Not Flying....

Well, I haven't posted anything lately. That's because I haven't been flying.

My last flight didn't go so well, and with work and weather, I haven't had a chance to get back into the air.

I last flew a few weeks ago, and the flight lasted a little over 5 minutes. My friend Jack flew to my field in his Quicksilver Sprint and we were going to fly out to Stillhouse Lake. He took off and shortly thereafter, I followed. I think several things went wrong. I wasn't thinking of a little Sprint causing so much turbulence. Now I realize, with as much drag as it has, it probably produces more of a wake than most planes. Second, it was hotter and windier than the conditions I normally fly in. Last, I was over a freshly plowed field.

I was flying along, checking my instruments to make sure the engine was running well and the next thing I knew, my right wing fell down like it had an anchor on it. Due to the openness of the Airbike, I was looking directly at the ground and it was coming up fast. I was trying to put in left rudder and stick to get out of it, but that's hard to do when you're leaning out of the right side of the plane. I finally mustered enough strength to recover and found myself about 5 feet above the ground looking at a tree. As soon as I pulled up and got over the tree, the left wing fell, although not as dramatically.

I radioed my friend that I was going back and did a very gental 180. After landing, I got out and sat on the ground for awhile, wondering if I should be a pilot at all. In all my years flying, this is the only time I've been this rattled. I swore I'd never fly this plane again.

After calming down a little, I looked over the plane and found nothing wrong. I will fly it again, but probably won't be too comfortable for awhile. I think I took some pictures, but I really can't remember. I will check the camera and post them later if there are any.

I will probably fly this weekend, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Stillhouse Lake - More Flooding

I went to the field today, half expecting it to be too wet for me to fly. The grass was damp, but there were no puddles, so I decided to go for it. After fueling the plane and a quick preflight, I was off. I turned North and headed for Stillhouse Lake. The weather man was calling for 50% chance of rain, but it looked fairly clear and the wind was barely blowing.

This area is usually dry. You can see the trees sticking out of the water.



Debris



It amazes me how clear and smooth the lakes are when boats are banned.



This is the bridge today.


This is a photo of the bridge I took about a year ago.


This usually isn't an island. Notice the road in the middle.


Road under water.





Bell County Expo Center


Skydive Temple. I normally wouldn't fly this close, but I forgot it was here. I had my radio on their frequency though. It was too cloudy for them to be jumping.

Third Time

Okay, so I decided that flying twice in two days wasn't enough. Jack had told me earlier that he would be flying after it cooled off, so I took off at 6:30PM and headed his way. It's about a 27 mile trip from my field to Bird's Nest. I was using the GPS, but it's not really necessary - the new toll roads go from my field directly to his!! You'll see them a lot in the photos. I left his field at 8pm and was on the ground at my field by 8:30 with plenty of light remaining. I had a nice tailwind on the way back.

Toll Roads




Golf Course


More Toll Roads



Lake in Pflugerville


Arriving at Bird's Nest - You can see Jack's plane in front of the open hangar.





Flying Low

Flooding Down in Texas

I flew for an hour on Friday, and again for 45 min on Saturday. I didn't have my camara on Friday, so all pics are from Saturday. I'm tired, so I'll let the photos tell the story.

Everything's green and water everywhere.


It was cloudy, but the winds were light.




Georgetown Airport


Lake Georgetown - very flooded.


Note the water's at the edge of the spillway.


Picnic and camping area.


I'm always hoping for a photo like this. The water was so calm.


Poor, poor people. Don't know how they can live is such conditions!


I had to revisit what I call the Glass House. It looks abandoned. Such a neat house.

Jack Mayberry Solos

Jack finally got a chance to break the surly bonds....

Eddie was there in his Cessna 150 taking a friend for his first airplane ride.

A Piper Cub gave me a fly-by.

Jack showed up, gave his plane a pre-flight, and after the wind died down, he was off! He's now soloed, and made his second and third flights. Nice way to spend a Sunday.