Coast to coast across America
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Final round of updates...
Greetings,
DAY 5 - 4.8 hours flight time
We got a late start on this day, but it was still very productive. Even though we didn't follow any roads, there were lots of towers along our route. We had a left quartering tail wind most of the time. There was a small forest fire that we had to fly upwind from. We ended up staying at a small airport near the Louisianna/Texas border. Although this was a small town, it was one of the more friendly places. In fact, we've been well treated throughout the entire trip (except for Bermuda Dunes in California - recommend you go to Palm Springs instead).
One of our stops was in Huntsville, TX. Sound familiar? It is where executions in the State of Texas take place. There were several prisons in the area, and inmates get transfered three days before lethal injection. They had executed three prisoners the week prior... it is a regular occurrence for the townspeople. Just a bit of trivia for you, albeit gruesome.
Anyway, we ended up in Jasper (JAS) where the folks were very friendly, indeed. It seemed as if the local FBO was the place for the "Good 'Ole Boy" to hang out after a hard day at work. They had a few fixed-wing experimental aircraft that were very unusual (pictures are on the way). One ship can cruise at 150 KIAS with a 100 HP engine! These folks were also involved with the Space Shuttle recovery operation, and the stories were very interesting. Nice conversation... nice people.
When we had to start up our ship to move it away from the refueling point, SkyFocal took one of the bystanders up for a trip around the pattern. He was a student fixed-wing pilot (middle-aged doctor), but I think we got him hooked on the rotorcraft!
DAY 6 - 2.9 hours flight time for RDRickster (more for SkyFocal)
This was a very interesting day. We noticed the drop in pressure as we continued to move East. For those of you not on the east coast, there is a "cut-off" storm that has hovered over the Mid-Atlantic for several days, now. Since there is no front pushing this system in any direction, it has been "cut-off" from the rest of the weather. As a result, this large-scale scuz has been idle without much change.
We traveled from Texas, to Louisianna, to Mississippi, and to Alabama. To say we had a strong tailwind was an understatement! During one of the fuel stops in Mississippi, there was a "chain-gang" of prisoners working in the garage for the Sheriff. He was a 13,500 hour Vietnam pilot who was flying a Jet Ranger for his Department (parked in the garage). The inmates were changing the oil and tires on the patrol cars (under supervision).
The further we traveled east (towards bad weather), strong tailwinds and crosswinds developed even more. During one leg of our trip, we experienced light to moderate turbulence the entire time. The winds forecast at low altitude didn't predict this kind of turbulence. The moderate turbulence beat us up pretty good, and we definately experienced Low-G on two life-affirming occassions! Since we were flying through an MOA and had nothing but thick forests beneath us, we had to push through it.
I always wondered what Low-G would be like, and I suppose I've satisfied my curiosity. After this flight, it is my opinion that you are unlikely to experience Low-G unless you are in moderate to severe turbulence (unless you are doing something you shouldn't be). We slowed the ship down to 60-70 KIAS, but it was nearly impossible to maintain a steady airspeed or altitude with any consistency. Later, we learned gusts were 28-30 knots and variable in direction.
In my opinion (and limited experience), Low-G can quickly develop into something that could bite you hard. At first, we would feel light in the seat and then the nose would drop suddenly. Before you have an opportunity to apply aft cyclic, the tail rotor is coming over horizontal and the tail of the ship begins a shift to the right. We were already at reduced speed (more aft cyclic than forward cyclic), so it seemed odd when the tail rotor tried to climb over the top of us like that.
Nevertheless, it does NOT take much aft cyclic to reload the rotor! Exactly as the POH indicates, gentle aft cyclic did the trick and you could feel the helicopter "feel her weight again." Recovery seems easy, but if you take the time to "think" about it... you are too late. Fortunately, it is a natural reaction to apply aft cyclic when you get light in the seat. That said, you must resist the temptation to apply lateral cyclic until the rotor is FULLY loaded. I can only attribute my proper reactions to the Safety Course taught in Torrence, and to SkyFocal's reasurrance to "load the rotor first."
