Idaho or bust

[Johnny C!]

Great video.

Very nice!

Thanks for sharing it with us younglings...


John

[stede52]

It seems to be working for me.

Steve

[Lynng]

Got the new 29" AK on my list of things to do this fall. Idaho 2010 is a very good plan.
 :D  :D  :D

[Dave Krall CFII SEL SES]

Excellent collection, thanks!

[Lynng]

This is a map of our journey, but I have omitted many of the fuel stops to simplify things.

Blue is the Trip Out
Green is the backcountry Loop
Magenta is my return trip home.

Steve Collins and I stayed together up until Branson MO.

 :D

[ftcaruso]

Quite an impressive trip Lynn and Steve.  How many total flying miles, hours and fuel?  What were the altitudes flown?  What was your longest day (hours flown and mileage)  Any weather delays?  Mechanical problems?  How long, in total, were you gone?  Great slideshow.  

Frank

[Lynng]

Frank,

Since I was on vacation my pro pilot number crunching was on vacation too, but here is some of the info you might like. The total mileage for the trip out, not including my backcountry loop, was 2045 nm. Our longest day was the leg from Greenville to Gaston's in AR which was 506 nm. We stopped and stretched our legs a few times and had a pretty good head wind, so it took us 9 hours (7.2 flight) to get there. The next day we just played with the airplanes on the river and got our fishing lines wet. Most days we flew 3-5 hours, but we did have one ruff weather day from Lucas, KS to Douglas, WY that we played cat and mouse with the rain and the wind knocked the snot out of us. The highest leg was from Riverton, WY to Jackson Hole we climbed up to 10,500. A few times we went up to 11.5 and 12.5 for brief times due to winds and terrain. The airplane does ok at altitude, but after a while I get a headache. I left Florida on July 23rd and returned Aug. 9th. We had one small mechanical when Steve left his master on for a while then the battery was struggling to charge up and give him good engine readings, but besides that the new cowling design kept the engines cool and we had a great time. We did take a day in Caldwell to change oil and plugs for the return trip.

I will do it again next year.....and the year after that.....and after that.....n after that...

[rmullins]

I will do it again next year.....and the year after that.....and after that.....n after that...[/quote]

Oh Yeah! Let me know when you start planning next year so I have time to prepare the guys at work that I may be gone for a month

[scubarider2]

envious, *sigh*  
Dennis

[Lynng]

I have to see when my vacation days will be, but I was thinking of going to Oshkosh for part of the week then take my airplane out and leave it for a month then fly back. Its much too soon to tell, but I am think hard about it.

[Roger]

Lynn:
How about a little information on the new cowl and what it's supposed to do please
Roger

[Lynng]

Steve Collins had a race car buddy build the prototypes for both airplanes before we left for Idaho. The cowling was cut out around the bottom perimeter the a custom flat bottom with a deeper drop was attached. We experimented a little with our aft drop and found with the 4" drop we had excellent cooling. For most of my flying out and back on the trip I needed to cover a small portion of the oil cooler to keep my temps in an optimum range. Even with the 100 degree weather in the Boise Valley, I only saw my CHT's at 200 max and the oil temp stayed right at 190. The goal is for Steve's man to give an articulating aft lip to the cowling like a Scout or 185, a cowl flap if you will, that we can open and close 2 and a half inches. With a 1/2" inch difference on the cowlings we found amazing cooling change. Our biggest discovery was the noise level dropped significantly with the new cowl design. The rounded opening to accomidate the nose gear has a great deal of wind turbulence.

[Lynng]

A video of the Jackson Hole to Idaho Falls leg.

http://vimeo.com/6199372

[scubarider2]

*sweet*

[jak]

Lynn that was very cool   Jak