Flying Home

The second weekend in November was the Tequila Cup acro contest.  I had left my Pitts in Tucson after the US Nationals with the plan of flying the Cup and then home. 

The weekend before we flew commercial down to Phoenix to visit some friends and family.  And me being who I am, we stopped by the Scottsdale Air Fair to check out that event.  It's a small event but had a number of jets there that surprised me.  Well done!

The Tequila Cup contest went fine, it was nice to get one more in at the end of the season.  There were some fun events around the contest, but most of all hanging with my friends was the best.  In the end, I did walk away with third place in Intermediate.  Next year... Advanced!

The flight home was a great end to the two month round trip.  It took a day longer than anticipated due to weather.  Not sure if I'd want to make this trek again in Winter while flying a heaterless, drafty airplane!

Monday the 12th

KAVQ KBLH KAPV KMAE KDVO

Nothing too exciting this day.  Lots of desert, frustrated that the batteries fell out of my camera before Edwards and I couldn't reach them.  Thought for a second about taking the ones out of my GPS, but decided better of it...  I was amazed at the smog as I crossed the hills east of the LA Basin.  Persisted well north of the metro area.

Tuesday the 13th

KDVO KRDD KLMT KLKV 

This day was a bit more challenging.  Clouds were at the top of the hills crossing from Redding to Klamath Falls.  No real options in case of power failure other than the occasional clearing and my chute.  Once north of Klamath Falls, the clouds went from the surface to over 10,000, I was at both those extremes.  After a bit of back and forth, called it a day and headed for Lake County hoping for cheap hangar, car and hotel.

During my search for a path to Redmond, I was using flight following, which wasn't an issue at 10K.  When I decided to take a peek underneath, I lost radar services at about 7K.  Center notified me that I was too low and radar services were terminated, to which I acknowledged and squawked VFR.  I guess they never heard my radio call.  After I had been in Lakeview for an hour or so I got a call from the FAA saying they were looking for me.  That was shortly followed by a call from USAF SAR.  And not long after that a message through this board from a member who works for the NTSB asking how I liked Lakeview!

Lesson learned, when Center says services terminated, frequency change approved, hang around on the freq for a minute to make sure they heard you acknowledge!

Wednesday the 14th

KLKV KBDN KDLS KTTD KRNT

Based on the weather briefing, this should have been a fairly straightforward flight.  Bend was not my original choice for a stop, I wanted to land at Redmond to check it out.  However, en-route from Lake County it went from clear to 200' overcast.  As I approached I could see a band of low clouds covering about a 10 square mile area.  But Bend was clear so no problem scooting over there.

The hop to The Dalles was without issue.  From there it should have been non-stop to Renton.  However, north if the metro Portland area clouds were to the ground and a solid overcast beyond.  So I turned around and landed at Troutdale, grabbed some fuel, warmed up and checked WSDOT webcams.  By then Kelso and Toledo were under big holes.  Fired up to head north and go over on top.  However, by then it had cleared underneath so I just shot up I-5 to Chehalis, then direct to over Puyallup and on home.

Overall a fun and challenging cross country.  Cold and weather played a big role in decision making, some better than others.

I took a number of pictures, if interested.

The Rest of September's Adventure

Well, I made it all the way to Texas, and then on to Tucson. My schedule was pretty packed so I wasn't able to make regular updates as I had hoped. 

Rawlins, Wyoming was a neat surprise.  The guy at the FBO came out to guide me to a parking spot and immediately pulled out his camera and started taking pictures.

He couldn't have been more friendly, even brought the (free) courtesy car out to the airplane so didn't have to carry my bag across the ramp.  The car was great, a mid-1990's Thunderbird with a stick shift! Actually pretty fun to drive.  Off I went in search of a hotel room, of which there weren't many.  Lots of hotels, but all booked.  Finally found one with a restaurant and after a crappy steak, headed off to bed.

The next stop was Greeley, Colorado.  A nice airport with friendly staff in the very modern FBO.  While refueling, ran into another IAC member and Skybolt pilot that was local to the field.  Damn if I can remember his name though... Had to tear myself away from biplane and acro talk to get on with my journey.