SkyFocal is also a CFI and his calming words were right on cue, without excitement. During the second Low-G experience, the same actions were taken - but I also applied SLIGHT (and I mean extremely slight) left cyclic after the initial aft pressure. This confirmed recent reports from Tim Tucker that this method will stabilize recovery in a more efficient way.
DISCLAIMER - PILOTS SHOULD FOLLOW THE STEPS LISTED IN THE POH FOR EMERGENCY RECOVERY TECHNIQUES & ANY CREDENCE GIVEN TO THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION POSTED ON A PUBLIC FORUM OF OPINION MUST BE CONSIDERED SUSPECT - DISCLAIMER
At this point, we realized that we were unlikely to make it through the weather without more delays. Unfortunately, I only had one more day of vacation left and I had to be at work this Friday. You see, my boss scheduled a meeting with the Lt. Governor and I absolutely HAD to be at this meeting. SkyFocal was not on a timeline, so we decided to fly North to Montgomery, Alabama (MGM) as soon as the winds calmed down a bit. Still, the flight to MGM was in light turbulence.
Well, I scrounged up a rental car and SkyFocal made plans to travel east to the coast in order to by-bass the storm as much as possible (currently lounging about to the North). I had to drive 800 miles (statute) in order to make it in time for my meeting the following day. I made my meeting, which turned out to be very beneficial.
SkyFocal followed shortly after me, but ended up just south of our final destination (W29) before getting socked in by rain. As soon as the weather clears, he's going back to pick up N8066U and bring her home the rest of the way. The weather looks like it may stick around for a few more days. The moral to this story is plan for two full weeks for this trip!
(Pictures have been e-mailed to the Moderator, so they should be up soon.)
DAY 5 - 4.8 hours flight time
We got a late start on this day, but it was still very productive. Even though we didn't follow any roads, there were lots of towers along our route. We had a left quartering tail wind most of the time. There was a small forest fire that we had to fly upwind from. We ended up staying at a small airport near the Louisianna/Texas border. Although this was a small town, it was one of the more friendly places. In fact, we've been well treated throughout the entire trip (except for Bermuda Dunes in California - recommend you go to Palm Springs instead).
One of our stops was in Huntsville, TX. Sound familiar? It is where executions in the State of Texas take place. There were several prisons in the area, and inmates get transfered three days before lethal injection. They had executed three prisoners the week prior... it is a regular occurrence for the townspeople. Just a bit of trivia for you, albeit gruesome.
Anyway, we ended up in Jasper (JAS) where the folks were very friendly, indeed. It seemed as if the local FBO was the place for the "Good 'Ole Boy" to hang out after a hard day at work. They had a few fixed-wing experimental aircraft that were very unusual (pictures are on the way). One ship can cruise at 150 KIAS with a 100 HP engine! These folks were also involved with the Space Shuttle recovery operation, and the stories were very interesting. Nice conversation... nice people.
When we had to start up our ship to move it away from the refueling point, SkyFocal took one of the bystanders up for a trip around the pattern. He was a student fixed-wing pilot (middle-aged doctor), but I think we got him hooked on the rotorcraft!
DAY 6 - 2.9 hours flight time for RDRickster (more for SkyFocal)
This was a very interesting day. We noticed the drop in pressure as we continued to move East. For those of you not on the east coast, there is a "cut-off" storm that has hovered over the Mid-Atlantic for several days, now. Since there is no front pushing this system in any direction, it has been "cut-off" from the rest of the weather. As a result, this large-scale scuz has been idle without much change.
We traveled from Texas, to Louisianna, to Mississippi, and to Alabama. To say we had a strong tailwind was an understatement! During one of the fuel stops in Mississippi, there was a "chain-gang" of prisoners working in the garage for the Sheriff. He was a 13,500 hour Vietnam pilot who was flying a Jet Ranger for his Department (parked in the garage). The inmates were changing the oil and tires on the patrol cars (under supervision).
