BEN S
Super Member
This is going to be a long post, sorry, there is much to tell. I had taken a week off from work before going to a contract in Colorado. I had intended to make this a week of gyro flying as I wouldn't be able to bring my rig with me and won't be flying my gyro for about two months.
I gave a lot of thought to what I wanted to do, it had to be memorable enough to tide me over! I started off by going to the AZ PRA chapter 15 "fly-out" with my wife and son in San Manual, AZ. It was an awesome trip, with Mark and Britta and Carl being great hosts as usual. I got some pics on the second day when we all decided to fly to Benson, AZ. Coolest courtesy car at an airport ever! The flight was high, hot and long and really beautiful. It got me thinking again about doing a really long trip in my gyro. I already knew I wanted to be at lower altitude than Benson was cause I had some real difficulty getting off the runway after lunch. I'm larger than I should be at 218 lbs and am still flying my trusty 503 in a rig that weighs 340lbs.
I decided to head north and follow the mighty Colorado River, that way if I got lost I could find the river and civilization (gas stations).
I prepared for the trip for two days, thinking what should I bring, it has to be minimal, but survival gear was a must, water obvious...but what else?
I packed a camel back with two spark plugs and a wrench, a gun (shh don't tell those Californians) a pair of underwear two chargers for the phone and icom radio.
In my flight suit was a sectional and my aircraft papers just in case some overzealous FAA goon decided to ramp check me. And a kneeboard that I had made up with all my freqs and runway pictograms so I could look like a real pilot when entering the airports. I had already called and verified that I would be able to buy avgas which I was planning on using.
I departed Yuma and headed north to Blythe (KBLH) through some truly beautiful and inhospitable country, but nothing I wasn't used to, I live around here.
I had a nice tailwind and made it to Blythe with a couple of gallons left which was nice as this was the longest leg (supposed to be, anyway) about 55 miles.
I refueled and took off for Parker (P20) which ended up being a complete black hole electronically! I couldn't get a satellites on my GPS even though it was out in the open! I landed on a farm road to get my bearings and the gps said to keep heading North East, but as soon as I was airborne again, no reception! I had to put it down AGAIN this time near a highway patrol station to get an idea of where to go. I finally found the airport and fueled up.
If you look at a map the mountain I had to fly over/around is called the Whipple mountains...well standing there it looked a whole lot bigger than the map made it seem, no way was I going over it so I opted for the western route which brought me to some of the most barren open desert I've seen in a while. Following HWY 95 seemed like a smart idea so I did.
I cleared the mountains at the far end and started my decent into Needles (KEED) which for having a beautiful runway or two was the single most barren airfield I've been to ...ever! I used the self serve pump and took off without ever seeing a soul.
From there I headed to Sun Valley (A20) for my final stop, I had gone there a few years back to get my test for PPL so I was familiar with the airport. just over the river is the border with Nevada, so I flew over the river and got waves from some partiers on a pontoon boat. I then landed at Sun Valley an borrowed the courtesy car to go stay at the Avi casino.
So far tiring, hot and at 40 mph ground speed long, but no problems, except that after Needles I noticed one of my EGTs was lower than normal,but the engine was running fine so I kept going. Once I landed I saw why, one of my spark plug caps had given up the ghost and was just laying there not connected! Spooky, but not the luckiest I've ever been...getting that fixed was more trouble than it should have been, we had to snag it from a Skidoo (looks different cause its waterproof) because the local motorcycle shop didn't have any.
At this point the easy ride was OVER! I'll condense it for those with eye strain...was awakened 1 hour after going to sleep by my local cops who fearing the worst had found my truck and trailer out all day called to see if I was alive, problem was I thought their call was the alarm and got up and dressed!
took awhile to fall asleep again). Got up at 4:30 am to get to airport for 5am depart and promptly got the FIRST flat tire! my nosewheel tube got pinched on the side because of lack of air pressure, but I had to wait till 7am for a mechanic to show up. got fixed and finally left.
Strong tailwind to Needles got fuel and decided to followthe river to Lake Havasu for a change of scenery...BEAUTIFUL but then again was that damn Whipple mountain! I went around the East side and through some SERIOUS rocky cliffs and valleys! (ADM alert...not possibly the smartest decision) but boy was it beautiful, tall peaks all around me and rock spires everywhere!
Made it to Parker no problem, got fuel and then off to Blythe..DAMN GPS ACTED UP AGAIN....took a few minuets to realize I was going the wrong direction..not lost mind you, just turned around as us sportsman say.
Made Blythe by 11:00 and heat and winds coming up.
Had to put on the two plugs which scared me cause they were ORANGE! Turns out avgas does that, but I didn't know!
Go to take off and BLAM front tire flat AGAIN, now I know what your thinking...screwed up the repair...NOPE, DAMN GOAT HEAD STUCK RIGHT IN THE CENTER!!!! (for those of you who have no idea what a Goathead is, consider yourselves blessed, for those who live in the south west, ever had your dog bring one in and leave it on the carpet near your bed just waiting for you to get up barefoot in the morning? You know its not ALWAYS illegal to shoot a dog is it?)
Got the tire fixed AGAIN (thanks Rudy) and departed for home.
ADM alert here is where I started to make a bad decision regarding fuel, but let those of you who have never used up your safety net cast the first stone! suffice to say with the headwind I was on fumes by the time I got home, but I could see the damn truck and runway from here!
Well there is obviously so much more I could talk about but since it was a solo trip they will just be memories for me to keep as mental photos.
Thank you Sportcopter for making a machine that was an extension of my desire to go somewhere, now about those front wheels!!!!!
