….Valley

Catching up April 23rd April 2018

Jokingly or not, a few people questioned my need for brakes. That thought, from the previous evening, lead me to decide to fly out of Marble Canyon first thing, brakes or no brakes. I would position to Page Municipal airport (KPGA). From there I would be able to communicate with the world and have access to mechanics who might assist with any repair.

At 5:00 am I was awake and re-packing everything that I had laid out on the floor from the previous afternoon. Next it was trekking back and forward, back and forward, between my hotel room and the BZIM. The early morning was nice and fresh. Cool for locals it seemed, a few appearing wearing jackets and trousers. It was 16’C, almost a summers day back home in Scotland.

The preparations were completed as the sun rose, turning the canyon sides flaming red. Wow, wow and wow. This is why so many people awake and outside already.

With no wheel brakes I had to leave the aircraft chocked as the engine was started and oil temperature brought up to 50’C. At that point, the engine was turned off, chocks stored and engine restarted. iEfis on, radio on, transponder on, traffic monitor on, lights and strobes on, final checks carried out, radio call announcing my immediate departure, final look around and the BZIM was rolling.

Less than 12 hours earlier I had resigned myself to being stuck at Marble Canyon for days. Less than twelve hours later, the BZIM and I, back where we were supposed to be be! In the air, flying,

After departing and turning north east, it was difficult resisting the temptation, to do as many pilots dream of doing, flying under a bridge. The Navajo Bridge in this case. Resist I did though, fearful of being seen and reported on. The the FAA would likely be quick revoking my permission to fly. Perhaps one day, somewhere!

The flight to Page airport was short, only twenty minutes. Landing with winds, calm. Runway length of almost 6000 feet, at an elevation of 4316 feet. The BZIM had slowed to taxing speed well before it vacated the runway at the midpoint. Using the slope of the apron and cutting the engine at the correct moment slowed the BZIM to a stop and soon it was  parked alongside a nice, similarly green coloured, Cessna.

Starting, departing, landing and parking were all accomplished without brakes. I now could see no reason why I should wait for parts to arrive before continuing. A quick telephone to P&M Aviation in the UK, confirmed the part required. The part would be sent to an airport ahead of me. By 8:00 am the BZIM was airborne again, continuing the adventure.

As I was heading south west again, I decided to fly another approach to Marble Canyon airport. The previous evening I had been speaking to one of two french pilots that had flown into Marble Canyon. They were preparing their aircraft, stopping to wave, as I flew a low approach. Now towards the Grand Canyon!

As the morning temperatures increased, so did the thermals. Heading south towards the southern edge of the Grand Canyon I could see the land rise and rise in front of me. Stronger thermal jolts were being felt the higher above ground the BZIM flew. Knowing the conditions would only continue to worsen as the morning progressed, I decided to forgo the goal of flying over the Grand Canyon. A late evening flight, or very early morning flight would provide the best flying conditions to cross the Canyon. I had missed that window.

Looking towards the Grand Canyon

The decision was made to instead fly to Grand Canyon Valle Airport, roughly 25 miles due south of the Grand Canyon. Overflying the Kaibab National Forest provided a change from the desert landscape of previous flights.

The generosity offered to visiting pilots at US airports was once again a pleasure to behold at Valle. Handed to keys to the owners own large pick up truck, I drove to the local gas station for unleaded and then to Fred’s Diner, Bedrock City for breakfast.

Valle Airport is the location of the “Planes of Fame Air Museum”. Unfortunately closed, however some aircraft were visible whilst air-side.

