Copperstate

[Gil T]

Who's coming to Copperstate? I plan on being there this Thursday at least, weather permitting. It should be interesting since they won't have a tower this year.

Gil T

[planecrazzzy]

Look for Red Hamilton in his W-10 Tailwind #37

He'll be sure to upset a lot of RV guys that have dumped THOUSANDS in there planes

trying to go fast... and disappointed that a MUCH cheaper plane DUSTED them...

I think Red averages 234 mph
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Gotta Fly...
Mike & "Jaz" the Flying Dogz
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[taildrgfun]

I plan to be trhere for the whole show with my SuperSTOL.

[User GDS]

Not sure if I can make it Thursday, probably Friday around lunch time. Gil, if I get free Thursday I'll call you. Sending you an e-mail with my cell phone #

[preacoupe]

Flew in yesterday. Steve was already there. Organizers say the weather will be great, though, pretty warm. Bring sunscreen and water.

Dennis

[Gil T]

Copperstate is over and done with for this year. I arrived on opening day and left the next afternoon. During that time I believe there were four Highlanders and one Escapade there. Steve Henry was at the Just site. The Super STOL had quite a crowd around it. I think I noticed a couple of glares coming from the Kitfox group about fifty feet away. Dennis had his absolutely beautiful Escapade there. There weather was perfect. No wind, no dust, no gourmet food. I had planned my trip so as to get home with about five gallons of gas and ended up with 4.8. Of course I had a 15 knot headwind eastbound and a 12 knot headwind westbound. Par for the course. What was interesting was on my letdown coming home from 6500 feet I was checking my header tank and noticed it was going down which I expected. I have a mark on it at the gallon position and I seemed to get nervous when it went below that. I guess that was expected too but when it got below about the 3/4 mark I couldn't stand it any longer and leveled off to drain some from the mains to fill it up. I suppose you could run the header tank dry under certain conditions on letdown. Like high altitude, high power, just enough pitch down to get the fuel tanks slanted forward and low fuel. Just a thought. I might have to experiment with that scenario.

Gil T

[taildrgfun]

I used two relaxing days to fly my SuperStol the 800 miles to Copperstate. I ran 28 in of manifld pressure, 5100 to 5500 rpm depending on my altitude. I got 6 to 6 1/2 GPH at 100 mph actual ground speed/air speed. The SS needs to have some aero clean up to fly at that speed. There are still a lot of places to smooth out the airflow for better efficiancy but I have so many things to do that it is taking me quite a while getting around to them. It is flying real well like it is but I know there is more room for improvement.

Yesterday I left Copperstate before the sun was up and flew all the way home with just a few stops. It doesn't take a lot of time to stop for a break when I'm only flying a few feet off the ground most of the time anyway. Had a little tailwind most of the way home with GS usually around 110 mph. I ran the engine a little harder for around 103 true airspeed. My Skyview says a lot higher than that but I check it out closely with my GPS going at least 2 directions.

It sure is fun to be able to have such a capable airplane to land in so many off airport places.

[User GDS]

Copperstate was fun, a lot of nice airplanes in one place. great to meet up with some Wings Forum people in person. I can't speak for others, but the absence of a temporary control tower didn't bother me at all.

Special note, our fellow forum member Dennis earned recognition for 1st place, "custom built - tube and fabric" followed by "2013 Copperstate Grand Champion" Congratulations! It's a beautiful airplane, I think he invested more time on the paint job than I did building the whole airplane. Can you post some photos?

[preacoupe]

Thanks, Gary. You're right, to pal around with friends makes the whole event more fun.

Yeah, this has been one busy time for Barb and me.

Well, 356AZ flew for the first time Sept. 11th thanks to Billy Payne. After he flew a few times, he turned it over to me for a lap around the pattern. I flew with Billy and his brother Vic at his wonderful place in NC in their tricycle Highlander since I hadn't even flown in any Just Aircraft, though I knew it was what I wanted to have.

Thanks also go to Steve Henry as he saw me taxiing in circles on Wednesday. He offered to let me join him at the Just Aircraft display area (great spot). It allowed all to see the range between an Escapade and the newest, the Super STOL. Gary and Gil Tucker had their "normal" Highlanders on display to bridge the gap. If only Just had a Summit to show!

With so many great planes, to take the whole enchilada, as you can imagine, was beyond our wildest dreams. We were thrilled with the "Tube & Fabric" award.

I'll try to figure out how to post some pics. What day is this???

Dennis & Barb Crowley
N356AZ
Escapade #0017

[donRNO]

Congratulations, Dennis. You deserved the award. It was a pleasure to chat with you and your wife, and admire your new Escapade.

Copperstate is a good fly-in. And no air show to restrict arrivals/departures. Nice weather and nice people at the Just display. Steve Henry did a lot of talking and some impressive flying. Very glad I attended again this year. No FAA, no tower, no problem! The flight back to Reno in a Murphy Moose was just in time as the cold front and winds got here ahead of the forecast.
Don

[Gil T]

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Steve

Referencing your Skyview airspeed. When I installed my Skyview I vented my static tube underneath the instrument panel and ended up with it indicating 10 kts high all the time. I installed a static vent on either side of the fuselage behind the baggage compartment and teed them together and plugged them into the ADAHRS and it seemed to fix the error.

Gil T

[preacoupe]

Here are 3 from the show. I think everything shows except the wings and cargo.

Dennis

[Dave Krall CFII SEL SES]

Nice looking Highlander job and extra congratulations on the air show.

[Trilander Ted]

Dennis: I just realised that you won first Custom"Tube & Fabric"as well as "Best In Show" at Copperstate. My friend Gil Tucker was " Raving " about your workmanship and choice materials. It doesen't seem like much has been said about it, anyhow, I think it's mighty fine. I couldn't attend this year ( I wanted to see the new STOL "stuff" ) so I hope to make it next time. Now that its cooling off here in Arizona, do you think you might make it up to Parker / Lake Havasu aera and check out our "digs" overnite maby. Belated Congratulations. Trilander Ted

[scubarider2]

Congrats Dennis! You deserve all the recognition Your plane is beautiful all around. And yes MIGHT be even better painted than mine.