Most everyone has been suffering with this relentless heat but I found some very comfortable temps with the RV this week. I made a quick 3 day trip to Sleepy Eye, Minnesota to visit a friend while my wife entertained some of her friends over night.
(It's an annual thing around here, last year I flew to Tulsa and collected a hamburger from Alan Barrett - there's always somewhere to fly to with a RV when you're kicked out of the house.
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I came to know this pilot because I saw a crated H6 engine at the EGG factory about 5 years ago addressed to someone in Sleepy Eye. That mandated a call to him as I grew up in Sleepy Eye the first 10 years of my life plus he was doing an EGG engine, same as me at the time.
Probably not many of you know about Sleepy Eye. It sits in south central Minnesota about 100 miles from MSP and was named after an old Sioux indian chief way back before anyone here was born. It has a municipal airport with 2 2500' sod runways that are very smooth, well maintained and about as old as the chief. When I was growing up around there, the airport was managed by Eldon Lewinski. He was the operator, flight instructor and all around charter pilot for many, many years before he passed on not long ago. I flew with him one time back in the 60's when renting one of his Cherokee 6's.
Anyway, my friend has a hangar there and is struggling with the H6 in a Zenith 801. I've been there 4 times now helping him sort out issues with this engine. We did get the beast up to flying speed yesterday with some serious taxi tests in the 90+ plus heat.
Two other interesting things are going on at this airport. There is a crop dusting operation going on with 4 Air Tractors and I had a chance to talk with one of the pilots. Aphids are eating the soy beans so they are very busy. Last Sunday they spayed 9000 acres and on Monday 8000 acres. I know a little more about that business.
The other interesting item is a guy building an award winning Titan P-51. I say award winning because this guy took it all at OSH in 2000, he had the grand champion airplane that year. He is Larry Lund, a talented builder and super nice guy if ever there was one. He would like to do it again at OSH and to that extent his workmanship on this airplane is very impressive.
Anyway, back to flying high and cool. Granted, you need an excuse to do it, but the weather is fine at 8000-10000'. Those 60's and 70's are just right up there for a couple hours - doing what we like to do - fly. I was rolling along at 175 mph true today burning 7.7 gph.
Cruisin' High and Cool to Sleepy Eye
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