I returned to Chino at 8 am to start work on the plane.  It turned out to be an easy swap out as the rims were not damage and I had all the necessary tools on hand.

After about an hour the new tires were installed, I found the breaks need to be replaced (no big deal)

and Pat and I jumped into the plane for a quick flight around the pattern to check everything out.

After returning back to Fullerton, we went to a very lovely street where apparently a number of films had been made,

Pat’s hangar mates were fascinated by the exhaust educators.  I told Torg that the educators seemed to really work.  I had not used in in Colorado Springs (leaving Burrall’s place) and the cylinders temps went up to over 450 f in just the time it took to taxi from his hangar to the runway (about 10 minutes).  As soon as I took off, I needed to quickly cool down the engine.

He also liked the wing blends.  I feel they do reduce drag, but am not as sure about the upper part of the winglet.  Hey they do look cool though.

Pat and I decided not to fly together today.  He was really tired, and so was I.    Tomorrow he will attempt to solo.

Today, Pat and I met at the airport for our first flight together.  We decided to fly 30 minutes down to  Chula Vista (outskirts of San Diego) and then up to Chino for practice .

The flight along the coast was just beautiful as always.  This is Laguna Beach where I had just been the last night to see Tony (best friend from CHS) and his grand children.  Strangely he was in LA at the same time I am.  Hopefully he can help me disassemble the plane on Monday.

We needed to stop by Trio to exchange the loaner auto pilot with Pats A/P which needed a software upgrade.

Today was another lucky day for me as Jerry had purchased a GM Volt (serial hybrid electric car).  When he asked me if I wanted top drive I enthusiastically said …” Hell ya”  How’s that for a bubba yell.  He only drives locally and told me he hasn’t put gas in the car in 10 months (since Jan)

Gillespie Field (KSEE) has a great little cafe on the field for us to grab a bite to eat, talk planes and watch take offs and landing.  What a great place!

Sid showed me a really cool little camera/display he installed in the headrest of  his beautiful EZ.  The camera is mounted over his shoulder so the back seat passenger can see the instrument panel  What  great idea.  One could fly from the back and practice IFR work seeing all the important instruments.

In front of the trio hanger, the canard came off, and the upgraded auto pilot was installed and programed.  It is now working very well and exhibiting none of the strange tendencies it had before do to the incorrect installed software.  I had been using it and it was programed with very old beta software.  Once the production software was in, all is well.

After Trio Pat and I flew up to Chino to practice touch and goes with Pat flying from the back seat.  On one of the last landings there (of coarse) we blew out the starboard main tire.  Shit…..  apparently it was extremely worn which might be due to heavy use of the breaks.   Normally I get one to 1.5 years out of a set of tires.  This set lasted for 5 months.  The tire ripped the wheel faring off, which wasn’t a big deal because it was going to be replaced anyway.  Crap, what now.

Pat made some phone calls to secure new tires and we waited for what seem like an eternity for help to show up (the FBO ground crew) to help tow the plane to the hangar area.  Fortunately, the airport was not busy  so sitting on a taxi way didn’t cause any problems.

As the sun was setting, the crew finally showed up and the had a wheel dolly…. Ya!

Lets get started hauling this thing out of here

Whats wrong with this picture.  Pat is setting in the truck, and I am walking/running with the plane for half a mile or so trying to guide it to keep the plane directly behind the tow truck.    I guess I need the exercise anyway.

As we wait for Pat’s buddy to show up to drive us 45 minutes back to Fullerton airport it started getting really dark and  cold.  There is something to be said about dressing appropreately in case something should happen.

Once again another lesson on this  learned on this trip..

Today was a LONG day with Pat at his dental practice. 5.5 hrs sitting in the chair. Pat is an excellent dentist and he put on the crowns which were made the last time I saw him. I was wasted after that and just went back to the hotel and crashed….

I am staying at a Best Western here. At first glance, I thought it would be a piece of crap. Actually it was quite nice and comfortable and very clean. Wifi and breakfast…ya! All the essentials for a nice stay.

