Gliding Nationals. Many Valley's and hills before decending into Redmond, Oregon for fuel at $4.99 least expensive along this route. I rest for a short while they fly northbound. Sailplanes are flying around and disassembling at Redmond but I see a few. I fly east of Mt St Helens, west of Mt Adams and Mt Rainier and pick up Seattle Center at 10 miles west of Mt Rainier. Mt Rainier is forming a wave cloud. Seattle Center allows me through class B airspace so I can stay at 10,000 ft and make good time. I descend into Paine Field, my home field and park the plane! And, I think my plane for doing well!
Summary Home:
Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona to Bishop, California - 2 hrs 52 minutes
Bishop to Redmond, Oregon - 2 hrs 27 minutes
Redmond to Paine Field, Everett, WA - 1 hr 30 minutes home!
Total route Link on Skyvector.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Log 113 - 2013sept12 - Reno with Ryan, Phoenix, and back with Mom
Here are some details:
Sept 12 to the Reno Air Races -
Lunch at the ribbon cutting ceremony at Paine Field with some delegates. Pick up Ryan Bielenda around 1:30 and about 85 degrees outside. Fuel up and around 2 pm, we're headed west side of Mt. Rainier southbound, slow climb up to 11,000 ft. passed Mt. Adams, Oregon border, The Dalles,and Redmond. We have to descend for a break at Lakeview, Oregon. This is where I flew in the 1992 Hang Gliding Nationals. Heading south, into California, and than Nevada. Storms ahead, we get flight following to navigate around Stead Field, Reno Airport then to Carson City with a good tailwind. This flight leg was 3.5 hrs, about 27 gallons. Ryan gets picked up by his buddy who will be getting married (he has other arrangements for getting home in a few days). I have a car and to go camp then to the Reno Air Races, Sept 13&14th. Great time here. Jeff Lavelle smokes his class with over 400 mph average lap time in his Glasair III. He was happy. Other races were also spectacular and met some great pilots and people like Aaron Pahs and other guys from Boeing. Terry, Bill, Dan, Keith and others flew down so we had a chance to visit.
Sunday to AZ -
Drop off the car and prepare for flight Carson City to Arizona. The plan is fairly direct to Prescott, AZ straight over high mountains and low valleys . Potty break at Beatty after 1.5 hrs, more very hot nothingland that is AWSOME then in the air again. I circle in some desert thermals. At this time, I think of a wire problem as a fuse is out. Turns out one of my fuses is too small and barely higher then the fuse amperage for a few minutes. I now know a better starting procedure in very high, hot places to use less voltage. I fly south of Las Vegas with flight following in contact with Centers. Flying further, overpass Kingman and under some nice cloud cover into Prescott airport for fuel at $5.69/gal. I squeeze in 21 gallons of fuel. Beatty to Prescott was about 2 hrs. I get a phone call from friend, Bill Comstock, who is hang gliding at Mingus Mt. with other buddies. Reminiscing my past life in Arizona, I fly a new course around the north side of Mingus Mt. low, past Jerome (a cool ghost town on the side of Mingus Mt.), then south in the Verde Valley over Cottonwood Airport. No gliders were there. I continue to Rimrock Airport and land, 30 minutes, to visit John and Julie for a few hours. They feed me a great meal than I notice the thunder clouds, with AUDIO switching the wind to the east so it's time to head towards Phoenix. It's only 34 minutes to Falcon field, Mesa where my mother, niece and nephew meet me, this lovely Sunday afternoon.
I had bought my mother a one way ticket from Seattle to Phoenix hoping to take her in the Glasair to Seattle but was having second thoughts. It was over 100 F outside and thinking of her squeezing into the plane, my thoughts were shifting to get her a commercial ticket and I would fly myself home. She will be 75 years old in November! Flying in the Glasair in turbulence isn't for everyone. I knew our plan was to leave mid day Tuesday, and it would be rough. Arizona is very hot. The plane is more like a tight racing offroad vehicle with bad suspension than a luxury bus. Mom was game and she had no trouble climbing in and out of the plane. She was ready and willing to go. Besides, she already told everyone she was going to fly with me (peer pressure). I could tell she wanted to give it a try. We were game.
