The
2013 Flights
We’re still flying!
Flight 565/January 3, 2013- I start off the year with a lunchtime quickee over the north practice area. It’s 27 degrees. A little chilly but the heat works great. Just a little haze with no wind and smooth skies. Today’s goal is to not shimmy the nose wheel during my roll-out on landing. I succeed. (0.5/523.3)
Flight 566/January 5, 2013- The sun is out! I check the sked and one partner has the plane at 1 p.m. I can fly this morning! Off to the airport. I stop at Big R and get three pairs of cotton gloves. I’m tired of getting cold hands getting ready to fly or putting the plane away. I see Gary White at his hangar and stop to say hi. He was going flying but has a dead battery. “Come with me,” I yell. Yep, he’s on! I warm up the cockpit with the heater, check everything out, and putt the plane onto the apron. We climb in. Taxi to the runway and we’re off. Of course, by this time, the sunshine has disappeared until a high overcast. The once-sunny, Mt. Spokane is gray. I climb up to 5,000 feet and turn toward the mountain. As we get closer, I can see that the entire valley between Mt. Spokane and the Selkrirk’s is fogged in. I’m a wimp and elect not to get to the east of Mt. Spokane. I don’t have enough altitude to get back to the west if the engine poops out and would be stuck in the soup. We putz around between Mt. Spokane and Deer Park, then head for the barn. I come over the ridge at 3,500 feet and turn final about 1.5 miles from the threshold and use the magic 45 degree flaps to make runway 21 Left. (0.9/526.2)
Flight 567/January 15, 2013- A lunchtime flight. I’m getting the plane ready and Lou Sherry bikes by. I invite him along. I do a wandering flight in the north practice area and head back. A nice landing. Lou compliments my flying! (0.6/526.8)
Flight 568/January 20, 2013- I team up with plane partner, Roger for some Sunday flying. I take the controls and we zip over downtown to Spokane International Airport for some touch and go’s. Roger has never landed there. I do my 3 reasonable landings, although on number 2 I need to give a little extra time for wake turbulence behind a Southwest 737. Tower wasn’t impressed. I was advised to keep my pattern a little tighter next time. Pffffttt! It’s my airplane. If I want to stay high and land long, that’s my decision. We plop down and switch seats. Roger takes over and does three touch and go’s of his own then takes us back to Felts. I shoot some pictures and videos with my iPhone while he’s driving. (0.7/527.5)
Flight 569/February 5, 2013- Out to lunch, again. I’m off to the north practice area to play with my iPhone. I’m testing out the Cloudahoy app. A fun flight and….WOW! When I get home, I can look at the flight on my computer to see what I did. It tracks everything…right down to the landing roll distance and taxi to the hangar! (0.5/528.0)
Flight570/February 13, 2013- Another Cloudahoy test flight. This time I track a lunch run up to Deer Park with a couple of touch and go landings. This is way cool! (0.7/528.7)
Flight 571/February 14, 2013- Just a lunch wander and I try to take a few photos with my Canon DSLR camera. No....I can’t fly and be a photographer at the same time. (0.5/529.2)
Flight 572/February 16, 2013- Shawn is in town with his friend, Eric and we decide to take a cruise around the lake. As I am getting things set up, I take a step back, and, for the first time in over 10 years, I trip over the right wheel fairing and fall flat on my @$$. After I brush myself off, we are off. It’s a typical lake loop flight and we return to Felts. There’s a helicopter on my runway, so I do a go-around from 21 L to 21R. (1.2/530.4)
Flight 573/February 18, 2013- I’ve got to practice for long, solo cross-country flights, so I attach the Lowrance GPS to the windscreen with a suction cup mount and the iPad to the pilot yoke to test the two-GPS plan. It seems to work OK. (1.0/531.4)
