Four Days of Aviation Enchantment!

[Vance]

We love adventures like this!

It had all the important elements, challenge, discovery, history, giants, new friends and it didn’t go according to plan.

Part of the reason for building Mariah Gale is for someplace to put luggage. The Predator has wonderful cross country capability but with two people there is no place to put luggage. When I fly solo I can belt a suitcase into the back seat. As it is now Ed has the suitcase and her camera on her lap. Because it is winter we need all our warm layers so there is no way to pack light for a three day trip to the Cable air show in January.

https://www.cableairport.com/airfair/index.html

If the suitcase is too long it interferes with the throttle. If it is too wide it pressed against Ed. We need one with a handle that extends and wheels because sometimes we have to walk for a couple of miles and it gets pretty heavy after the first mile.

After a lot of thoughtful planning and some compression packing we stopped by Staples trying to make the easy button work.

On some of my longer more adventurous trips I have been trying to follow along on the chart. I feel it improves my situational awareness.

We were going to be flying near some very complex air space so I felt that improving my open aircraft chart management was in order.

I had been using a clipboard to hold the chart folded in the awkward ways it needs to be to display the next 50 mile leg of the journey. I found it worked ok if I remembered to refold it at each gas stop. If I had to fold it in the air I was in trouble. It would begin to flutter and soon I would be grabbing some small portion of it and trying to read a moving target.

I would wad the chart and stuff it into my little storage area so it would not depart the aircraft. Soon I would need it again and it was hard to find things on the wadded up chart.

We were using the Terminal Area Chart for Los Angles because it helped me to understand how to manage the air space. The leg from Camarillo to Whiteman and the leg from Whiteman to Cable were particularly challenging and new sky for me. Whiteman and Cable were both inside a notch of class Charlie airspace so accuracy was paramount.

The easy button worked and I found a plastic pouch with a zipper that could expand for more folds. I carefully folded the chart and found I could display CMA to WHP on one side and WHP to CCB on the other. I felt this would be a big improvement over my clipboard scheme.

When we went out to the parking lot we were greeted with blue skies and sunshine. When we reached the airport just two miles away the sky was 700 broken and the field was IFR. We wanted to lunch in Camarillo so we were looking for wheels up at 10:30 pacific time.

The plan was to stop at Santa Barbara for $5.69 self serve. Eating at Santa Barbara meant buying $7.40 a gallon 100LL at Signature so we had a place to park. We could make it to Camarillo as still land with an hour of fuel as long as we didn’t encounter a head wind.

I checked Lockheed Martin and there was very little trouble along our rout of flight except for AIRMET Tango for IFR conditions and mountain obscuration. Santa Barbara was already VFR.

It seemed to be clearing and there were patches of blue so we optimistically loaded up and fired her up.

I asked for a special VFR right down wind departure to the East. It was approved as requested and we taxied to 30 via Alpha. The Magneto check went well and we were soon holding short of 30 ready for departure.

“Experimental 142 Mike Golf, runway 30 clear for takeoff, right down wind approved!” YYYIIIPPPEEE!!!

There were more clouds than I expected so I asked to extend my cross wind and it was approved as requested. We got almost to the hills before we found clear skies and it still looked sketchy to the east. The overcast seemed to be right up against the hills so we climbed into the hills.

The clouds gave a surreal quality to the landscape and caused concern that the adventure would be over before it began or at least delayed to where we would be in a bigger hurry than we like to be.

We did not find a reprieve from our fears as the Channel Islands materialize over the ridgeline shrouded in mist.

We were at 5,500 feet MSL and the fuel quantity indicators were showing more than half full so I asked Santa Barbara for a transition to the East over the San Marcos Pass. The fog was patchy along the shore line so we stayed high so we could go on either side of the ridgeline. I begin to wish I had filled her up at Santa Barbara so we could have pushed on to Whiteman in case the overcast made Camarillo a challenge. We started to turn inland at Carpentaria as we picked up the Camarillo ATIS. Seven miles visibility and clear below 12,000 feet.

