Just a quick update, WIXers, before I head out there again. Sorry for the delay in posting, but there are picture issues--unfortunately, it was late in the day before we could fly, and cloudy and gloomy, and the light was such that not a one of the in-flight pics our people took turned out.
Sad, yes, but not a total loss: my Dad took video of us taking off and landing, and I saw those shots in his camera viewer, and they looked great. I'll presently have a dvd from him with that footage, and I'll be able to capture stills from it.
I'll also have the highly skilled graphic-designer daughter of IndyJen, Savannah Liz, in town for a visit next week, and I'll get her to give me a period of instruction in YouTube-ing videos. We'll get that film uploaded, and a link will show up here, you know it.
In the meantime, let me give you a brief story of the day:
You know that we in the Hot Stuff crew have been frustrated for over a month now, with a plane that's ready to fly, but no money to both put gas in the tanks and turn on the insurance. Having her just sit there, after all the blood and sweat and effort we've expended on her, has just been a bitter thing, and try as we might to keep a stiff upper lip, morale has suffered on account.
Finally, our man Machine Shop Gaylon stepped up, dug deep, and came up with a wad of cash. Mind you, this is a guy who has already dug deep repeatedly over the past few years. Others of us did likewise, as we have also done before. Together, we managed to scrape up enough to give us full inboard tanks, which is about half fuel in the plane: 500 gallons total.
Okay, then, we pull the trigger and turn on the insurance, and come on everybody, let's hustle out there and get her ready ...
In the meantime, the isolated CB's forecast for the day began lining up and marching across the central Indiana sky, and they all converged on Mount Comfort airport.
All in narrow bands, stretching from Indy to Terre Haute on the western edge of the state, each band with a clear space behind. The extremely frightening-looking cloud pictured above was, I think, the next-to-last band of nasty stuff in the parade. We'd wait for the clear patch to arrive, run out and service the plane, here comes the next bout of rain and lightning, and run inside to wait it out.
Finally, after several trips over to the FBO's weather radar display, we saw the break we were waiting for, and manned up. The crew was Steve Rider PIC, Glen Matejcek SIC (Long Tall Glen), and Jenny Thompson crew chief (IndyJen).
It was still sprinkling, but we could see the edge of the shower, and by the time we'd run the checklist and strapped in, the rain had exited stage left, and we were left with clouds around 1800 AGL and calm winds, perfect for our purposes. By now, it's around 8:00 p.m., so we have a good hour and a half before sunset.
There we are, on the ramp warming up prior to taxiing out. Note the hubcaps: those are new, and were going to feature prominently in this week's maintenance report, as PJ put a lot of effort into getting those ready for installation in recent weeks--they were buried in the hangar for ages, unknown to us. We think they look great.
And checklist complete, temps up, pressure dropped into the green, so it's off we go to the runup pad for runway 07. It's really not all that dark in reality, but the clouds make it hard for the cameras.
We flew one hop, staying in range of the runway the whole way. One gear cycle, and close attention to everything the whole time. Gauges showed good indications, no untoward smoke or oil streaks or smells; none of the things that would indicate "time to break this off." The crew of course carefully briefed emergency procedures, abort calls, engine-out strategies, and everything. But she ran good, and flew well.
One wide pattern, and gear back down. Rider flew like it hadn't been two years since he last sat in that seat, but mebbe two weeks. Full flaps on short final, and a nice three-pointer, gentle as you please. Roll out easily to the end of the runway, and hardly any brake needed for the turnoff and the long taxi back.
The airshow tents and fences are up along 07/25, so I opened the escape hatch and climbed up for the view as is customary for us, to clear wingtips.
here we are, coming back into the blocks. The picture looks darker than it really was, but it was coming up on sunset at this point. There was a happy group waiting for us on the ramp there, you know it. And a happy crew inside the plane, too.
The front-seaters got off first, and by the time I secured my station and exited, I was just in time to see Long Tall Glen a-hugging PJ, both laughing with happiness, her feet at least two feet off the ground.
Me, I just smiled, quietly happy, and walked into the office to put away my gear. We worked a long time for that day, and it felt good. Especially when we did the postflight leak-check, and contentedly viewed the cleanliness. She's good and tight and powerful on both sides.
And now, at 0722 two days later, it's time for me to go put myself together and head out there again. It's forecast for a good day, cool temps light winds and clear skies, perfect for some more shakedown.
PJ and I are gonna meet up at the local Denny's for the Greasy Breakfast Special and then we'll go prep the plane. Glen and Rider will be out shortly after. PJ will get her turn in the crew chief's seat.
Thanks to everyone who sent well-wishes. More reports and pics to come ...
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