Tuesday leave AZ to WA -
After mom's work with the Boeing wellness clinic, we get a ride with Ed to Falcon Field, Mesa A irport and try to depart as quickly as possible (100F + heat). We fly, 30 minutes to Wickenberg where the only cloud in the local sky is miraculously over the landing strip, and makes a shadow for us on the airport runway, tarmac and fuel pumps. I top off (last was Prescott) 9.6 gal @ $5.60/gal.
The next stretch is long. We talk to Albuquerque center, LA center, Joshua military radio and other areas as we head westbound. We have a headwind and dust below blowing from the west. All military restricted areas are HOT so we have to fly as south as Barstow, CA. We make it around the next restricted areas and over Tehachapi pass, the south end of the Sierra's, about 11K ft to the Sacramento Valley with flight following communication. It's smokey from the Yosemite fires recently. We fly over Porterville, Fresno and just keep heading north. My next way point was Lincoln Airport.
Mother asked if we should be looking for a place to stay or go eat? By this time, she's getting comfortable with Foreflight on the Ipad so I ask to look for an airport with yellow nearby (population=yellow), click on the airport and see what they have for food and lodging. Foreflight is such a great program for convenience. I see Columbia Airport where mom is looking. A quick deviation, we turn right to Columbia. It's getting near dusk when we land and tie down. We talk to a couple locals who are very kind. This flight leg was 3 hrs 50 minutes. What a cool place we land at!! The Cottage Inn hotel is walking distance and a Mexican restaurant a little further so we trek out staying off the nature trail as they said "there'd been a mountain lion out recently". It's a very nice walk into town, beautiful with fresh air and a full moon. We have a great dinner and a good sleep.
The next morning, we get up....whenever..., go to the plane and prepare for a 30 minute flight to Lincoln to fuel up ____gallons at $5.30/gal. The next airport north is Beale Air Force Base. We take off around 10 am and a few minutes we call the tower and they flight follow us northbound for a while. We fly direct to the west side of Mt Shasta, Siskiyou Oregon, Medford, the mountains north of there and decide on a last minute descent to Cottage Grove for lunch! What another beautiful place. We descend from 9,000 ft around the cumulus clouds and you can see the green landscape, rivers around the airport and planes getting ready for the morning. From Lincoln was about 2.5 hrs. We land, taxi in and talk with some guys who recommend a few restaurants. We walk off the airport grounds and have a great Thai lunch, then back to the airport. Cottage Grove is another nice place that I would recommend to land at.
From there, we fly 30 minutes to Albany for fuel, 18 gallons @ $5.49/gal to top off around 3:00 pm for our last leg home to Paine Field. Other planes have been flying around since the morning but we don't see many in the air, just on the radios and taking off/landing at the airports.
We stay below the clouds for a while leaving northbound from Albany but I can tell its smoother above, so we climb from 4,000 ft to about 6,000 ft and much smoother all the way, flying by Olympia talking with the tower, by Tacoma Narrows Airport, talking with the tower, flying down the Puget Sound even below 500 ft to look at the shoreline with no wind on the water for a while then back up 1500 ft across the water to Seattle. We fly into Paine Field and park the plane about 1hr 40 minutes later ~4:30 pm. We had a great flight.
Log 112 - Sequim (Olympic Air Affair) and The Hood River Air Museum
A quick note of a few flights.
2013aug31,
From there, I didn't plan to be gone long but headed west toward the coast. I ended up at Ocean Shores, circumnavigating the Olympic mountains. From Ocean Shores, it's was 41 minutes back to Paine Field, home for the day.
2013sept6th after work,
Bill Jensen said he was heading out with Supercub Dan from Arlington to the Oregon border for the WAAM museum fly-in. I happen to have my sleeping bag with me and the weather was just breaking so I headed to the hangar. They were ahead of me checking weather but I caught up to them before entering southern WA. We were on the radio together even about 50 miles apart. We past a few other planes on there way (photo). Heading west down the Columbia Gorge (photo) was very nice and a tailwind. Flying into the Hood River Airport (photo) was also very beautiful.