The clouds appeared to recede from the shoreline so we stayed over the ridgeline rather than journey further inland. I love the freedom of the sky!

Camarillo was very busy and it sounded to me like ATC was close to a psychotic episode as we called in approaching the Saticoy Bridge. To my surprise the controller asked me to slow down so he could understand me. Anyone who knows me knows I only have the one speed and it is not fast. I repeated Experimental Gyroplane 142 Mike Golf inbound over the Saticoy Bridge with Romeo.

We were to make right down wind for runway 25, report abeam.

Taxiway Charlie was closed and people had gotten used to Bravo being closed, the controller was asking everyone to land long. It was not working with many go-arounds. Before I could break into the chatter the tower said; “Experimental 2 Mike Golf, straight to the numbers, land at Bravo, no delay, Bonanza on two mile straight in, runway 26 clear to land.”

We banked into a steep carrier landing, ran her up to 85kts and touched down with about 15kts of forward speed right at the taxiway on the left side of the runway and were off in a flash. I could not break into the chatter so I contacted ground for a taxi to restaurant parking via Bravo Foxtrot. I marked it on the taxiway map on the back of my radio call sheet and read it back correctly.

I sent Ed into The Waypoint Café to secure a table as I secured The Predator and hagled with the full serve vendor.

As we were managing the CMA ATC chaos I heard my friend George in his Yak. They had him over fly the field and he ended up landing well after us even though he called in before us.

He stopped by and asked me to join him for lunch. George is a very funny guy and has great friends. He was please to find Ed and interrupted her effort to secure a table. We took over the biggest table they had. We soon had to add some chairs as more remarkable people were added to the mix. Our quick lunch lasted until a little after 2:00 with more than half the participants changing our at least once.

We felt a little pressure to arrive at Cable by sunset so we headed off for a quick preflight and a right down wind departure to the east toward Whiteman, multiple passes, complex airspace and successful navigation.

I received some mail from Martin Hollmann so I need to work on that. He has finished the drawings and calculations for Mariah Gale’s empennage and I need to keep all the balls in the air.

More when I get a break, Ed and I are exhausted.

We both feel this was our best trip yet.

Thank you, Vance

 

[Resasi]

You are doing a wonderful work-up on all fronts for your penultimate adventure with Mariah, and taking us all along with you while you do it!

Great job Vance.

 

[ckurz7000]

Hi Vance, good trip. Even though I get only maybe 10% of your adrenalin and endorphin output I can feel some of the elation.

Keep going, -- Chris.

 

[Vance]

I learn so much with each small step!

I learn so much with each small step!

Thank you Leigh,

I am finding great joy in learning these skills.

Each flight teaches me something.

This flight was a real stretch for me as a pilot and us as a team.

Ed was panic free.

We encountered some wonderful people, made new friends and opened some doors.

I found that imagining how to write about it made the events even more alluring for us.

I sometimes think of how to describe events to a particular forum member as though I am telling the story directly to them.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you Chris,

I am glad to have you along and you have helped me with many of my skills.

My increasing situational awareness is enhancing the experience in ways I could not have imagined.

It allows me to press things that would have been foolhardy not very long ago.

I will never match you skills. You are one of my mentors.

The writing is becoming more difficult as my perception expands.

This one will take longer as I struggle to report on the magic we find.

Thank you, Vance

 

[Vance]

Into the unknown!

Into the unknown!

As we lifted off from Camarillo I felt the trepidation of someone venturing into the unknown.

Frequency change was approved as we headed for at least three possible passes.

I grew up in LA and am very familiar with the layout of the place.

I discovered a new world of challenges from above.

I found more choices, more hazards and less room for error.

Which pass, how high, how far into the hills, how close to air space, who should I talk too, who should I listen to and who should I avoid? The questions filled my head and each choice exacerbated my insecurity and confirmed my inexperience.

