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Lightning World Record

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pete(at)flylightning.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 5:44 am Post subject: Lightning World Record

TO ALL:  I received this from Earl Ferguson about his record attempt for coast to coast speed.  

   

   

   

Greetings from California. Lightning now has a World Record and a U.S. National Record (subject to completing the required paperwork and approvals).The world record will be for speed over a recorded course. The US National one is for speed over a recognized course, Coast to Coast Westbound. I think those terms are correct. I had hoped to do this in one day back in June, but now the days are shorter, so an overnight stop was necessary. Get as far as possible on day one, finish at the Poggi VOR in San Diego the second morning, that adds 10 hours to the elapsed time, so the speed isn't as impressive as it could have been. But we're on the record books.  

   

N17EF and I left SAV (Savannah) at 6:20 EDT on Monday, August 4 and headed west. Scheduled stops at Quitman, MS and Athens, TX went without a hitch except for tightning up an aleron bolt at Athens. Out of Athens, Flight Watch reported an Airmet for west Texas with severe TBs around Guadaloupe pass and suggested a detour to the north. So I stoped in Midland instead of Wink for fuel and to check weather. Looking at the radar and discussing the possibilities with Chris Brown in Atlanta, it looked doable, so I headed west. No problem until I approached the Pass, where there was a distinct line of very big CBs. Visibility was good, at least 50 miles, which helped. Flying at 8500', I was about even with the cloud bases. I could see the rain showers ahead, and there, appeared to be a passage through. However, as I got closer, there was a lot of lightning and very heavy rain, so I turned south to look for a better opening. Fifty miles later, I found a better looking opening, and turned west. Still lots of CBs and rain showers with some lightning, but better. I picked up some static electricity and drew a spark with I touched the stick. At the same time the EIS screen went blank. Fortunately nothing else was affected, but I lost the engine instruments. There is an engine instrument screen on the EFIS, for I had a back-up source, but with one EFIS I can't look at the engine instruments and the moving map at the same time. No way would I attempt a reboot inflight under those conditions.   

   

So I turned west and dodged rain showers. Found and followed an Interstate highway just in case something else quit, but nothing did. Once I got past the squall line, the flight from there into El Paso was uneventful. Landed at W. Texas regional, a little airport east of El Paso to refuel. Fortunately, the EIS came back on at restart, what a relief! With daylight running out, I called ahead and arranged for the Holiday Inn in Deming,  NM to pick me up, and made an uneventful flight there for the night. Deming has a nice Holiday Inn in case you ever need a place to stay there, but I digress.  

   

I took off at first light from Deming, headed for Lightning West at Marana, AZ. Uneventful flight. Gregg Hobbs met me at the self serve gas pump for a brief visit. Rats, I forgot to take a picture. We may stage that scene again for a photo. Took off from Marana for San Diego. Enroute Flight Watch reported an AirMet for the LA area with mountain obscurations. VFR flight not advised. FW suggested I stop at Imperial and wait it out. NO WAY! I've been 1800+ miles and no way am I going to stop within sight (almost) of the coast. So I kept going. There is a broad 5000'+ ridge between Imperial and the San Diego/LA basin. Crossing this I held my breath to see what weather would appear ahead. The end of the record trip was planned at the Poggi VOR, and it kept getting closer. At 50 NM, I couldn't see over the ridge. At 25 NM I was at the edge and could see down into the basin -- all the way to the ocean. The AirMet was still in effect, but the predicted weather had cleared. The way to Poggi was clear.  

   

The approach control freq in San Diego is busy and everybody talks fast. My controller just wanted we to go away, but I explained that I needed a recorded time over Poggi. He finally handed me off to a different freq, apparently the Ops Manager I had talked to the day before, and the attitude was completely changed. I got an "on top Poggi at 1735Z" from Approach and a hand off to Brown Field tower 3 miles away.  

   

The tower at Brown is busy, and the controllers talk even faster than the approach controllers. I had shipped a change of clothing to First Flight at Brown back in June before my first attempts. I found Tom Sarvis at First Flight and my box was still there waiting. After this trip, I wasn't sure how much recovery time I would need, but there was more a feeling of elation than exhaustion. I started making phone calls to let tell everybody about the successful record run. By the time most of the calls were made, the cell phone battery was flat. So, if I didn't call you, that's my excuse. There is a restaurant at Brown, so I had lunch and plugged in the recharger.   

   

There isn't much flight planning available at Brown, their online wx computer didn't work, and nobody sells charts. The smog was developing, so I wanted out of Dodge. I called some airports and French Valley south of Riverside had charts. I have family in Palo Alto south of San Francisco, and they offered a place to stay. So I took off for points north. After a 1900 NM trip across the US, 450 NM to the San Francisco area should be easy. Bought the charts in French Valley and took off. By this time it's 3:30 local, and the brown LA haze is almost to the tops of the 10,000'+ mountains that rim the LA area. In-flight planning in smog and mountains isn't easy, but I am now qualified to teach a class on in-flight planning and map folding. But I got to Palo Alto exactly when I had told my aunt I would be there. Pure luck. I am writing this from my Aunt Barbara's computer here.  

