A1Skinner wrote:I have an engine lift... but I'm a long flight away just to swap tires... [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

Haha! It'd be a fun trip though

Nothing remotely backcountry at all for this entry. In fact, it was ALL A-to-B pavement pounding. Oh well, those flights are still flights!

Flew down to Enterprise to see the wife's family for Thanksgiving. She didn't have anything going on this week so she took one of our pups and herself down there on Monday. This left me and the other pup (the big black one) and the two cats at the house from Monday until Wednesday when I got off work.. It was actually a pretty good time to spend with just the one dog. He's a rescue and has been doing really well but had plateaued a little lately as far as behavioral issues go. Some time with just me and him I think might have pushed him past that plateau. We'll see!

Anyways, it was a beautiful flight south, taking off from H-town around 3pm and arriving in E-prise around 5:10 pm making a solid 2.2. This was at roughly 2450 RPM. I tried to get a pic of both me and Bear (the pup) in the airplane but he likes to lay down in the back. The angle didn't work out so I just grabbed one of me!


I had a vicious headwind and saw some cub-like ground speeds on the way down.


Here's a sunset somewhere south of Troy.


Had a good time, ate WAY too much food, hung out with the fam, and got to play in one of the famous family jam sessions.


Today after a long round of fetch with the puppies, my wife drove me to the airport where I found the gate locked and the phone number to call for after hours ops not in service. I thought I was going to have to jump the gate until I saw an open hangar through the fence. Ended up being a cool old Cav pilot that let me in and kept me enthralled for about 45 minutes of war stories all the way back to PRIME CHANCE! Amy obviously got a head start on the way home here, but no worries - I still beat her to the house by nearly two hours! I took off about 4:30 pm and made it back around 6:24 pm for a nice 1.9. I cruised at a leisurely 2300 RPM the whole flight home and enjoyed the air and some good music.

The car ride to the airport with two tired pups. Healy is the tri-color.


Here's how I found my plane, just like I left her!


Montgomery in the Sunset.


Home.

The photographes looked like a nice safe flight.

Question about the jam session:

Is that a Fender Precision Bass? Cool.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Precision_Bass

Looks like your having some serious fun with that airplane. So jealous!

Do you know what that nose bowl came off of? Looks good and sleek.

whee wrote:Looks like your having some serious fun with that airplane. So jealous!

Do you know what that nose bowl came off of? Looks good and sleek.

Thanks! I am!

It's a modified RV-6 cowl

8GCBC wrote:The photographes looked like a nice safe flight.

Question about the jam session:

Is that a Fender Precision Bass? Cool.

I have no idea, haha! It was the first time I'd picked a bass up. I play guitar so it wasn't much of a stretch (scratch that, the frets are really far apart. It was a stretch to my hands, haha).

It sure was fun though

CamTom...

I think Roger got the idea of using that cowling because he built an RV-6 also... He sold it to a fellow in Grants Pass Oregon and I have been doing all of the maintenance on the aircraft for the last 5 years... Current owner joined the West Coast Ravens aerobatic team so It got a smoke system installed... He flew it exactly 100 hours last year... Have it at my shop right now doing the condition inspection and some more mods...

Brian

Yesterday marked another round trip to SE AL. We made it a day trip to avoid a system that moved into central AL earlier this morning.

We left H-town just before noon and got back at 2145. It was actually a really nice flight, smooth air the whole way. My wife mentioned that it was nice to just spend just a day down there, so we'll likely be making more of them in the future.

Even though the air was smooth, we had a pretty stiff headwind on the way south. Averaging 111 mph ground speed with ~140 mph indicated. I did some temporary baffle repairs with some high-temp tape (just pulled the wrinkles out and taped seams together), and was able to hold 2450 for the whole flight there and back. My oil temps never crested 160 deg F, so I'll need to do something about that. #3 was still my hottest cylinder, staying ~55 deg F above #1. #2 and #4 stayed within 10 degrees of each other. I think the rough temp averages were #1: 310, #2: 330, #3: 365, #4: 330. This was at 3,000 MSL, 50 deg F OAT, and ~140 mph indicated.

When we got done visiting the family, we hitched a ride back to the airport where I discovered I'd left my master on . The Racer was easy enough to hand-prop but one of the things I discovered was that the 6v overdraw protection circuit on the earthX won't let ANY power out at that voltage. Not even to kick on the alternator. So I ran inside to the just-closing-shop FBO and borrowed a start cart. Just a quick touch to the terminals kicked off the alternator and it started charging at ~40 amps on my ammeter. I'm hoping that draining and then charging at such a high amperage didn't hurt the earthX. We'll see. It did make me think about an of-airport situation though. Since my momentary lapses aren't specific to asphalt, I'm going to look into how much voltage the planepower alternator needs to excite the field. Maybe it'll be small enough that I can rig up something to use the extra AA batteries I carry for headsets. We'll see. When we got back to the hangar I went to put the earthX on the battery tender but it showed full charge so I took it back off. I'll go back and check the voltage tomorrow and see if it's holding.