We landed around 7pm, parked, set up tents and ate at the spegetti feed. A very nice evening with many pilots, bonfire and even guys working to complete a historic plane by 6 pm the next day frantically fabricat'n. The next morning, a huge breakfast with bagpipes playing and so many people. Bill and Dan stayed another night. Most of the planes were taildraggers. I had to head back to Paine field for some business so I flew over mt St Helens and only 1.1 hrs to Paine field. After taking care of a few things, I flew to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and back for the evening. Nice few days of course.
2013aug31,
A few of us, Bill Jensen and Chris Brown met at Sequim, W28 for the Olympic air Affair. You can read more here .There was food, music, balloon rides, parachuting and some cool wingwalking. As you can see in the photo, the Stinson wingwalker plane was a little nose heavy but the were great to watch! You can find the wingwalkers or even try it here.
2013sept6th after work,
Bill Jensen said he was heading out with Supercub Dan from Arlington to the Oregon border for the WAAM museum fly-in. I happen to have my sleeping bag with me and the weather was just breaking so I headed to the hangar. They were ahead of me checking weather but I caught up to them before entering southern WA. We were on the radio together even about 50 miles apart. We past a few other planes on there way (photo). Heading west down the Columbia Gorge (photo) was very nice and a tailwind. Flying into the Hood River Airport (photo) was also very beautiful.
We landed around 7pm, parked, set up tents and ate at the spegetti feed. A very nice evening with many pilots, bonfire and even guys working to complete a historic plane by 6 pm the next day frantically fabricat'n. The next morning, a huge breakfast with bagpipes playing and so many people. Bill and Dan stayed another night. Most of the planes were taildraggers. I had to head back to Paine field for some business so I flew over mt St Helens and only 1.1 hrs to Paine field. After taking care of a few things, I flew to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and back for the evening. Nice few days of course.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Log 111 - Flights, fixes and Meeting Jack Wiegand
I had a chance to take my friend Kurt to Orcas Island and San Juan Island. We walked into towns East Sound and Friday Harbor respectively. We also flew over Roche Harbor and Stuart Island along with searching for whales but we didn't see any. I've landed the glasair at the dirt strip on Stuart Island. Last week, I landed at Monroe, First Field to walk into the Evergreen State Fair but it seemed very tight and lots of foot traffic and cars from the fair. I want to get more comfortable with small fields in the glasair.
Yesterday, I changed out my main left tire. It was wearing much more than the right tire. I think the reason is, this tire is at least 30 years old. It came with the original kit and I never changed it. I had a spare but will make this my spare now. I made a test flight of the new tire and it performed as good as a tire can perform in the air :).
I also wanted to mention an event that was early July. I happened to be going to Arlington for fuel and did hear that Jack Wiegand was making a stop there on his record breaking flight, the youngest person to fly around the world solo. He did this in a Mooney. Turned out, they were celebrating and he was there so we stayed to listen and gawk at his plane and hear about a great achievement. Jack info is at http://www.solo2013.com . He was very humble, still a little raw around the neck from his survival suit, very ambitious and just a great kid. This would be his last stop before closing his final leg of the trip to California, his home near Sacramento.
Yesterday, I changed out my main left tire. It was wearing much more than the right tire. I think the reason is, this tire is at least 30 years old. It came with the original kit and I never changed it. I had a spare but will make this my spare now. I made a test flight of the new tire and it performed as good as a tire can perform in the air :).
I also wanted to mention an event that was early July. I happened to be going to Arlington for fuel and did hear that Jack Wiegand was making a stop there on his record breaking flight, the youngest person to fly around the world solo. He did this in a Mooney. Turned out, they were celebrating and he was there so we stayed to listen and gawk at his plane and hear about a great achievement. Jack info is at http://www.solo2013.com . He was very humble, still a little raw around the neck from his survival suit, very ambitious and just a great kid. This would be his last stop before closing his final leg of the trip to California, his home near Sacramento.