Valle airport is 5999 feet above sea level. Departing around 11:15, temperature 20’C with a density altitude of almost 7800 feet. Ahead, the land would increase height to around 6800 feet. Crossing this higher ground wasn’t easy. Full power, bar slightly pushed out, trying to climb, was only keeping the microlight flying at level flight. Occasionally a shallow climb would develop but maintaining the climb was difficult. Airspeed around 52mph. Relaxing the bar, returning to a cruise speed of 60 mph resulted in the microlight descending below the top of the land ahead. Turning away from the hills, looking options, the BZIM entered a thermal and climbed.  Quickly putting the BZIM into a turn, I tried to stay within the thermal for as long as possible. Finally, at around 1000 ft above the height of the hills, I continued at full power crossing the hills, finally able to descend towards the Las Vegas valley and Jean

The next four hours flying, crossing wasteland, canyons, hills, dry lake-beds and mountains was some of the toughest, relentless flying I’d encounter.  The dry lake-beds, hills and mountains had to be weaved through. Any attempt to try to climb resulted in slow long drawn out climbs with increasing turbulance due to the higher winds aloft.

Dust devils in the distance

 

Having left the seat on a number of occasions, jolted by rotor from jagged hill tops, I weaved between lower ridges, always aware from which direction the wind was coming from. Finally as the last ridge was passed I could relax, knowing the worst was over. Jean would soon be round the corner. Landing in a 18 mph, gusting more crosswind, it felt good being able to relax.

Two aircraft, a Cessna and a PA28  were bashing the circuit as I taxied to the apron. The skydiving school was busy inside, no sign of any venturing outside til later perhaps.

The BZIM was tied one wing down with some nice weighty chains. A quick check of the wind forecast to see if there was to be any change in direction. None forecast. With a hotel/casino close, I contemplated staying the night.  My en-route flight calculations had implied there was not enough time to get into Death Valley. I would have to wait til the morning. This would make leaving the Death Valley area mid morning a bit more difficult.

During reviewing of my plans, eating at a Denny’s, somehow it appeared I now did have time to reach Death Valley. What? how? …I suddenly realized, I had forgot to adjust for yet another time zone that had passed.

A quick call to Stovepipe Wells ensured a hotel room was available. Hoping the winds had lessened, a quick return to the airport didn’t provide much relief. Refuel first. Avgas this time. A local pilot was surprised to see a weight shift trike flying today, even more surprised to see a UK one. He advised to be wary of the mountains and military airspace to the north, saying the winds wouldn’t die down for another hour or so. An hour delay would mean I couldn’t make my destination.

The flight across the mountains was nothing compared to the previous four hour flight. After the first ridge passed, the wind calmed a lot. Once again, flying was pure enjoyment. A strange, in the middle of no-where, complex was overflown. False buildings and rooms were obvious. Only when targets were seen was it clear this was some sort of weapons training facility. Front Sight Firearms Training I later learned was the complex.

Continuing the flight towards Death Valley, it was surprising to see areas of new built housing communities located in such a dry arid area. The lush greenness of lawns was obvious and out of place in comparison to the surrounding desert seen from above. Flying conditions, continued to improve, allowing low flight between hill areas.

Eventually Furnace Creek, was spotted, an approach and landing made to the lowest airport in the USA at −210 feet below sea level. The landing was only for a log book entry.

Departure without stopping, heading across Death Valley to Stovepipe Wells, flying low level, even flying below sea level!

Furnace Creek

 

 

The landing at Stovepipe Wells didn’t go quite to plan. Late touchdowns and a down  sloping runway from the mid-point, resulted in the engine having to be quickly started and power increased to take-off before the runway end. Eventually after three landing attempts, the BZIM landed and was parked for the night. Just as the sun set.

A true sunrise to sunset flying day!

 

Continuing catch up for April 22nd 2018I left Damien, Mark, Michael, Frank and Henry behind, on a high. Following Damien’s advice, I made Shiprock my first goal, just over 120 miles to the north west. During the almost two hour flight, there were many strange looking and fascinating natural geographical land features. Obvious dry river beds could be seen carved into the surface.

Dry river beds are also fun to fly in!

Many formations are caused by water and wind erosion, with others caused through volcanic processes. Many of the ‘carvings’ are below the high flat plains of the area. The plains exist at around 6500ft above sea level. Most features are hidden below the distant horizon and are not noticeable until much closer. One area overflown is known as the “Bisti Badlands”. The ‘features’ within this area are 200ft > 400ft below the height of the surrounding plains. The area was once a river delta that lay west of the shore of an ancient sea. These ‘badlands’ are little traveled and relatively unknown compared to others, due partially to it’s remoteness. Much of the area is only accessible by foot and is not visible from the main NM371 highway which runs closest to the area.

