Woke this morning to beautiful weather CAVU, 32 degrees, light winds predicted.
Well, the babe needs flyin' (and so do I), so off I head to the airport. Got a list of minor squawks to work on before I can go, so it's not until about 11:30 I finally button her up and fire up.
Wind's picked up a little, about 7-10 knots, 45 degrees across the runway. "No step for a stepper", says I to myself.
Wind is blowing the "wrong way", so I have to take that long taxi down to 35. Arggghh! Still, I use the time to let the beast under the cowl warm up a bit more, check all my numbers again (and again). Go over my training in my mind for the 10 thousandth time.
Finally, down to the far end, run the pre-launch checklist, make the call. Carefully study the sky in all directions (we have LOTS of NORDO people here).
Roll out and roll the power in. About 40 KTS, push in the rest and WHOOF, we accelerate and lift off effortlessly. This new fangled EFIS stuff is still a tiny bit new, can't locate the VSI instantly, oh, there it is. YIKES, 2200 FPM, better lower that nose! Cool, indicated 135 KTS and climbing at 1000FPM. This bird loves to fly.
Roll the power down a tad, turn the prop down to 2500 and turn south to the "Practice Area" for some more engine break in time. Seems like no time till I am at 8500'. Level off, set RPM to 2350 and let the airspeed build up. TAS indicator shows 170 KTAS. Nice.
Clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight. Air smooth as silk. Doesn't even fell like we're moving, the ground just rolls past beneath us.
Ok, time for some work. Autopilot check. Set a course in the GPS, toggle the selector until I get a green light, then engage. Wonder of wonders, she banks the right way and intercepts the line in few miles. "Check that off the list", says I.
Keep scanning the temps, pressures and of course, looking outside for traffic. Temps are good. Engine is running too cool if anything. Darn MAP needle is jumping around like crazy, "gotta fix that", on the list it goes. EFIS RPM is still not right, good thing I have my trusty AccuTach.
Test the copilot (backup) EFIS, still too much RF, it kills the portable gps signals. Ok, switch it back off. We'll work on that tomorrow. (added to the list).
The bird felt right wing heavy yesterday, today it's much less noticeable. I can trim for level flight easy enough. Work on that tomorrow too. (see a pattern here?)
Tune the SL30 to 108.4. She lights up and says "yes sir, I got it".
Push the right keys on the EFIS and shazam, the CDI comes alive. Cool, check that one off the list.
WTH!! My transponder is showing FL170 for pressure altitude. That ain't right! Switch the MODE C off and mark it on the list. Darn. That's a biggie. The EFIS has a built in encoder and I made the adapter cable. I must have checked that thing 20 times. Back to the drawing board. Oh well, if worst comes to worst, I still have my old encoder.
Hmm, takes a bit of right rudder to keep the "ball" on the EFIS dead center.
Guess I may end up with a rudder trim of some kind after all.
Ok, enough boring stuff, lets do some maneuvers! A few clearing turns and then some steep turns. Man, I love this plane! Couple of "whoop de doos" just to get the blood flowing. This is the most fun I've had in over a year.
Ok, time to go back (so soon?!). Airport is about 20 miles, and I need to get down. Point the nose over and wow, we are hauling.
Call up SSF weather, they are landing runway 9. Wind 070 at 10. Uh oh. More than I had really planned to deal with. Oh well. Let's see how it feels.
About 3000 MSL we hit the bumps. Enter the pattern for 17, slow down, throttle, prop, flaps, fuel tank, fuel pump. Turn final and it's the same dance, different every time. The wind always wants to lead. Can't fight it, must move with it.
Get down close and, nope, this ain't gonna work, the wind is quartering tailwind from the left. Power in, go around. We leap back into the air. What a machine!
Flaps up, climb out straight for 3 miles, make a teardrop, announce and lets try that again.
Again, it's a dance. At 1TE4 there are trees at the threshold of 35 and they always look big. Stable at 80KIAS down the pipe. Lower, start rolling out throttle. Darn, throttle is a bit sticky in the last inch or so. Add that to the list!
Just off the ground, flaring nicely. I'm a little bit left (as usual), but headed straight down the runway. Wait ..., wait .... ,wait ... There! Mains touch, just hint of forward pressure and we are stuck on. A perfect wheeler. Keep that tail up, dance the pedals (just a little), tail getting heavy, ease her on down.
Darn!!! What is all the fuss about flying a taildragger? (just kidding)
Taxi back and put her away. "Nice girl" says I.
Time to drive home. Musing, it'll be a few days before I can come back.