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| July 2013 - Jack Wiegand before his last leg of his record | flight around the world. |
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Log 110 Flight with Paul Dees & Visiting Arnold Ebeneter at Harvey Field
Monday, I finally got Paul to come with me for a flight. Paul is a top notch aero guy at Boeing, a good friend and hang glider buddy. Paul and others helped install the glasair wing to fuselage. He got fairly comfortable quickly in the plane. We worked some thermals near Monroe, headed up past Arlington and flew around some hang gliding sites on the way to the north cascades highway, back down to Camino Island, Whidbey Island and back to Paine Field.
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| Paul Dees as a copilot for the day. |
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| Arnold Ebeneter - Photo taken after one of his record setting flights. Arnold is a mentor and an icon. |
Tuesday, I flew into Harvey Field for
the first time and got Arnold Ebeneter to sign my log as of May, for my Bi-annual flight review. It counts
when you get a taildragger endorsement so he signed. Arnold got a look at my plane and had just a few comments about speed, economy and what to do about some wheel wear. First time into Harvey and
everything was great except there was a tractor who stopped to watch me about
50 ft east of the runway working near the south end. Taking off, I almost went off
the left of the runway till my nose tilted up, but it was OK. Harvey field has a very skinny runway with hardly any visuals on the left side of the plane but all was good. I have over 80 hours on the glasair and it was a good decision to wait a while for flying into small or tight fields.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Log 109 - Flights and Larry Warner
I just posted yesterday but had another little flight today. It was a beautiful day to fly west so I left Paine field heading towards Pt Townsend thinking about Pt Angeles or the pacific coast. On the way out was Diamond Point and wouldn't mind some company so I flew out of the rising air, down to Diamond Point. I've posted in the past that Diamond Point is a beautiful place where my plane was started by Sam. The neighbor, Larry Warner is still and I can say AVID. Larry is pushing along, living in an extremely cool hangar and just back from a walk on the beach with his girlfriend Nancy and their dogs. He was willing to go on a flight with me so, we headed west, staying along the coastline past and around Sequim and almost to Port Angeles. From there, we heading into the hills, up close to the clouds, and pointed back east towards Seattle, then back to Diamond Point.
It was a pleasure to take Larry up and I think it took a while to sing in that he was making another flight of his life. We had a good time and it was nice to see Larry again!
I did head back to my hangar and started some long awaited maintenance. I changed oil, checked all spark plugs, cleaned the engine area, fixed the headlight, fabbed a new headlight bracket, installed a new forward facing camera and checked most of the bolts around the engine for anything loose. It was in surprisingly good condition and now ready to fly again!
It was a pleasure to take Larry up and I think it took a while to sing in that he was making another flight of his life. We had a good time and it was nice to see Larry again!
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| 2013aug18 - Another wispy over pt Townsend. Whidbey island in the distance. |
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| 2013aug18 - Larry Werner, friend and neighbor of the late Sam Mrackovich. Larry helped Sam with parts of the glasair while Sam was still around. |
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Log 108 - 80+ hrs, Mustang Show, Arlington and other fun
Flight#..heck, I don't know. 80+ hrs in the glasair. Today, I flew to the Props & Ponies show at Skagit Regional Airport.
I ran into my Friend Jake Schultz who introduced me to Bill Anders. Bill is an astronaut on Apollo 8. He's famous for his photo taken back at the earth and saying,"We went to the moon, and discovered the earth". He was the pilot on the lunar module and the first manned lunar orbit mission. Jake was helping out with the show. It was also good to run into Bob Summers, old hang glider pilot friend, and see friend, Kevin, Comanche Pilot of Arlington.
I did a fly-by and headed for the hills. Near the Canadian border was the Can-Am hang gliding and paragliding event I was missing near Abbotsford, BC. Launch was cloudy so I flew a few passes by the landing field then headed to Anacortes. They had a little get-together just ending so I headed to Arlington to top off and to visit Bill, Terry, Dan and a few other friends. They were having a potluck so I stayed for a short time to visit than headed home.