Flight 574/March 24, 2013- There will be no whining on this flight…only wine! Fellow Hangar 49 host, Jim Leighty joins me and we are off to Prosser, WA and wine country. We fire up the Rocket and zoom into the southwest skies. The air is smooth and clear. We dash over the Columbia River basin with it’s hundreds of crop circles, (No, not the space mystery kind. These are irrigation systems), wave at the inmates at the prison in Connell, and peer down at the vast wasteland of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. As we follow the Yakima River from the Tri-Cities to Prosser, the skies darken. It looks like fog. Visibility drops to a few miles. At one point I tell the approach controller that we’re giving up on Prosser and I turn away. But wait! It’s just as “foggy” where we came from. It’s not fog, it’s smoke! All the orchard guys must be burning their prunings. I advise approach we “are” going to Prosser. I turn around and we press on, spotting the airport in a few minutes. We land on runway 7 and taxi to parking on the north side of the runway. A Prosser police car is cruising on the south side of the airport. Hmmm. Are they looking for two shifty-looking guys that just flew over the nuclear plant? It’s about a half mile walk to the wineries, so we walk through the gate and start hoofing it. There’s a restaurant across the street, so we pop in for a bathroom break. Then we stop to admire the classic 1964 Corvette in the parking lot. Jim and I trudge on to Prosser’s winery row and arrive within 15 minutes. Jim is in heaven. He likes wine. Of course, our first stop is Airfield Estates winery. Jim, as the passenger, samples several different flavors. As the pilot, I just watch him and sniff the aroma of a few vintages. Jim purchases a few bottles, and we wander over to the winery next door, where Jim tires a few more and buys another bottle. We head back toward the airport, lugging several parcels filled with bounty. After a stop at Subway for lunch, and a sprint back to the field, we jump into the Rocket and zip through the skies back to Spokane. (3.2/534.6)
Flight 575/April 3, 2013- Another wander around the north practice area during lunch. I take a few iPhone pictures. (0.4/535.0)
Flight 576/April 9, 2013- I decide to head over to Spokane International for some lunchtime touch and go landings. Lou swings by on his bicycle, so we toss his bike into the hangar and he hops into the plane. I do a couple of sloppy patterns and landings, then head back to the barn. (0.6/535.6)
Flight 577/April 22, 2013- At work, our little ferry boat is under construction in Grand Coulee and I need to check in and take some pictures. It’s a nice day, so why not fly? I pop into the sky a little after 10 a.m. and immediately realize that the gentle 15 knot winds are coming from every direction. After a bouncy 45 minute flight, I drop in to the Electric City airport canyon. Crap, I cannot tell which way the sock is pointing. I circle the field and determine the wind is coming from the south and set up for a runway 21 landing. Of course, things change and I end up landing with a light tailwind. I taxi to Dave W’s. hangar and park. Dave and I do a quick lunch then head down to the boatyard. We get a tour of the 121-foot vessel construction, I take several dozen photos, and we head back to the field. I check the plane over and it’s back into the sky and back to work. (2.0/537.6)
Flight 578/May 3, 2013-A big day for a couple of co-workers. Jackie Hoover and Rose Carlson join me for a sightseeing flight. It’s about 8 a.m. and a little breezy. I’m worried about bumps for non-pilots. My original plan was to take them around Coeur d’Alene Lake, but it’s kind of foggy over to the east. I offer to take them another day, but they insist. OK. Off we go to the north and over the new freeway. This is exciting for a couple of highway engineers. I look over to the east and it looks better from the air so I go back to plan “A” and head for the Spokane Valley and Coeur d’Alene Lake. It’s pretty smooth, no fog. I do the usual tour down the lake and turn back to the west and into the practice area. Jackie is in front so she gets to learn how to fly. She does some gentle turns at my direction, then I spot the windmills down by Rosalia. Let’s go take a look. We zoom down in a couple minutes and spend some time cruising over the spinning generators, then head for home. A good landing at Felts and two happy engineers. (1.7/539.3)
Flight 579/May 8, 2013 – More ferry boat pictures! Back to Electric City. A nice day and a nice flight. This time I grab the courtesy car for the ride to the marina. (1.8/541.1)
Flight 580/May 20, 2013 – Annual inspection time. I fly the plane to Spokane International. Ka-ching! $$$$$$$$. (0.3/541.4)
Flight 581/June 22, 2013 – Back from annual. We have an overhauled #3 cylinder and it needs to be broken in. Off to the south practice area by myself to wander for an hour. (1.0/542.4)