PS in the first pic see my forehead? walke right into the darn rotors, hows that for an omen!
I gave a lot of thought to what I wanted to do, it had to be memorable enough to tide me over! I started off by going to the AZ PRA chapter 15 "fly-out" with my wife and son in San Manual, AZ. It was an awesome trip, with Mark and Britta and Carl being great hosts as usual. I got some pics on the second day when we all decided to fly to Benson, AZ. Coolest courtesy car at an airport ever! The flight was high, hot and long and really beautiful. It got me thinking again about doing a really long trip in my gyro. I already knew I wanted to be at lower altitude than Benson was cause I had some real difficulty getting off the runway after lunch. I'm larger than I should be at 218 lbs and am still flying my trusty 503 in a rig that weighs 340lbs.
I decided to head north and follow the mighty Colorado River, that way if I got lost I could find the river and civilization (gas stations).
I prepared for the trip for two days, thinking what should I bring, it has to be minimal, but survival gear was a must, water obvious...but what else?
I packed a camel back with two spark plugs and a wrench, a gun (shh don't tell those Californians) a pair of underwear two chargers for the phone and icom radio.
In my flight suit was a sectional and my aircraft papers just in case some overzealous FAA goon decided to ramp check me. And a kneeboard that I had made up with all my freqs and runway pictograms so I could look like a real pilot when entering the airports. I had already called and verified that I would be able to buy avgas which I was planning on using.
I departed Yuma and headed north to Blythe (KBLH) through some truly beautiful and inhospitable country, but nothing I wasn't used to, I live around here.
I had a nice tailwind and made it to Blythe with a couple of gallons left which was nice as this was the longest leg (supposed to be, anyway) about 55 miles.
I refueled and took off for Parker (P20) which ended up being a complete black hole electronically! I couldn't get a satellites on my GPS even though it was out in the open! I landed on a farm road to get my bearings and the gps said to keep heading North East, but as soon as I was airborne again, no reception! I had to put it down AGAIN this time near a highway patrol station to get an idea of where to go. I finally found the airport and fueled up.
If you look at a map the mountain I had to fly over/around is called the Whipple mountains...well standing there it looked a whole lot bigger than the map made it seem, no way was I going over it so I opted for the western route which brought me to some of the most barren open desert I've seen in a while. Following HWY 95 seemed like a smart idea so I did.
I cleared the mountains at the far end and started my decent into Needles (KEED) which for having a beautiful runway or two was the single most barren airfield I've been to ...ever! I used the self serve pump and took off without ever seeing a soul.
From there I headed to Sun Valley (A20) for my final stop, I had gone there a few years back to get my test for PPL so I was familiar with the airport. just over the river is the border with Nevada, so I flew over the river and got waves from some partiers on a pontoon boat. I then landed at Sun Valley an borrowed the courtesy car to go stay at the Avi casino.
So far tiring, hot and at 40 mph ground speed long, but no problems, except that after Needles I noticed one of my EGTs was lower than normal,but the engine was running fine so I kept going. Once I landed I saw why, one of my spark plug caps had given up the ghost and was just laying there not connected! Spooky, but not the luckiest I've ever been...getting that fixed was more trouble than it should have been, we had to snag it from a Skidoo (looks different cause its waterproof) because the local motorcycle shop didn't have any.
At this point the easy ride was OVER! I'll condense it for those with eye strain...was awakened 1 hour after going to sleep by my local cops who fearing the worst had found my truck and trailer out all day called to see if I was alive, problem was I thought their call was the alarm and got up and dressed!
took awhile to fall asleep again). Got up at 4:30 am to get to airport for 5am depart and promptly got the FIRST flat tire! my nosewheel tube got pinched on the side because of lack of air pressure, but I had to wait till 7am for a mechanic to show up. got fixed and finally left. Strong tailwind to Needles got fuel and decided to followthe river to Lake Havasu for a change of scenery...BEAUTIFUL but then again was that damn Whipple mountain! I went around the East side and through some SERIOUS rocky cliffs and valleys! (ADM alert...not possibly the smartest decision) but boy was it beautiful, tall peaks all around me and rock spires everywhere!
Made it to Parker no problem, got fuel and then off to Blythe..DAMN GPS ACTED UP AGAIN....took a few minuets to realize I was going the wrong direction..not lost mind you, just turned around as us sportsman say.
Made Blythe by 11:00 and heat and winds coming up.
Had to put on the two plugs which scared me cause they were ORANGE! Turns out avgas does that, but I didn't know!
Go to take off and BLAM front tire flat AGAIN, now I know what your thinking...screwed up the repair...NOPE, DAMN GOAT HEAD STUCK RIGHT IN THE CENTER!!!! (for those of you who have no idea what a Goathead is, consider yourselves blessed, for those who live in the south west, ever had your dog bring one in and leave it on the carpet near your bed just waiting for you to get up barefoot in the morning? You know its not ALWAYS illegal to shoot a dog is it?)
Got the tire fixed AGAIN (thanks Rudy) and departed for home.
ADM alert here is where I started to make a bad decision regarding fuel, but let those of you who have never used up your safety net cast the first stone! suffice to say with the headwind I was on fumes by the time I got home, but I could see the damn truck and runway from here!
Well there is obviously so much more I could talk about but since it was a solo trip they will just be memories for me to keep as mental photos.
Thank you Sportcopter for making a machine that was an extension of my desire to go somewhere, now about those front wheels!!!!!
PS in the first pic see my forehead? walke right into the darn rotors, hows that for an omen!