The glasair is flying great. I adjusted the ailerons and still tweaking to make it fly straight but almost there. A few other issues to work on but all is great with the plane.
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| 2013aug17 - My glasair at Mustang show, Skagit Valley |
I did a fly-by and headed for the hills. Near the Canadian border was the Can-Am hang gliding and paragliding event I was missing near Abbotsford, BC. Launch was cloudy so I flew a few passes by the landing field then headed to Anacortes. They had a little get-together just ending so I headed to Arlington to top off and to visit Bill, Terry, Dan and a few other friends. They were having a potluck so I stayed for a short time to visit than headed home.
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| 2013aug17 - Terry's hangar at Arlington |
The glasair is flying great. I adjusted the ailerons and still tweaking to make it fly straight but almost there. A few other issues to work on but all is great with the plane.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Log 107 - More Flying
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| Over the Cascades westbound from Chelan |
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| Arlington Airshow at Paraphernalia party |
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| Portland International Airport northbound |
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Log 106 - day in the life of...
A little sore from last night's Seattle underwater hockey practice, struggled into work at Boeing. Sometimes a little sore feels good! Some walked in with sunshine, some got wet as the weather changed by the minute today. Work was good.
After work, invited coworker, Brian Jensen for a flight. We saw a cloud with ominous virga and I mentioned hoping it wouldn't change our plan. On the way to the airport, it poured and the wind went sideways the wrong way. I called, talked with paine ground and anticipated the wind correcting. Within 5 minutes of arriving, the wind switched back, sun came out and we were off for a half hour flight up Camino Island, Arlington, south Snohomish and back to Paine field. I've a few passengers since the 40 hour fight test was complete. Most have enjoyed the way the Scalded Dog flies!
Hit the ymca for a short swim on the way home, watched my daughter, Maddie training a horse, blasted the Honda quad around the track, dinner with family and enough time to download a few pics, listen to a couple mellow Frank Zappa songs like this and this, and write this post! Not too tired but its getting late.
After work, invited coworker, Brian Jensen for a flight. We saw a cloud with ominous virga and I mentioned hoping it wouldn't change our plan. On the way to the airport, it poured and the wind went sideways the wrong way. I called, talked with paine ground and anticipated the wind correcting. Within 5 minutes of arriving, the wind switched back, sun came out and we were off for a half hour flight up Camino Island, Arlington, south Snohomish and back to Paine field. I've a few passengers since the 40 hour fight test was complete. Most have enjoyed the way the Scalded Dog flies!
Hit the ymca for a short swim on the way home, watched my daughter, Maddie training a horse, blasted the Honda quad around the track, dinner with family and enough time to download a few pics, listen to a couple mellow Frank Zappa songs like this and this, and write this post! Not too tired but its getting late.
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| Brian and I in the glasair |
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Log 105 flights and mods
It's been a while since I've posted and numerous flights since the last post. I've taken at least 4 passengers now and a little night flying, all not allowed till flight testing phase 1 was complete, 40 hrs. I crossed the cascades last weekend to the Tonasket fathers day fly-in and this week went to the Fantasy Field fly-In, then to Lake Chelan to pick up my friend Steve Alford. Steve is camping in Chelan for two weeks but wanted his 1956 Cessna 172 there so he can tool around. I may go over since the 2013 Chelan Classic hang gliding and paragliding competition is going on. My flight and the Fantasy Field fly-in is here with some explanation on each photo.
The plane seems to work thermals around 100 mph. I still have cooling issues to work out, need to learn the take off and landings more in cross winds, and for some reason, cylinder 4 temp goes up when I turn on the headlight :) . I'll figure it all out.
More posts later.
The plane seems to work thermals around 100 mph. I still have cooling issues to work out, need to learn the take off and landings more in cross winds, and for some reason, cylinder 4 temp goes up when I turn on the headlight :) . I'll figure it all out.
