Hauling parts to the airport, DAR inspection, first flight, transition to Phase II; all are traditional milestones for any new experimental. For old married guys there is one more.
I was most of the way through a round-engine Skybolt when we had a bit of luck. Patti asked for go-places airplane and said she liked her previous -8 experience. I sold the Bolt and built this RV. In private I call it Patti's airplane. I make jokes about how she made me build it....tough job, somebody has to do it, yada, yada. Obviously there's a lot of BS there, but plenty of truth too. When you're married almost 31 years and she's still your best friend, you really want her to go along......and you really want her first trip to go right.
Patti has been hearing about Cedar Key for years, so it was first on the list. Yesterday the weather was flawless. The 390 put us above the bumps in less than 2 minutes. 9500 gave us a 20 knot tailwind; 20 MPG at 202 knots GS is a fine thing. Visibility was about 40 miles. The wind at CDK was straight down the runway. A vacationing pilot with a car immediately offered a ride into town. The oysters were fabulous and the pelicans were funny. By the time we got back to the airport the sun was down enough to kill most of the thermals, so we hugged the earth going home to beat the headwind. A beautiful enroute sunset, a squeaker at the home drome, then split a cold beer from the hangar fridge.
Perfect!
I was most of the way through a round-engine Skybolt when we had a bit of luck. Patti asked for go-places airplane and said she liked her previous -8 experience. I sold the Bolt and built this RV. In private I call it Patti's airplane. I make jokes about how she made me build it....tough job, somebody has to do it, yada, yada. Obviously there's a lot of BS there, but plenty of truth too. When you're married almost 31 years and she's still your best friend, you really want her to go along......and you really want her first trip to go right.
Patti has been hearing about Cedar Key for years, so it was first on the list. Yesterday the weather was flawless. The 390 put us above the bumps in less than 2 minutes. 9500 gave us a 20 knot tailwind; 20 MPG at 202 knots GS is a fine thing. Visibility was about 40 miles. The wind at CDK was straight down the runway. A vacationing pilot with a car immediately offered a ride into town. The oysters were fabulous and the pelicans were funny. By the time we got back to the airport the sun was down enough to kill most of the thermals, so we hugged the earth going home to beat the headwind. A beautiful enroute sunset, a squeaker at the home drome, then split a cold beer from the hangar fridge.
Perfect!
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