I would struggle to find places to land in an emergency, rejoice when I found one and morn its passing as I surveyed the trees, rocks, wires and housing below as I imagined I heard strange new noises and felt strange vibrations from The Predator.

I would imagine I was somewhere familiar and then discover I was two miles off course and about to bump into someone’s air space.

I kept imaging the Ride of the Valkyries and hearing the music as we rode into each valley and around each mountain top.

The smog shortened our view and defined the LA basin.

The whole place looked smaller and more orderly from on high.

No matter what frequency I tuned to the talk was fast and constant.

I must have taken my deep breath for my first contact with Whiteman seven times before I got the words out.

I was to report over the reservoir? “Experimental 142 Mike Golf, Unfamiliar, looking for reservoir!” I stammered trying to hide the panic I felt.

I was probably not successful because a calm voice came back; “Experimental Two Mike Golf just follow the freeway and make a right base entry for 12, report turning final.”

There were at least three areas that could have been Whiteman hiding in the smog. I saw a dam off to our left but still could not find the airport. The terrain was rising as I struggled to stay beneath the 3,000 foot floor of Burbank’s (BUR) class C airspace and stay clear of the traffic coming out of Van Nuys (VNY).

Was I following the correct freeway?

I found the uncertainty of the multiple hazards unsettling and worked hard to maintain situational awareness.

I repeatedly consulted my terminal area chart to try to understand what airspace Miss Garmin was warning me about and desperately scanned the smoggy horizon for something similar to my picture of Whiteman. Each time I would look up from the chart the picture had changed and there was some new hazard.

ATC warned several pilots of the slow moving experimental as we roared along at 80kts of ground speed.

The sky seemed to be filled with airplanes and helicopters.

I felt that everyone but me knew where they were, where they were going and what they were doing.

I imagined I had some airport in sight even though it did not look as expected and I pulled the power back and made a sharp turn to final and shared my actions with the tower. My trepidation caused me to be a little high so I slowed to 40 kts and pulled the power back to idle.

By the grace of some piloting god we touched down nicely at Bravo and we were off quickly. I was directed to transient parking. I asked for self serve reminding them I was unfamiliar. I suspected it was evident as he directed me to self serve and handed me off to ground.

The Ed managed the fill up and questions as I searched for the little boy’s room. I felt a little wobbly.

I bought a new log book at the nice pilot’s shop and fielded more questions about The Predator. I was trying unsuccessfully to stay focused. It was less than an hour to sunset so we bid farewell to the gathering crowd, checked ATIS and called ground for a taxi to runway 12.

ATC advised me I could just follow the freeway and he would let Burbank know I would be coming through their airspace.

The run up went well and we lined up on the downhill somewhat irregular runway.

As we lifted off and headed for Cable (CCB) Wagner’s music played louder in my head.

Thank you, Vance

 

[Monarchist]

What an epic trip...can't wait for the next installment of this one!

-John

 

[Vance]

People do it all the time!

People do it all the time!

Hello John,

Glad to have you along John

You were one of the people I was thinking about as we flew along.

Austin-Bergstrom International has the people and complex airspace, just not the smog.

I would remind myself that other people do this all the time.

We didn’t have to stop at Whiteman for gas, I just wanted a break and it gave us more options if something didn’t work out. The wind can come up quickly near the Cajon Pass and arrest our forward progress.

As we drew near Whiteman I could see why the sight picture didn’t look right. I thought the light colored area was the runway so it was like looking at a negative and it looked just like a lot of other light colored areas with big tin buildings. The control tower did not stand out at all because we were high.

I still need some work on my runway orientation identification and my situational awareness of 360 degrees. My vertical card compass helps a lot but my brain is not fully engaged to reciprocals.

Glad to have you along Stan!

I suspect you had some similar experiences on your flight to Mentone.

Your beautiful new gust locks arrived Friday when we were at CMA.

