I agree, it all depends on who happens to be at the first guideman
point you encounter, which runway you are assigned, etc. After I got
cooled down (mentally & physically : ) after my long taxi, I had to laugh at
where I ended up. It was an Enterprise car rental booth at the
GA terminal. That's what they had interpreted my AUTO POWER arrival
sign to mean.
But otherwise the trip went fine. The engine purred the whole time,
didn't complain about the 100LL fuel I bought on the way home ($4.65 / gal
!), and ingested the pouring rain I flew through like it enjoyed a tall
drink. Only problem was weather that waited until I got within 40 miles of
home. Thunderstorms kept diverting me away from Shady Bend until I ran low
on fuel and had to land at the only airport within range. They had no fuel
but thank heaven for nice strangers who bail out wayward aviators in
distress. Without them, flying would be a lot less enjoyable. I
camped out at Davis Field in GA (the storms chased me clean out of FL) and flew
home this AM.
The saddest part of the trip was the email from Perry Casson waiting for
me. Gary Palmer who I have known for many years and see most every Oshkosh
was killed there on Saturday while taxing for departure in his friends
RV-6. Gary was in the passengers seat. A TBM warbird taxied into
them from behind with deadly results. His friend was not injured.
Tracy
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2006 12:54
AM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Oshkosh
I guess we all have different experiences, like the blind men describing
an elephant.
I was mailed a blue arrival sign that said
"AUTO-POWERED", and flashed it at all the guidemen. In just a few
minutes I was parked in my row in front of homebuilders headquarters.
Granted, I arrived on Sunday afternoon, and I did know exactly where the
parking was, but things were flowing quite well considering. The biggest
hassle for me is always REGISTRATION! It is so slow it is worse than
having teeth pulled!
Those that had time to look around know that there are HUNDREDS of
homebuilts parked there. RVs alone are almost impossible to count!
There was a rotary-powered velocity in the Airventure Cup Race this year that
did well.
Had to leave Thursday AM, so missed Tracy completely, but there was a
steady stream of people who were interested in the rotary engine. Lots
of intelligent questions, and I mentioned Tracy's name a lot! I
made the mistake of mentioning his name to P.L. though, and.....well that is
another story to be shared off-line.
Smooth flight up and back from Granbury, with one stop near Kansas City
at Clay County airport. Self-service MOGAS for $2.90. I like to
rub that in with my Lycosaurus friends!
The engine runs so good now that I suspect the apex seal has been broken
at least a year! This is an amazing engine design.
--
Bill
Eslick
www.weslick.com/RV6Index.htm