This was a disappointing morning. Bad weather and having my bride home has made it difficult to get in any flights. Last night she worked late allowing me to hit the sack early. This morning I woke 15 minutes before the alarm, jumped out of bed and arrived at the field at first light. I was concerned that I might have left the key in the ignition but …. No, it’s all good. Cranked up the theme to True Detective, loaded the wing in my lap, taxied out to the launch zone and just as I arrived I heard/felt a crack. Damned if the nose wheel hadn’t collapsed! The last flight was normal with a normal landing. I’m not sure if it had been damaged for awhile or if it rotted from the inside or I banged it into the earth on landing and just didn’t notice.
Month: July 2015
821… 823
Two flights last Thursday and another this morning. No drama, other than Mike braking the netting tensioner on his cage. It did go into his prop taking out a chunk, but he was able to nurse it back to the LZ. I’ve been working on getting as much ground speed as possible before lifting off. This morning the roll out was good. I didn’t touch the brakes until after the front wheel left the ground and then only very lightly. The climb was dramatic. The last two flights I landed with the trimmers completely closed. It works ok and I’m coming in darn slow but the brakes feel mushy. I’m going to try it alternating between neutral and closed and see what the sweet spot is.
SCA 819 & 820
Two short flights. The first flight was cut short when I discovered that the brake line was wrapped around the risers. It was not something that could be sorted out, without landing. I made a slow 180* turn and set down. The second flight was about 25 minutes and shortened by virga and rain approaching. After landing I watched it build … dissipate and build again. I could have probably stayed up without incident and never felt anything on the surface but ….
Last week I spotted a lonely little lenticular cloud below a bunch of circulnumbus. I don’t know what caused it but it was worth taking a shot.
Flight #818 Placida
Dawn had an early flight so I got up with her and was at the LZ a few minutes after 0600. It was almost a no wind take off right down the undeveloped cul de sac I was using for a runway. Although the winds were right I didn’t want to cross the Gaspirilla Causway alone so I contented myself with a good tour on the mainland side of Gaspirilla.