First "Long" Cross Country Flight

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Includes: Firefly, Firestar, Mark III C, Mark III X, Kolbra, Sport 600, Slingshot, Twinstar Mark II, and Ultrastar
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planecrazzzy
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First "Long" Cross Country Flight

Post by planecrazzzy »

Hey Guys,
              I finally flew my plane on it's first long distance ( aprox 400 miles total )
I planned the flight in two legs....First , the weather was forcasting "PM" showers....
I left in the rain....they were "AM" showers not PM....
     I got to my first stop, Winona, MN and fueled up....I saw some other UL guys from the
Twin City area....They were running a little late....
(They landed in a farmers field, cleared a fuel filter)
   
              I made good speed to Winona.... On to my next leg - 100 miles to Baraboo WI....
On Board I have two GPS's , I have alot of info staring me in the face..... and a moving map
    I was watching my "fuel Flow and Gals. remaining" ( miZer fuel/flow meter ) and the "ETE" and the numbers were just
TOOO close..... I turned off course to an airport ( Reedsburg ) and got fuel....It was LUCKY that I did....One tank was a little
lower than the other...."IF" I would have sucked air in one.....No more fuel flow ( Gotta change this system )

            Baraboo was only 10 miles more....But I don't think I would have made it.... Then, I get within 5 miles ,
I'm calling on the radio and telling my position and intentions.....I hear nothing back..... I get within 3 miles and do it
again..... Now I hear them say to stay 3 miles out......The Airport is CLOSED.... This is Friday, the airport wasn't supposed
to be closed till Saturday from 1pm - 3pm...... He told me that I only had to wait 10 mins til a guy was done practicing....
   
            I had fuel.....no problem !

 I set up camp, then went around to talk with some of the Tailwind guys and take some pictures of every angle that I
could , to help later in the building process.....Great bunch of guys!

      Then, one of the guys that was talking with me as I was setting up my camp said, " Ya wanna go for a ride" ?
 I asked "are you Paul" , I looked at his name tag....It was him... He had offered a ride in an e mail before....I wasn't
sure if I'd see him at the Flyin because of my Short visit..... It caught me by suprise and I needed to "re- boot"
   He said or we can do it tomorrow.....I thought for a QUICK second....No, we can fly now....I just need to tie up my dog

    Great Guy, Great Plane, Great Flight.....He also let me take control of the plane, That was Great too !
 After, I tried to offer some money for fuel.....I was told to "Pay it FORWARD" ....and I will !

   Another guy ( name ? ) that I met, gave a big boost of confidence... He was looking at the work that I've done on
my Kolb Firestar..... and he said " From the looks of your Firestar , your gonna build a great Tailwind...."
   That was a great compliment on a plane that I haven't even built yet....

 OK, Finishing up this journey,  I left the next day at aprox 11am , before the airshow.....THIS TIME, I planned to make
MORE FUEL STOPS.... I stopped 3/4 of the way at a "Class D" airport for fuel....Tower wasn't responding....So I entered
the airspace and made calls to any traffic ( none ) I landed , Taxi'd over to the fuel pump, the place looked abandon...
 I checked the door...Locked !  .....crap..... I looked at the side of the building....I walked down to the door...it was unlocked....nobody home....I saw a sign....call this number for Fuel....I called...Nothing..... Then it said to call this other
number if the first one didn't work....It was the POLICE.... I thought that was kind of ODD....They sent a squad out
and he unlocked the pump....We had trouble...Lightning strikes days before had tripped the cirrcut, Finally got fuel...
       Then, on to Winona....not worried about fuel flow now....Landed at Winona , Fueled....Decided to split up the leg
back up to home base....So I headed to Stanton Airport....I didn't have the WPT, so I just flew that direction until
I could get the info on my GPS ( 20 nearest airports / feature) I've never flown this style before, but this gps made it
possible...(nice feature) Got fuel at Stanton and headed home.....

        The flight down took 4.2 hrs....I didn't get my Hobbs time yet but it was further because of the airports that
I went outa the way to fuel...