I look forward to trying them out.

We used some pieces of oak trim and they didn’t break during the stiff winds on Saturday night but we had other adventures with them.

I don’t like the idea of keeping you on the ground. In my opinion flying is a participant sport.

Thank you, Vance

 

[Vance]

Racing the Sun to Cable Airpor (CCB)

Racing the Sun to Cable Airpor (CCB)

As we lifted off from Whiteman I could see why we received so many helicopter type questions on the ground and there were so many helicopters in the air. I had somehow missed this on the way in.

We headed for the 210 and turned east cutting across the edge of Burbank’s class Charlie airspace. The mode C reports in hundred foot increments so I stayed below 2,800 feet on the way in, closer to the rising terrain than I liked. The hills rise steeply to the North and I was grateful for the extra altitude as we worked our way toward the passes. Visibility became worse as the sun neared the horizon and there was no way to see wires. Even some of the towers were hard to see and some of the antennas were nearly invisible. High felt good although it made my emergency landing spots appear a lot smaller. I reminded myself that it made them available for longer.

Our head wind slowly grew to about 15 kts and I was glad we had stopped at Whitman as the trucks on the 210 passed us by and the dual fuel gages descended. The altitude made our progress seem slower and to me this made the sun appear to accelerate its journey to the sea.

I had read the temporary tower hours wrong so I listened to the sound of silence until I dialed in the Cable CTAF frequency. Then I was surprised by the amount of activity and the lack of consistency in reporting. I can usually learn what to say by listening but most of the lesson was what not to say and do. People were flying right and left patterns in spite of the noise abatement procedures and overflying Claremont College. They seemed to be cutting the edge of Bracket and Ontario airspace while on the Cable CTAF.

We overflew mid field from the North for a left downwind for runway 24. A woman asked over the CTAF if we would park with the helicopters and I explained that we were a Gyroplane and we did not associate with Helicopter people.

There was some swirling going on but The Predator managed it well and we were off at the first taxiway.

The woman told us to taxi on Alpha until I saw the yellow Aero Commander. Unfortunately there was no yellow Aero Commander and we taxied all the way to the Helicopters and turned around and started back. When I reached the top of the hill again I asked her if she meant the Grumman Widgeon she said yes and I was to park between the Yak-12 and the Yellow Widgeon. This turned out to be a very fortuitous mistake. It allowed Scott and Jim to wonder what is “that thing” and recognize that we were probably lost and needed help. They could not have seen us from their hangar.

As Ed secured the Predator I called the Upland Super 8 and she was full up but gave me the number for the Ontario Super 8. We booked a room and I started to call a cab when Scott and Jim walked up and asked if they could help. They had walked half the length of the field. This was a recurring theme during our stay at Cable. Scott is a 737 Captain for Continental and Jim is a Fire Captain. We felt we were standing with Giants and we are proud to know them. They immediately made us feel a part of the Cable Airport family. As the weekend wore on we found out what a special family this is.

We hitched a ride with Scott to the Super 8 and he promised to pick us up at 7:30 Saturday.

Ed and I were exhausted and after a quick dinner we were soon fast asleep.

I dreamt of flying The Predator into LAX unprepared with out of date charts.

Thank you, Vance

 

[SgurlEd]

Mean people suck

Mean people suck

No matter what frequency I tuned to the talk was fast and constant.

I must have taken my deep breath for my first contact with Whiteman seven times before I got the words out.

I was to report over the reservoir? “Experimental 142 Mike Golf, Unfamiliar, looking for reservoir!” I stammered trying to hide the panic I felt.

I was probably not successful because a calm voice came back; “Experimental Two Mike Golf just follow the freeway and make a right base entry for 12, report turning final.”

There were at least three areas that could have been Whiteman hiding in the smog. I saw a dam off to our left but still could not find the airport. The terrain was rising as I struggled to stay beneath the 3,000 foot floor of Burbank’s (BUR) class C airspace and stay clear of the traffic coming out of Van Nuys (VNY).