In Hugoton, Kansas a local pilot observed that my little Pitts wouldn't be so great for dusting crops. Guess I won't bother going to duster school...  That was a long leg of my flight, the last 20 minutes I just wanted OUT of the cockpit.

My last stop before my destination was Elk City, Oklahoma.  Yet another character of an airport employee.  Guided me to a parking spot a few feet from the fuel truck, but on the wrong side.  Repositioned the truck by drive down the ramp 100 yards or so.  Kept me laughing with his political commentary of current events. 

From there it was a straight shot to Denison and the US National Aerobatic Contest!

Had a great time at Nationals again, I can see how going can be addicting. Once you start to create the friendships with folks around the country, you look forward to seeing them every year. They always have one or two photographers there, you can see all the pictures here. I ended up 11th out of 19 in my category, not too bad considering I hadn't flown the Wolf Pitts most of the summer!

Once the Nationals was over, I had to wait one more day for the weather to clear.  But on Sunday the 30th I launched for Marana, Arizona.  The first stop was Sweetwater, Texas.

I swear the guy there walked straight out of a Dukes of Hazard episode.  It was fantastic!  Rebel flag hat, cut off shirt, homemade tattoos... Couldn't have scripted it better myself.  I poke fun but he was really friendly and ran back inside to get a camera to take pictures of the Wolf Pitts.

Next was Pecos, Texas, a small town pretty much on the Mexican border.  A really nice couple was at the airport office and she guided me to a parking spot while he got the gas truck.  I didn't stay too long as there were some thunderstorms brewing. She offered some free water after I paid for the fuel.  Had to make sure the cows grazing by the runway didn't decide to cross during my takeoff roll...

Had to navigate around the line of thunderstorms to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  They must have stretched 100 miles north.  After a while I heard one of the other competitors trying to communicate with Albuquerque Center to find a way around the storms, but they couldn't get clear communications.  After a bit of frustration on both ends, I offered up the route I had just flow to the other pilot via Center.  Thankfully, she heard me just fine and was able to get around them safely.

A quick gas stop at Las Cruces and I was racing the sunset to Tucson.  I must say, the landscape from Pecos to Tucson was some of the most desolate and beautiful I've seen.  I'll have to go back and explore someday.  Shortly before sunset I made it to Marana and was met with a beer from my friend Will Allen, he'd arrived there a day earlier.

Now the Wolf Pitts is tucked away in Arizona awaiting my return to bring her home.  But first, we'll fly the Tequila Cup aerobatic contest in November.

Washington to Wyoming

It all looked so simple during planning. Plug the airports into the GPS, climb to 11,500 for the best winds and enjoy the view. Oh... no.... Can't be that easy! Just for fun, Mother Nature decided to throw in a bunch of smoke from forest fires!

Had to double back once north of Boise, the smoke got so think I couldn't see the ground anymore. Never did see Boise, and I was within 10 miles of downtown! Wasn't until Wyoming that visibility got above 5 miles.

The front of my airplane has a thin layer of ash on it from the fires. All that crap is floating up there for us to suck in our engines and lungs. Pretty amazing.

Spending the night in Rawlins, Wyoming. This is as far as I could get safely before sunset. I was ready anyway to get out of the cockpit, 5 hours is a lot when most of my flights are only 15 minutes!

Tomorrow I'll stop in Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma before arriving in Texas. Unless the smoke is thick in the morning, there's no reason not to finish the journey tomorrow.

More then!

Practice is Over!

The fifth day of practice has come to an end here is smoky Ephrata. Over 200 forest fires in Eastern Washington has severely reduced visibility. Made for some interesting training when you can't see the horizon!

Many, many thanks to the exceptional Lew Shattuck for spending his time driving all the way over here  to provide me my own personal aerobatic camp!  He is a critiquer extraordinaire, clearly explaining and fixing problems with my flying.  I am extremely fortunate for his assistance.

While at Nationals, I'll be sharing the Wolf Pitts with an Aussie named Ben. He came here to Ephrata to get familiar with N240WP, and did quite well for the most part. He'll be some competition down in Texas.  It's cool to watch someone else fly the Wolf Pitts, otherwise I never get to hear how wonderful the airplane sounds!  Ben is a good pilot and he's taking care of the airplane, can't ask for much more.

