Just a note to say what a great time I had tonight with my Lancair 320 MKII nicknamed Tristana.

I went out to the airport and there were several high clouds but no wind and it was just a couple hours before sunset.   I couldn't wait to put the key in and open the hangar door.  I love that feeling when you first see how awesome your plane is. 

Wow,  I raised the door and there she was.  Looking fast and sexy just sitting there and waiting for me.  Always takes my breath away.   She looked particularly sexy tonight, probably cause it was Saturday night.

I pulled the plane out, spent 1/2 hour doing a good pre-flight inspection and enjoying it.  What a feeling to sit down, put your seat belt on and take a deep breath, look around and say, "Wow, this is so cool".

CLEAR

One turn of the prop and she happily jumped to life.   After checking everything and a run-up, making sure the canopy was closed and locked, flaps set, trim set, and everything else on the checklist.  Number one on the list, no towbar - a friend recently did that so I wanted to make sure that never happens to me.

Here's where it really gets fun.  I gently give her full power and I can barely hold my head straight up.  She speeds up and within a couple seconds, I'm airborne and the airspeed is reading 140 mph and I just left the ground.  I rotated around 70 mph.  It's almost as if the tires and the friction were causing on the ground was holding me back. 

Gear up at 120 mph and I'm climbing at 2000 feet per minute and I'm not even trying!.  Less than 3 minutes and I'm up to 5000 feet and cruising at 220 mph so I bring the power back.   One fun thing about this plane is that when you bring the power back, it doesn't slow down.  That can be bad on landings if you don't know that part well but it's fun in the air.

I flew around for an hour just having nothing but fun.  The sun was beginning to go down so the high clouds looked like a beautiful orange and red painted ceiling.   They were high but the illusion still seemed like they were zooming by pretty quick.   Looking up took my breath away.  What a view out that gorgeous canopy.

I flew up around Lake Ontario and over Niagara Falls.  What an amazing site.  Turns take miles but I don't care.  I slowed down to 180 mph just for fun.  Some boats were off in the distance.   The shore looked awesome!  

Heading for home only took a few minutes at such airspeeds.  No other traffic anywhere so the sky was mine.

I didn't want to land but it was going to be dark soon and I won't fly in the dark or in the clouds till at least 100 hours and I have 100% confidence in the engine and it's performance.  So far, Tristana has 40 hours, and she purrs like a kitten except for that spark plug problem where I dropped a plug and it had internal damage - luckily that was fixed.   Every hour is better than the last.  I never think it can get better but it always does.

The approach was perfect and the landing on a 2600' paved runway 60' wide was a greaser.

I could not have had a better Saturday night.  I went nowhere but I had a ton of fun doing it and did nothing but enjoy myself and the plane I built over a 13 year period.  What an awesome feeling!

I felt we bonded before like on the first flight, but tonight, it was so awesome.

Closing the hangar door brought sadness but also pride in such a beautiful airplane.

I will forever be thankful to Lance for designing such a wonderful airplane and friend (and Tristana is my friend)  and all of you for your input, suggestions, and help through the years as well as all of the stuff I now learn that never ends, and I hope never will. 

It was just a great day.  No rants, no raves.  Just fun.

I will also be forever grateful to Bill Rumburg for teaching me so much including how not to kill myself.  He's a nice, smart guy with a wealth of information.  On top of it all, he's a lot of fun.

Time to go to bed and dream about how much fun I had tonight with Tristana.  Can't wait for tomorrow so I can do it all again only this time, I want to go see my brother in Harrisburg, a 50 minute flight or a 6 hour road trip, hmmm. 

I think I'll fly!!!!