I met Luc Trepanier and his father for lunch. They have been driving for two days from Quebec and are excited to finally start flying. We talked about the differences in PPG rules in the US and Canada. I was surprised to hear that there are over 500 active pilots in the province of Quebec. After lunch we parted to get ready for the trip. I picked up the caps and patches hit the library and dropped of some comp tickets at Mom’s. There was just enough time to load up the rig and head out to Chatfield to meet up with Luc.
The wind was gusting but came down nicely. Luc went up and came right back down with a lack of power. We fooled with his carb for awhile and I went up to check it out. Mildly bumpy. When I landed Luc tried again and still was underpowered. We tried leaning the mixture and slowly cranking it up but never got it to hold full thrust for an extended period. He flew three times and I flew twice with the Eden III..
I’ve changed the route…instead of going down to Pueblo and flying with Kevin and Jerry, I’m going west to Bluff Utah where I’ll meet up with Stan Honey and the Trepanier’s. If I can get out of here by 8:00am I should be able to make Bluff in time for the evening flight
Month: October 2009
Monument Valley Prep
A few chores on the rig…
1) Mount 5 gal gas tank over the motor
2) Wire up Heated gloves
3) Re-mount the horizontal brace outside of the cage to gain prop clearance
4) Check Reserve Harness and flush all velcro fasteners
Weather Forcast is improving winds are coming down and temp is going up.
No fly Day
Today I moved the horizontal brace behind the cage and gained an inch of prop clearance. With the help of a bicycle frame bender ( thanks Richard ) it fit.
No fly Day
But the Sailing was Epic. Started with one reef in the Main and the #3 Jib. I ended up with two reefs and the storm jib. At one point the winds were so high that boats were going over like dominos. I took the sails down to right a catamaran. After we pulled it up, the Rangers showed and wanted to know who called 911. Go Figure? I motored over to the east bay to wait it out. During a lull I motored into the marina and hung with the boat during the best windstorm of the season. It’s all good !