PHoto Journal : The Abaondoned Cross Country....

[barnstorm2]

I had good flights in the gyro yesterday even though I have adopted the theme of abandoned as the title..

The day started with an old friend from College showing up for his first gyro ride. It was his birthday and when we got on the ground he declared it one of, if not the best Bday present he had ever had.

The plan for the day was to fly to a Fly-In about 110 miles away. My FW buddies had left about an hour before me. After lunch with my friend Phil I fueled up and headed out.

The forecast for the day was 10mph (max) winds from the northwest.

About 25 minutes from the airport my FW friends came on the radio and said they were heading back. They said it was a good fly-in with lots of heli's but they were heading back because a friend of ours was getting his newly built Kit-Fox out to fly this afternoon. Also, some pop-up storms were headed for Cincinnati and they did not want to get stuck out here.

I decided to abandon the fly in and head back also.

I did a 180 and set the GPS for home.

Calculations showed that based on my GPS ground-speed I would have about 30 minutes of fuel left when I arrived at my home airport.

That changed...

As were flying back the headwind kept getting stronger and stronger. My FW friends were experiencing the same thing but much worse because they were at a higher altitude.

I picked some emergency / alternate airports in-case it got worse.

The last airport I flew over on the way home as a decision point was ClearWater Airpark (the location of the next PRA Chapter 40 meeting BTW).

Clearwater is 10 minutes from home and my fuel showed about 15-20 minutes remaining. My Low Fuel light went on.

The pattern was clear so I decided to give it a shot. The path in had plenty of places to land should I run out of gas.

It was unnerving to be flying with the Low Fuel light on but I made it back with usable fuel. Now I know exactly what the range of my machine is with one person!

It was good that we came back because the pop-up storms were coming in and if I had been out another hour things might have gotten bad.

If I did not have my GPS and digital fuel meter I would have definitely stopped at ClearWater and found a way to get fuel even if I had to call a cab to do it. (Clearwater is a grass strip and does not sell fuel).

Some may have been disappointed in the day, having not reached the fly-in, missed all the helicopters and such but not I. I had a GREAT time flying and for me the fun is the trip more then the destination.

I got to have some great flying time in wonderful weather and that is just great by me!

Here are the photos...

Now since no one seemed to notice the 'easter egg' in my last Photo Journal (the shaved, puffy-head lammas) I guess I will point out that there is a hidden russian aircraft in this photo journal....

Found this poor guy during Pre-Flight...

His head is the size of a marble!!!

My friend Phils first Gyro ride!

Dash view:

The velco is where I put my 2 backup GPS's but they are on other duty right now...

This would be the flat plains of Ohio...

Tail Shot....

The M*A*S*H unit at ClearWater

 

[barnstorm2]

This seems like a perfectly good tower but I don't see any antenna's on it... So I figgured it fit with the rest of the 'abandoned theme'...

Turkey Vulture (Buzzard)

Remains of a bridge

I could just see the foothills of the smokey mountains when I turned around...

 

[barnstorm2]

A sign of the bad headwind...

Steak and Salid?

That is it!!

Thank you for viewing my photos!

.

 

[Resasi]

Nice pics as always Tim and good example of things not going to plan.

Glad it worked out OK.

 

[PW_Plack]

Tim, that tower appears to have cell or PCS antennas on it.

It's amazing to still see Mail Pouch Tobacco barn ads!

 

[Vance]

Thank you for taking me along Tim.

I won’t be flying today because of some maintenance issues so it is nice to imagine.

It helps me to have empathy for people that ride along with us because something has kept them from flying.

Thank you, Vance

 

[barnstorm2]

Nice pics as always Tim and good example of things not going to plan.

Glad it worked out OK.

Thanks!

Tim, that tower appears to have cell or PCS antennas on it.

It's amazing to still see Mail Pouch Tobacco barn ads!

Yeah, there are still a few barns around with a faded ad.

I guess I need to look closer at the antenna... Thanks!

Thank you for taking me along Tim.

I won’t be flying today because of some maintenance issues so it is nice to imagine.