The further we traveled east (towards bad weather), strong tailwinds and crosswinds developed even more. During one leg of our trip, we experienced light to moderate turbulence the entire time. The winds forecast at low altitude didn't predict this kind of turbulence. The moderate turbulence beat us up pretty good, and we definately experienced Low-G on two life-affirming occassions! Since we were flying through an MOA and had nothing but thick forests beneath us, we had to push through it.
I always wondered what Low-G would be like, and I suppose I've satisfied my curiosity. After this flight, it is my opinion that you are unlikely to experience Low-G unless you are in moderate to severe turbulence (unless you are doing something you shouldn't be). We slowed the ship down to 60-70 KIAS, but it was nearly impossible to maintain a steady airspeed or altitude with any consistency. Later, we learned gusts were 28-30 knots and variable in direction.
In my opinion (and limited experience), Low-G can quickly develop into something that could bite you hard. At first, we would feel light in the seat and then the nose would drop suddenly. Before you have an opportunity to apply aft cyclic, the tail rotor is coming over horizontal and the tail of the ship begins a shift to the right. We were already at reduced speed (more aft cyclic than forward cyclic), so it seemed odd when the tail rotor tried to climb over the top of us like that.
Nevertheless, it does NOT take much aft cyclic to reload the rotor! Exactly as the POH indicates, gentle aft cyclic did the trick and you could feel the helicopter "feel her weight again." Recovery seems easy, but if you take the time to "think" about it... you are too late. Fortunately, it is a natural reaction to apply aft cyclic when you get light in the seat. That said, you must resist the temptation to apply lateral cyclic until the rotor is FULLY loaded. I can only attribute my proper reactions to the Safety Course taught in Torrence, and to SkyFocal's reasurrance to "load the rotor first."
SkyFocal is also a CFI and his calming words were right on cue, without excitement. During the second Low-G experience, the same actions were taken - but I also applied SLIGHT (and I mean extremely slight) left cyclic after the initial aft pressure. This confirmed recent reports from Tim Tucker that this method will stabilize recovery in a more efficient way.
DISCLAIMER - PILOTS SHOULD FOLLOW THE STEPS LISTED IN THE POH FOR EMERGENCY RECOVERY TECHNIQUES & ANY CREDENCE GIVEN TO THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION POSTED ON A PUBLIC FORUM OF OPINION MUST BE CONSIDERED SUSPECT - DISCLAIMER
At this point, we realized that we were unlikely to make it through the weather without more delays. Unfortunately, I only had one more day of vacation left and I had to be at work this Friday. You see, my boss scheduled a meeting with the Lt. Governor and I absolutely HAD to be at this meeting. SkyFocal was not on a timeline, so we decided to fly North to Montgomery, Alabama (MGM) as soon as the winds calmed down a bit. Still, the flight to MGM was in light turbulence.
Well, I scrounged up a rental car and SkyFocal made plans to travel east to the coast in order to by-bass the storm as much as possible (currently lounging about to the North). I had to drive 800 miles (statute) in order to make it in time for my meeting the following day. I made my meeting, which turned out to be very beneficial.
SkyFocal followed shortly after me, but ended up just south of our final destination (W29) before getting socked in by rain. As soon as the weather clears, he's going back to pick up N8066U and bring her home the rest of the way. The weather looks like it may stick around for a few more days. The moral to this story is plan for two full weeks for this trip!
(Pictures have been e-mailed to the Moderator, so they should be up soon.)
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NARRATION - FROM TOP TO BOTTOM...
Which helicopter should we take? This shows some of the aircraft that belong to Corporate Helicopters, based out of San Diego. They also have an A-Star and an MD-600 (neither shown).
