El Mirage or bust!!!!

[scott heger]

We are coming up to the next Brock El Mirage fly -in. Time to watch all the flying fun, want-to-be land speed racers,drunk teenagers, missle test launching sites, and other "locals" that speckle the lake bed with mostly illegal plots. Oh, yes, and some of the most fun low level gyro flying around.

It seems that the lake bed may be completely fenced in next year. This would limit access to Brock's hanger, so if you have planned on ever attending, this year would be a good time to go. So if September 24, 25,26th look free ,come on out and enjoy the armpit of California's desert. Bring your gyro, dirtbike, explosives, ,whatever... just come and have fun. Where else can you fly on a six mile long by two mile wide completely smooth and flat landing area? Ok, just 10 miles north you can do the same thing, but since they call that Edwards air force base, and use it to land the space shuttle, they discourage gyros from flying around the base, damn goverment restrictions.

I have attached a map for those of you that tend to get lost. Start posting if you are planning on attending.

Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel, Ca N86SH

[PW_Plack]

Scott,

Todd and I thought we'd get there in time for Thursday morning, leave Sunday morning. Should we move both a day later?

I'm bringing my camera, Gary Kaminski's sound level meter, my MFJ Antenna Analyzer, and a couple extra bucks to buy you a cold, malt beverage. Remember? You're going to talk me out of the idea of an IFR gyroplane...

[scott heger]

Paul, most of the activity will be from friday-sunday morning. Some folks arrive early, or stay late, just whatever works for you. Yes, and I will still talk you out a waste of money making a IFR gyro, Im getting thirsty already(coors light please). Remember, there is absolutely no services available at El Mirage, you must bring in everything essential you want, the closest ammo store is 10 miles away. Saturday night is B.Y.O.S. Bring Your Own Steak(meat) night. The rest of the meal is furnished by PRA Chapter 1. Donations are accepted.

Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel, Ca N86SH

[TomCarlisle]

I will be at the lake on Sept 20 and plan to stay through Sunday. Leave Monday morning. All you guys not retired, eat your heart out. P.S. I sent some of that Coors in to the lab once and the results said the horse had diabetes.

[GyroRon]

Tom, going to high tail it cross country after E.M. and stop in for a visit at ROC? I got a sweet White Dominator you can take for a ride!

[scott heger]

Tom, that is why I drink coors light, only half the calories and half the diabetes!!!


Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel, Ca N86SH

[ToddP]

I'm looking forward to it. Paul and I are planning to be there first thing Thursday through Sunday Morning. We'll have my gyro in tow, I'm looking forward to a great fly in! I'm heading down to Paul's place on Tuesday Night, then we'll take off for El Mirage when Paul gets off work on Wednesday morning...1000 miles and we'll be there

[scott heger]

For those of you that have never been to El Mirage, I took my rocket powered (rotax 582) SportCopter to meet the space shuttle, and take this picture of the "lake" for you all. Got a little cold up there, so I flew home to warm up and process this photo. Now I know why people call me a space cadet. I really have flown to 8,ooo MSL(5,000+AGL) over El Mirage in the gyro, and the ground"seemed" like this shot taken. This photo does give you a idea of how large of a area this is to fly around. The elevation varies less than a foot for miles.

Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel, Ca N86SH

[Dean_Dolph]

I'm curious as to what route you guys take when driving into/on to the lake.

The last time I went ('01) I drove my rental car in on the West side past Brock's and found that the access road beat the heck out of the car first and then me! I was driving less than 10 mph and can't imagine pulling a trailer over that road.

The next time in (I knew where everyone was by then) I used the East entrance and drove the length of the lake. That entrance was much better but I can see that towing a trailer would still require slow going. Towing on the lake certainly isn't a problem since it is amazingly smooth.

[scott heger]

Dean, I always use the east entrance, longer but much smoother. If I have another driver, I stop at the beginning of the lakebed and put my blades on and fly the rest of the way across. I have watched people come and go from the fly-in, seems most people pick the east way. The west road is always in worse shape. The west entrance will be eliminated if the BLM gets their way and completely fences the lake area in next year(as will the road to Brock's hanger). We will all have to fly over the fence on Saturday, which will be a problem with a raw steak in one hand(or pocket).

For those that are wondering what the hell I am talking about, look at the above photo. The flight line is the straight north south line near the top of the lakebed. Brock's hanger is at the very edge of the photo at the 10:30 position. Their is a fence that encloses most of the area except for a east, west and north entrances. This was done to protect the glass smooth ground from getting rutted up when it gets wet(lakebed is then closed up). Remember that the Southern California Timing Association uses the area to run 300+ MPH on this ground, and they don't like hitting bumps at that speed. Nothing like watching a 300 MPH land speed vehicle in the dirt. They make gyro flying look pretty tame.

Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel, Ca N86SH

[PW_Plack]

OK, Scott...time to pack. Shorts? Parka? What's the outlook for El Mirage this week? Todd's planning on showing up at my doorstep Tuesday night, and we're leaving Portland about lunchtime Wednesday. Looking forward to it!