   

There's more to tell of course, but this will provide a summary. I'm glad it's over, and I can concentrate on other things. The airplane and the Jabiru engine did great. Now to get home and put it all back together.  

   

Thanks to everybody on this list for your help and encouragement.  

   

Earl Ferguson  

Palo Alto, CA

lbmathias(at)verizon.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 6:32 am Post subject: Lightning World Record

[quote]   Congratulations Earl!   Way to    go!

    

                                             Linda and Joe Mathias    

   [quote]     ---

dashvii(at)hotmail.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 6:53 am Post subject: Lightning World Record

Way to go Earl!  Finally slipped through those thunder bumpers enough to 

make it out to the coast.  Let me know what you ended up doing with the gap 

seals and what you got for performance differences on your flight out.  

Again, good job, look forward to hearing more, and have a safe flight back.  

Brian W.



_________________________________________________________________

A new home for Mom, no cleanup required. All starts here. 

http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us

EAFerguson(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 6:54 am Post subject: Lightning World Record

Linda, Joe,

  

 Thanks,

  

 Earl - Recovering in Palo Alto, CA



AOL.com.

  [quote][b]

Rick

Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 113
Location: Colonial Beach, Virginia

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:16 am Post subject: Lightning World Record

Hey Earl,

Great to hear the news!

Congratulations to you!!



Rick

N727RB



_________________________________________________________________

A new home for Mom, no cleanup required. All starts here. 

http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us

N1BZRich(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:18 am Post subject: Lightning World Record

Way to go Earl and Seventeen Echo Fox.  You have accomplished  something that very few people would even attempt to try and even fewer would  have hung in there to finish the task with the weather and other delays you  experienced.  Congratulations, good buddy.  Now if I might be so bold  to suggest something - I suggest you put together a presentation on your world  record flight (power point? covering the rules, preparation, flight planning,  actual flight, and possible lessons learned) and show it at the Lightning Fly-In  whenever that takes place.  Hopefully this September in SYI, although I  have not heard yet as to the dates of that extravaganza.  Hint - hint - to  the SYI team - is it a go?

 Good on ya, Earl.

 Blue Skies,

 Buz





Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com.

  [quote][b]

wb2ssj(at)earthlink.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:52 pm Post subject: Lightning World Record

Hi.Buz, always good to read your messages. If the gathering in syi in sept,  I'll be there in the Cessna. Do you have any pictures or comments from your trip  through the fiberglass works? I had to leave friday and missed it.   Tex

 [quote]   ---

vettin74(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 6:05 am Post subject: Lightning World Record

Mark and i have set the date...but now i have to find it again....

   

  Nick



N1BZRich(at)aol.com wrote:

  [quote]        Way to go Earl and Seventeen Echo Fox.  You have accomplished something that very few people would even attempt to try and even fewer would have hung in there to finish the task with the weather and other delays you experienced.  Congratulations, good buddy.  Now if I might be so bold to suggest something - I suggest you put together a presentation on your world record flight (power point? covering the rules, preparation, flight planning, actual flight, and possible lessons learned) and show it at the Lightning Fly-In whenever that takes place.  Hopefully this [quote][b]

pequeajim

Joined: 03 Sep 2006
Posts: 708
Location: New Holland, PA

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:08 pm Post subject: Lightning World Record

I think you may have left it in your flight box, next to your LiPo charger...



 On 8/10/07, nick otterback <vettin74(at)yahoo.com (vettin74(at)yahoo.com)> wrote: [quote] Mark and i have set the date...but now i have to find it again....

  

 Nick



N1BZRich(at)aol.com (N1BZRich(at)aol.com) wrote:

  	  Quote: 	
		      Way to go Earl and Seventeen Echo Fox.  You have accomplished something that very few people would even attempt to try and even fewer would have hung in there to finish the task with the weather and other delays you experienced.  Congratulations, good buddy.  Now if I might be so bold to suggest something - I suggest you put together a presentation on your world record flight (power point? covering the rules, preparation, flight planning, actual flight, and possible lessons learned) and show it at the Lightning Fly-In whenever that takes place.  Hopefully this   	  Quote: 	
		  

	




	
[b]

Scotty

Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 44
Location: Peachtree City, GA

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 9:29 am Post subject: Re: Lightning World Record

You da man Earl

VSH aviating.

Scotty

EAFerguson(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:55 am Post subject: Lightning World Record

Scotty,

  

 Thanks.

  

 What is VSH aviating?



AOL.com.

  [quote][b]

Scotty

Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 44
Location: Peachtree City, GA

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 6:46 pm Post subject: Re: Lightning World Record

Earl,



VSHFP  Very S&*# Hot Fighter Pilot, circa Viet Nam carrier guys.  



Seriously, Congratulations on a job well done.



Respy,



Scotty

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