I arrived at Bill’s early on Friday so I could install my newly repaired radiator and my landing lights. I haven’t flown since installing new fuel lines. Last time I tried is when my radiator broke. It seemed that the winds weren’t going to die down and we would probably end up just flying Saturday.
Travis showed up, then Scott, Chris and Chip arrived. Bill wouldn’t make it until that night. As it got later, the winds let up a little and there were no gusts, so we decided to head out.
When I was warming up, I noticed I had to keep adding primer to keep the engine running. Once I finally got it running it was fine though.
Chris took off and I was next. I got about 50 feet off of the ground when my RPMs started dropping. I had plenty of room to land ahead of me, but before I made the decision, my engine made it for me… it sure got quiet. I went down and flared a little early, but didn’t bounce in too hard. Now I’ve had an engine-out in an ultralight, a Cessna, and a powered parachute…
I taxied back to the other end of the field and started checking everything. The only real change I’d made were the fuel lines and they all looked good. After checking almost everything, I checked the new fuel vent line I had installed. When zip tying it, it seems I put one on a little too tight. It was closed over halfway. I cut it loose, and ran up the engine again and it was perfect.
I was running out of daylight, but decided to make my test flight staying over the field. It was very scary, but all went well and I would have no more trouble through the weekend.
The next morning I awoke to Chris yelling, “Wake up little girls, I’m ready to fly!” It was around 5:30 and he was right, daylight was burning.
Again, Chris was first into the air and I was right behind him. It sure is nice when your engine doesn’t quit! We decided to head South since the wind was predicted to be out of that direction as it picked up throughout the day. We had checked the weather and the clouds were at 1700’ so we decided to go above them. Turns out the tops were around 5,000’ but we made it. It was beautiful and calming up there. We flew South and West, so naturally we thought we were Southwest of Bill’s place, but when we came down Chris pointed out we were actually straight East of it!!! The clouds moving underneath us made us feel like we were moving along.
Anyway, it was a great weekend with good food and even better friends. I can’t wait to do it again.
See you next time!
1 comment:
Oh, man does that ever look like a lot of fun! Thanks for taking me along.
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