Today's Message Index:
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1. 04:50 AM - Re: Re: Safe ZODIAC XL flight behind a Corvair (Debo Cox)
2. 06:23 AM - Re: Video from my 7.2 hour flight today (cookwithgas)
3. 09:23 AM - Re: Video from my 7.2 hour flight today (Scott Thatcher)
Message 1
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| Subject: | Re: Safe ZODIAC XL flight behind a Corvair |
Man, it's posts like this one that keep me drilling holes in sheet metal. Thanks
Scott for your inspirational post and video.
Debo Cox
Nags Head, NC
Scratchbuilt XL/Corvair
Fuselage 40% done
www.mykitlog.com/debo
do not archive
Message 2
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| Subject: | Re: Video from my 7.2 hour flight today |
Dave it was just a great experience. It was my second long trip. The first was
a trip to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota with my wife and now she is hooked on
flying.
I had two small scares which turned in to two lessons-learned. The first one was
on the way when I landed with both tanks near empty with only 2.5 usable gallons
in the tanks. That is 30 minutes of reserve but I don't want to do that
again. The second was on the way back when I got my compass headings mixed up
and landed on a grass strip down wind. I should have flown over and found the
wind sock. Instead I listened to the AWOS and landed the wrong way on the
grass strip. I depend on those big numbers on the hard runways too much! I would
have been better off landing crosswind on the hard runway! It was no big
deal, just fast and bumpy. The 601 gear is really stout - my nose fork is heavier
than the plans call for anyway because I knew I wanted to land on grass
strips.
Climb rate at 9,500 feet is pretty minimal. Trade airspeed for climb, then level
off, build speed, then climb a little more. That is pretty high and it is
a great and somewhat scary feeling to be cruising along up there in an airplane
I built in my garage. Coming down is a hoot because you have all the airspeed
you ever dreamed of. It makes your time en-route calculator on the GPS give
some pretty nice numbers too! I really like my Lowrance 2000C airmap. It keeps
me away from towers when flying low - I went around two or three that were
over 3,000 feet high! The GPS shows where they are and how tall they are.
It also warns me about Class Charley airspace and restricted airspace.
One thing I have noticed is how stable my 601 is. I may just be lucky and always
find smooth air, but I have not yet had any uncomfortable bumpy rides. Yesterday
on the last leg of my trip I was at 6500' MSL above lots of scattered clouds
and I noticed their shadows were moving in my direction but I had a 20 -
25 mph headwind. I ducked down under the clouds at around 2500 feet and ground
speed was now indicating 10 mph faster than the ASI! I was kind of surfing
the clouds (below them). It was at this point where I was getting moved around
a bit but it was kind of fun - nothing violent. My airplane is not fast.
I usually indicate 100 to 115 on the ASI but groundspeed is 85 to 90 depending
on headwind. I got up to 125 under those clouds the whole way home.
Another fun thing I did was ride some thermals. In those towering clouds, there
was a lot of rising air. I actually had the nose pointed down at one point
and was climbing. I can see why the birds do it. I was clear of clouds the whole
time and always had a hole to see the ground.
Everything else was pretty standard. Fly some, land, get gas, take off and fly
some more. Attached is a picture of my fuel stop in Hannibal, MO, the boyhood
home of Mark Twain.
Scott Laughlin
601XL/Corvair
Finished and Flying
Read this topic online here:
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p 0071#200071
Attachments:
http://forums.matronics.com//files/marktwain_164.jpg
Message 3
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| Subject: | Re: Video from my 7.2 hour flight today |
Nice shot and a fun video Scott! If you have any showing your instrument
panel in flight that would also be great. I'm planning to take mine from
Palm Beach County (F45) up to North Carolina (KRHP) sometime next month and
it looks like it will be about 6-7 hours also.
I've got a neat little hangar at the Andrews-Murphy airport in NC and I'm
looking forward to working some more on the aircraft in cooler weather.
This florida heat is about to kill me! Guess I'll have to go take a swim
:-)
Do you recall your average ground speed and indicated airspeed?
Scott Thatcher, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
601XL with WW Corvair, Registered as E-LSA
N601EL, http://placestofly.com, http://eaa203.com,
http://mykitlog.com/sdthatcher
Webmaster: http://zenvair.com
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