The winds were forecast to be brisk but the thermal index looked good up to 6000ft. I arrived at the field to find Frank Mitchell pre-flighting the Pawnee and Patrick Greenwood opening up the hangers and CU were dotting the sky. Winds were strong out of the Northwest but close to down the runway so we decided we could fly. We got the L-23 out and pre-flighted it. Pat and myself were the first up. We planned to do a wing runner less takeoff, and even though Bert Aagesen arrived, we still did it for practice. It was quite bumpy but Pat stayed behind the tow plane and boxed the wash. After releasing, we found good lift under each cloud despite the wind and climbed to above 5000ft, heading upwind under a cloud street. After flying for 37 minutes, we decide to head down so Bert could take the ship. Bert was up next making the first of two flights to get current. While he was up, I got the Russia out to fly later. Bert landed and Pat and I took the ship up for two more flights to get more practice with takeoffs and lands in the stronger winds and turbulent conditions. With each flight Pat got smoother in all aspects of the flying the L-23. He said the repetition helped build confidence. Bert launched next on a pattern tow to finish getting current. I launched next in the Russia and found lift, but after climbing to 5000ft, failed to connect with the next cloud up stream and had to land after 30 minutes. Bert and Tammy were the next up and their’s was the longest flight of 41 minutes and the hanger flight.
One problem we had was the 4 wheeler not starting from the battery. It did start fine using the pull starter.
Recent Comments