Yooper Rocketman

Picked up a mercy flight patient in Rochester MN bringing her back to Marquette, MI (KSAW). I’m not sure what she’s dealing with but she had a great attitude and no hair (I imagine some form of cancer and Chemo). I saw upper winds rarely seen in the middle of the summer. I saw 115 knots almost on the nose at FL220 for a while. Two “Heavy” airliners above, westbound, were crawling along 342 and 328 knots. Unbelievable!! So I ground it out westbound but loved the eastbound leg at FL250. Saw ground speeds in the 390’s (knots too). The patient was impressed. Tom https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N994PT/history/20190925/2130Z/KRST/KSAW

Well, day one of two in the books for our Annual Ford Airport Day at KIMT. EAA committed to bring their newly completed (restoration) B-25 in for our event. Fog this morning hampered anyone getting in before our 11 AM veterans tribute. With nothing on the ramp for airplanes, I agreed to taxi the Lancair up as a backdrop to the actual ceremony. Although not a warbird, it makes lots of noise and is cute. A lot of people spent some time looking at it after the ceremony was over. We had the local high school band, a small contingency of the local motorcycle Honor Guard, and the Legion Post presenting colors. A key note speaker, a Nam Vet and 25 year member of our county board (and strong supporter of our airport) presented a very nice "veterans themed" speech. We then had a projector and screen complimenting our PA System that played a 6 minute video of Sam Elliot speaking at a recorded event on behalf of a vet from the Normandy Invasion. Their were some cloudy eyes after that one. https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-pty-pty_maps&hsimp=yhs-pty_maps&hspart=pty&p=sam+elliot+speech+about+lambert+veteran#id=1&vid=8ab16e2ae9a328ab3f5904bc50d9f40c&action=click So after the program a vet came forward that had flown the B-25 in WWII, 34 missions to be exact. Holy crap was he sharp and shared with several of us many of his ventures. We always provide a free lunch for vets after the program and he was hoping to see a B-25 ONE LAST TIME (his words, not mine). I suppose at 93, living in the U.P., there's not too many opportunities to see WWII war birds. So, we were in constant communication with Sean Elliot from EAA on when they might launch, as they were waiting for low ceilings in Oshkosh, along the route, and at Iron Mountain to rise to reasonable VFR conditions. I hung out with the vet and his family, hoping to keep his interest enough to stick around until it arrived. They had driven from Escanaba, about an hour away. We got word from the B-25 crew they had wheels up about the time I thought they would leave, so they waited another 45 minutes for the plane to arrive. The expression on his face (I sat next to him as the B-25 did a standard military fly over and break into the pattern) as it taxied in ...... priceless. You could see the gears turning in his head, probably thinking about his days back in 1944-1945 flying that bird. Once shut down he and his family came up near the plane. He had his logbook and a printed book he wrote for his family (at their request) with him, sharing these items with Sean and the rest of the B-25 crew. He had one picture of serious wing damage from a tree doing low level bombing....... yes, I said a tree. And they flew it back to base. I had the privilege to hear many of his stories as we waited, and study his log book (key pages to be submitted later when I get time). It was an absolutely amazing read!!! Islands and bases I've only heard about from the History Channel and books I've read about the South Pacific during WWII. The B-25 crew was mesmerized with him. He signed a copy of the book and gave it to Sean and his son Ryan. They were pretty honored!! We shot many pictures and then he poked his head in through the bomb bays. I'm sure a step back in time for him to look up there. Then Sean insisted he come around to the back and this particular B-25 has an air stair system, an added feature after the war during it's second life. EAA had decided to keep it, as it allows more elderly vets access to the plane. Don (our vet) starts walking up the steps and in a minute he's standing inside the plane (he arrived and was using a walker almost the entire time up until the pictures and this). He paused for a photo op stepping back out. His happy smile says it all! So, as I think back about today, all the prep work our chapter does to get this event off, and now reflect on this vet's appreciation for his experience, I think YES...it's definitely worth the work!!!!! Tom

Thanks for the shout out about Northwoods Airlifeline! We are providing about 125 flights a year, which comes out to a flight every 3 days on average. Challenging sometimes getting them covered, but the patients really appreciate getting to major medical centers in under two hours instead of 6-10 hour car rides. Tom

VNE on the IV, IVP, and IVPT is 274kts Tom

Yes, it IS a side-stick. After the last round of surgeries, we had not been to our Florida home in 2 1/2 months (since January 2nd), during the winter when we usually go down, so I went out to the hangar and tried to grip the stick to see if I could fly it. I could, but not with enough grip to ensure turbulence wouldn't pull it out of my hand. So, I tried an Ace Wrap around the hand to ensure it wouldn't fall off. I went home and told the wife "We can fly to Florida now"! She replied how can you hang on to the stick? I showed her a picture of my hand wrapped with an Ace Wrap to the stick. She responded quite clearly "not with me in the plane"! I did three flights that next week, wrapping the hand to the stick for take-off and landing. She finally relented and we went to Florida in late March. Tom

