I'm back home again after a fun filled weekend and multiple KR Banquets. ?Dan Heath and I both launched from Mt Vernon with me following him out before we turned in opposite directions. ?
Overall for this trip, I flew a totale of 18.4 hours with stops in Woodward, OK, Melbourne, AR, Jackson, TN, Mt Vernon, IL, Neosho, Mo, Woodward, OK, Dalhart, TX and Los Alamos, NM. ?The winds out west were bad today. ?I hadn't planned on stopping at Dahlhart, but was bucking 30 - 35kt winds, so had to add another fuel stop. ?Winds on the ground in Dalhart were 24G33 kts, when I dropped in to top off the tanks and go again. I had a generator failure about 30 minutes into my flight after I left Sunday morning, so turned around and flew back to Mt Vernon where I knew I would have an FBO and airport manager that would support my repair efforts. ?Now I know, the life for the brushes in a 20 Amp generator runs about 800 hours. ?Had I been at home, I would have put new brushes in it and been fixed for $10. ?On the road, the rules change with borrowing tools from the FBO and having them pick up parts. ?It cost me $550 for a replacement generator and another 2 nights in the Holiday Inn. ?I had to pull the left P-mag to gain access to the generator, so Dan got to walk through the timing procedure for timing a P-mag. ?If I had known I was going to have to do that anyway, I would have included it in the engine seminar. Dan had his issues and stuck around with me (probably suspicious that I had sabataged his plane so I would have some company!) We spent much of the day Monday chasing parts for his plane while we waited for Rich from SRT to arrive with my replacement generator. ?We got Dan fixed just in time to spend the evening swapping out my generator, had a late dinner, then launched as soon as we could this morning. Next year, plan on traveling west. ?I'll write a short tutorial on Mountain Flying for those that plan to fly to Chino next year. Thanks to those that hung around to keep me company and help with repairs, especially Larry and Gwen for delaying their trip home to keep me company on Sunday. Best regards, -Jeff
