Graham, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska in a 90 hp Super Cub.

[tempdoug]

62 kts outside of Amarillo...-----I love it.

[OLDCROWE]

You can interpret the reports that way I guess. The boys are moving again. The Spider has initiated a new flight leg beginning at Wheeler. The original leg will remain viewable as well.

SB

Two fixes at the same airport = they stopped in my book.

[Cathy Pierce]

Next stop should be K08 - Holly, CO.

If you are on Facebook, he is posting pics enroute. If you are not on Facebook, he will probably post pics from his laptop later. We downloaded Tapatalk on his Blackberry, but never did get it figured out before the trip.

[JP]

This is fantastic--a virtual trip to Alaska! In real time with pictures! It is simply amazing what the infromation age has doth wrought!

[Cathy Pierce]

Next stop should be K08 - Holly, CO.

Guess he proved me wrong!

[StewartB]

By descending a few hundred feet they picked up some speed, though.

[kevin]

The're heading right for Lamar now.

[StewartB]

On the ground in Lamar. Probably filling the Cub tanks and emptying their own.

[OLDCROWE]

on the ground in lamar. Probably filling the cub tanks and emptying their own.

ouch $5.56!

[kevin]

Kirby, that takes the fun out of flying.

[Cathy Pierce]

Looks like they have a stuck valve. Working on it now and they will let me know what they get figured out.

[kevin]

Uuugh. Sorry to hear that. At least it happened there rather than in ten buck two...

[StewartB]

The boys are on the move again. Good for them.

SB

[Steve Pierce]

Lamar was good. High gas but they loaned us the special tools and gasket to fix our stuck valve. Heading for Torrington, WY now. Had planned on MT tonight but doesn't appear to be in the cards.

[agbq81]

About 170nm left today, best of luck don't press too hard!

[Steve Pierce]

Decided on Sidney,NE insteadm Not keen on night cross country right now.

[Iflylower]

Tal, that was so smart of you to bring a "ride-along" A&P/ AI for mx hickups....especially one that's so good at spelling the flying, weather watching and navigation!

[cubscout]

If you're in Sid, you DEFinitely need to look up HiCountry. PM me if you need contact info.

Thanks. cubscout

[chilecubdriver]

Any pics of todays flight?

[aktango58]

Just over a week to go and the Queen and supreme ruler of Hospitality and acomadations in Gram TX will be arriving in Alaska...

Will she be ahead or behind our friendly pair?

[cubdriver2]

Looks like they have a stuck valve. Working on it now and they will let me know what they get figured out.

C90s hate 100LL, pour the MMO or TCP or both to her if you want to get to AK, run her hard, they like 2450rpm.

Glenn

[Steve Pierce]

This was a strange deal. It has had nothing but auto fuel for almost 5 months. After we landed it started feeling like it was hitting on three. No difference on different mags. I pulled plugs hoping two on the same jug were fouled but wasn't that lucky. Rope trick pushed it out but it was way stuck. Crocus cloth, coat hanger and a cordless drill cleaned the guide and the trick was fishing the valve back in with limited tools. We are traveling light and didn't have the 40 lbs. of tools I usually carry in the Pacer.

[BatPacer]

A stop in Lamar CO? How about that? My hometown. Happy to hear you two are moving north again.

[Steve Pierce]

Overnighted in Sidney, NE. Good stop. Town is close and there is a nice FBO with car and some cool airplanes.

[mvivion]

So, Steve, waiting for Cabelas to open???

I too like the concept of carrying along a mechanic on a trip like this....

Safe Trip!

MTV

[Steve Pierce]

These kids today like to sleep in. Tal wanted to wake up at 7 am.

[JP]

C90s hate 100LL, pour the MMO or TCP or both to her if you want to get to AK, run her hard, they like 2450rpm.

Glenn

Amen to that, brother. We're getting 91 Non-E back shortly, thank goodness. Burned 100LL from late summer on after we ran out but now we have a source again.

[StewartB]

The boys are moving. It's about time. I was beginning to think they were waiting for the break of noon. Looks like they found a tailwind today. They're smoking along at 108mph!

SB

[SJ]

I think they were waiting for the wind to pick up...

[Tim]

How are you finding what speed there're getting?

[StewartB]

For review.

For anyone who wants to view the track on Spidertracks, open the link, click on Latest Tracks on the yellow box at the upper right, and select the track you'd like to see. The current or most recent will be at the top of the list. You can convert the view to satellite and change the scale to get an idea of what they're seeing out their window. If you click on any bubble in the track you'll get flight data for that report including time and position (similar to SPOT reporting) but also will see ground speed, altitude, and heading. Ground speeds should be fun to watch as they encounter winds both favorable and unfavorable. We may see them hunting for altitudes to ride the winds as well. Fun stuff.



Stewart

[StewartB]

The latest Spidertracks reports look like they landed on a little road, stopped, re-started, taxied, and took back off.

[Tim]

I saw that, looks like there over some rough terrain

[Steve Pierce]

Actually landed on the hill, made a pitstop, taxied down the dirt trail and made an aborted TO with carb heat on, back taxied again and made a good TO.

[SJ]

The latest Spidertracks reports look like they landed on a little road, stopped, re-started, taxied, and took back off.

I sure can't figure out how to get that detail off the spidertrack link, and I are supposed to be a computer guy.

sj

[StewartB]

Pull up the track, select satellite view, and blow it up. The computer will always draw a straight line between pings but if you look at the beginning of their current track the zig-zag of the aborted takeoff and back taxi are there. Click on each bubble and you'll see the ground speeds were 9-12 mph (I see it in mph since it's my spider and my account page is set to mph, you'll see it in knots). I could tell they landed on a path of some sort but the detail about the carb heat could only come from a guy in the plane. The best indication that they had landed is by the initiation of a new track. That means they powered down and terminated the previous track. A new one started when the Spider was powered back up, in Tal's case by flipping the master in the plane.

SB

[SJ]

I guess I see it at the end of the first track of the day. Why does spidertracks break it up instead of having one big long track for the day, is that something they are doing?

sj

[StewartB]

You can see the hilltop aborted takeoff and taxiing at the beginning of the current track. You will need to zoom in as closely as the satellite picture will allow.

Every Spider power-up initiates a new track for that new flight leg. Every power down terminates that track. Easily recognizing that a plane has landed or otherwise terminated a track is important. All earlier tracks remain visible by selecting to view them on the track history menu.

SB

[SJ]

Ahhh. So it requires ships power to operate, or is there a battery backup mode for emergency transmission or power loss? It is really more of a tracking device than an emergency device in that case, correct?

sj

[StewartB]

How many times have you had a total electrical failure in-flight when it wasn't an emergency?

I have an external HyperMac battery that powers the Spiders when away from a power source (see the Spidertracks thread). It's pretty simple to accomplish but from the design standpoint Spiders are targeted to serve aircraft, not hikers.

Stewart