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Just another ride

Lawn Dart

Registered User
Las Vegas, Nv
It was so nice out today that I called the boss and said I’ll be back in a couple of hours, I gotta go flyin’.

I pushed the Cub out of the hangar and onto the ramp. It’s about 30 degrees out and not a breath of wind.
I jump behind the hangar to deflate the bladder and then climbed in the Cub and ‘put her on’.

Mags on, fuel on, master on, 3 pumps of primer, “CLEAR PROP” and hit the starter.

Oh boy, she’s cranking slowly today, I gotta change that 50wt.

A few blades go by and no fire yet. I pump the throttle once and she barks to life.
With the first sputters of the exhaust note, I get a whiff of avgas exhaust (I love that smell) and she rocks a little to let me know that she’s trying to wake up on this chilly morning.

Off to the run-up area where I sit for about 15 minutes while the oil and head temps come up.

Time to go.
I throttle up as I transition from the tarmac to the runway and she responds with a particularly aggressive acceleration in this thick air. “Wow…she’s really bookin’ today”, and just like that, she’s off quicker than a prom dress and has her nose pointed uphill.
She’s really showing me what she can do today. Whata gas!!

Then I see it. About two miles in front of me is a super dense layer of fog laying about 75 feet thick on top of the lake.

She’s climbing like a lineman with new spikes, but I can’t resist. I dive back down, head out over the lake and start dragging the wheels through the top of the fog.

I can see straight down to the glass like surface of the lake, and in fact, I can see my reflection but there is absolutely no slant range visibility through this kind of soup.

I’m having so much fun skimming across the top of the fog that I sorta lost track of where I was and ended up over the shoreline. That’s when I spotted the pine tree branches poking up in one of the bubbles.
SHITE!!! I pop up a few feet and scare the birds out of the top of the tree and remind myself that this isn’t Flight Sim, I can’t just hit “reset flight” if I screw up.

The top is so well defined that I can bank up and dip the low wing in the fog while the wind screen is out of it.
I do a few lazy figure 8s that must be a mile wide by three miles long and look out to see my vortex swirling up in the fog and leaving a distinct path of where I’ve been. This is toooo bitchin’

Alone the way, I look down at an early morning fishermen in his boat and we wave to each other.
He must be wondering what this nut job is up to?, doing steep turns in the fog?
Little does he know, I’m on top in a crystal blue frozen sky.

There’s more to the story, but that’s all for now.
 
Cavy - Just curious, why are you cold starting at 30F, and why would you consider running a Lycoming cub engine at those temperatures with 50W? Both of those would have been a no go for me. Not long odds for getting much service life out of your cam IMHO.

Glad you had a great flight though.
 
I’m cold starting at 30f because it wasn’t 50f yet, but it will be in a couple of hours.
I’m still running 50wt because I haven’t changed to multi viscosity yet.

My advice? Never attempt to emulate anything that Cavy does.
 
Dart
Sounds like a nice ride.. I couldn't think of anything critical to say but I'll try to come up with something.
This is my favorite time of the year. Even in Kansas we have had light winds and cool temps. The cub just loves this solid air.
 
Flying in that kind of air makes me wonder why I fly on a hot, thermal ridden day when it's work just to keep the tail straight!
 
Cavy,

IMHO you made the right choice that day. On mornings like the one you talk about far to many of us walk to the car thinking "It would be so nice to go flying for an hour instead of going to work".
In all probability we only have one life. You are right in making the most of NOW, not always waiting till Friday.

Tip of the hat to you!

Bent
 
Help me find this again

Does anyone remember this video?
I can't find it anymore and was one of my favorites.
It was aerobatic flying with some of the greats.
I know this was 5 years ago but I am sure someone has saved it. The bookmark use to be aerial movie, I never could find a way to capture or download, I knew I would loose the ability to share it someday.

Ki
 
You did good, change the oil the first day the weather turns to crap. I NEVER pass up a good flying weather day unless I have to work. I like the part where your wake is swirling the fog, cool.
 
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