Was I following the correct freeway?

I found the uncertainty of the multiple hazards unsettling and worked hard to maintain situational awareness.

I repeatedly consulted my terminal area chart to try to understand what airspace Miss Garmin was warning me about and desperately scanned the smoggy horizon for something similar to my picture of Whiteman. Each time I would look up from the chart the picture had changed and there was some new hazard.

ATC warned several pilots of the slow moving experimental as we roared along at 80kts of ground speed.

The sky seemed to be filled with airplanes and helicopters.

I felt that everyone but me knew where they were, where they were going and what they were doing.

I imagined I had some airport in sight even though it did not look as expected and I pulled the power back and made a sharp turn to final and shared my actions with the tower. My trepidation caused me to be a little high so I slowed to 40 kts and pulled the power back to idle.

By the grace of some piloting god we touched down nicely at Bravo and we were off quickly. I was directed to transient parking. I asked for self serve reminding them I was unfamiliar. I suspected it was evident as he directed me to self serve and handed me off to ground.

The Ed managed the fill up and questions as I searched for the little boy’s room. I felt a little wobbly.

I bought a new log book at the nice pilot’s shop and fielded more questions about The Predator. I was trying unsuccessfully to stay focused. It was less than an hour to sunset so we bid farewell to the gathering crowd, checked ATIS and called ground for a taxi to runway 12.

ATC advised me I could just follow the freeway and he would let Burbank know I would be coming through their airspace.

The run up went well and we lined up on the downhill somewhat irregular runway.

As we lifted off and headed for Cable (CCB) Wagner’s music played louder in my head.

Thank you, Vance

As for me it seemed business as usual. Is it any wonder I feel so confidant and secure with Vance! If he was scared and panicky it didn't show.

Believe me I watch for signs...he always has the situation handled no matter what, he does it just as he talks self assured and calm. I had no idea. He just rolls with the punches I do wish I had that ability!

And we had a marvelous time Cable Airshow was By Far the very best Airshow I've attended. The greatest people they were all so nice and welcoming Scott especially was of the Can Do Attitude! He made it memorable by far as you will see in the coming paragraphs!

You will feel Vance's excitement and mine no-doubt!

Mean people suck and good folks are hard to find...but they do exist at Cable Airport!!

Cheers! Ed

 

[Vance]

Scott’s Ride!

Scott’s Ride!

Scott picked us up on time and gave us the tour of Upland where he grew up and married his childhood sweetheart.

We drove by the controversial nativity scenes and a replica of the horse drawn trolley where the horses pulled the trolley up the hill on tracks and rode on a platform back down the hill.

We drove along a portion of Old Route 66.

On the way to Cable we stopped at the Upland Super 8 and reserved the last room for Saturday night. It was a lot closer to Cable Airport than the Ontario Super 8. It had the look of a Travel Lodge and was clean and well kept.

I asked Scott if he would like a ride in The Predator making sure he knew of my limitations and the origins of The Predator to help him with his risk assessment. He agreed being careful to mask his concerns and went off to get his long pants.

This gave me the opportunity to do a thorough preflight after yesterdays flying.

Scott helps to train the 737 pilots and is very familiar with the area so upon his return I availed myself of his expertise with my charts and he showed me the local protocol that was not published in the facilities guide and how to manage the Bracket airspace just to the West of Cable. He showed me a practice area 8 miles to the east of Cable where the houses are not quite so thick.

Ed helped find a way to fold Scott’s Six foot three inch length into the rear seat and arrange his feet to not interfere with the controls. She helped him with the awkward seat belts and discovered that the chord on the helmet was too short. We determined that a lack of intercom was better than a left list for cable length.

We taxied to runway 24 and the warm was a little slow but the Magneto check went well.

Scott saw something flash red to his left and grabbed the second gust lock before it departed the aircraft. Ed was so focused on helping Scott she had left them on top of the left fuel tank.

