Sun-n-Fun 2012

It's Friday morning and I'm in Lakeland FL attending the annual EAA Sun-n-Fun convention. This was totally unexpected as just 48 hours I had no plans on being here! We had arrived Thursday afternoon after a flight from Petersburg WV in a Cessna 172 XP. Originally the plan was to get a ride over to Sun-n-Fun for camping on the air show grounds but it was getting late and the sun was already close the the horizon. Jeff and I set up camp at Winter Haven along with 3 other tents. There were bathroom and shower facilities for campers as well as picnic tables and a fire pit. By Friday morning we decided that simply staying at Winter Haven and riding the $5 shuttle back and forth was the best plan. First stop was in the Ultralight area. The powered parachutes had already landed after their early morning calm air flights and the heavier ultralight and LSA aircraft were in the air. I believe this is an Eagle, designed in the mid 70's.

Just Aircraft - Highlander. 110 mph cruise, 300 ft ground roll takeoff and landing with 100 hp Rotax 912S

Airplanes, CAP and Mennonite(?)

Shades are a must when watching air shows...

Rotax 912iS Fuel injected 100HP. A digital control unit manages fuel flow from start to finish resulting in a 21% decrease in fuel usage.

Display for 912iS.

Savannah S - Rotax 912S. Cruise 111 mph, stall 30 mph, 1200 fpm climb.

Jeff trying on for size...

Space and weight limitations limited me to carrying my general use Sigma 17-70. For air shows a little more reach is desirable.

Maybe all my dog of a 150 needs is a few more propeller blades...

Harrier

Transitioning from hover to forward flight.

Vought F4U Corsair

L39 and Mig 15 in formation.

On friday night when returning from dinner we were greeted by a campfire, Smores and flying talk

The winds had already picked up on Saturday as we left in the shuttle from Winter Haven for Lakeland. Turning out of the airport I caught a momentary view of the tent in the distance and noticed it didn't look quite right. Returning, we found one of fiberglass poles had snapped allowing the tent to collapse in the wind. It's good we went back to check because a line of showers passed through later in the afternoon bringing 40+ mph winds and a brief shower. Our stuff would have been soaked.

Again on Saturday the Thunderbirds flew. Loud and fast. I'm always amazed as how quickly fighter jets go from takeoff to blasting across the sky at unreal speeds.

Thank you to our shuttle driver Tracy for the lift back and forth to the show and also with the help when the tent collapsed!

Flight to Florida

Finally, an opportunity to add a post to the SoarCNY blog! Wednesday morning just as I was falling asleep after a long night at work, my phone beeped with an incoming text message. I had forgotten to turn down the volume as I usually do each morning. It was odd that a message would come at that hour so I got out of bed to check it out. It was from my friend and flying buddy Jeff who had moved to Virginia last fall asking if I was interested if ferrying a UTM Lambada motor-glider from Melborne Florida to Indiana.

For a change, it didn't take long for me to decide I wanted to do this. I wrote then called Jeff, got out of bed and started planning. Jeff was headed to Florida with Larry Stahl the manager of Petersburg, WV airport (W99) in a Cessna Hawk XP and there was room for me. Needless to say there was no sleep for me that morning. Between working out details of the non-flying transportation, packing for the trip which included a couple days camping at Sun-n-Fun, and flight planning for the Melborne - Hunterburg, IN flight I was busy right up to the point when my wife Sharon and I began the 8 hour drive to Petersburg.

En route I called the Fort Hill Hotel in Petersburg and confirmed that we were on the way. We wouldn't arrive until about midnight, but they made arrangements for our after office hours arrival. The room was very reasonably priced and clean. By the time I climbed into bed I had been up about 36 hours and fell asleep instantly, sleeping soundly until the alarm woke me at 6:30 and in time to meet Jeff and his son Warren for breakfast in town before heading to the airport.

N5323R was ready to go in the hangar at W99 and we loaded our luggage in the back and next to me in the back seat.

The winds were blowing about 20 kts on the ground as we departed and there was a "rotor cloud" stretching N-S and hovering just to the west of the airport. I was expecting some serious turbulence downwind of the hills and had my belt and shoulder straps clinched tight as we departed. Larry who has flown this area and towed gliders here for many years, turned the plane shortly after liftoff away from the promise of a wild ride in the vicinity of that rotor. We missed most of the bumps as we climbed SE into the cool clear morning air towards cruising altitude.

We did however benefit from the 50 kt winds blowing across the mountains. As we passed diagionaly through the "up" portions of wave downwind of the hills our climb rate soared. Look at the Rate of Climb indicator in the lower center of the instrument panels visible portion. It shows 2,000 feet per minute climb as we approach 8,500'! Of course, in the "down" areas of wave we barely climbed or even descended...

Larry Stahl

Jeff Shingleton

Leaving the Shenandoah Valley behind we pass the James River as it flows out of the hills towards the Chesapeake Bay.

