From: RicArgente@cs.com
Message-ID: <81321ebe.24fc1377@cs.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 13:03:51 EDT
Subject: Lancair Cross Country Trip
To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
Mime-Version: 1.0

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Hi folks,

Just came back from my first long cross country trip/vacation via Lancair 
360.  My son and I had a blast!   Total trip mileage was 2,135 nautical miles 
or 2,458 statue miles!  Average ground speed was 190.1 Knots or 218.6 mph.  
Not bad but I have to work on getting this figure to 200 knots, don't know 
how yet but maybe when I get it painted (smoother?? heh, heh...) and fix some 
of the gaps and imperfections here and there...  Our takeoff weight was at 
gross, around 1,800 lb. and within the aft cg limit.  

Our flight took us from Princeton Airport (39N) to Myrtle Beach, SC (KMYR), 
to Punta Gorda, FL (KPGD), to Birmingham, AL (KBHM), to Lynchburg, VA (KLYH) 
and back to Princeton.  I requested and received flight following for 85% of 
the trip.  It's always nice to be part of the system and in constant radio 
and radar contact during cross country trips.  Despite the ugly paint job of 
my Lancair (varying shades of gray primer), it never failed to attract 
attention from both pilots and controllers whenever we landed.   On one 
occasion, I called out to the tower about 30 miles out and the controller was 
quite surpassed to see us in the pattern a few minutes later, asked me it the 
plane was turbocharged upon landing...  

I eventually got my flight planning software (FliteStar from Jeppensen) the 
night before our trip and did a little cramming to learn the program.  One 
neat feature was the ability to download your flight plan to the GPS.  Pretty 
cool, no need to key the waypoints in.  It will also print your flight plan 
and maps, with varying resolution, either on regular sized paper or kneepad 
size (1/2).   After calling Duats, the software will also take the wind 
speeds and figure it into projected speeds and course.  Lastly, it will 
superimpose Airmets, Signets, etc. onto the maps. 

Since my son is quite good at holding altitude and heading (better than me!), 
he served as my autopilot for about 50% of the flight.  However, as my friend 
Clark suggested, an auto pilot is almost a 'must-have' item for this 
aircraft, especially on long trips.  Although I have ordered my S-Tec system 
30, we did not have time to install it prior to this trip.  

Lucky Break: 
The 'aviation gods' were looking after me during this trip, maybe even God 
himself!  Before departing Punta Gorda,  my friend Jim asked me to taxi the 
plane to his hanger to take some pictures with his Lancair.  As soon as I 
shut down the engine, smoke starts to come out of the upper air intake holes! 
 Damm!!  What the heck is this??  We take off the cowling and found one of 
the oil cooler hoses loose, with oil dripping from it.  Apparently, it worked 
itself loose and rested on one of the exhaust pipes and melted away into the 
core of the hose.  I believe that the tie wraps holding the hose in place 
broke.  The airport mechanic made me a new hose and we were on our way.  I 
will install edel clamps to secure this installation but had to make do with 
tie wraps again for the reminder of our trip.     Am I a lucky son-of-a-gun 
or what?  One can only imagine what would have happened if this failure 
occurred in flight!  

I wrote this short essay to release the adrenaline levels in my blood, which 
is still at an all time high!  Lancair flying does that ya know!

Rick Argente 


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