One hour forty eight minutes after leaving Cabezon Peak, pushed by a slight tailwind, the BZIM was touching down at Shiprock airfield.Landing at Shiprock was simply for an photo opportunity and to add a log book entry.  There was no wind and it was hot. Much more pleasant in the air, so within minutes of landing the BZIM was airborne again heading towards the infamous throat of a volcano, known as Shiprock. Rising 1,583 feet above the high desert plain, it’s peak is 7,177 feet above sea level.

After a few orbits of Shiprock, a heading was set towards Bluff airfield. Landing again was only to add an entry into the logbook, this time not even stopping for a photo. After Bluff, routing next was towards the famous Monument Valley. I wasn’t quite ready for what I saw next. Again, the flatness to the surrounding area hides the change of view, until it was suddenly right in front and below. The San Juan river twists and turns, advancing forward whilst carving an ever deepening canyon. Quickly the river is 1000ft below the surrounding area.

Monument Valley airport was an ideal stopping point, to grab a bite to eat and refuel  from the gas station just across the road from the airport. With three portable tanks fill ups and two fuel transfers, it was two and a half hours later before the BZIM was airborne again.Flying conditions, were still perfect as the BZIM got airborne just before 3pm. The wind had increased a little, but this wasn’t of concern. Being aware of the wind direction in flight (thanks to the MGL Discovery Lite), its possible to make an educated guess where any rotor or turbulence may be encountered. This allowed for these areas to be avoided with ease. Only when entering a canyon, was the occasional jolt felt.

The final flight of the day would take me to Marble Canyon around an hour and a half away. Routing would follow the spectacular Colorado river as it meandered into Lake Powell.  I had been warned to expect stunning views, as ever 😉

Words can’t describe the sense of awe, nor the feeling of being so lucky to be experiencing these sights. Flying in an open cockpit weight-shift microlight added a degree of freedom and connection that is unique!

The final stages of the last flight of the day provided a stunning approach to Marble Canyon airport. Again, Marble Canyon was  chosen due to the proximity of a gas station opposite providing unleaded gasoline.

Today was an almost a perfect day. Meeting everyone from Double Eagle airport NM, perfect flying weather, some amazing photos, videos and memories. Nothing would ever bring me down from the joy I was feeling as I landed at Marble Canyon….

Marble Canyon airport is located exactly where it says. Within a canyon. Following the cable brake, I found I had no mobile phone reception therefore no internet connection. Quickly booking a room at the hotel across the road from the airfield, I learned they had no wifi access. They did have a single PC available in the reception area, for all guests to use. The BZIM was completely unloaded to gain access to the whole brake cable. I fully expected to be stranded for a few days, so moved everything from the BZIM to the hotel room. Over the next few days, I could sort through the items I had been carrying, whilst waiting on parts for the brakes.

An email was hastily sent to P&M aviation in the UK, describing my predicament. I requested a new cable be sent out to me from the UK. With it being the middle of the night in the UK, I would have to wait til the next day for any reply. With the hotel reception area closing at 9pm, a final check of the messages sent out on Facebook. I noted some comments questioning whether I needed brakes.

After all they were only (for) slowing me down!

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Catching up … Novasota (60R)  to Odessa (ODO) via Burnet (BMQ)

Wednesday 18th April.
Sometimes it’s difficult to be sure whether to depart or wait. The last few days have followed a similar pattern. Calm early, winds increase by 9/10am, winds calm later. This morning had an additional factor. A weak cold-front was moving through the area making much of the transiting area fall under the FAA definition of an “IFR area”. The destination Burnet (KBMQ) was VFR, but winds would be 12 knots gusting 19 knots by 10am.
Although not ideal, it would be possible to avoid the IFR area, by routing east of the direct track, but this would result in a longer period of time with a headwind, arriving after the winds increase.
Decisions…. Get airborne and work it out from there.
Airborne time was just after 7am. Cloud-base was higher than forecast at just over 2200ft.