Fuel stop. This was a Class D airport in Montgomery, Alabama (MGM). During the trip, we went through Class B, Class C, Class D, TRSA, and MOA's controlled by military approach control.
Foot hills. This were the small foot hills that lead to the pass along I-10 enroute to Bermuda Duns (UDD) via Palm Springs. We'll try to get some pictures of the REAL mountains, which we avoided.
Grinning ear to ear. It's a cheezy shot, but I couldn't help smiling the entire trip. What a blast!
Desert landing. This was an off-airport landing in Arizona. They had a few glider ports that were quite large in the area. You can see the cactus in the background, which were quite large.
Apache envy! During one of our fuel stops, a pair of Apache helicopters were coming in for fuel. This was in Texas, and I believe these birds were completing a cross-country training exercise from Ft. Rucker.
Airplane Graveyard. We asked the controllers in Tucson to pass us over to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. They were accomodating and gave us permission to overfly the graveyard, as long as we did NOT do any orbits or loiter around the area. Still, we slowed down to a turtle's pace in order to get some decent shots.
Broken Bombers. Here are a few B-52's hacked into pieces. I suppose most of this was the result of the Salt II treaties (for those of us old enough to remember). They are all laid out for the Russian satellites to look at.
Texas flowers. The Blue Bonnet is the State flower of Texas. Central and Eastern Texas were very green and the blumes were obviously coming out. However, this is Huntsville (the execution capital of America).
Burnett. Nothing special about this place, except they had a really cool compass painted on the Taxiway. There are a few nice lakes near Burnett, as well.
Stiff wind sock. One of the stops we made on our way to Las Cruces, New Mexico. As I mentioned earlier, we had a pretty good tail wind. In the background, you can see the wind sock staying pretty stiff during this refueling stop.
Thumbs up! Notice the Tech Tool doors on this ship? It gave PLENTY of elbow room, and the vents were fabulous. You could direct the airflow right on the back of your kneck. Also, the doors sealed MUCH better than the standard Robinson doors. I HIGHLY recommend Tech-Tool Helicopter Doors!
Fuel stop. This was a Class D airport in Montgomery, Alabama (MGM). During the trip, we went through Class B, Class C, Class D, TRSA, and MOA's controlled by military approach control.
Foot hills. This were the small foot hills that lead to the pass along I-10 enroute to Bermuda Duns (UDD) via Palm Springs. We'll try to get some pictures of the REAL mountains, which we avoided.
Grinning ear to ear. It's a cheezy shot, but I couldn't help smiling the entire trip. What a blast!
Desert landing. This was an off-airport landing in Arizona. They had a few glider ports that were quite large in the area. You can see the cactus in the background, which were quite large.
Apache envy! During one of our fuel stops, a pair of Apache helicopters were coming in for fuel. This was in Texas, and I believe these birds were completing a cross-country training exercise from Ft. Rucker.
Airplane Graveyard. We asked the controllers in Tucson to pass us over to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. They were accomodating and gave us permission to overfly the graveyard, as long as we did NOT do any orbits or loiter around the area. Still, we slowed down to a turtle's pace in order to get some decent shots.
Broken Bombers. Here are a few B-52's hacked into pieces. I suppose most of this was the result of the Salt II treaties (for those of us old enough to remember). They are all laid out for the Russian satellites to look at.
Texas flowers. The Blue Bonnet is the State flower of Texas. Central and Eastern Texas were very green and the blumes were obviously coming out. However, this is Huntsville (the execution capital of America).
Burnett. Nothing special about this place, except they had a really cool compass painted on the Taxiway. There are a few nice lakes near Burnett, as well.
Stiff wind sock. One of the stops we made on our way to Las Cruces, New Mexico. As I mentioned earlier, we had a pretty good tail wind. In the background, you can see the wind sock staying pretty stiff during this refueling stop.