On the way home we had a great tailwind and averaged 145 mph ground speed indicating 130 mph at 4,500 msl and 55 deg OAT. Nice and smooth night flight.

The main purpose of the flight was to drop the dogs off at my M-I-Ls for our trip to my Dad's house. It was an empty house last night... I can't wait to go back down and pick them up!

I'll put some pictures up in a minute, still have to dig them off my phone.

Had to position the plane to air up the tailwheel with the cigar-lighter pump.


The babies aren't huge fans of flying, but they tolerate it. My plane is pretty noisy though.


Only snagged one enroute picture.


Happy puppies at M-I-Ls house!


And why not a tree picture?


Some from the flight home

Cam, those little booster packs are awesome. Started my dead 180 like it had a new battery. For $200 and a couple pounds I'd say that's pretty cheap insurance. And easier then trying to make one out of AA batteries...
Great pics BTW!

A1Skinner wrote:Cam, those little booster packs are awesome. Started my dead 180 like it had a new battery. For $200 and a couple pounds I'd say that's pretty cheap insurance. And easier then trying to make one out of AA batteries...
Great pics BTW!

Good call, David. I had forgotten about those things, that would probably be an easier option, haha!

Great pictures Cam,

The master switch, under the seat on PA22s, is hard to remember. Sorry about me and Murphy being negative, but a helmet would help with that structural cross tube. I hit my head a few times in PA22s in rough air. The SPH-4 really made a difference.

Contact

Thanks Jim!

I have no excuse on the switch, mine's been moved to the dash right next to the throttle. Just being silly and in a rush to put the plane away.

I have a helmet, just need to mod a set of DC's to fit under it. I need to figure something out for the wife as well. Until then we're staying on established airports and dry, groomed grass.

CamTom12 wrote:Thanks Jim!

I have no excuse on the switch, mine's been moved to the dash right next to the throttle. Just being silly and in a rush to put the plane away.

I have a helmet, just need to mod a set of DC's to fit under it. I need to figure something out for the wife as well. Until then we're staying on established airports and dry, groomed grass.

I forgot my alternator switch once. Just takes getting used to a different panel. And none of my other ones had a seperate switch for the alternator. You'll get used to it, and we all make mistakes!
Is your wife willing to wear a helmet? Mine wants no part of it and I can respect that as my real bush flying is not with her along...

A1Skinner wrote:Is your wife willing to wear a helmet? Mine wants no part of it and I can respect that as my real bush flying is not with her along...

We haven't had that talk yet. We're still getting her comfortable to flying in a small plane. I've been with her and at the controls for every small plane flight she's ever been on, and just started with her in 2012.

I don't plan any backcountry flights with her except "busch light," if you will.

Shoot, I still need to work myself up to real backcountry stuff! Looking forward to it, though!

Having a shut-down sequence that you do the same every time you shut the airplane down helps to avoid "master left on" syndrome: pull mixture / mags off / reset GPS trip-meter / switches off / master off / fuel off / cowl flaps closed. Making a habit of leaving your beacon and/or strobes in the on position helps when you still manage to forget the master in spite of your shut-down sequence, you'll generally spot the blinkie light(s) in the process of tying down or putting the airplane away.

A1Skinner wrote:

CamTom12 wrote:Thanks Jim!

I have no excuse on the switch, mine's been moved to the dash right next to the throttle. Just being silly and in a rush to put the plane away.

I have a helmet, just need to mod a set of DC's to fit under it. I need to figure something out for the wife as well. Until then we're staying on established airports and dry, groomed grass.

I forgot my alternator switch once. Just takes getting used to a different panel. And none of my other ones had a seperate switch for the alternator. You'll get used to it, and we all make mistakes!
Is your wife willing to wear a helmet? Mine wants no part of it and I can respect that as my real bush flying is not with her along...

A simple reminder I've used for decades is to ALWAYS leave the strobe lights and/or rotating beacon ON. As in never turn it off. So, you forget the master, walk to your car, climb in, start it......and see the strobes flashing away. A minor side benefit is that whenever you're getting ready to start engines, you kick on the Master, and the strobes automatically start flashing to warn passers by that something's about to happen.

And, the best news: It's cheap, and there's no down side.

MTV

Good call Mike. I never turn my beacon off either. Just one less thing to remember.

Yup, that's a good idea. Strobe is going to start staying on all the time now!

