Finally! First flight of 2017!

Due to work, travel and weather I've been grounded since early November. Absolutely miserable and unacceptable. Fortunately, the stars aligned today... I didn't need to go to work and the weather in Colorado is absolutely perfect. So I launched in my 8 at about noon to do some snowy sightseeing around Denver.

First I headed south. This is one of many buttes that dot the landscape between Denver and Colorado Springs.



Heading back north now. Interesting rock formations near Palmer Lake between the plains and the foothills.



Looking over the nose at the hogbacks that separate the mountains from the plains around here.



Hogbacks and rock formations.



Snow-covered Mount Evans in the distance. More rock formations in the foreground.



Next I climbed to 10,000' MSL and headed into the foothills. Here's a closer look at Mt. Evans.



Looking northwest at the high peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park.



Looking the other direction over the Front Range with downtown Denver in the distance.



Descending towards Golden. Coors brewery is the clump of big buildings between the mesas.



Flying over Denver on the way home.



Ahhh, what a great way to start the year and a great way to get back up in the air again!

Happy New Year, RVers!

Beautiful!

Beautiful photos. Thanks!

Nice place I've been to your woods. Good memories will refresh in the fall.

Vlad, be sure to look me up when you come! I'd love to meet you and behold an RV that spends more time in the air than on the ground!

Vlad said:

Nice place I've been to your woods. Good memories will refresh in the fall.

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Vlad thanks for posting that pic of Red Rocks. It sure makes it look pretty small from the air, in person it seemed like them steps never ended. Probably the beer... lol

Gret pics!

Hi Joe,

Great pics!

Also, thanks for the warm welcome to your state and the flying advice last summer. Next time we come out, we will meet up!

Pics

Thanks for the Pics Joe - they were fantastic!

Nice pics! Is that Green Mountain in the first shot??

Hogbacks in the Summer

Here's what the hogbacks look like in the summer. I shot this video leaving BJC heading North toward Laramie, then turning West down that long emergency landing strip known as I-80.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tmmmyg0lvbuxqpd/Crossing Rockies.mp4?dl=0

snopercod said:

Here's what the hogbacks look like in the summer. I shot this video leaving BJC heading North toward Laramie, then turning West down that long emergency landing strip known as I-80.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tmmmyg0lvbuxqpd/Crossing Rockies.mp4?dl=0

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Hey John, What are those"fins" on the bottom of your aircraft for? Do they help the vertical stabilizer? I ask, because the way they are angled. Seems like they would compress the air flow and slow you down??

Just curious.

Fins?

donaziza said:

Hey John, What are those "fins" on the bottom of your aircraft for?

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I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to. I added a ventral fin on the empennage to compensate for the bigger engine I installed. That's visible right in front of the camera. I think what you're seeing is the offset between the wing root and the reflexed flaps. The NLF-0215 airfoil on the Lancair has a strong pitching moment so the faster one flies, the more the nose wants to pitch down. To counteract that tendency and reduce drag, in cruise we reflex the flaps UP about 7 degrees which you're seeing in the video. That leaves a drag-inducing gap between the wing roots and the inboard edge of the flaps. Later models of the Lancair moved the wing root up to match the flaps in cruise. Others have installed a fence there. Thanks for watching the video.

snopercod said:

I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to. I added a ventral fin on the empennage to compensate for the bigger engine I installed. That's visible right in front of the camera. I think what you're seeing is the offset between the wing root and the reflexed flaps. The NLF-0215 airfoil on the Lancair has a strong pitching moment so the faster one flies, the more the nose wants to pitch down. To counteract that tendency and reduce drag, in cruise we reflex the flaps UP about 7 degrees which you're seeing in the video. That leaves a drag-inducing gap between the wing roots and the inboard edge of the flaps. Later models of the Lancair moved the wing root up to match the flaps in cruise. Others have installed a fence there. Thanks for watching the video.

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H-m-m-m, OK, Looks like, I think they call them "strakes", and, yeah, right in front of your camera. F 16's have them right in the same position I'm seeing on your camera. ( No--I never flew F 16's, or I wouldn't have to ask) Maybe its just an illusion--but to the untrained eye, it sure fools you.

side view

Don: Does this view help clarify what you were seeing? The video camera is mounted under the ventral fin just in front of the rudder (far left in the photo). Taken in Hickory, NC. (Apologies for posting a Lancair photo on an RV forum.)