After a wonderful night at Tim and Karen’s house, it was time to say good bye to my new friends.

I really like the way their house is decorated. Rich colors, lots of unique art, simple and uncluttered.

Tim took me for a quick drive around Tehachipi where I spotted another mural on the side of a building. What a cool little town. Every one seems to be into aviation around here due to all the aerospace companies which help support the town.

My next stop was to see Klaus in Santa Paula to exchange his loaner electronic ignition for the repaired one. Tim mentioned the local bakery was excellent so I thought I would pick up a peace offering to give to the great Klaus to keep him from beating me up too bad when I saw him for burning up his boxes. They had some german specialties which I though would be good.

Tehachapi is an excellent location for wind generation and there were thousands of them on the hill sides. What an great way to generate electricity. These pictures show only a small fraction of what covered the hill sides.

One of the things I really love with the GTR EFIS is the traffic/weather display (from the ADS-B receiver) and the synthetic vision (shows computer generated terrain). This unit has so many cool features I HAVE to install one in my plane…I am addicted to the situation awareness I get from it. Flying around the west coast is vastly different from the east coast. There are mountains, hills, valleys everywhere. A bit unnerving at times. I really found the synthetic vision helpful when flying up a valley to get to the Tehachapi airport. I am so used to flat country having the extra information from the GRT in the cockpit is very helpful.

After a short 20 minute flight, I arrived in Santa Paula. It is a small airport in a tight valley with a very short strip, sort of unusual as there are no real taxi ways. Just a big wide strip of asphalt with painted lines which separates the runway area from the taxi /parking area. This airport is tight and small.

Klaus met me at his hangar/workshop. I really like this picture as it looks like he just had a beer in the mug and is quite happy (maybe it was the apple strudel I brought). Actually the mug is the one he kindly served me water in. We had a great time chatting about Germany and flying. What a cool guy and we had a lot in common with our love of vinyl records, home built speakers and planes. After showing me his work shop and demonstrating his ignitions to me on the test stand, I am definitely buying them for my I0-540 which will go into my Cozy 4 Ultimate.

After quickly replacing his loaner ignition Klaus offered to fly with me in the new LongEZ he is refining. The plane weighs in at 900 lbs with a 0-360 in it with his custom electronic fuel injection. Talk about fast!!!! When we took off (he was first) and I couldn’t believe how quick it was. As fast as this bird is, he just disappeared like he engaged a warp drive. A little while later, he appeared next to me for some photo shots.

Klaus pulled it in so close to my wing, I though we would touch. He is certainly an excellent formation flier. After a few minutes of flying off the coast, Kluas bid goodbye, throttled up, and just pulled away from me in a climb. I was doing 160 kts and left me like I would flying next to a 150 Cessna. Wow…. I am impressed!

Another quick flight to Whiteman airport to meet up with Steven Crouch to chat awhile. It was funny, the Santa Anna winds were blowing and it was over 100 degrees (with no humidity). I had no idea it was so hot, as I had no sweat on me (evaporating) and it just felt dry. These locals don’t know real South Carolina heat with all the humidity thrown in.

After leaving Whiteman, it was a another quick flight to Fullerton (KFUL) for to bring the plane home. Pat showed up after work to take his first quick look at it and off we went to get the rental car as it was getting dark.

I am finally here….

After a short but great visit with Charles, we had breakfast and headed out to the airport. My next stop is Tehachapi which is about 1.1 hrs (direct), but I elected to fly along the coast if possible which added about 40 minutes to the flight.

The weather didn’t burn off until almost 11 am and after a short flight to the coast to Monterey and I found it to be still shrouded in sea fog. Only a few towers on the coast could be seen.

After flying inland for 30 minutes I tried once again to headfor the coast near San Lousi Obispo and was able to take some nice shots of the shore line at 2500 ft.

