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by Bill Wright
Gentlemen! I sure had a good one today. Mo: thanks for taking the extra time to re-set my wing. I think you hit the nail on the head, I was throttling up way too early for no wind conditions. It was much easier when I ran first, gassed it later.
Notice any difference with the 100octane gas?
by Maurice Sheldon
Yes, I concur. It was a great day to fly (but not as good as Tuesday's Magic day).
I had two nice flights. The first was a spectacular flight with Bill. I brought my camera up with me again and was able to take some nice pic's of Bill flying from the air. My second flight was in an attempt to fly with Dave. After several attempts, Dave didn't get off the ground due to some problems he's having with his wing.
On both flights, I was off the ground on my first foward launch. It seems I'm getting the hang (pun intended) of forward launches in no wind conditions. The trick seems to be pull the wing overhead using minimal throttle, get it stabilized, and then once overhead, throttle up and run.
The highlight of my flights was some low ground (under 100') manuevering, doing aggressive turns and adding power as needed to keep level. The funnest part was when I encounted a rather large jack rabbit. I probably gave the poor guy a heart attack, chasing him around in circles for several minutes. He did this mad zig zag dash, back and forth from bush to bush while I circle around him. Finally, I felt sorry for the guy and moved on.
Another highlight was flying low by some huge, earth-moving tractors. I could see the drivers watching and waving at me as I waved to them. At one point they lit this huge fire (with gasoline?) that threw flames 20' into the air. Flying around the fire, steering clear of the plumbs of rising smoke, I tried to photograph it without success.
The AV gas that Bill "loaned" me on the second flight seemed to run a tad smoother than the premium stuff I've been using. And it sure smells a heck of a lot better too! (Thanks Bill!)
Looking at Bill from the ground.
Morning mist...
Bill in the desert terrain.
Sun rays on the LZ.