Rockingham Speedway in NC

Waycross, GA. (AYS)
This is the place to stop on the way to or from Sun-n-Fun. For the entire run of the event the airport welcomes transitioning pilots with a choice of barbecue sandwiches or hot dogs, chips and soda or sweet tea. FREE!

From my position in the back it was difficult to see forward, but the view out the sides and back were just fine...

After a long day down low in the haze we reach our destination. Here we are downwind at Winter Haven.

At Winter Haven Airport with the line crew ready to tow 23R to its tie-down. Larry's son Alan was waiting for us when we arrived.

With the sun sinking low we discovered that the Winter Haven airport was set up for camping for pilots going to Sun-n-Fun. There were bathrooms and showers, a fire pit and a 5 dollar shuttle to Lakeland Linder Airport leaving and returning many times during the day. We decided that it was a better idea to set up right here at the airport than later in the dark at Sun-n-Fun. The airport staff was wonderful. We stayed 3 nights at Winter Haven.

In a few days I'll have photos from Sun-n-Fun and after that the flight to Indiana...

Soaring yesterday in the Valley of Virginia......

(From Jeff in VA)

Soaring yesterday in the Valley of Virginia......

I departed SHD around 2:00pm under an interesting sky and climbed under power southeast toward the Blue Ridge. The winds were very mild, and the sky was mostly blue, except that the length of the Blue Ridge and Massanutten were both marked by cu’s as far as I could see.

In a few minutes, and firmly established in lift over the Blue Ridge near Grottos, I shut down the Rotax and feathered the prop. Silence, finally. My plan was to soar to Signal Knob, at the north end of the Massanutten, and back to Shenandoah Regional airport.

I started north along the Blue Ridge. Exploring the width of the Blue Ridge and several miles north, I was not able to reach higher than 5500’. And it was very difficult to make progress below around 4000’. Conditions on the Massanutten looked considerably better, and there were a couple of haze domes and small puffy cu’s in the valley by then, so I decided to try to transit the valley south of Elkton. I tanked up and at 5300’ I started out across the valley at best L/D. I reached Massanutten Resort a bit low at 3000’, but immediately and luckily connected with a 6kt thermal that took me to over 6000’. So far, no bad decisions! I turned and headed north to my goal.

Conditions along the Massanutten were indeed very good. I was able to fly along without much circling, slowing down or circling only when the lift was extraordinary.

The Cu’s in the last few miles leading to Signal Knob were very sparse, so I loitered for a bit, trying to tank up for the run north. I arrived at Signal knob just over 3000’, turned and pointed at SHD.

Heading south, I had a difficult time reconnecting with the good lift. I found myself over Woodstock at 2100’, in survival mode. I found what I was looking for (ANYthing!) and climbed in 3-5kts to near 5000’. Back over the ridge,  conditions were significantly better. I connected with a boomer abeam Luray, which took me to 7240’, my high point for the day.

As I approached Massanutten Resort, conditions were sagging, I was stuck at below 4000 again, and I imagined that I might not make enough altitude to get home. I found a last thermal at the Resort, tanked up to 5400’ and took my 11 mile final glide, reaching home at pattern altitude. 3 ½ hour flight, averaging 56kph. Not a scorcher, but tons of fun!

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=1066209327

Jefferson Shingleton

http://www.svsoar.org

Last Fight of Season

We have been blessed with an unseasonably warm and snowless start to the winter. Looking forward to almost the end of the year on a 10 day forecast, temperatures are expected with remain mild though there is some snow in the forecast.

Once the snow accumulates at our grass field here in Marcellus we are done. A couple years back the owner stopped plowing and sold the snowplow. We do have a few pilots that mount skis and continue right through the winter. Someday I'd like to do that. In a few days we will close up the hangar, sealing it with insulated panels until spring.

It couldn't have been a more perfect day for what will likely be our last flight of the season. The air was smooth and visibility very good. High clouds radiating across the sky thickening to the west with the approach of our next storm.

With the sun low in the sky, the ground below was dark. Much darker than the sky. The contrast was too much for my camera and as a result either the sky was blown out with no color or the ground was near black. I tried an HDR with 3 shots but even at 75 mph there was too much movement for the images to align properly. Instead, in Photomatix, I created a pseudo-HDR using one image. Not quite the same quality as with a series of 3 or 5 shots, since in this shot the dark area have to be lightened so much that noise is beginning to show. I still like it...

Looking west across 5 of the Finger Lakes in Central New York. Otisco, Skaneateles, Owasco, Cayuga and Seneca (just a sliver below the horizon)

Looking south across Kate's Otisco Lake.

The town of Skaneateles at dusk.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL !

Fall Colors and Waterfalls

On a short flight from my home base at Marcellus Airport to Ithaca Regional Airport I circled Taughannock falls and Carpenter Brook Falls in New Hope. Beautiful colors on this late Fall day.

Taughannock Falls

Carpenter Brook - upper falls

Carpenter Brook - middle and lower falls