Thumbs up! Notice the Tech Tool doors on this ship? It gave PLENTY of elbow room, and the vents were fabulous. You could direct the airflow right on the back of your kneck. Also, the doors sealed MUCH better than the standard Robinson doors. I HIGHLY recommend Tech-Tool Helicopter Doors!
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Ha! Well, I'm definately no lightweight (as you can see). 
In addition, each of us carried baggage under the seat. I flew with one pair of jeans (the pair I was wearing) and three sets of t-shirts, socks, and underwear. We would wash our clothes every few days wherever we could (many hotels have a laundry room).
We tried to keep things as light as possible, but every little piece adds up. You may think, "oh - this doesn't weigh much." However, if you add all those "little" things up... it can add a LOT to your gross weight. In fact, whenever we finished one section of the U.S., we would discard the AFD (airport facilities directory) for that region!
Before we left California, we packed up every extra item we could think of and shipped it back to Maryland in a box. SkyFocal was using plastic bags underneath his seat for a suitcase, and we would share my bookbag to carry stuff to the hotel. We also had 2 GPS, extra batteries, oil, AFD's, maps, camera, an emergency pack (PLB, signals, etc), and other items.
Although we had the auxillary fuel tank, we only took on enough fuel for about 2 hours of flight... especially when we had high DA conditions. That said, in West Texas, we didn't have a choice but to top off the tanks on one occassion. One of our legs was 2.9 hours until fuel was available. Fortunately, the temperatures aren't that bad in April... especially at altitude. We just made a very gradual take-off and kept the MP pressure within MCP limits.
Surprisingly, I never felt "cramped" in the cockpit. Thank God for those Tech-Tool doors! First, the visibility is obviously better. Secondly, the doors have several latches on the inside, which secure the door tightly (similar to a hatch on a submarine). Finally, these doors are slightly bubbled. That gave plenty of elbow room (not to mention to the directional vents at your head and waist).
With respect to comfort, I suppose my only real complaint would be the stiffness in my knees. After flying for several hours, my knees would ache without being stretched. You have to be careful, but you can raise your legs over the pedals to stretch them out. Just be certain you don't get your pant leg caught on the pedals or anything.
In addition, each of us carried baggage under the seat. I flew with one pair of jeans (the pair I was wearing) and three sets of t-shirts, socks, and underwear. We would wash our clothes every few days wherever we could (many hotels have a laundry room).
We tried to keep things as light as possible, but every little piece adds up. You may think, "oh - this doesn't weigh much." However, if you add all those "little" things up... it can add a LOT to your gross weight. In fact, whenever we finished one section of the U.S., we would discard the AFD (airport facilities directory) for that region!
Before we left California, we packed up every extra item we could think of and shipped it back to Maryland in a box. SkyFocal was using plastic bags underneath his seat for a suitcase, and we would share my bookbag to carry stuff to the hotel. We also had 2 GPS, extra batteries, oil, AFD's, maps, camera, an emergency pack (PLB, signals, etc), and other items.
Although we had the auxillary fuel tank, we only took on enough fuel for about 2 hours of flight... especially when we had high DA conditions. That said, in West Texas, we didn't have a choice but to top off the tanks on one occassion. One of our legs was 2.9 hours until fuel was available. Fortunately, the temperatures aren't that bad in April... especially at altitude. We just made a very gradual take-off and kept the MP pressure within MCP limits.
Surprisingly, I never felt "cramped" in the cockpit. Thank God for those Tech-Tool doors! First, the visibility is obviously better. Secondly, the doors have several latches on the inside, which secure the door tightly (similar to a hatch on a submarine). Finally, these doors are slightly bubbled. That gave plenty of elbow room (not to mention to the directional vents at your head and waist).
With respect to comfort, I suppose my only real complaint would be the stiffness in my knees. After flying for several hours, my knees would ache without being stretched. You have to be careful, but you can raise your legs over the pedals to stretch them out. Just be certain you don't get your pant leg caught on the pedals or anything.
