Hi Gang,
Just made it back from the great Paducha, KY
flyin today.
Yes, delayed returning several days by the inclement
weather covering the east coast. I mean we went 3 months without rain and
the weekend I go flying the bottom drops out of the sky. However, being
"Stuck" in Paducha was not an undue hardship as Sam Hodges and his delightful
spouse, Rose, took me to their seculded and beautiful log house in
"wilderness". So thanks, Sam and Rose,
greatly appreciated and enjoyed the time spend with you.
Also needless to say, thanks to Ed and his wife Dora and
family for putting on the show. The Paducha River Walk BBQ festive on
Friday night was certainly fun and interesting - not to mention fattening.
Got to see a lot of the products that Ed produces for a varity of customers -
has a novel and useful motor mount jig for welding up a motor mount for just
about any aircraft type.
It's already been said, but its worth repeating, Steve and
Doug presented some very interesting information that clearly reflected a great
amount of data gathering and analysis. Steve present his alternative
theory for SAG which I must say he supported with gobs of data and facts - He
presented an alternative theory to my theory of Spark Plug Fouling being the
cause of SAG and I am eagerly looking forward to Steve trying out colder
plugs. Doug's presentation on the factors affecting BFSC, power and
tuning for the rotary were clearly interesting, just didn't have enough
time to discuss it with him. Great Job Steve and Doug, keep the data and
analysis flowing.
Richard fired up his superbly designed and crafted single
rotor design - clearly needs to be stuck on the front end of something with
wings - I don't care how much he throttles it up, its just never going to get
that pickup airborne {:>). Amazing what he has done as one
individual. Will probably use it to power my LSA when I can no longer
pass my class III.
The Cozy Girrrls, Chrisi and Randy had some of their
products - focused on but not exclusively for the Canard crowd. They had a
beautiful mock up of their turbo and motor mount product. I'm still awed
by their "Red Flyer" 18 wheeler "Motor Home".
Well, after landing (skipping) downwind at Paducah
with 4.4 gallons remaining in the tanks (30 minutes min reserve required by the
FAA) due to very unfavorable head winds on the way over, I was very pleased to
land back home with 13 Gallons in the tank. Did have help from a bit of a
tail wind and made if from Paducah, Ky to Charlotte NC in 3 hours on the nose
with a cruise burn rate of 8 gph
It was terrific to see the expression on Sam Hodge's face
when he poured the coals to his beautiful Rv-7A with my prop attached and
watched his tires slip from the greater thrust. His spouse, Rose, was
doing a bit of a jig of joy herself. However, next time I fly to a rotary
flyin, I think I will bring a cable to lock down my prop {:>).
For the record, Sam discussed the prop problem with Cato
and everything is going to be resolved to Sam's expectations (like as in
quickly!). So we should be getting flight reports from
Sam within a Month or sooner.
Ed