The temporary tower reported that the experimental had lost parts on the runway and I asked them to save them for our return. Scott waved the remaining gust lock at me to show me it was secure. I carefully checked the horizontal stabilizer and felt for any changed in vibration.

We climbed out quickly to the north east just skirting Ontario’s class C airspace.

About 7 miles north of Rialto (L67) over the river bed I slowed her to 20kts and cut the power.

There were some winds coming out of the Cajon Pass that made it a little more exciting than usual. We still lost less than 200 feet of altitude getting her back up to 50 kts. The wind helped us make a very tight 360 in each direction. After an 800 foot vertical descent where the wind made us weathervane in different directions as we entered the rotors from the pass we headed back toward Cable.

On approach a white Ryan flew directly beneath us so I slowed for spacing. I started to do an engine out landing but thought it would be better to land at the taxiway with some forward seed and get quickly off the runway. We easily made the first taxiway with a steep approach.

I volunteer had retrieved the undamaged gust lock from the runway and gave it to Ed.

The flight with Scott was a great way to start the day and he said that was the slowest he had ever been in any aircraft.

It is time to fly so I will try to share more of the story this evening.

Thank you, Vance

 

[Vance]

Thank you for the kind words my love!

Thank you for the kind words my love!

Believe me I watch for signs...he always has the situation handled no matter what, he does it just as he talks self assured and calm. I had no idea. He just rolls with the punches I do wish I had that ability!
Cheers! Ed

I don’t see a reason to allow my trepidation to degrade my response to a changing environment.

I expect things to not go as planned when I am expanding my skills.

Love, Vance

 

[Vance]

I will not submit a claim!

I will not submit a claim!

Hello Stan,

I can appreciate your position.

Our temporary gust locks were undamaged by their departure from the aircraft.

Ed will probably never make that mistake again.

I thought she was going to cry.

Your gust locks are worth much more than we paid for them.

I will not ask to honor your guarantee if it is not a design or manufacturing defect.

Ed is attaching the felt to your replacement gustlocks as I write this.

Thank you, Vance

 

[Vance]

A Very Full Day of Aviation Joy!

A Very Full Day of Aviation Joy!

We missed the pancake breakfast because we were up flying.

Not that long after we landed the Show started at 10:00.

The show started with the just in time parachute team skydivers with a flag and the National Anthem. They were so high I could not find them until the canopies opened. It was nicely done and the crowed was very respectful. There landings were all very nice and right at show center.

Rob Harrison “The Tumbling Bear” is always remarkable in his Zlin. I cannot imagine how he tells which way the aircraft is flying as he seems to tumble aimlessly. He is nearing the end of his career and he will be missed.

Steve Stavrakakis, the announcer used to fly a Zlin and did a nice job of explaining what was going on. He is also the announcer for the Reno Air Races. He made everything interesting throughout the day.

Frank Donnelly AKA “Dr D’s old time Aerobatics” in his 1946 Taylorcraft gave a wonderful sort of slow motion aerobatic performance. It is remarkable what he can do with so little power and he does some very nice engine out aerobatics followed by a nice dead stick landing right up to the announcer who is facing away. He puts the Spinner right in his hand. The first one didn’t work and he blew by him at about 30kts.

Clay Lacy followed with his amazing Pilatus Porter. It has amazing short field capability. Landed at around 40kts and reversed the prop and after about a 40 foot roll backed her up. He also did some dead stick aerobatics all very nicely down. He made a low pass at 170 miles per hour down wind and then returned at around 35 miles per hour of ground speed.

Sam Mason, a 17 year old prodigy flew the family Stearman in a nice display of graceful aerobatics. He came down the runway completely cross controlled waving at the crowed. I have never seen the plane look so clean or a Stearman look so graceful.

Rowena was very proud of her boy. She does fabric work out of Santa Paula and is Joe’s mentor that did the fabric work on the Predator.