So, a little follow up on this medical challenge. I completed 40 therapy sessions, and personally duplicated the therapy workouts 3-4 times a day on my own, and never got full finger function back (essentially, I couldn't close my fingers into a fist, making gripping actions impossible). On August 1st, just after Air Adventure, I had a consult with the Hand to Shoulder Center in Appleton, WI. It was determined my tendons had adhered to both my skin and the carpal tunnel passage (and/or each other). I needed a left wrist "Flexor Synovectomy" procedure (my third surgery now). I went in Monday afternoon (this week) for the surgery. This time I was not put under, they numbed the area so the surgeon could determine how much finger function I was getting back as he was doing the procedure. When he was done, he let me look at a fist closure (I could squeeze but with the lack of feeling, had no idea how much the fingers were moving). I was able to make a fist. YAHOO!! So now I'm on 10 consecutive days of Occupational Hand Therapy, and on an EVERY HOUR, ON THE HOUR, 10-15 minute hand and finger exercise routine, keeping the hand above my heart probably 90% of my day, and on ice 20 minutes out of every hour. I guess this is to prevent the tendons from losing motion again and keeping the swelling in check. A real PITA, but I'm gaining motion and have virtually no swelling. Recovery has been amazingly fast. Should be flying again shortly!! Tom

My drive is just under 15 minutes at home, but when in Florida, it's the first step out my back door! Picture from this past spring with my Lancair in the hangar, and @Deb (David and Debbie's) plane on the apron in front of the hangar. It won't be too long shared time between the Florida home and the Michigan home will be a little more balanced. Tom

I've got the same ground tug! We bought it many years ago for our mercy flight organization and then moved up to a "Best Tug" (Oh, that one is Awesome). I asked to buy the old on, dead batteries and all, and some of the old timers in our org made a motion and passed it before I could say no to sell it to me for $200. I had all I could do to stop them from giving it to me (I donate a ton of time to the org). A set of new batteries and a new operator switch and it tugs the Lancair, with 160 gallons of fuel, just fine. Well, except on ice in the winter time. Tom

You've got it WAY TO GOOD, BOB! Tom

I can say, in Florida, my ADS-B saved me a really close call. I was in the pattern on down wind at Spruce Creek, under the Class C airspace of Daytona Beach, when while looking out at the airport adjusting my pattern and checking for no radio traffic, bitchin Betty started hollering "Traffic one o clock". I looked out the windscreen, saw no one, looked at my G3X screen and the dot was growing fast from my right. I thought, what the heck, am I coming up on a cub going really slow in the pattern when all of a sudden, coming in from my right front, I see a Cessna 172 going the wrong way in the pattern. I had to dive to avoid it (up I would have penetrated the Class C at 1200' MSL). He WAS NOT coming into my flight path from a spot I would have been looking for him. I keyed the mic and asked if he was flying into Spruce Creek ...... with no response. Me and an Apache that had to deal with him on his crosswind came to the conclusion it was an Embry Riddle student totally oblivious to our airport, our frequency, and the pattern. I remember my thoughts after landing. I was really glad I had my ADS-B that day. Tom

Great News! Saved another one from the grave!! Tom

I wouldn't delay the repair but wouldn't be afraid to fly it until done (short term anyway). It would be great if you store in a hangar as you can leave the door open when sitting. Tom

Did my annual recurrency training this weekend. Four plus hours of ground school on Saturday. Flew home and returned on Sunday for 3 hours of flying. The first 1.5 hours doing lots of flight maneuvers (360 turns at 30 and 45 degree, climbing and descending turns at precise airspeed, slow flight, recovery from unusual attitudes, emergency gear extension, operating the engine on '"ISOL" with the fuel condition lever, which bypasses the throttle and part of the FCU, etc.) and then emergency procedures. Did several simulated engine outs, using high key and low key target points and then an engine failure at 800' on take-off with the 180 degree turn back to land (actually was too fast on landing, thank goodness for reversing prop, so could have made it with a lower altitude). It helps when cruise climb is 165 kts and best glide is 120 kts. After my instructor failed my engine (simulated) he counted to 3 before I was allowed to act. I was able to grab 200' of altitude before getting speed down to 120 kts. A decent quartering head/cross wind helped too. The second phase was IFR, doing some A/P coupled full approaches and the complete published missed, then a hand flown approach. Learned a ton but was really mentally exhausted by the time we finished. Last year was 10 hours total..... this year down to just over 7 hours. I must be making progress. Flight Tracks below. VFR air work; https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N994PT/history/20190908/1326Z/KEZS/KCLI IFR air work; https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N994PT/history/20190908/1604Z/KCLI/KEZS Tom