Tomorrow morning I start my trek to Texas. I'm hoping to make it to at least Rock Springs, Wyoming.  Maybe Laramie, or maybe even Cheyenne, but probably not.  The key is to just go one leg at a time and see where I end up.

Should be some fantastic scenery....

Renton to Ephrata

Well, the first leg of my journey is complete. Chose to leave a day early as the weather is supposed to turn ugly overnight and that would have kept me in Seattle until the afternoon or even Sunday.

The first cross country flight after major maintenance is always a little unnerving. But except for a few (imagined) noises, everything was fine.

Passed four impressive forest fires, but silly me had my camera and cell phone where I couldn't get to them. The picture below is of the sun around 6pm in a cloudless sky. The iPhone camera doesn't do it justice, the color was a deep pink.

Now to get ready for five days for practice to get back in the groove...

Cutting Corners

One of my key mentors in airplane ownership is a guy named Dave Womeldorff. He was the driving force behind the creation of my Eagle partnership back in the late 1970's and has taught me a lot about maintaining airplanes.

He has a couple mantras that are painfully true. "Anything you do, you'll do three times before it's right." and "There's a right way and a wrong way."

After my initial test flight there was a bit of oil leaking. We identified the culprit, the oil pressure line fitting, but to fix it required removing the engine... again... Something I wasn't too hip on.

The general consensus was that it would be fine for my trek to Texas and I could wait until I got back to fix it proper. One suggestion I got, and followed, was to put some fuel tank sealant around the fitting. That slowed down the leak quite a bit.

"There's a right way and a wrong way."

That phrase kept me up at night. Dammit. So yesterday I pulled the engine to fix the fitting. Removed the sealant gooped on there and put some correct thread sealant on the fitting.

Still leaked. Dammit.

Got a new fitting and again, pulled the engine to replace the fitting entirely. Turns out I did damage it while putting it in and that's where the new leak was from.

9 hours after I got to the airport the engine was started for a second time... NO LEAKS!

"Anything you do, you'll do three times before it's right."

1. Sealant
2. Damaged fitting
3. New fitting

Funny how he's so right on all this...

Tomorrow the adventure begins!

Flying Truck

Helped a friend out today by transporting his broken canopy to a shop for repair. The traffic between Renton and Arlington is abysmal weekdays, it could easily be a 4 hour project to get there and back.

In an airplane, 25 minutes each way.

These are the times I'm glad I keep my share in the Cessna partnership.

Well now..... did I ever drop the ball on this one, eh?  Not a single post since May, and yet I've done so much this Summer of 2012!  Let's see...

• Flew out to Ranger Creek May 12 to help clean up the strip for the summer.
• Was the Air Boss for Paine Field General Aviation Day on May 19th.
• Organized the Great Northwest Air Race III on June 16th.
• Competed in the Eagle at Apple Cup on June 22nd & 23rd.
• Was the Air Boss for the Freedom Fair Wings & Wheels on July 1st and Air Show on July 4th.
• Was Air Ops Manager for the Arlington Fly In July 11th through15th.
• Flew the Eagle to Cut Bank, Montana for the CAN-AM Aerobatic Challenge on July 27th and 28th.
• Was the SeaFair Air Boss for both the Fleet Arrival and Boeing Air Show the first week in August.
• Flew down to Lewiston with PSAAC to run the Snake River in a jet boat on August 11th.
• Was the Contest Director and a safety pilot for the Beaver State Aerobatic Contest on August 24th & 25th.
• And just completed a gig as Air Boss at the Vintage Aviation Weekend on September 1st.

And through all that continued to work on the Wolf Pitts and run my business.  >>whew!<<  No wonder I'm so tired!  But now the Wolf Pitts is back in the air with all new hoses, some new baffling and a number of overhauled components.  And I'm about to embark the be biggest adventure of the summer!

This weekend I'm doing some advanced spin training with Rich Stowell.  One of my Eagle partners convinced him to come to Seattle and do some one-on-one work with a group of us.