[scott heger]

Paul, the weather is going to be nice. About 90 during the day , mid 50's at night. Nothing but clear skies are forcast. See you all there!!!

Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel, Ca N86SH

[KenSandyEggo]

Well, here's my story. I spoke to a tech at IVO and the bottom line is that I have to send the motor in for it to be put back together on the jack-shaft the way it's supposed to be. I was going to go to the hangar tonight, install the Prince, fill the tank and get her ready and come up Friday morning. Got a call from the place that Demetra's youngest son lives at ( aresidential treatment center...not drugs or booze), and he went off the deep end this afternoon. He's extremely manic and exhibiting very weird behavior. So we have to go get him and take him to the hospital where he's already been O.K.ed for a direct admittance.

I could get up early on Friday and change the prop, clean the blades, gas up and whatever and then head up. I don't like rushing though. Problem......the director of nursing just phoned and asked if I could please, please show up on the day-shift tomorrow because they're extremely short-handed.

I could go to the hangar after work tomorrow and take care of the gyro and leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday if there's no fog. Problem....I have to be back at work at 2 p.m. Sheesh. I'll be mulling all this stuff over tonight. Plus, I had 2, $100 tickets to go see ZZ Top tonight. I'm frantically trying to give the tickets away. What a day!

[scott heger]

Well back from El Mirage ...only a little worse for wear. Lets see, 7.3 hours more time on the Hobbs, 8 empty fuel cans, One minor prop ding, one failed gearbox gasket from a brand new Rotax engine(still trying to figure that out), and one hell of alot of airbourne cranking and banking. The weather was just as advertised, completely clear skies, mild afternoon winds with a daytime high near 90, and high 50's at night with windless mornings and evenings. Good to see everyone again, along with a few new faces. Heard some great stories, and shared some fun moments. Our famous Forum GURU Todd Powell made the trip down from the northwest and was able to see how the "dirt people" fly. Oh, and Paul thanks for the cold drinks in the brown bottles once all the flying was over. Chapter one guys really contributed and made things run smooth, thanks again Tim C for the tools whan needed and Ed, your words of wisdom ment alot to me. This was year three of no incidents, and Marie Brock was a great host as usual. Hope to see all of you next year, and maybe I will get a camera and finally get some pictures.

Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel, Ca N86SH

[PW_Plack]

Scott, it was great to meet you and the other members of the rat patrol! For anybody who's never been, the desert is a gorgeous place for a gyro fly-in. Thursday and Friday were wonderful, relaxing days, while Saturday was a motorhead's paradise with gyros and helicopters, powered chutes and UL trikes, dirtbikes and dune buggies all cruising the strip. The awards BBQ was great, but Chapter 73's PRA award jinx continued: Todd had travelled the farthest (1400 miles) to be there, but they gave the award for the longest distance travelled to a pilot who came from half as far. Both pilots trailered in, both flew for hours while there, so I'm not sure what happened. There was never an explanation on why Todd was disqualified, but at least they gave him a "pat-on-the-back" ribbon.

Chapter One was the first PRA chapter, and is home turf for Ken Brock Mfg. You'll see lots of gyros which faithfully represent the original Bensen design, and the technical judging rewards original machining and fabrication, and is less impressed by kitbuilding.

Paul and Todd's Excellent Adventure became less excellent as we wound up the trip. An aluminum bracket used to stiffen the Dominator's pod cracked along one side on the way down, then on the other side in the first few miles of the trip back, allowing the pod to sway too much in the wind on the trailer. Concerned the motion would crack the mount securing the rear of the pod to the keel, I suggested to Todd we stop and remove the windshield. He agreed, and it lessened the swaying, but we had to stop a couple times to re-tie loose or broken tie-down straps.

Some time during the last leg into Portland, we fried the trailer's right wheel bearing, but didn't discover it until many miles later when we pulled over at midnight here in Hillsboro. It was a hubcap full of filings, undriveable. Long story short...we parked it at my old fixed-wing flight school at the Hillsboro Airport. Todd picked up his car at my place at 2AM to drive the remaining 5 hours to Spokane, where he had to work on Monday afternoon. I got a couple hours sleep and went in to work at KUIK at 5:30AM. (We're both draggin' bad tonight!)

After work today, I got a U-Haul flatbed trailer and got the Dominator down to Gary Kaminski's hangar, with Gary's help. I found a discount flatbed towtruck ride for Todd's trailer to the shop where it will be fixed. The only good thing about it all is that Todd will be forced to attend the October meeting of Chapter 73, and we'll finally see a Dominator flying over Scappoose!

I haven't looked to see if Todd's on here tonight, but I hope he's getting some sleep! There were 850 new posts when I logged on, and I'm going to have to skip most of them. I probably took 150 pictures in three days, and will shrink and post some of the better ones when I'm caught up with the Zzzzs....

...and yes - I wanna go back next year! Nice work, Chapter One!