I'd been wanting to make the journey down to Mark Langford's for several years now and after his recent landing on the interstate in seemed like the time to go. I planned to spend the day and help him put the wings back on his KR. The forecasted winds aloft suggested a quick climb into a head wind to reach a tail wind at altitude. At 7500 feet in smooth air I was picking up 25 mph on the tail. I could see 75 miles in all directions. I was seeing ground speed reads between 160 and 170 mph for the entire trip of 232 miles. Throttled back, I later learned I was burning just under 5 gph. There was still frost in the shaded areas when I arrived. I taxied to Mark's hangar and did a 180 turn-around to park. When I pressed the right brake peddle to stop the turn the entire peddle, along with the master cylinder fell off on the floor. D#M* !!!! 200+ miles from home and a break down. After a brief discussion of the situation, we decided to remove the assembly, take it to Mark's house for repair, then return to the airport, fix my problem, and spend any remaining time on Mark's KR.
That turned out to be a good plan as we only had 45 minutes to spare after fixing my problem before I had to head back home. Smooth ride all the way home but a bit slower. I stayed lower,4500 feet, to stay out of the winds aloft. I was 60 GPS miles west of Nashville, Tennessee and I could easily see the skyline of the city. What a great day to fly. The total trip was 464 miles, 3.6 hours total warm up, taxi , and flight tim on the clock, burning 17.6 gallon. Not to bad. The failed rudder peddle was an original RR assembly. It broke at the 400 hour mark in the weld at the 45 angle where the 7 inch vertical and 14 inch horizontal meet. You might want to make that an inspection point on future annuals. Thanks to Mark for his hospitality and for fixing my problem in short order. The time spent on my repair and not having the time to work on his KR will probably keep him for attending the upcoming Corvair College. Sorry Mark............... Larry Flesner