On the 15th I'll be heading to Ephrata for 5 days of aerobatic training, then off to Grayson County Airport in Denison, Texas for the US Nationals.  I will make it a point to update the blog during the trek there the contest, and then to Tuscon where I plan to leave the Wolf Pitts until a contest in November.

Let the fun begin!

Trials and Triumphs

As March drew to a close, the Eagle's condition inspection was complete and she was airborne again, it was time to turn my attention to the Wolf Pitts.  One diversion first, help a fellow Eagle pilot with a fuel flow issue he'd been having.  Checked the whole system but found no issues other than the wobble pump couldn't be opened to look at the filter.  Someone had put some Lock-Tite type adhesive on the threads and it was very difficult to open.  So we removed it for him to send out for rebuild, hopefully the state of the filter will tell us more.

So back in February I had a fuel line fail, which was a signal to me to replace my hoses, 15 years is long enough on one set.  Two other needed projects included removing the right magneto for it's 500 hour inspection (about 500 hours late..) and removing my wobble pump for overhaul.  It gets very difficult to operate when the temperature rises above 85 degrees.

Down to the hangar I go with wrench in hand!  First off, get the fluids out of the system, fuel and oil.  Lift the tail, open the fuel drain and start emptying into 5 gallon cans.  Then I open the oil quick drain valve to empty the case.  Eventually, I see oil all over my drip pan.  Huh, everything from the drain valve is going into my oil can, whats up?  Big streak of oil down the firewall... uh oh...

As the season ended in 2011, I noticed more and more oil on the belly.  I spent a couple weekends chasing down possibilities when I found that a number of my hose clamps were loose.  Triumphantly, I tightened them all thinking I found the oil leak.  Nope, if found an oil leak.  Turns out my prop governor is leaking where it mates to the adapter plate.

A quick assessment revealed the only way to properly remove the governor is to pull the engine off the airplane. Crap.

I haven't even started my annual condition inspection yet and I'm looking at $2,500+/- in new parts, inspections and repairs.  Gotta love airplane ownership!!

Don't get me wrong, I love the Wolf Pitts and wouldn't trade it for any other airplane out there.  And I knew that I was facing issues like this before I ever got in her to fly home.  15  years and 1000 hard aerobatic hours are tough on an airframe.  But as he current caretaker, I'm glad to put in the time.

But I need to end this post on a high note...  Last Saturday was Arlington Airport Appreciation Day.  Since KAWO does so much for the Arlington Fly In and has to be the greatest general aviation airport on the planet, I felt that I had to take part.  I hopped up with the Eagle and flew a few Young Eagle rides.

My favorites were two 16 year old twins that had never been in an airplane before.  Not even a big aluminum mailing tube.  They showed up at 8am to help set up and planned on leaving after helping tear everything down.  When we had to wait for a rain burst to pass through, they offered to help wipe down the Eagle.  Very polite and considerate boys.

The flights were great, both did a fantastic job flying the airplane, both showed some real enthusiasm and wonder at the experience.  That is the reason I like to fly Young Eagles.  Unfortunately, kids like these are far and few between.  I hope it made a big enough impression that we'll see them around the airport again.

Ended the day with watching a local B-26 Invader pilot beat up the pattern at Renton when I got back.  The sound of the radials is pure heaven....

Last weekend was a busy flying weekend... finally!

Friday I had a meeting up at Paine Field in Everett for a Aviation Day planning.  It was a beautiful day other than the choppy turbulence.  Got a little lost taxiing on the airport with all the 787's and 747's parked all over the place awaiting engines.  Sorry, no pics of that this time, I'll get some at the next meeting.

The flight home was very serene with some great cloud formations over the Cascades and Olympics.

Saturday morning I had a Manager's meeting for the Arlington Fly In.  Another beautiful flight with a few low clouds in the valleys.  But this flight, both ways, was quite smooth.

That afternoon I flew one more time.  This was an aerobatic flight, no pictures, can't have loose items  floating around the cockpit.  This flight was with another pilot from Germany, he flies competition over there and was in Seattle to take delivery of a 737 for the airline he works for.  We had fun as he flew the Eagle, an airplane he's not that familiar with.  We put +6 and -4 on the G-meter in a few flubbed maneuvers.