Whilst flying in a particular direction, weather information for airports ahead are listened to. This provides details of surface wind speed, cloud-base and allows for comparing with the forecast given prior to flight.

Approaching Taylor, cloud-base was confirmed at above 2000 ft and winds had not increased, yet!

A rain shower could be seen off the left hand side towards Austin otherwise the constant layer of cloud was not a concern. I can see why the are was IFR, but operating clear of cloud, with 8km’s visibility, flying at 60mph, I was VFR.

Austin Texas is clearly growing city. Much of the housing was clearly new-built with more new land clearly being marked out for housing. Sports facilities looked spotless.

Burnet was chosen as a destination due to the proximity of a gas station, providing access to unleaded petrol/gas.

A small collection of donated USAF fighter aircraft are on display outside.

After refueling the BZIM, departure was delayed as the winds had increased, as forecast.

By 1430, a desire to push on, resulted in the BZIM taking off in winds still reported as gusting 20 knots, but the winds in the destination were good.

A 4 hour 30 minute flight to Odessa was probably the first time where the BZIM wasn’t fighting with the winds. The BZIM flew itself. It was hands off, relaxing flying. It was bliss! Previously only the flight along the eastern Florida coastline was nice, but there was still turbulence on that leg. This felt like the first time I was totally relaxed whilst flying. Listening to music and podcasts as I bimbled along at 60 mph. This was worth it!

Texas is big and  flat.

Oil pumps and drilling wells soon become a common sight

Arrival at Odessa was just after 7pm. Unfortunately the FBO closed at 7pm, leaving only the cleaning staff in the building. Thankfully one was happy to drop me off at a hastily booked hotel.

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The flight towards Paradise City SunNFun was a straight line flight north from Arcadia, except for a small deviation east when a rain shower was seen ahead. A diversion to Wauchula almost took place, joining downwind for the airport. However from this location a way around the shower was obvious.

Arrival into Paradise City at SunNFun it was…quiet. Traffic wise anyway. Just the BZIM making the low level 500ft join to the downwind, 400ft turning base over the BP garage and finals to 27. The green flag flying was noted on roll-out, so all good (?). Perhaps not, as a couple of marshaller’s  come tearing over to the BZIM. Some confusion continued about where the BZIM would be staying, but eventually the BZIM was moved outside the air-side area to allow camping under the wing to take place.

After parking the BZIM and speaking to a number of staff about my trip, the rain started. There was no time to lower the wing and waterproof the trikes contents, so the one side of the wing was tied down and I remained with the BZIM to hold it steady. The rain turned into a storm. Winds speeds increased (wing down was into wind), gusting started, and direction changed. Holding the wing kept everything fairly tight. Then the lightning!

So, SunNFun wasn’t living up to it’s name. No Sun and definitely not fun. On two occasions an electric shock was felt, whilst holding the wing. First time holding the wing wires (metal), second time holding a wing baton (plastic). Crackling in the air was heard directly overhead the second time. Perhaps my Adidas Continental rubber-ed boots provided some insulation?

As the rain eased, fellow trike pilot Doug Boyle from Piedmont Aerosports arrived with his trailer-ed  trike. Doug was kind enough to offer shelter in his camper and we both went for a bite to eat.

SunNFun is the huge fly-in that takes place every year at Lakeland Regional airport. Lots of flying and aircraft to be seen, with vendors selling everything aviation related. Also unusually(?), a wedding! A wedding between Amy and Larry Mednick, owners of Evolution Trikes, whom built the Revo and Revolt trikes took place on Tuesday evening.

Also on Tuesday evening, the Uncontrolled Airspace Podcast (UCAP) broadcasts on SunNFun radio.

Wednesday April 11th was spent wandering around SunNFun and readying the BZIM for the adventure ahead. Too much is being carried and needs to be thinned out.

