Sunday, April 29, 2007

Chris's Photos



Jim Schwertner's Robinson R-44


Finally in the Air Again

The weather came through in a big way Saturday. It was 3Mph Winds almost all day. Chris called me Friday night and said he was bringing a friend, Chip, who also flies a powered-parachute.

I got to the field about an hour before they arrived, so when they showed up I already had 30 minutes of flying. It was a nice, calm, smooth day.

We flew over to Hubert's field and I landed and talked to Hubert's Dad and Brother for a little while and then headed out to catch up with Chris and Chip. As I was taking off, I saw Jim Schwertner taking off in his Robinson R44 helicopter and warned them he was heading their way. Jim came on the radio and said he had them in sight. He flew around them for awhile asking questions about their parachutes. All the while, there was a large group of bicycle riders down below. Probably not often they see two powered-parachutes, a helicopter, and a fixed-wing ultralight circling each other!!

We flew around for awhile and then headed back to the field for fuel and a quick bite to eat. About an hour later, we were in the air again and headed toward Stillhouse Lake. We probably made it to within about 5 miles of the lake when I decided I was flying on only one tank of gas and should probably head back.

It was a perfect day of flying and I ended up with 3 1/2 hours in the air!! Can't imagine it being better.

P.S. If a cell phone fell out of the sky and damaged you or your property, it's not mine! If it didn't hurt anything, call Home on it and I'll come get it. It's still working, not going straight to voicemail, so I guess that's an advertisement for Motorola!

Chris and Chip preparing to take off.


Flying over I-35


Chip was getting too close, so I shot him down.


My favorite photo from the day.


Tractor shot for Robert Laird.


Just a field.


Bluebonnets


If you look closely, you'll see our friend Wayne in his Cub.


Buzzing the sprayer.


Wayne's Cub next to my plane.


Chip, trimming the trees.


Spraying for Mosquitos!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Moving Guages

Well, as it's been for weeks now, today was too windy to fly...

I decided to move my guages and Jimmy had made me a new panel. It's simple and out of the way. I'm tall enough that they don't block my view. I also have plenty of room for more guages in the future.

I also took the time to clean the plane - it took several hours yesterday and a few more today. I've got to quit waiting until it's filthy! I zip-tied wires and changed my fuel filter. It's all ready to fly, just need a nice calm day.



Simple, but effective. This allows me to access the area below where I can store drinks, camera, etc.

Short Flight

The Monday after the Doolittle Fly-in, I took the day off from work and decided to fly a little before the wind picked up. It's been very windy lately and this day wouldn't be any different. It was fairly breezy by the time I had the plane ready, but I decided to go anyway. It was cold and the wind was making it rough, so I only flew for 12 minutes! At least I got off of the ground.

Bluebonnets:



A nice wide open field!


Needed a closer look.


Yep, it's a field alright!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

San Marcos - 65th Doolittle Anniversary

Sunday my friend was in town and we headed out to the "The 65th Annual Doolittle RaidersReunion". They had one B-25, the Yellow Rose and a PBJ, the Marine's version of the B-25. There were a few other planes, a Stearman, a Cessna 140, and as we were getting ready to leave, a TF-51 Mustang showed up. This is the trainer, or two-seat version. It was very beautiful. Nicest I've ever seen. I accidentally deleted all of my photos from this show, but I have my friend's.

After this show, we went to a local ultralight field and then on to a fly-in community. There was a Pietenpol flying there and it really caught my interest. Flies like my Airbike, but has a 4-cycle engine and two seats. Maybe....