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Guy Buchanan
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 1204
Location: Ramona, CA
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 Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 5:22 pm Post subject: Ft. Worth Trip Report (Really Long) |
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Hi all,
I just returned to Ramona (San Diego) from Ft. Worth, Texas;
a 28 hour round trip to give my original builder a two hour ride.
The trip started with an afternoon flight to Thunder Ridge,
northwest of Phoenix, AZ, for the Desert Fox Fly-in. Being new to the
place I did my usual conservative approach, at pattern altitude with
all the right calls. (I was briefly non-plussed by the car on the
runway, but they got out of the way soon enough.) After parking my
plane behind Stan Specht's out adjacent to the runway I wandered in,
taking in the sight of Stan and Cara Foster's beautiful desert spread
garnished with ten or so Kitfoxes, a few Rans, and a Sky Ranger.
(Don't ask.) Tom Laurence was tinkering with his Sky Ranger so I
introduced myself. In ten minutes I was introduced to nearly a dozen
more participants, all swapping stories about their ride in earlier
that day from Nevada and other points north. I didn't have much to
add, except for my experience at Wickenburg, 35 miles north of
Thunder Ridge, where I had been told on Unicom that there was no
100LL because a flight of ten Kitfoxes had come in earlier in the day
and sucked them dry! (Fortunately the kind and extravagant lady at
the FBO went to the effort of sumping their tanks to dredge up 10
gallons of 100LL for me to add by gas-can.) This brought a laugh
because the flight of ten was, of course, Lowell's group coming
through en-masse.
What followed was a weekend of eating, drinking, flying and
lies, with a little seriousness thrown in for good measure. Some impressions:
Most of the lies, outrageous as they are, are probably true.
Heard on the radio during Saturday morning's mass flight:
"Buckeye traffic, flight of five Kitfoxes for left 35."
"Hey Stan, I saw a canal off to the right. I'm goin' to check it out."
"Me too." "I'm in." "I'm with you."
"Fox 1 here. How many planes are still with me."
<silence>
"Hell I'm not goin' to miss this. Fox 1 away."
"There it is! Hal's in."
"Hey Hal, that canal looks pretty skinny. You sure you gonna fit?"
"YeeeeHaaawwww"
"Mark's in."
"Hey Hal, you goin' under that bridge?"
"Looks pretty low."
"Waaaahoooo!"
"Hey do you guy's know you're headed right at each other?"
"I'll go high."
"Man look at the spray."
A rush, yanking and banking between the hills, making sure
the tips stay out of the trees; my first time. As I was the lone 582,
my flight graciously let me set the pace and stayed with me throughout.
Back to Thunder Ridge for more good food. On the way back
I'm flying low, probably 100', when Hal goes by lower by at least
80'. It looks fun so I hammer it and drop to his six. He then shows
me some more "Kitfoxin'" as we duck and weave through the foothills,
stirring up dust. My favorite is shooting the ridges, up and over the
top at zero-g, then back down the other side: thrilling.
High speed pass at Thunder Ridge. Wind the 582 to 6700 and
hold it at 30' all the way down the runway. Break left, and teardrop
right for 17.
The great food, especially breakfast.
Waking up at daybreak in the hanger to a beautiful sunrise.
Looking over the shoulder at one of the Desert Fox crew
showing pictures of his new kit, then his previous plane, then the
wreckage, then his seriously gruesome wounds, then his recovery. He
introduces himself: Michael Gibbs, back flying and little worse for
wear. His attitude is incredible. I am inspired.
Sunday morning everybody got up, loaded, said their
good-by's, and left. I made a more leisurely departure, as I had 11
or so hours ahead of me to Ft. Worth. The trip was uneventful, except
to tell Lynn that you can wind your way through the mountains east of
Phoenix, finally negotiating Guadeloupe pass, and never go over
7500'. (You can also stay south, going west to Tucson without having
to wind your way between the passes.) I stayed the night at Cavern
City, near Carlsbad, New Mexico, but couldn't get a rental car to go
see the Caverns.
The next day I flew on to Ft. Worth, where I met Bob Ducar,
the original 11 year veteran of my Kitfox build. The next day he flew
me around the Dallas/Ft. Worth class B delighting in his airplane
while I navigated and worked the radios. I showed him some "Kitfoxin"
at one of the many reservoirs, yankin' and bankin' along the shore at
low level, then flying slow with the doors open. We then went back to
the airport where I showed him some short field work and then it was
back to the hangar for pictures and stories. Bob was so excited he
called his wife and exclaimed, "Hey honey, I'm getting another
airplane!" She put that thought to rest, but Bob's happiness made the
whole trip worthwhile.
After lunch Bob reciprocated with a tour of Lockheed Martin,
showing me the Joint Strike Fighter fabrication facility among other
things. Very impressive.
That night a cold front swept through leaving behind 40 mph
tail winds. Not one to let a good thing go to waste I high-tailed out
of Ft. Worth early the next morning.
You'll get a laugh out of this. So I'm cruising along at 80
MIAS and 115 on the GPS. Hmmm, I think. I thought it was supposed to
be a 40 mph tail wind. Sure looks fast out the window. Squint at the
GPS. Squint some more. "Damn, what's that "kt" next to the 115?" Nah,
it can't be. (Fiddle with the GPS menus.) "SUMBITCH! The GPS is
showin' KNOTS! I wonder when that happened?" Set to mph the GPS
showed 132 over the ground! That damn GPS has been on knots since day
one! I've been pissin and moanin' about my speed for the past nine
months and the damn GPS has been on knots the whole time. How
embarrassing. I guess it could have been worse. No wonder Lowell
thought I was going fast back at Thunder Ridge.
I had tail winds all the way there, and all the way home. I
attribute it to good, clean, living.
See you at Cameron Park!
Guy Buchanan
K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 100% done, thanks mostly to Bob Ducar.
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_________________
Guy Buchanan
Deceased K-IV 1200
A glider pilot too. |
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Lynn Matteson
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 2778
Location: Grass Lake, Michigan
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| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:26 am Post subject: Ft. Worth Trip Report (Really Long) |
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Thanks for the report, Guy...man that sounds like fun! I can't wait
for my trip west, including Hondo, Cameron Park, and whatever else I
can squeeze in.
Halfway calm winds here today, so I'm going up for my version of a
"sunrise service" : )
Lynn
do not archive
| Quote: | I had tail winds all the way there, and all the way home. I
attribute it to good, clean, living.
See you at Cameron Park!
Guy Buchanan
K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 100% done, thanks mostly to Bob Ducar.
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| | - The Matronics Kitfox-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Kitfox-List |
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_________________
Lynn
Kitfox IV-Jabiru 2200
N369LM |
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