More posts later.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Log 104
Before the flight, I took Ted Setzer's advise and created inlets in the baffling in front of cylinder 1 and 2. I took off and climbed with engine running very low temperatures! I'd been trying to resolve this for a long time but didn't expect to modify the factory baffling. I just didn't see that solution till now.
Beautiful evening flight with a few rain shower in the distance and a few nice landings at Arlington and two at Paine field.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Log 102 - Sometimes boring is good
More like, no incidents or accidents, all testing is moving along, all modifications seem to be working. I had a small ground spin out after landing but there was no damage and I was going very slow. Normally called a ground loop, I had slowed and was trying too hard to make an exit to the taxiway from the runway. Next time, I won't try so hard to slow down and will not release the tailwheel lock so early.
During inspection, I discovered a small fuel leak in an aluminum line from the firewall fitting to the filter. The internal flange was too small so I fabricated another line and seems to be perfect.
Bled brakelines again and changed oil yesterday. Tightened oil filler post and added a quick drain system.
Fuel System:
Previously, spent an afternoon draining all fuel out except 1/4 gallon or so to get to the gas pumps. I fabricated a tailstand for 'plane level', and calibrated my fuel level sender units to the Dynon indicators. In short, main tank is 33.61 gallons conservatively. Main tank indicator only goes to 21 gallons because of the dihedral of the wings. In flight, noted that roughly 18 gallons shown with tail down means 11 gallons in level flight. I will double check these numbers. Header tank is more straight forward holding 5.6 gallons. Saving sensor values in yellow notepad.
Flights:
Flight around the San Juan Islands two days ago was good but winds were too switchy to land at Orcas. Friday Harbor was good. Yesterday, flew to Port Townsend and Sequim with Steve Alford, flight of two.
To Do:
Compass needs to be reset during flight, check right wing strobe at powerbox, camera wires review and inspect, check passenger left rudder brake pedal, check header fuel vent for full 'high loop' behind instrument panel, temperary baffling change behind cylinder #3, engine and airplane log update.
During inspection, I discovered a small fuel leak in an aluminum line from the firewall fitting to the filter. The internal flange was too small so I fabricated another line and seems to be perfect.
Bled brakelines again and changed oil yesterday. Tightened oil filler post and added a quick drain system.
Fuel System:
Previously, spent an afternoon draining all fuel out except 1/4 gallon or so to get to the gas pumps. I fabricated a tailstand for 'plane level', and calibrated my fuel level sender units to the Dynon indicators. In short, main tank is 33.61 gallons conservatively. Main tank indicator only goes to 21 gallons because of the dihedral of the wings. In flight, noted that roughly 18 gallons shown with tail down means 11 gallons in level flight. I will double check these numbers. Header tank is more straight forward holding 5.6 gallons. Saving sensor values in yellow notepad.
Flights:
Flight around the San Juan Islands two days ago was good but winds were too switchy to land at Orcas. Friday Harbor was good. Yesterday, flew to Port Townsend and Sequim with Steve Alford, flight of two.
To Do:
Compass needs to be reset during flight, check right wing strobe at powerbox, camera wires review and inspect, check passenger left rudder brake pedal, check header fuel vent for full 'high loop' behind instrument panel, temperary baffling change behind cylinder #3, engine and airplane log update.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Log 101 - Scalded Dog, Test Flying, More Mods, Aviation Day & Repairman's Certificate
In log 100, May 12th, I mentioned a commemorative fly-by at Diamond Point, a very beautiful airstrip on the Olympic Peninsula. Check out this beautiful place here. Larry Warner got outside to see me and wrote me an email, "...the glasair sounds great! Moves like a Scalded Dog!" Since Larry was friends, neighbor and helper to the original owner, Sam, I've named the plane Scalded Dog, with his permission of course! Thanks Larry.
Regarding flights, let me start with a reminder that I'm in the 40 hour flight test portion of my Glasair 1 tail dragger. 'Dog's' first flight was April 8th and my first flight in it was April 23rd, solo. I have 10 hrs dual in an RV6 tailwheel, similar tailwheel to my glasair making 17.3 dual tailwheel time. I have 20.3 hrs solo in the Dog in 37 flights to date. I've landed it at 10 different runways, that's 7 different airports.