While we were in SE AL last week to pick the dogs back up, I found a chance to put my plane to work for the family. My B-i-L had carried his kids to visit their mom near Cleveland, OH on a commercial airline before Christmas. He had another round trip for him and return tickets for them (he doesn't want them travelling unaccompanied), but the dates weren't lining up the way they had originally planned and he had two options: pay a BOATLOAD of money to change the non-refundable tickets or drive up and get them (it's a 14 hour or so one-way drive). I presented option 3, he could drive to my place and I'd fly him there and him and his kids back. The weather looked good and we shook on the deal. As an added benefit, I planned a side-trip to see some old friends that live nearby during our overnight up there.

As the day drew closer I kept an eye on the weather and luckily it still looked fine.

He met me at the airport and helped me finish preparing the plane. My fuel trailer had run dry just before I got the second tank topped off so we had to refill that then finish fueling the plane. After that, we were off!

I didn't snap too many pictures during the flights since the terrain didn't change much and I flew at altitude to stay out of the low-level turbulence, but here's a few:


The clouds looked pretty cool.

After an hour an a half or so, we decided to make a quick stop somewhere. I originally had decided to hit up Russell County, but as I overflew to enter the pattern I saw some X's on the approach ends and vehicles on the runway. I had checked NOTAMs on my way there, and didn't see anything, and Center hadn't mentioned anything when I told them I was going to stop there. So we turned east and stopped in Somerset, KY to stretch our legs and empty our bladders. As we descended back into the low-level turbulence, my B-i-L's restroom situation had turned critical, so I expedited my pattern and taxied to the nearest building that looked like an FBO. It turned out that the FBO was on the other side of the runway, and I'd actually taxied to an EMS maintenance hangar, but there was a father and son inside working on the son's old Blazer. It looked like a second gen, without the removable top, and looked pretty clean. The father used to be an Army powerplant and prop repairman, and was a really cool guy to talk to. After our short stop we continued on our way. I called back in with Center on climb out and got the same guy I had been up with before. He double checked the NOTAMs in Russell County and verified there wasn't anything on file, so I felt better about that. I just checked and it looks like they dropped one later that evening.


This is the town of Berea, KY. Some close friends of ours grew up here.


Just to the north is the Bluegrass Army Depot. I stayed outside the magenta circle.


My copilot was pooped from his early start to drive to my place.


We also flew by the Lockheed Martin Airdock.

We got to Geauga County airport where I would drop my passenger off and I was marshalled in by Tim from EAA Chapter 5, which is based there. I ended up refueling from their 91 octane E-0 tank and talking airplanes for about half an hour. Tim showed me his Glastar (beautiful) and walked me around showing off the other planes in the hangar. There was a Coyote, a VariEze, a Russian motorglider, a couple of RVs, and an airbike hanging from the ceiling. I really enjoyed meeting those guys, and we talked briefly about OBP. It was a great time.

Then I saw that the sun was getting low and I wanted to make it to my last stop before night, so I pushed on.


I tried to get a picture of the sunset at its last sliver but just missed it.

There I was picked up by my friends that I hadn't seen in 8 years. I also got to meet their kids, who were wonderful. We ate dinner and then played Mario Kart with the boys until their bedtime, then stayed up and hung out until we got tired. It was a great reunion. They're pressing me now to plan a trip up with my wife so they can see both of us again. Hopefully we can find a good weekend with good weather and get it done soon!

The next morning after a quick breakfast I got dropped off at the airport and headed back to Geauga to pick up my B-i-L and his two kids (7 and 10). A ceiling had formed, which I was expecting, but it was a little bumpier than I thought it would be. After we got the kids strapped in and briefed on emergency exiting it started a light snow flurrying as well - time to go, now! Visibility was high under the clouds, and ceilings were around 3,000 ft MSL. The turbulence was constant though not harsh, and one of the boys puked. I felt terrible. He managed to get some of it in a sick-sack, though luckily it didn't smell and my B-i-L was able to clean him up from the front seat. There wasn't a good airport to land at (stiff gusting crosswinds, I don't prefer those with passengers just yet) and my B-i-L said to just push on to get out from under the clouds as quick as we could, so we kept on.


We passed a strange looking building on the way.


The orange ribbon of hope ahead.

About an hour after we took off the clouds parted and we climbed above the bumps. My B-i-L talked to his son and saw that he was doing much better and wanted to keep on for a while, so after I verified that he was all smiles, we did.



Leaving the turbulence below.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, with another stop in Somerset for leg stretching and bladders. The boys did great and really enjoyed the flight after we got above the bumpies.



Passing over Cookeville, where I have some family.


The closed Arnold AFB.

After we got home they piled in their car and continued south to get home in time for their other commitments. All in all it was a great trip!

Anyone have any pointers to getting puke out of a seatbelt?