|
|
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
<< Lancair Builders' Mail List >>
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>
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
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
LML homepage: http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
|
|