Lately, I've made mods for cooling issues like baffling changes around the cowling, access door support, cowling stiffener, 2 different inlet modifications, one ramp to cylinder #2, multiple inspections of controls, fuel system, engine, switches, seat, control clearance/aft bulkhead, labels, air outlet & pipe clearance, a tube of silicone, added louvers, adjusted prop multiple times on ground, documented most of what I am monitoring and learned more about flying, this engine and this airplane!
Aviation Day at Paine Field on May 18th, I wasn't planning on flying but went out for two flights that day after watching the show for a while. On the way back in to Paine, I requested the option and a fly-by. I kept a safe high distance but went by about 180 mph. Someone said the announcer announced this was a glasair flown by the builder! I was glad to hear that. I've heard a few times that the planes sounds great from the outside. It sounds and feels good inside too.
Last Thursday, two FAA gentlemen met me at the hangar. The had reviewed my build log and photos. With some discussion, they issued my Repairman's certificate, meaning I had proved my build and some competence that I could do conditional annual inspections on my own plane and maintain the airworthiness and logs myself. This was a step I had planned to finish from the beginning and glad to get it behind me.
This afternoon, I had a nice flight. The rain quit and I flew with sun, some rain and clouds. That's about it for now.
Regarding flights, let me start with a reminder that I'm in the 40 hour flight test portion of my Glasair 1 tail dragger. 'Dog's' first flight was April 8th and my first flight in it was April 23rd, solo. I have 10 hrs dual in an RV6 tailwheel, similar tailwheel to my glasair making 17.3 dual tailwheel time. I have 20.3 hrs solo in the Dog in 37 flights to date. I've landed it at 10 different runways, that's 7 different airports.
Lately, I've made mods for cooling issues like baffling changes around the cowling, access door support, cowling stiffener, 2 different inlet modifications, one ramp to cylinder #2, multiple inspections of controls, fuel system, engine, switches, seat, control clearance/aft bulkhead, labels, air outlet & pipe clearance, a tube of silicone, added louvers, adjusted prop multiple times on ground, documented most of what I am monitoring and learned more about flying, this engine and this airplane!
Aviation Day at Paine Field on May 18th, I wasn't planning on flying but went out for two flights that day after watching the show for a while. On the way back in to Paine, I requested the option and a fly-by. I kept a safe high distance but went by about 180 mph. Someone said the announcer announced this was a glasair flown by the builder! I was glad to hear that. I've heard a few times that the planes sounds great from the outside. It sounds and feels good inside too.
Last Thursday, two FAA gentlemen met me at the hangar. The had reviewed my build log and photos. With some discussion, they issued my Repairman's certificate, meaning I had proved my build and some competence that I could do conditional annual inspections on my own plane and maintain the airworthiness and logs myself. This was a step I had planned to finish from the beginning and glad to get it behind me.
This afternoon, I had a nice flight. The rain quit and I flew with sun, some rain and clouds. That's about it for now.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Log Post #100 - Glasair Flight of two with Long EZ
2013may10th (2.2 hrs total) - Rodney Tong called to see about meeting after work for a flight of two. Rodney flies a Rutan Long EZ. We met up 4 pm at the fuel pumps and made some plans. I gave Rodney my camera for air to air photos he could take. Photos start around here . We cruised north by Skagit Valley and towards Mt Baker for some air shots and discussions and observations. My stomach was a little upset so we went back to Paine field for an hour flight. Rodney headed in and I went up for a second flight instead of waiting to top off my tanks as there was a line at the pumps.
I flew to Diamond Point on the Olympic Peninsula and briefly talked on the phone with Larry Warner. Larry helped Sam building parts of my airplane before Sam passed away and I got the plane, so a commemorative fly-by was due. Diamond point is a special place but private so I won't be buzzing there too much, but this was important to me and maybe for Larry and the late Sam Mrakovich. I did about 10 turns and fly-by's, then headed eastbound. I landed at Pt Townsend, then headed back to Paine field.