Flight 582/June 27, 2013 – A Facebook friend and pilot Jeff joins me from Bremerton. We take off and do the Coeur d’Alene loop flight. We end up in St. Maries. I land on runway 28 with a slight tailwind and subsequent float. We hang out for a few, take some pix by the F-100 and off we go. There’s a slight breeze so I take off on runway 10. I’m not used to this and do a sloppy departure and end up flowing the St. Maries River to get enough altitude to get out of the valley. I should have done a tighter pattern. Argh. (1.4/543.8)
Flight 583/July 21, 2013 - A Sunday morning and Jim Leighty joins me. The last time we tried to get to Cavanuagh Bay at Priest Lake, it was too breezy. Today, we make it. We have smooth air and no wind at the lakeside field. After making a very wide u-turn to accommodate another aircraft who was not sure where he was, I enter a right downwind and we land on runway 15. It’s the first time I’ve been here since they re-sodded a few years ago and the runway seems just as lumpy. Jimmy and I grab a few snapshots on the dock, slurp up a couple of lemonades at the restaurant, and watch a Canadian military helicopter fly overhead. Yikes! Are they finally invading the USA? We better check this out and wander back to the plane. Uh, oh…somebody swiped the pen at the airport guest book, so I can’t sign in. A few more pix at the plane and we’re off. Jimmy flies us home. (1.9/545.7)
Flight 584/August 9, 2013 – I was going to make a return trip to the Alvord Desert this weekend. I was all packed and ready to go. But…too many thunderstorms lined the route. So, why not a quick flight to try out my new Garmin Glo GPS receiver? I’m waiting at runway 22R for another aircraft to land before I can leave. There he is. Ouch! A big bounce and a go-around for him. OK, it’s my turn. Power up and off we go. I’m watching the guy in front on me and he seems to be going a long way before he turn cross wind. I ask tower if he’s staying in the pattern. I don’t want to turn right early and cut in front of him. Tower says he’s staying in the pattern, and, “oh…there’s smoke coming from your airplane!” Hmmmm. That’s new and different. OK, I guess I’ll be coming back. Then she says the smoke has dissipated. Oh, OK, I’m still coming back. I turn around to see where I am. I’m close to the airport but I don’t want to make a quick shot at the runway and do a stall spin. No smoke, no fire, good oil pressure, engine running strong. Let’s go back to 22R. An uneventful landing. I thank Celia in the tower and taxi back to the hangar. All normal. I push the plane in and remove the cowling. Hmmm. Oil residue on the right side of the cowling and the muffler and the #3 pushrods are wet with oil. All the others are dry. Hmmm…hmmmm, the fixit shop just overhauled and reinstalled the #3 cylinder to the tune of a couple grand. This sounds like warranty work to me! In retrospect, I should have done a quick u-turn and landed on 4L in this situation. Note to self: review emergency procedures. (0.2/545.9)
Flight 585/September 11, 2013-I always like to make an effort to fly on September 11th, just to remind myself of still having the freedom to fly. It’s always a good feeling to be able to go to the airport and unlock the hangar, pre-flight, and sail into the skies without having to go through any crazy security hoops. (Unlike when I fly commercial with several metal body parts. I can recite the TSA “pat-down” speech verbatim.) My buddy Jim joins me for a mid-day, mid-week journey on a very sunny Wednesday. We wander to the north, I let Jim fly while I take a few snapshots of the highways and scenery below. Then we scoot across downtown, snapping pictures on the way. A little further south and a few more photo ops of the roads below, then I turn Jim-Bo loose to fly wherever he likes. He is out of medical, and ejoys the opportunity. I enjoy getting the opportunity to play with the features of ForeFlight for the iPad. I’m still trying to get the hang of all the features and be able to work with it “on-the-fly” when I’m solo. We cruise across the Palouse and end up at the south end of Coeur d’Alene Lake. A good flight, back to the barn. (1.6/547.9)
