My trip to Oshkosh, summer of 2006 - Part 2

I happened to land in a great little town - Hyannis, Nebraska, population
287 (maybe including pets!) and not close to anywhere. But I hadn't been on
the ground more than a few minutes before a rancher named Dean drove up and
asked if he could help. He suddenly became my liaison and repair
coordinator. Even though it was Sunday he got a hold of a guy (Gary the Vet)
who had one of the 3 hangars on this little airfield and I was able to work
on my plane inside the hangar out of the blistering sun. He also provided me
with the one size of metric wrench that I hadn't brought with me so I could
get what remained of the exhaust manifold off the engine!

I was also given the name and home phone numbers of the hotel owners and a
couple of people who worked there because the hotel isn't open on Sundays
and I'd have to get someone to come and let me in and give me a room. It was
an OK little hotel - the only real issue was that it sits about 150ft from a
very busy railroad line and because this little town has a street that
crosses the tracks the trains have to blow their monstrous horn whenever
they come through. You guessed it, the hotel is right about the spot where
the train lets off it's huge blast!  So, at 1AM, 2AM, 3AM, 4AM... I jumped
out of bed and dove for cover only to remember that we weren't at war - it
was only a train.

My new rancher friend also gave me the name and number of a local welder and
again, even though it was Sunday, he returned my call within a couple of
hours and came out and got my exhaust system and took it away and welded it
all up in about an hour. He also welded up all the spider cracks that
emanated from each of the two the main breaks in the exhaust - an excellent,
excellent welding job!

While the welder was welding up my exhaust I cut, pried, and ripped the
melted wiring apart. My first thought was to cut out all the exposed wires
and splice in some new wire that actually had insulation. However, everyone
I talked to in town said they didn't think there was any wire close to the
size I needed in the town. There was a "Rancher Supply" store - plenty of
barbed wire - no wire for electronics for sure. I'd have to go 60 miles to
the closest "big city" (population 9000) to find what I needed. But I also
needed a soldering iron and shrink tube. So, after pondering my options, I
decided that since the wires themselves were intact - all I needed as some
insulation to keep them from shorting on themselves or the engine. So I
carefully wrapped each one of the 12 or so wires in electrical tape and
high-temp silicone rubber tape (which I had brought along just in case). I reassembled everything by about 8:30 or 9PM Sunday night and ran the
engine for a half-hour at different settings - especially full throttle.
Everything seemed OK so it was time for some scrumptious dinner from the
same place I where I enjoyed a fabulous lunch - the BP gas station mini-mart
next to the hotel (did I mention it was the only thing open).

Now I was ready to fly out the next morning - which direction? Oshkosh or
home? Given that this is the second time I have had cracks in the exhaust it
was a no-brainer. This exhaust system is apparently only good for between
20-30 hours of use before some part of it fails. So home to Seattle it is.

But here's my main concern (aside from the exhaust system) - my engine and
prop combination aren't the most efficient.  I was full of fuel when I
departed Cheyenne and because of the altitude at Cheyenne (6200ft) and
temperature it took about 6000 feet of runway to break ground - and then I
climbed VERY slowly. So, I've burned about 12 gallons getting to Hyannis and
I'm now a little lower at 3700ft and on a runway that is 3975ft long.  There
is a hill maybe 100ft high off of one end that has a cemetery on it (local
joke about pilots saving the grave diggers time by planting themselves). Off
the other end is a pasture and then some more rolling hills.  The previous
day the prevailing wind (maybe 10-15kts) was coming from the cemetery
direction - not good. I did some calculations, based on prior performance, and estimated that I
should be able to lift off somewhere in the 3000 foot range - as long as the
altitude remained the same (for non-aviators: when it's hot the altitude
that the plane "sees" is higher because the air is less dense - i.e. takes
more runway to take-off). So a very early morning departure was planned when
it was cool - also hoping that the wind at 6AM would be calm and I could
head for the pasture and not the cemetery - if you know what I mean ;-)  I
had to wait until 6AM too because the hotel doesn't open until 6AM and when
I "checked-in" they essentially just gave me two keys (one for the outside
door and one for the room). I had to pay them before I left - couldn't skip
town without paying!  I made the long drive (about 3 blocks!) to the airport in the pickup truck
that was loaned to me by the hanger owner. At 6:10AM I pushed the plane out
and did a pre-flight to make sure field mice hadn't taken up residence where
they shouldn't. I called the FAA Flight Service Station on my cell phone to
file a flight plan from Hyannis, Nebraska to Casper, Wyoming (about 285
miles) with a route that happened to go over several larger airports along
the way!  As I hung up with FSS an older, gentleman rancher pulled up in his
pickup and got out for a chat. It turns out he was the guy who originally
built the airport 40 years before. An interesting guy! I thanked him for his
foresight in placing an airport exactly where I needed one and then asked
him to go the end of the runway and get ready to call in the cavalry if I
got hung up on the barbed wire at the other end.  He assured me he would and
we said good-bye.

At 6:30AM I started the engine up and took the plane to the edge of the
grass on the end of the paved runway and ran the engine up and leaned it for
best power. Then it was off the brakes and on to counting runway lights -
was that 5 or 6 or 7 - I can't count lights at a time like this! (for
non-aviators: runway lights are typically spaced at 200ft and counting them
can tell you how far you've gone and how much runway is left). By about
mid-field I was up to 54kts and accelerating - only 16kts more and I can
lift off. Sure enough, with about 700-800 feet left I came off the runway
and began a slow climb. A gentle left turn so I didn't skim the hills on the
other side of the pasture and I was on course to Casper, Wyoming.

The flight home was as uneventful as the flight had been coming out - well
up until Hyannis, Nebraska that is. There were 5-10kt headwinds most of the
way so it wasn't quite as quick a trip - plus I kept the engine running rich
so the exhaust was cooler - so I didn't have the same power setting as the
trip out. Stats:  Miles traveled out - 1340, average speed 184MPH (with two landings)
Miles back - 1295, average speed 175MPH (with two landings)

Now it's off to design a different exhaust system - using different
material! Oh, and back to work! Since I'm not at Oshkosh what else is there
to do!

Joe Hull
Cozy Mk-IV N31CZ (65 hrs - Rotary 13B NA) Redmond (Seattle), Washington