Observations - I don't have my list but here are a few: From Pt Townsend, my alternator circuit 40 amp breaker popped. I reset it than it popped again, so no air resetting. After some testing, the resolution for this is a 60 amp breaker. Drawings call for a 60 amp and with all switches on, the monitor shows about 50 amps. This is a good fix and nothing seriously wrong. The Glasair has 11 hrs of life since first flight. I'm thinking, open it up, take care of squawks, then fly again. I'll work on multiple cooling solutions, airspeed reading discrepancies, fuel filter and controls inspection, camera fix and a few other things I have written on the 'to do' list.
THIS IS POST 100 since the ADVENTURE started NOVEMBER 2011 link, but who's got time to remissness. I'm hoping to get it back in the air soon. I may have a small hangar 'get together' next week, weather permitting. Also note - Aviation Day at Paine Field .
I flew to Diamond Point on the Olympic Peninsula and briefly talked on the phone with Larry Warner. Larry helped Sam building parts of my airplane before Sam passed away and I got the plane, so a commemorative fly-by was due. Diamond point is a special place but private so I won't be buzzing there too much, but this was important to me and maybe for Larry and the late Sam Mrakovich. I did about 10 turns and fly-by's, then headed eastbound. I landed at Pt Townsend, then headed back to Paine field.
Observations - I don't have my list but here are a few: From Pt Townsend, my alternator circuit 40 amp breaker popped. I reset it than it popped again, so no air resetting. After some testing, the resolution for this is a 60 amp breaker. Drawings call for a 60 amp and with all switches on, the monitor shows about 50 amps. This is a good fix and nothing seriously wrong. The Glasair has 11 hrs of life since first flight. I'm thinking, open it up, take care of squawks, then fly again. I'll work on multiple cooling solutions, airspeed reading discrepancies, fuel filter and controls inspection, camera fix and a few other things I have written on the 'to do' list.
THIS IS POST 100 since the ADVENTURE started NOVEMBER 2011 link, but who's got time to remissness. I'm hoping to get it back in the air soon. I may have a small hangar 'get together' next week, weather permitting. Also note - Aviation Day at Paine Field .
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Log #99
Flight #18 & 19 - Filled up another 15 gallons. Took off 16 right and up to 3,500 ft. I headed north for some maneuvering and testing. I climbed and gathered some data:
360 90 180 270 degrees
______________________________________
6640 7000 7070 7200 altitude (ft)
______________________________________
2600 2590 2670 2620 rpm
______________________________________
23.4 22.9 23.1 23 manifold pressure
______________________________________
152 156 156 152 indicated a/s (mph)
______________________________________
171 189 189 176 GPS(mph)
_____________________________________
175 168 177 173 adjusted speed via altitude & outside air temp (OAT)
Thinking that I'm not flying perfect and not sure the calculation can be like this, the average is in one direction@7000ft@2620rpm@23.1inches manifold pressure is 154mph indicated = 181 mph GPS groundspeed = 173 mph adjusted for OAT & altitude by Dynon.
What does this mean? Instruments are close to correct. Good enough for me. I did a landing at Arlington, flew around more, then went home for another 1.5 hrs total.
360 90 180 270 degrees
______________________________________
6640 7000 7070 7200 altitude (ft)
______________________________________
2600 2590 2670 2620 rpm
______________________________________
23.4 22.9 23.1 23 manifold pressure
______________________________________
152 156 156 152 indicated a/s (mph)
______________________________________
171 189 189 176 GPS(mph)
_____________________________________
175 168 177 173 adjusted speed via altitude & outside air temp (OAT)
Thinking that I'm not flying perfect and not sure the calculation can be like this, the average is in one direction@7000ft@2620rpm@23.1inches manifold pressure is 154mph indicated = 181 mph GPS groundspeed = 173 mph adjusted for OAT & altitude by Dynon.
What does this mean? Instruments are close to correct. Good enough for me. I did a landing at Arlington, flew around more, then went home for another 1.5 hrs total.
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