It helps me to have empathy for people that ride along with us because something has kept them from flying.

Thank you, Vance

My pleasure!

Phil was reasonably inspired but the economic downturn has hurt his job.

.

 

[All_In]

That was fun.

I'm like you.

I don't like getting into my reserve either, fuel flow meter or not.

We can NEVER guarantee weather will allow us to make our destination, can we?

But like you we can always guarantee we have a great time and make it back safely.

 

[barnstorm2]

Thanks John!

Here are a few from today.

Connie and I flew the SkyBoy (fixed wing) to Red Stewart for her lesson in prep for check ride.

If you look close you will see one of the photos is of 2 rivers coming together. ONe is muddy and full of silt and the other is clear.

You can just make out 4 canoes or kayaks.

I sent the photo to a local person that works in water quality and here is what they said:

(LMR = Little Miami River)

"This is the confluence of Todd's Fork and the LMR. Todd's Fork is the silty one. It drains part of the area where thunderstorms passed through yesterday evening. Todd's Fork lost nearly all of its mussel fauna in the years between 1992 and 2007, when surveys were done by Prof. Hoggarth of Otterbein. The reason he cited: siltation from development in the Todd's Fork watershed. In his report, he noted riffles in Todd's Fork which had been gravel in 1992 but were "impacted with silt" in 2007. He remembered being able to see fossils in streamside shale in 1992, but found the same shale layers covered with mud and green algae in 2007"

It was a beautiful day to fly. There were thermals but not as bad as you might expect during a cloudless summer day.

 

[clb59]

thank you for the views and my imaginary ride. some day i will fly. cb

 

[GaryMac]

Great pictures. Is that a Mig 15 or 17??

 

[animal]

Great pics, you always find intresting things to get pics of.

 

[bowns]

What amazing high resolution phtoes!What camera did you use,Tim?I get space misdeemed whenever I look at that row of pines along the house in Photo No 7.
I like the cow herd one,too.Should it ever be offered to media and we are likely to read a notation from some papers that goes:gyroplanes are similar to helicopters,look at the mess wooshed.They are good for more than herding...
Thank you,Tim.

 

[GyroRon]

I spotted the Russian Jet in the barn with the trucks.... Do I win something?

 

[barnstorm2]

thank you for the views and my imaginary ride. some day i will fly. cb

You are very welcome! Keep working on the some day!!!

Great pictures. Is that a Mig 15 or 17??

Thanks!

I don't know. I have very poor FW knowledge. Here is a photo I took last year:

Great pics, you always find intresting things to get pics of.

thank you Tim!

What amazing high resolution phtoes!What camera did you use,Tim?I get space misdeemed whenever I look at that row of pines along the house in Photo No 7.
I like the cow herd one,too.Should it ever be offered to media and we are likely to read a notation from some papers that goes:gyroplanes are similar to helicopters,look at the mess wooshed.They are good for more than herding...
Thank you,Tim.

Thanks!

I use 3 cameras.

Most of these were taken with my Nikon D40. It took me a long time to get comfortable taking photos while flying with it. Basically, I had to teach myself to fly confidently, left handed while distracted.

My other two cameras are both older model Sony Cypershots.

The SkyBoy photos were all taken with the Sony Cybershot, as well as the dragon fly and the shot of the gyro on the ground.

I spotted the Russian Jet in the barn with the trucks.... Do I win something?

You have won....

A left-handed smoke shifter!! I will send you one as soon as they are back in stock..

.

 

[pilotescort]

Good eyes Ron; enjoy that left handed smoke shifter when you get it.....lol. Great shots Tim: you seem mighty close to some of those non-abandoned structures. Must be a telephoto lens as I'm sure you would never fly closer than 500' to something like that......lol.

 

[barnstorm2]

Thanks Brooke!

I always obey min. alt rules!

.

 

[Mayfield]

Great pictures. Is that a Mig 15 or 17??

The easiest way to tell them apart is:

The Mig 17 has 3 wing fences and rounded wing tips.

The Mig 15 has 2 wing fences and squared off wing tips.

Jim