                         OK,  Picture time...
                                                     Gotta Fly...
                                                                     Mike & "Jaz" in MN / N381pm
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Last edited by planecrazzzy on Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
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planecrazzzy
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More Pictures

Post by planecrazzzy »

Here's more pictures about the cross country flight....
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Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
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Sean_Caranna
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Location: Daytona Beach, FL

Post by Sean_Caranna »

Sounds like you had a lot of fun on that trip!  I'm amazed that you packed all of that gear into your kolb!  WOW
"I'll have what the gentleman on the floor is having."
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planecrazzzy
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One "Stuffed" Kolb

Post by planecrazzzy »

Hi Sean,
            Yeah, I was stuffing every spot I had.... I had to make sure that no metal would
touch any electrical, That nothing would restrict control ( petals,cables,stick ect ) and that
nothing would "Pinch" a fuel line....
   So, things got stuffed next to the fuel tanks , under the back seat, on top of the
back seat, next to the front seat, and a few things stuffed in the nose cone to help the CG.
             I was trying to pack as light as I could....The only thing that I brought that I didn't
use was my Video camera....I wish I'd take'n it during my Tailwind flight....Oh well...

                                       Gotta Fly...
                                                       Mike & Jaz in MN
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
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Sean_Caranna
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Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:34 am
Location: Daytona Beach, FL

Post by Sean_Caranna »

Ever seen those RAM mounts for video cameras?

http://www.ram-mount.com/camera_mount/camera_mounts.htm

That would be neat to mouth up you cam for some in-flight video.
"I'll have what the gentleman on the floor is having."
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planecrazzzy
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RAM Mounts

Post by planecrazzzy »

Hi Sean,
            I'm a big fan of RAM mounts, I have them for my GPS's and my Cameras ( the mount fits both
Video & Digital camera)

They are High Quality mounts....a little spendy, but WORTH the price...

 You can see my GPS mounted with RAM in the first picture...

I have another one that just came before my flight...it's a mount on a 12" flexible arm
I'll be using that for my 2nd GPS...

                    Gotta Fly...
                                    Mike in MN

PS a little "tip" the first time that I tried to record during a flight.... I didn't have any of the
plane in the frame....big mistake....everything was just a blurr, could only see the land below
WHIZZING by during a turn or dancing around during straight flight....Next time I'll have
a "BIT" of the plane in the frame...
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Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
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Sean_Caranna
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Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:34 am
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Post by Sean_Caranna »

I love it!

I've got a ram mount for the Pocket PC/GPS in my car and a Pocket PC yoke mount on order for a C-152 that I'm buying.

If the bank would just hurry up...  I'll have a yoke to out it on...
"I'll have what the gentleman on the floor is having."
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planecrazzzy
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To Build or NOT to build

Post by planecrazzzy »

Hey Sean,
              Good luck with your 152....What about the planes that you've been
building , The VP-2 and the KR-2 ???

 My plane is flying now, and I need to change a few things... But I need to start
working on my next plane soon, I miss the building process...

And this time, my flying skills shouldn't get rusty, I have something that is
cheap to fly...

                               Gotta Fly...
                                               Mike in MN

PS you can buy a used Kolb like mine for around 7-10 K  and alot of times their
in great shape...  Here's an ad .....

For Sale Kolb Firestar II . Built in 1995, 430 hours on airframe and 447 Rotax engine. . Excellent condition but engine is past recommended OH time. Flies great. This is a great deal cause I need money to finish a Zenair project.
agustafson@chartermi.net Upper Michigan

Picture at http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...K ... jpgReduced $7000
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
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Sean_Caranna
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Posts: 231
Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:34 am
Location: Daytona Beach, FL

Post by Sean_Caranna »

The 152 is going to go a leaseback and I'll use it to get my instrument rating.  

The KR is sitting on my 16' table in the garage ready for the belly skins to be installed.   Right now the VP is a bunch or parts under the table.  I had to put the KR on hold for a while with purchasing the 152.  I hope to get back to work on it around Sept -
Oct.  That's when work should calm down a little and my weekends should be my own again.
"I'll have what the gentleman on the floor is having."
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planecrazzzy
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Sept- Oct

Post by planecrazzzy »

Yeah, around here in Minne-so-ta land....Winter is a good time to build...That is...,

as long as you have a HEATED garage...

     My next plane is going to have some wood work to do....The Wings....
I'm "unsure" in that area....So 'I'll have to ask questions on the Tailwind Forum...

                                       Gotta Fly...
                                                       Mike in MN / N381PM
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
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