Talking with him re-enforced how lucky we are to live and fly in the US.  Costs and regulations in Germany are quickly making flying the realm of only those of means.  $12/gallon gas.... flight plan requirements... landing fees... licensing requirements and costs....  We certainly are privileged, but must never give up the fight to keep it that way!

March Madness

No posts for the month of March doesn't mean there wasn't any aviation!  This is the time of year where the annual Condition Inspection is done on the Eagle and the Wolf Pitts.  We had a new A&P on the Eagle this year and he found some good issues that needed to be addressed. I also did my flight review in the Cessna and got my medical done.  

From a cracked fuselage tube at the gear attach point, to loose trim tabs on the tail, there were a number of small jobs that needed to be addressed that caused the annual to take longer than normal.  Or perhaps, with 3000 hours on this fine bird, this is the new normal.

On the first test flight, as I lifted off of the runway, the right slave strut started vibrating pretty severely, didn't feel anything in the stick but visually I could see it moving a couple inches.  Quickly told the tower I'm staying in the pattern.

"Are you declaring an emergency?"

Never had anyone asked me that before.  I looked at the vibrating strut, but as I slowed down at 1000 feet it ceased to move.  "No, not at this time."  After landing, I did an inspection of the strut and attach points and didn't find any missing or broken parts.  Decided to give it another try.  Again at rotation, it started to vibrate.  But this time I quickly reduced power and speed and the vibration ceased around 100 mph.  Brought the plane up to cruise speed and headed out to the practice area.

Did some simulated take offs... no vibration.  Did some aerobatics... no vibration.  What the...?  Anomaly?

Returned to Renton and sent out an email to my partners about the experience.  Rochelle flew the airplane on Easter, I called her after her scheduled flight only to find out that it did vibrate on her again, and this time didn't stop until somewhere on final approach.  Plane was grounded.

This is where the Internet can be your friend... and foe.  A couple quick posts to the Eagle Google Group and on the Biplaneforum.com garnered a lot of free advice.  Most of which was irrelevant and some outright wrong.  But one tidbit of info from a Starduster pilot rang a bell.  Rubber washers!  A quick look at the Eagle revealed that ours were falling apart, age had gotten the better of them.

Detach both slave struts and use the old washer to make two new sets.  Installed and test flown.  No vibration!  Double Eagle is good to go!

This weekend will begin my first full Condition Inspection on the Wolf Pitts, that will probably also take all month long.  The right magneto needs to be inspected, all the hoses replaced, wobble pump overhauled and the engine monitor needs repair and a software upgrade.

WIIFM. Whazzat?

What's In It For Me.

In the todays society, WIIFM seems to be the the new norm.  If I don't get a benefit, why should I go the extra mile?


Thankfully, that poor attitude is not very prevalent in the aviation circles.  A few people had the ability to make my life difficult yesterday in trying to solve my fuel leak, but they all took the opposite route.  From Chuck at Spencer Aircraft coming in on his day off to make sure I got the parts I needed, to Brad up at Arlington taking the time to show me how to assemble the fittings on the hose, to Jim at Aircore Aviation  who provided some tools, assistance and a T-hangar to work in.  These three guys made it so I could get my baby home quickly.

Thank you!

Here are a couple shots from the flight home.  That's downtown Seattle on the other side of the flying wires. (It's not easy taking pictures flying a Pitts...)

Looking towards my hometown of Issaquah and the Cascade foothills.

And the Wolf Pitts safely back in her hangar.

February challenges continue!

It looks like my aviation challenges for February aren't over yet...

Today I had a Arlington Fly In managers meeting up at Arlington (KAWO). The weather was passable, so I decided to fly up in the Wolf Pitts.

The flight up was fairly non-eventful. A few low clouds and some rain to dodge around, but nothing out of the ordinary for Winter in the Pacific Northwest.

However, attempting to leave KAWO is where it got interesting. After stopping in to say good-bye to a FBO that is closing, I strapped into the Wolf Pitts for the long taxi to 16.

About halfway I started smelling avgas pretty strong, upon looking down I saw it streaming down the belly through the lexan floor. Crap! Ok, that's the exhaust right there by the leaking fuel, a backfire could ruin my whole day... I pointed the airplane at an open area of pavement, kept some forward momentum, unstrapped the belts, opened the canopy and shut off the engine coasting to a stop.