Doug Jardine in his Sbach 342 with a Lycoming Thunderbolt was the antithesis of the more casual performers with lots of speed, power and precision.

The radio controlled bunch put on quite a show including a very fast Jet.

There were lots of interesting fly bys with a trio of Kinner powered Ryans being my personal favorite. They would come by in formation making great sounds.

There were even 5 RVs flying a fairly close formation.

It was sort of like a small town parade, if it was at all interesting they would fly it down the runway and people would cheer.

The crowed was great and we did not have a negative experience the entire weekend.

The people actually mostly stayed behind the ropes so we didn’t have to protect The Predator from wayward youths.

We had great food next store to Scott’s hanger with some of the best oatmeal cookies I have ever had.

Everyone treated us like long lost relatives.

Any teasing about our aircraft was good natured.

The car show was great and it all started over in the afternoon, pictures to follow.

Things were hopping from 10:00 am until 3:30.

We caught a ride back to our new motel with Scott and prepared for Sundays scheduled 9:30 departure.

We wanted to get out early before the show started.

Thank you, Vance

 

[Vance]

Ed’s car show pictures.

Ed’s car show pictures.

Ed has an artist’s eye for things and she does not see them the same way I do.

At a car show I look at the cars I covet and recall adventures I had in particular models.

There were lots of very nice cars.

Ed is looking for art so she liked the shape of things and she liked the paint that changed color.

She felt the hood ornament with an E was an Edna logo.

Ed feels she is fun sized and looks for fun sized cars so she was naturally drawn to the Isetta 300 and the shortened Honda.

The shortened Honda was shortened to fit in the basement of a motor home.

The most amazing day was actually Sunday when we were forced to stay another day by big winds.

I met a lot of interesting people and we had a very nice time.

I received the drawings from Martin Hollmann so I am off to Hollister tomorrow at O’dark hundred.

The rest of the story will have to wait until my return.

Thank you, Vance

 

[WaspAir]

She felt the hood ornament with an E was an Edna logo.

Well, that's not very flattering. For her self esteem's sake, offer her this Erskine logo (from the much-admired short wheelbase Ray Dietrich body design) as an alternative to the badge from that loser Edsel with the lemon-sucking grill:

 

[SgurlEd]

Hey that's Kool!!

Hey that's Kool!!

Well, that's not very flattering. For her self esteem's sake, offer her this Erskine logo (from the much-admired short wheelbase Ray Dietrich body design) as an alternative to the badge from that loser Edsel with the lemon-sucking grill:

Hey now that is way Kooler than the Edsel Design I love it thanks for posting it!
Cheers!Ed

 

[SgurlEd]

Cable Air Show with Vance & Scott!

Cable Air Show with Vance & Scott!

I wanted to share a link that was sent by Scott though Vance was not in the Cable Air Show he was caught on video giving Scott a ride the getting ready to land..it is towards the end of the video. Here is the Link:
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxeVqsRn6iI&feature=youtu.be]2012 CABLE AIR SHOW VIDEO MONTAGE - YouTube[/URL]

 

[okikuma]

Hi Vance,

If I knew in advance that you were stopping at Whiteman (KWHP), I've come over to meet you and Ed. As soon as I finish this thread, I'm on my way there to meet up with some the "Airport Rats" for dinner some "Hanger Flying." I'm sure as soon as I arrive, I'll hear all about your visit with the Predator. I'll also find out which person in the tower you spoke to. The tower is a contract tower. I've been long time friends with three of the controllers there; Ed, Tony, (retired from KVNY tower), and Mike (retired from KBUR tower).

Did you visit the little pilot shop between the Pilot's Lounge and Rocky's V or walk over to Vista Aviation?

In the mean time, check out the view from the tower at KWHP. The controller on the left is Ed and the other on the right is Mike. The voice asking the question is a local CFI named Richard Mend.

