I flew up to T crafts place to see his replacement aircraft. I even got a ride in his new bird. Shawn flew me around the valley and we looked at the strip where he lost his last T craft. His new plane seems to be a good one and he let me take the controls and check it out. When we got back to his strip I offered to give him a ride in my 182. His grand dad was there so the three of us took a little flight around the area. It was a great day with one of my favorite pilots. Bob

skybobb wrote:I flew up to T crafts place to see his replacement aircraft. I even got a ride in his new bird. Shawn flew me around the valley and we looked at the strip where he lost his last T craft. His new plane seems to be a good one and he let me take the controls and check it out. When we got back to his strip I offered to give him a ride in my 182. His grand dad was there so the three of us took a little flight around the area. It was a great day with one of my favorite pilots. Bob

Glad to hear you're back in the air Bob.

Here is a shot of Breckenridge, CO I took yesterday 17 Oct 2008. I sure hope it starts to snow soon so I can utilize my season pass. It's hard to believe that A-Basin just up the road is already open.

I flew nowhere. I flew a couple weeks ago , and I won't fly again until December...when I'll fly in the pattern again! Weeeeeeeee!

Tadpole wrote:I flew nowhere. I flew a couple weeks ago , and I won't fly again until December...when I'll fly in the pattern again! Weeeeeeeee!

Hey Tadpole, why won't you fly till Dec?? Headed out of town?

58Skylane wrote:Hey Tadpole, why won't you fly till Dec?? Headed out of town?

Money. I'm flying just enough for currency with my club now which is 3 take offs / landings every 60 days.

Tadpole wrote:

58Skylane wrote:Hey Tadpole, why won't you fly till Dec?? Headed out of town?

Money. I'm flying just enough for currency with my club now which is 3 take offs / landings every 60 days.

I see. I know just how you feel! I'm not sure how much more flying I can do till I get back to work full time next year.

Mom and I had a great day enjoying the fall colors near Alpine Az.

We flew on a cattle hauler to AZ last weekend for Erin's race, and drove up to visit the Grand Canyon.

Met some new friends at Packwood.
Flew low & slow back down through the canyons, came out at Easton and babied a rough running engine back to Thun field.
Awesome day

The weather today was unbelievable here in Oregon. You know the way the air is a 6am? It was like that all day -- smooth as glass.
Flew up to Tillamook with my daughter.


We taxied right up to the museum entrance and really enjoyed the airplanes and the building which is quite the thing.




On our way home we flew along the coast and landed at Wakonda Beach (R33) which is a pretty grass strip near the beach. It's in fantastic shape.


What a beautiful day! I'm one lucky guy.

Be careful at Packwood. The tv news had a story about how there's quite a bunch of elk in and around town there. I don't know if they're as damn dumb as deer when it comes to (not) avoiding vehicles, but you'd have a real mess on your hands if you had an elk strike. A friend of mine hit a deer not long ago and while it wasn't near as bad as it could have been, it was bad enough.

Eric

Be careful at Packwood. The tv news had a story about how there's quite a bunch of elk in and around town there. I don't know if they're as damn dumb as deer when it comes to (not) avoiding vehicles, but you'd have a real mess on your hands if you had an elk strike. A friend of mine hit a deer not long ago and while it wasn't near as bad as it could have been, it was bad enough.

Eric

Roger that on the elk.
There was fresh elk sign in the grass parking area despite the effective looking perimeter fence.
Plenty of open area all around the runway so they should be fairly easy to spot from downwind.
The wind sock, however, was not. It's old & faded.
A local there said he was preparing to build a tetrahedron for the strip.
Town is just a few hundred feet away with a couple different places to eat and such.
Cool place to visit!

..flew the same old route, but saw some interesting stuff. Such as this over loaded Amish dude. I bet he didn't have an over sized load permit??

Looks like he's heading home from IKEA.

Well didn't go anywhere. Just took the Ridge Runner out for some taxi practice. Been awhile since I PIC'ed a tailwheel airplane.

Anyway after some low speed turns on the ground, I moved out onto the runway for some higher speed taxi work. So I give'r the gas and gets the tail up, throttle back, bring the tail down a couple times.

THEN, when attempting the same fast taxi, tail comes up, tracking straight and true and.... dang about 10 feet in the air , climb to about 50 feet, a little right then left, back off the gas, desend for a squeaker. all this happened at about 25 mph indicated.

I thinkess I will like this little bird. If I can get used to the 2 stroke engine and the 6300 rpm red line. I like the 2.5 gph for sure.

C ya, Bub

K- Great pics. If you're ever back up this way give me a ring and we'll grab lunch.

Bub- We need pics of this Ridge Runner! Did you go with the 582 or 503? You oughta talk to my old man, as he's overhauled many Rotaxes and has a pretty good handle on caring for them.

Skylane wrote:Well didn't go anywhere. Just took the Ridge Runner out for some taxi practice. Been awhile since I PIC'ed a tailwheel airplane.

I thinkess I will like this little bird. If I can get used to the 2 stroke engine and the 6300 rpm red line. I like the 2.5 gph for sure.

C ya, Bub

Looks like a mighty fun plane to fly- I just pulled up the stats out of curiosity (posted below). Have a blast, and be sure to let us know how the maiden flights go. Thanks for the post- now are you going to change your handle from Skylane?

-DP

(Sorry the formatting sucks- I couldn't fix the tabs)

Ridge Runner Ultralight Ridge Runner II **
Empty Weight 250lbs 350lbs
Gross Weight 500lbs 900lbs
Est. Useful Load 259lbs 650lbs
Wing Span 26.20 ft 26.20 ft
Wing Cord 46 in 46 in
Wing Area 99.40 sq. ft 99.40 sq. ft
Length 17 ft 17 ft
Height 5.17 ft 5.17 ft
Width Folded 8 ft 8 ft
Length Folded 20 ft 20 ft
Gear Width 4.66 ft 4.66 ft
Cabin Width 24 in 24 in
Fuel Capacity 5 gal 10 gal
Range 175 miles 325 miles
Rate of Climb fpm. 800 1400
Cruise Speed MPH 58 90
Stall Speed MPH 24 29
Takeoff Roll ft. W/flaps 50 100
Landing Ground roll ft. 50 75

Truckee- Carson City -then back,Hell of a nice day around here.Even got in a little ridge soaring on the way back 2300fpm climb in the 180 near Mt Rose.Z Good times