After inspecting the area, I couldn't quite figure out what was wrong. With a non-vented fuel cap (for aerobatics) the Wolf Pitts tends to spit out fuel when the tank is full (like now) and the outside temp rises. So I tried firing it up again to see if that could be the case. Nope, lots of fuel. I shut her down again.

Left messages for a couple of A&P's I know at KAWO and started to pull the cowl off.

Jim from Aircore called me back and was more than willing to come over and tow my plane back to his shop.

After pulling the cowl, I was getting ready to fire it up and as I pressurized the fuel system Jim saw fuel leaking near the top of the firewall, from the fuel line connecting the pressure gauge to the fuel pump. We pulled the hose off, connecting it to a compressor resulted in revealing a lot of leaks.

 The rubber hose under the steel braiding had deteriorated completely.

First thing in the morning I'm headed to Spencer Aircraft to pick up a new hose and fittings. A friend of a friend is willing to help get the fittings on the hose, so I should be airborne by the afternoon again and bringing the Wolf Pitts home.



Gotta love aircraft ownership...

Time to spare? Go by air...

That saying is as old as aviation itself, and I got to experience it this last weekend.

Laurie and I wanted to take a weekend getaway to Pendleton, Oregon to check out some different hotels for the August aerobatic contest.  Leading up to Friday, the forecast was for CAVU all across the Pacific Northwest.

Come Friday morning though, there was a large area of low clouds stretching from Tri-Cities, to Walla Walla on down to Pendleton.  But it was supposed to burn off by 3pm.

Off we went from Renton (KRNT)!  We had moderate turbulence up through 8,000 on the way to 9,500.  But the scenery was fantastic!

Enroute, the weather at Pendleton (KPDT) didn't improve, so we stopped at Prosser (S40) for some lunch at the Red Barn. By  early afternoon, Hermiston (KHRI) had opened up so we hopped across the Oregon border to wait out the weather at Pendleton.  By 3pm there was no improvement, so I made the decision to rent a car and drive the remaining 30 miles to Pendleton.

We enjoyed our "mission" on checking out a couple hotels, a casino and a few restaurants.

Sunday morning the Hermiston weather was 1/4 mile visibility in freezing fog.  Uh oh.  We set off around 11am to drive to Hermiston to wait at the airport until the weather improved.

Cresting a hill about 10 miles from Hermiston, we were greeted by this fog bank!

Upon arriving at KHRI, this is what we found...  That's my lonely 172 on the ramp.

The freezing fog sure made some interesting formations on the antennae.

And left a nice layer of thin ice all over the airplane.

We returned the rental car and took possession of the airport courtesy car.  We went from a 2011 Ford Fusion (with heated seats) to an early 90's vintage Lincoln Mark VII, that couldn't get out of first gear, but had a PacBell car phone.  Well, at least we were saving $45/day in charges...

By 3pm the ice had melted off the Cessna, but visibility never got over 1.5 miles and a ceiling of 200 feet.  Camped out at the airport and watched the first half of the Superbowl on my iPad.  By halftime we figured our chances of departing weren't good so we checked into the Best Western next to the airport.

A friend of a friend had an empty hangar so I was able to put the Cessna inside Sunday night so it wouldn't be an ice cube the following morning.

Back to the airport in the morning when we had to leave the hotel at 11am.  It was still 1/4 mile and freezing fog.  By noon it was 3 miles and 200 feet. Slowly the visibility increased and the ceiling raised enough for us to launch about 2:30 and head southwest towards visible blue sky.  Once out from under the clouds, we were able to climb up to 8,500 for a smooth flight home.

That is until we let down into western Washington's gusty winds.  Landing back at Renton on runway 16, we had to deal with winds at 11 gusting to 22 from 080.  Nice challenge at the end of a long weekend...

More pictures to come once we figure out how to download off of Laurie's new camera.

Click here for the route down.
Click here for the route back.

More pictures from the weekend.

Before we left home on Friday, we spotted these beautiful birds by our home.

Here are some nice pictures from the flight down to Oregon.

Then the days of frost...

And the eventual flight home on Monday.