Flight 11/22/09 35 min.. total 11 hrs

Overcast! But promising to clear. I'm trying to get at least 4,000 ft so I can head to GFL and Garnsey. Trying out the KLX 135A GPS/ Comm on a short cross country. A lot to learn just programming in a few airports.

Bob Ulliano says my cooling problems may have been from cruising too slowly! I added half a quart of oil anyway. On take off the CHT still went right up to red line. Leveling off at 800 ft and gaining 130 kts is the only way I know to cool it off again. I have to circle the airport after every take off.

The GPS is wonderful, except it refuses to take me to GFL. It will only take me to Garnsey! So that's where I went. I followed the turn anticipation system to the next heading and noticed a vibration. Seemed like a prop/ spinner imbalance, or perhaps my imagination. Whatever, I turned back towards Saratoga only to find myself completely blinded by the western sun and lousy haze. Not two miles visibility! Can hardly see my own instruments. Now I'm almost dependent on the GPS. How do you make it take you back? The test is on.

All the numbers are there. The bearing to the airport, your ground track, etc.

The vertical card compass looks a lot like a directional gyro and it works well........ as long as you are standing still. It has all the ills of a magnetic compass. Again, it works, but when you're in a pinch you're really in a pinch. The brain strain is significant. What will happen on a real cross country?

11/17/09 Flight .8hrs

After work I sat at 8,000 ft  and watched the orange sun go down.  Blue sky.  Everything was blue, even my wing except where the sunlight hit.  That was orange.  The airplane is blue and orange.  No camera.  The batteries would be dead anyway.

When the last sliver of sun disappeared I considered making it rise again, but my temps were strangely high.  Ambient temp was colder than ever.  32 deg.  And I’m just poking along at 110 kts climbing slowly.  Oil temp was 220 deg!   Why?!   Time to go down.  We could have used a quart of oil, could that be it?   Or do we get poor cooling when cruising slowly?

 

Long EZ, Early test flight

Long EZ, Early test flight

11/8/09 Flight

1.7 hours flown

New 1” foam behind seat cushion.  Very cozy now.

Brake caliper repaired, no leakage, but I’m no longer trusting the thing.  Saratoga Airport has finally been mowed, so if I have to go off the runway in a wide left turn the field seems flat enough.  The plane has at least half full tanks, heaviest yet.   In the two weeks I haven’t flown, things are no longer automatic.  I’m very dependant on the checklists.

But she still flies great.  Temps go right up to maximum on take off. 425 degrees CHT.   Oil temp is fine.  Nose gear is up right away.  Throttle back to 2,000 rpm to let things cool off.

I followed the Northway up to Glens Falls,  one big long emergency landing strip.  GPS   ‘Direct To’  works great.   Over my partner’s house for the first time and………   nobody home.

Next came Argyle, where I found Mike Shearer in his Aeronca.  We just started to play tag when the engine faultered.  At about 1200 ft I could make the grass strip, but I don’t want a forced landing!   I gained some altitude and started going through the systems.  Still plenty of fuel, but some fool pulled the mixture back instead of the throttle.   The knobs are completely different in shape so as to avoid any confusion but it still happened.  

Today’s big experiment was to test the relief tube.   It works well and I learned why the system earned its name.

Also, a problem with all Long EZs is the terrible draft of cold air entering around the elevator tube.   The problem is greatly reduced if not solved by simply taping on and aluminum fairing which directs air away from the hole and tube.  I will make it permanent with fiber glass when it comes home.

Just before sunset, everyone is trying to land at once.  Hard to find a space to talk on the radio.   I want this landing as slow as possible so as not to depend so much on the brakes.  80 kts on final, touch down at 65, and she still floated off again,  but the brakes worked fine and we rolled slowly down the second half of the runway.

Parked again, the sun has set, and I still spend long moments just marveling at what this machine has just done.