Life is good.
Forecast was for wind yet today but it dawned clear and calm. I had to
take one of the kids to school today so I was going to be late for work
anyway. I got to the airport around 8:20am and it was still calm. I
called the ground crew and started getting the plane ready. By 9:10 we
had every thing ready and a briefing done. I started her up and let it
warm up a few minutes and taxied to 29 for a high speed taxi first and
then the plan was to come back around and do the flight on the second
run. After a run up and instrument check I called for a high speed taxi
on 29. That was about the end of the flight plan that was laying on the
seat beside me. I gave it about 1/2 throttle to start the roll and then
slowly gave it the rest. the roll and track felt so good that I left the
throttle full a quick scan showed all the numbers good and only a couple
seconds latter she leaped from the runway. I had to only correct for a
very slight wing drop and she was climbing at 90 mph and somewhere around
1000' per minute. Pitch was absolutely a non issue and the roll response
was rock steady. I was at pattern altitude about a 1/4 mile off the
runway end, at 2000' on crosswind and 3000' while turning downwind. I
leveled off at 3000' and just settled in. All the temps stayed low. 300
deg. was the highest cylinder in climb. oil was 175 deg. and exhaust was
around 1150 deg. I worked on slow flight and into power off stalls but
did not take her to a full stall. I just wanted to get the out side
picture in my head.
I did a little bit of full throttle but backed off at 140 mph indicated.
I saw that the wind was starting to move on the ground so I
worked my way down to pattern and went for a landing. I nailed the
numbers for speed and decent on pattern. 90 downwind, 80 x-wind and
turned finial feeling pretty good. The glide lights were good, looked at
the speed and it had jumped to 110 mph. I stayed with it down to the
threshold and I was way to fast and heat from the ground was giving me
fits. I was all over the place. By then I figured that I had scared the
runway into submission and I applied power and climbed out with out any
other trouble. I went around and did it again but toke power out sooner
on finial and crossed the end at about 80mph. Things were still a little
rough but we stayed on centerline. It floated further than I wanted but I
managed to plant her real solid on the runway and roll out with room to
spare. (3200' runway)
I'm a pretty happy guy right now and it is more a feeling of relief. Ya
all keep at it The big day is worth it.
Joe Horton, Coopersburg, PA.
joe.kr2s.buil...@juno.com