Is that ALL you needed to clean? Tom

My local shop pulled my switch assy apart and found the exact same part number "micro switch" and replaced it. It cost less than $150 with labor. Tom

This is what I used on mine for 18 years, changing it out every couple years and reinspecting the tube. I made sure I had a good layer of paint on it before installing the tape too. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/alum_foil.php?clickkey=72494 Tom (Prior 1800 hour, 18 year Rocket owner)

Ya, but I'll be back. Might be able to work out a trade for a real nice 252 with a guy from Texas (oh no, now Denver) that's looking for the next step up when this old man needs to step down a bit in speed. Tom

Yes, i flew over about 7:30 PM. I was flight testing my wing repair and verifying I was able to pressurize. I had a flight to Pittsburgh on Monday. Seems it looked like a Mooney was parked in the grass. Tom

I came out of New Garden about 15 years ago, with 1500' ceilings and had filed an IFR clearance........ then direct to KIMT, on a Sunday afternoon (Yep, I know...... I didn't actually think I was going to get it). SO, the FBO is closed, no payphone (they had them in those days) and no cell coverage. So... I launch VFR and attempt to pick up the clearance airborne. The Philly controllers response was priceless. "You actually think I'm giving you an IFR clearance, DIRECT, AIRBORNE??" "You should have called me on the ground". I explained what I just typed above and he came back with "the best I can give you is VFR flight following". Yippee 100+ miles west before ceilings go up, stuck at VFR 1,000' AGL. A few minutes later another controller comes on, clearly a supervisor, and asks if I'm ready to copy an IFR Clearance (I swear I could detect some cynicism in his voice too). I said yes and he rattled off a really fast clearance with at least 10 way points before getting over mid-Ohio, then direct to KIMT. I read it back to him twice as fast as he read it to me and got "read back correct". At that point he probably realized I knew what I was doing, but just had no clue what to file for routing since I was from the upper Midwest, and totally unfamiliar with that area. In less than 15 minutes, the same controller came back with "cleared DIRECT destination". I guess I had served my suspension in the penalty box. Tom

You didn't see a low pass by a blue and white experimental turboprop go through on Friday evening did you? Just wondering. Tom

Our mercy flight organization has had two A-36 Bo's. Both were/are prone to dropping on their tails if you're not careful loading. We had our bi-monthly meeting on Thursday and two experienced guys did the same thing AGAIN. Unfortunately, every time they do that you end up with structural damage in the back. One of our members, a long time Bo owner, acknowledged this HAS BEEN a problem on Bo's. I won't load heavier passengers without holding the vertical stab. I've even jumped on the wing to load myself from the front side sometimes. I agree with Erik on the seating too. There's no way I could sit for 4 hours in our Bonanza. I'm only 5'9", but my legs cramp because of the high seats, limited rail adjustments, and no room to stretch out. I have probably 300 hours of Bo time. I DO LIKE the plane. My hangar buddy and I were given the go ahead many years ago to find a second plane for our organization, after the purchase of a Seneca and us being the longest active pilots still stuck flying our own planes from lack of a twin rating. I took twin training, 6 hours to be exact, but thought this was crazy. The single engine plane I was building was almost twice as fast on about the same fuel burn and I'd never stay current enough to be safe in it. So...... convinced we would be buying an all weather well equipped Mooney, we ended up picking the Bo. More seats, pretty good speed and efficiency, rear door access for marginally mobile patients. It's been a great plane for the mission, faster and lower fuel burn than the twin, and better payload. It was 10 knots slower (the second one, turbonormalized) than my Rocket in the breathable altitudes on 3.5 gallons an hour less. I always wondered how that thing could fly that fast with those fat wings. Tom

So fueled and flight tested this evening. No noise at anytime. I guess I had gotten used to the noise at lift off as it was very noticeably GONE. Big job Little problem Maximum satisfaction Tom

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I just paid $800 for 5 elevator bearings that wouldn’t be sold to me without the brackets. Found out later I can buy a BETTER bearing by itself, and all 5 likely under $100. But at least now I have an extra set of brackets I can have new bearings pressed into the next time they are worn. Tom

Ok Scott, I’m a fan of you and your posts, but think about it ..... you are still getting service from a company that hasn’t produced your conversion in, what, 15-20 years? As a business owner, that’s still something that deserves a “little “ appreciation. Next time post on the forum your request. Some dumb sh*t like me might have pictures or a spare they can supply for less money. (Coming from a guy flying a Lancair 15 years out of production and appreciating ANY support from the OEM). Tom

BTW, this was a great topic to bring up reminding everyone to check how they are filing, even those of us that have been filing ICAO Flight Plans for a while. I went in and checked all the planes I fly for accuracy of my data, and found several minor mistakes I was able to correct. Tom