Wayne

Inside the Whiteman Airport Tower (KWHP), Pacoima, CA - YouTube

 

[Vance]

A quick stop at WHP!

A quick stop at WHP!

Hello Wayne,

You seem to know everyone.

The stop at WHP was precautionary incase a head wind came up.

We did not plan it until I was almost half way there from Camarillo.

I stopped at the Pilot shop while making a personal pre-flight and purchased a new log book because the one I have is falling apart.

It was a quick stop because as you can see we arrived at Cable as the sun set. I would not want to fly over all those people and hills at night.

On the way back the tower felt I busted their air space. My GPS said I was just outside his airspace in the hills. I didn’t argue with him because he had kept someone in a Cessna from climbing into me. The Cessna never saw me and flew directly beneath me. I identified myself as the unidentified aircraft and I had the Cessna in sight.

I had a very successful visit with Mike, Vince and Nacho and when I get done writing about that I will work on Sunday at Cable.

I am exhausted and have some studying to do so I probably won’t get to the return flight.

Thank you, Vance

 

[Vance]

Good Fortune!

Good Fortune!

Scott picked us up at 7:30 and we headed off to the Cable Airport.

I began the preflight being extra careful because somewhere in the night the winds had come up.

I arranged my call sheets and discussed the departure and how to describe it with Scott.

We went for a straight out with a slight right and a call to Bracket to avoid the inbound traffic. I dialed Bracket into the flip flop.

The wind socks were flaccid and the tetrahedron wondered aimlessly.

The sky was clear from last night’s winds.

Lockheed Martin had AIRMET Tango and several CIGMETS. They had eight recent pilot reports including a 737 coming into Ontario experiencing severe turbulence at 800 feet and wind shear.

I made the difficult decision to stay another day before they were finished with a standard VFR briefing. It turned out to be fortuitous.

After securing the Predator I commandeered a very comfortable chair and watched the air show sitting down. I enjoyed it even more than Saturday.

I carefully watched the smoke and there was very little wind. I doubted the wisdom of my decision not to fly until I borrowed a computer and checked the weather on Weathermeister. They confirmed the wisdom of my decision.

I was in a perfect spot for the car parade and unlike Saturday I heard the announcer. He was also an automobile enthusiast and did a good job of building excitement over the cars.


I found Ed and we shared a funnel cake as we watched the afternoon show. There was still no evidence of wind.


The Show ended at 3:30 and it was too late to fly out even if there was no wind. I taxied closer to Scott’s hangar and passed him as he walked his wife down to see The Predator. Ed missed us all together and began a fruitless search. I tied her down using another row of hangars to block the wind incase it came up in the night. We were exhausted and ready for bed when Scott wanted to take us to the party at the airport manager’s hangar. I felt it was a good opportunity to try to get a chance to fly in next year’s show so I ignored my sore back and legs and pretended not to notice Ed’s discomfort and agreed enthusiastically.

I was surprised at the number of people in the airport manager’s hangar and the existence of the Tumbled Gyro Bar. People seemed to have a good time and that is him with me in front of the bar.

I also got to spend some delightful time with Bob Cable whose grandfather started the airport with $8,500 in 1945 because he was annoyed with the way a nearby airport was run.

According to Bob the stress killed him and his father walked away. Bob seems to be having a good time overseeing the place and I heard lots of great stories.

There was a group of pilots telling stories that actually started with; “Now this is no Bull****.”

My favorite line was to a pilot who had lost an engine in a T6 that he was ferrying and was trying to restart it with help from the rest of the gaggle. His friend over the radio said; “Shut up and die like a man.” The teller of the story suggested that it elevated his anxiety and that was no bull****.

Every one we met was very nice.

Bob Cable suggested he would love to have The Predator in next year’s show. It is not a done deal but I am optimistic. We have already had some post party communication and been included in a video of the arriving aircraft for the 37th Cable air show.

We stayed much later than we should and Scott agreed to pick us up at 8:00 Monday morning.

Thank you, Vance