I can't wait.
Well, the babe needs flyin' (and so do I), so off I head to the airport. Got a list of minor squawks to work on before I can go, so it's not until about 11:30 I finally button her up and fire up.
Wind's picked up a little, about 7-10 knots, 45 degrees across the runway. "No step for a stepper", says I to myself.
Wind is blowing the "wrong way"
, so I have to take that long taxi down to 35. Arggghh! Still, I use the time to let the beast under the cowl warm up a bit more, check all my numbers again (and again). Go over my training in my mind for the 10 thousandth time.Finally, down to the far end, run the pre-launch checklist, make the call. Carefully study the sky in all directions (we have LOTS of NORDO people here).
Roll out and roll the power in. About 40 KTS, push in the rest and WHOOF, we accelerate and lift off effortlessly. This new fangled EFIS stuff is still a tiny bit new, can't locate the VSI instantly, oh, there it is. YIKES, 2200 FPM, better lower that nose! Cool, indicated 135 KTS and climbing at 1000FPM. This bird loves to fly.
Roll the power down a tad, turn the prop down to 2500 and turn south to the "Practice Area" for some more engine break in time. Seems like no time till I am at 8500'. Level off, set RPM to 2350 and let the airspeed build up. TAS indicator shows 170 KTAS. Nice.
Clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight. Air smooth as silk. Doesn't even fell like we're moving, the ground just rolls past beneath us.
Ok, time for some work. Autopilot check. Set a course in the GPS, toggle the selector until I get a green light, then engage. Wonder of wonders, she banks the right way and intercepts the line in few miles. "Check that off the list", says I.
Keep scanning the temps, pressures and of course, looking outside for traffic. Temps are good. Engine is running too cool if anything. Darn MAP needle is jumping around like crazy, "gotta fix that", on the list it goes. EFIS RPM is still not right, good thing I have my trusty AccuTach.
Test the copilot (backup) EFIS, still too much RF, it kills the portable gps signals. Ok, switch it back off. We'll work on that tomorrow. (added to the list).
The bird felt right wing heavy yesterday, today it's much less noticeable. I can trim for level flight easy enough. Work on that tomorrow too.
(see a pattern here?)Tune the SL30 to 108.4. She lights up and says "yes sir, I got it".
Push the right keys on the EFIS and shazam, the CDI comes alive. Cool, check that one off the list.
WTH!! My transponder is showing FL170 for pressure altitude. That ain't right! Switch the MODE C off and mark it on the list. Darn. That's a biggie. The EFIS has a built in encoder and I made the adapter cable. I must have checked that thing 20 times. Back to the drawing board. Oh well, if worst comes to worst, I still have my old encoder.
Hmm, takes a bit of right rudder to keep the "ball" on the EFIS dead center.
Guess I may end up with a rudder trim of some kind after all.
Ok, enough boring stuff, lets do some maneuvers! A few clearing turns and then some steep turns. Man, I love this plane! Couple of "whoop de doos" just to get the blood flowing. This is the most fun I've had in over a year.
Ok, time to go back (so soon?!). Airport is about 20 miles, and I need to get down. Point the nose over and wow, we are hauling.
Call up SSF weather, they are landing runway 9. Wind 070 at 10. Uh oh. More than I had really planned to deal with. Oh well. Let's see how it feels.
About 3000 MSL we hit the bumps. Enter the pattern for 17, slow down, throttle, prop, flaps, fuel tank, fuel pump. Turn final and it's the same dance, different every time. The wind always wants to lead. Can't fight it, must move with it.
Get down close and, nope, this ain't gonna work, the wind is quartering tailwind from the left. Power in, go around. We leap back into the air. What a machine!
Flaps up, climb out straight for 3 miles, make a teardrop, announce and lets try that again.
Again, it's a dance. At 1TE4 there are trees at the threshold of 35 and they always look big. Stable at 80KIAS down the pipe. Lower, start rolling out throttle. Darn, throttle is a bit sticky in the last inch or so. Add that to the list!
Just off the ground, flaring nicely. I'm a little bit left (as usual), but headed straight down the runway. Wait ..., wait .... ,wait ... There! Mains touch, just hint of forward pressure and we are stuck on. A perfect wheeler. Keep that tail up, dance the pedals (just a little), tail getting heavy, ease her on down.
Darn!!! What is all the fuss about flying a taildragger? (just kidding)
Taxi back and put her away. "Nice girl" says I.
Time to drive home. Musing, it'll be a few days before I can come back.
I can't wait.