Flight 586/September 14, 2013- Today I’m joined with an engineer from work and his wife—Todd and Benita Humphries hop into the Rocket at the Felts Field terminal and we zip up for an aerial tour of the Inland Northwest. I do my favorite Coeur d’Alene Lake loop with a couple of turns around the hide-out. Over Plummer and Tekoa then into the south practice area. I give Todd some tips then he’s got the airplane. I talk him through some turns (he has a tendency to get them a little steep!), then point him to the Mica Gap and home. I take over as we contact the tower for our inbound. (1.6/549.1)
Flight 587/October 3, 2013- Today is a very special day! It is the 50th anniversary of the Rocket’s Airworthiness Certificate! Yep…it’s nifty that she’s fifty! For her birthday, I fill her up with 20 gallons of non-ethanol, 92 octane, dead-dinosaur, juice and take her out for a lunch-time cruise. (0.5/549.6)
Flight 588/October 15, 2013- A quick lunch run. Nice day, smooth air. (0.6/550.2)
Flight 589/October 17, 2013- I mentioned Tuesday’s flight on my FaceBook page and my friend Dan posted a reply, “Take me, take me!” OK, I called Dan and said, “Let’s go!” It’s just my usual short lunch run, but we do manage to get over Dan’s office before Spokane Approach asked us to say our intentions to fly any further south. I head for a busy Felts Field and slide into runway 22 Right. There’s someone right behind me so I decide to touch the brakes…just a little too early and the plane is still going just a little too fast. BA-DA-BA-DA-BA-DA-BA-DA!!!! Crap. Nose-wheel shimmy! Dan understands after I explain it. (0.7/550.9)
Flight 590/November 22, 2013- I have a Friday off and need to do a little flying. How about something new and different. Let’s go somewhere we’ve never been! I zip to the south…destination: Tekoa, WA and Willard Field. It’s a short strip at 2,260 feet and only 40 feet wide. I wanted to try this on a cool day with only me in the plane. I cruise overhead to look and the wind sock, it’s calm, so I set up a landing on runway 4. The final approach is over the town. Nice touch down and good roll out. I pull off the runway near the fuel pump and set up for a take off in the other direction, on runway 22. I do a little pre flight run-up and take the runway, firewalling the throttle. Zoom, zoom…why isn’t the little plane flying? I have enough speed so I pull back and the Rocket lifts off. Doh! I hadn’t moved the trim wheel to take off position and it was forcing the nose down a tad. Crap! Now what should I do? OK, let’s go to Spokane International and do a couple landings. It’s about 30 miles away to the northwest. A short trip in the Rocket. I give approach a call and they set me up for runway 3. I fly over Cheney and toward Medical Lake, as instructed, before they tell me top turn final into the runway. Let’s do a touch and go. I plop the Rocket down for a landing, clean it up, and back into the sky. With 11,000 feet of runway, there’s plenty of room for me. After a couple minutes of swinging around, I hit the runway again for landing number 2, then back into the sky toward Felts Field and home. (1.2/552.1)
Flight 591/November 24, 2013- It’s a couple days later and I’m back for more. This time, a short run to Davenport, WA. It’s a smooth day as I fly across Spokane’s north side and make a bee-line for farm country. I scoot to the north of Spokane International and Fairchild Air Force Base and can see Reardan and Davenport in the distance. I cruise to the north of the field, see the calm wind, and drop the Rocket onto runway 5. There’s a tiny breeze so I back taxi down the runway to runway 5 and take off for home. A short flight and the Rocket is tucked away. (1.1/553.2)
Flight 592/December 29, 2013- I changed the oil a couple of weeks ago and the weather has sucked ever since. There’s a brief opening for flying so I zoom to the hangar. My original plan was to go to International for a couple of touch and go’s, but in the time it took me to get to the airport, the fog started to roll back over there. I hem and haw and decide the least I could do is fill the plane with gas. I squeeze in nearly 21 gallons and as I am pumping, I notice someone doing touch and go landings. I decide I can do that too. After warming up the engine, and watching the oil pressure carefully, I take to the skies. There’s some wind just above the airport and it makes for some sloppy pattern work by the pilot. I do a couple landings and call it good. Gotta head home and watch the Seahawks. (0.4/553.6)
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