Departure from SunNFun Thursday 12th at around 8:00am

Day 1 flying coast to coast to coast of the USA.Monday 9th April. Mr Roberts arrived early. Access to the hanger, where the BZIM was staying, should have resulted being airborne by 10am. However two errors building the wing resulted in it having to be taken back off the pylon, the whole process starting again. The second attempt, completed around midday, in the blazing sun resulted in blisters on both hands making the whole sweat drenching process painful. Once everything was ready, it was time to drop off the hire car at Homestead. Thanks Diane Roberts.

Time to jump in and fly.

The ‘test flight’ was out to South Beach Miami with return to Homestead.  Weather at Homestead; hot, sunny, 14kts winds from the south, with gusts of 18kts. The BZIM bounced into the air before the first intersection and continued bouncing as it climbed.  Clearing the pattern, heading for the coast, the bouncing continued. Not the toughest flying, but most passengers would not have enjoyed.

Flight to the coast was mostly between 1000ft and 1500ft. Routing between Miami Executive airport and Homestead AFB in uncontrolled airspace, many small private airstrips provided landing options, should a major problem occur. Once at the coast, the flight smoothed. Routing was towards Key Biscayne and upon rounding the Cape Florida Lighthouse turning north. Miami and South Beach were a sight to behold in the distance.

Approaching the busy beach area, it was clear parasailing was taking place. This necessitated a transit further offshore than preferred. Unusually(?) no other aircraft,or helicopters, were seen during the entire flight, other than at Homestead.

At the northern turning point, the 18mph tailwind became a 18mph headwind. Two problems arose.

1. Cramp developed in my left arm, hand and fingers. This is something I had only ever encountered a few hours earlier after finishing building the wing. Mr Roberts advised it was probably due to dehydration.  It was painful but more, it was annoying and distracting.
2. The voltage indicator dipped below 12.4V.  S**t!

Pulling the bar in to go faster, was causing the cramp to worsen. If I didn’t grip anything, it was O.K. Not wanting to miss a good photo though, I put up with the cramp as best I could, but this wasn’t good.

Voltage supply warning light was now flashing on the EFIS (Electronic flight instrumentation system), with 12.1V showing. It wasn’t possible to  switch the transponder off s the BZIM was within a Transponder Mandated Zone. A back up android tablet running iFLY GPS was cross-checked with the EFIS data, just in case it failed. A second android device would provide a further back up system. Returning overland towards Homestead was  smoother than the outbound leg. When the EFIS power indicated 11.9V, it was powered off, to ensure the transponder continued to work. Prior to landing, the EFIS was powered on, and landing was uneventful on 18, and short, turning off at the first intersection.

Airborne time from Homestead to South Beach and return was 1 hour 25 minutes.

The charging problem was quickly located. The problem was the 15V car fuse holder contacts, which were blackened. The fuse metal contacts had began to degrade with holes through the metal! Rewiring a new fuse holder took around another hour in the sweltering heat!

With the time now after 1600, a go or no-go decision had to be made. Getting into Lakeland, early Tuesday morning was the plan, so routing to Everglades City was canned. A call to George at Arcadia confirmed access to the camp-ground for the night, so a direct route was planned, routing around larger airports.  Distance of around 150 miles should take 2.5 hours. A quick top-up of AVGAS and the BZIM was ready.

After saying my thanks and goodbyes to Diane Roberts, the BZIM departed Homestead at 1655. The wind was now from the southwest, so any gain was lost as the BZIM headed northeast at an average  62mph ground speed.

Around 20 minutes after departure from Homestead, the cramps returned. This time however, both arms, both hands and fingers were cramping up depending upon how strong the bar I gripped. Other than the odd thermal every few minutes, flying was easy. As a thermal was passed, however, it was painful.

There is not a lot to see crossing the Everglades in the dry season 😦

 

 

• Airborne time from Homestead to Arcadia was 2 hour 28 minutes.
• Total airborne time for Monday 9th April was 3 hours 53 minutes.
• Video of Miami Beach leg will be added to the blog at a later date.