- Joined
- Oct 30, 2003
- Messages
- 18,376
- Location
- Santa Maria, California
- Aircraft
- Givens Predator
- Total Flight Time
- 2600+ in rotorcraft
I could see the mountains in the mist on the other side of the Santa Maria Valley from my office window and poor visibility usually means gentle winds. It seemed like a good day to fly.
Somehow projects slowed me down and I didn’t launch till 10:30.
I started working through a careful preflight and The Predator soon looked good to go.
Lockheed Martin had winds light and variable for the next several hours with six miles visibility most of the day. There was a storm stalled off shore with no precipitation expected along my route to Camarillo.
I called Spencer to see if he could have lunch and left a message with an ETA of around 1:00. Spencer holds the world record for inverted flat spins and is a CFI mostly for aerobatics. He seems to always show up with some interesting friends.
I slowed down a little when I didn’t reach Spencer and decided a little more gas would be a good thing rather than stopping at Santa Barbara for gas. I topped her off and taxied to 30 for a right down wind to the east. She had burned five and a half gallons an hour when I was wandering around aimlessly at forty to forty five knots.
It seemed like perfect flying weather and SMX was strangely deserted. I called for Santa Barbara ATIS on my cell phone and figured it would probably change before I got there. Run up went well and as soon as I called the tower holding short of three zero, ready for departure I was greeted with “Experimental 142 Mike Golf runway 30 clear for takeoff, right down wind approved. Have a nice flight Vance!” How can I miss?
I started gently climbing to the 3,500 feet I would need for the San Marcos pass and was at 3,000 feet and about 12 miles out when an inbound RV was asked to “turn 20 degrees right for opposite direction traffic, an experimental gyroplane at your altitude.” For some reason he turned 20 degrees left and the tower admonished him for turning right into me. I pulled the power to idle and pointed the nose at the ground dropping down quickly and he passed right over the top of me. The tower apologized profusely and I told him I thought he was doing a great job of looking out for me. ”It only works when they follow directions!” He grumbled. I don’t think he would have hit me but it is hard to know. Somehow aircraft look a lot closer up in the air.
Everything looked strangely distant and somewhat mysterious in the mist as I wandered along at 2,250 rpm. I love the sound the Lycoming makes at that rpm; sort of a relaxed but purposeful rumble. The demeanor of The Predator was generally easygoing and capable in the relatively calm air. The temperature was just right. My recently rebuilt headset was doing a great job of making the world seem peaceful.
I reached 3,500 feet well before it was time to call Santa Barbara approach so I backed off on the throttle a little more just as I was getting into some light turbulence. I called approach from 20 miles out requesting to transition his airspace over the San Marcos pass and a nice lady was handling that sector. She gave me a squawk code and altitude was verified. A regional jet at 8,500 feet reported a hang glider over the San Marcos VOR at his altitude and another was reported at 6,500 feet.
I found out why over the pass, it was all I could do to pull her back and stay at 3,500 feet. The cool ocean air felt good on my face and I asked for a decent to 2,000 feet. “Experimental two Mike Golf, remain at or above 3,500 feet for traffic.” After about 15 miles I heard; “altitude restriction canceled; descend at pilot’s desecration.” I was searching the skies for the hang gliders so my descent was slow. I never saw even one.
It is time for bed so I will continue this tomorrow.
Somehow projects slowed me down and I didn’t launch till 10:30.
I started working through a careful preflight and The Predator soon looked good to go.
Lockheed Martin had winds light and variable for the next several hours with six miles visibility most of the day. There was a storm stalled off shore with no precipitation expected along my route to Camarillo.
I called Spencer to see if he could have lunch and left a message with an ETA of around 1:00. Spencer holds the world record for inverted flat spins and is a CFI mostly for aerobatics. He seems to always show up with some interesting friends.
I slowed down a little when I didn’t reach Spencer and decided a little more gas would be a good thing rather than stopping at Santa Barbara for gas. I topped her off and taxied to 30 for a right down wind to the east. She had burned five and a half gallons an hour when I was wandering around aimlessly at forty to forty five knots.
It seemed like perfect flying weather and SMX was strangely deserted. I called for Santa Barbara ATIS on my cell phone and figured it would probably change before I got there. Run up went well and as soon as I called the tower holding short of three zero, ready for departure I was greeted with “Experimental 142 Mike Golf runway 30 clear for takeoff, right down wind approved. Have a nice flight Vance!” How can I miss?
I started gently climbing to the 3,500 feet I would need for the San Marcos pass and was at 3,000 feet and about 12 miles out when an inbound RV was asked to “turn 20 degrees right for opposite direction traffic, an experimental gyroplane at your altitude.” For some reason he turned 20 degrees left and the tower admonished him for turning right into me. I pulled the power to idle and pointed the nose at the ground dropping down quickly and he passed right over the top of me. The tower apologized profusely and I told him I thought he was doing a great job of looking out for me. ”It only works when they follow directions!” He grumbled. I don’t think he would have hit me but it is hard to know. Somehow aircraft look a lot closer up in the air.
Everything looked strangely distant and somewhat mysterious in the mist as I wandered along at 2,250 rpm. I love the sound the Lycoming makes at that rpm; sort of a relaxed but purposeful rumble. The demeanor of The Predator was generally easygoing and capable in the relatively calm air. The temperature was just right. My recently rebuilt headset was doing a great job of making the world seem peaceful.
I reached 3,500 feet well before it was time to call Santa Barbara approach so I backed off on the throttle a little more just as I was getting into some light turbulence. I called approach from 20 miles out requesting to transition his airspace over the San Marcos pass and a nice lady was handling that sector. She gave me a squawk code and altitude was verified. A regional jet at 8,500 feet reported a hang glider over the San Marcos VOR at his altitude and another was reported at 6,500 feet.
I found out why over the pass, it was all I could do to pull her back and stay at 3,500 feet. The cool ocean air felt good on my face and I asked for a decent to 2,000 feet. “Experimental two Mike Golf, remain at or above 3,500 feet for traffic.” After about 15 miles I heard; “altitude restriction canceled; descend at pilot’s desecration.” I was searching the skies for the hang gliders so my descent was slow. I never saw even one.
It is time for bed so I will continue this tomorrow.
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