After just a few miles it was necessary to head due east to for the 30 min flight inland to Tehachapi. As I was flying inland, it occurred to me I was finally starting to feel comfortable in the plane. I think it takes about a hundred hours of so with a new plane to finally start to trust it and understand its’ particular quirks and personality. Every time I rebuild mine or build a new project, I am alway nervous for a quite a while. This bird is nice…

Tim Lumpp met me at the airport and when he opened the hangar it looked like a museum with planes hanging in the ceiling. I had read about plane lifts but never saw one. It was amazing to park the bird under two other planes.

Tim gave me a quick tour of the area and I was just blown away at how beautiful it was. I had only been to the Mohave Desert where Scaled Composites is based which is where Tim and Marc work. I thought they were crazy for working in such a desolate place. Tehachapi is about 2000 ft above the desert floor and has its own micro climate. It is just beautiful here.

This is the locally famous train loop. The grade is too steep for the trains so it enters the loop via a tunnel and loops around on itself to gain elevation before it heads over the pass. Very cool

Tim’s wife, Karen, cooked a fantastic dinner for Marc, Deanie and I and we chatted for a few hours. It always amazes me how warm and giving the pilots in our canard community are. I feel really lucky to be involved in such a great sport which had given me a chance to travel, see wonderful sights and make new friends.

>

Nick, Tim and Marc

I woke up this morning, looked outside and it was sever clear!! Woohoo, I can deal with sunscreen instead of ice on the next leg of my trip to Truckee CA (Lake Tahoe). After a wonderful visit in Salt Lake City with Ric Lee and Shari. It’s is off to the next adventure.

After passing the great Salt Lake, I climbed to 12,000 ft for the 2.6 hr trip to Truckee. The air was really smooth, and I trued out at about 190 kts at 6.8 gph. This bird is sweet!

The higher mountains had a nice cap of snow and were quite stunning!

It was interesting to see this lake from the air. A few years back I went skiing at Mammoth Ski Area, outside of Reno an was on a 3 hr bus ride to the ski area when we passed this lake. How cool it was to see it from the air.

In only a few minutes, I passed over Reno, the on to my destination.

Truckee airport is located in a valley at 5,900 ft. After passing over Reno on an IFR flight plan at 11,000 ft, and clearing the mountains I had to do a somewhat quick decent in to the airport. The gal in my GPS kept screaming, “PULL UP….PULL UP” , “TERRAIN, PULL UP” in the headsets. I was a bit too busy to shut her up… boy she can get annoying! After landing I could really take in the beauty of the airport. Nice in the summer time, but last year they received 800″ of snow. Yikes!

Tim Loloche met me at the airport and since he needed to check on his season ski pass at the one of the 8 local ski area, we had a pizza for lunch. This is a very cool roller skating ring in the summer which is coverted to an ice skating rink in the winter.

The quick tour around Lake Tahoe was incredibly beautiful. Crystal blue water, snow capped mountains. What a stunning place to live!

After checking out the lake Tim drove me over to Squaw Valley ski area where they had the winter olympics ?? years ago. What a beautiful venue!

Off to Pianeta italian restaurant for a terrific dinner with a new friend.

Tomorrow it will be wheels up around 10 am (after the fog dissipates) for a 1 hr trip to San Francisco. I only have about 3 hours left flying the bird before I reach my final destination in LA. I’ll miss her.

This morning, after a couple of cups of cappuccino, I check the weather and it was still raining with heavy overcast. After my experience yesterday, there was no way in hell I am heading to Truckee California (about 2.5 hrs) over the mountains again at 13,000 ft. Ric said… STAY. Didnt take a lot of arm twisting to convince me.

After breakfast, Ric said, “I am taking the dog for a walk wanna come?” At first I said no, then thought about it and decided to go…. I need some exercise. I thought he was just going around the block.

but Ric had a great nature trail near his house and off we went.

A good hike was just what I needed. I really enjoyed walking in the wood, and seeing the mountains in the background.

Whats wrong with this picture? Talk about higher education! I bet this doe-doe gets a lot of takers……

We headed off the the airport and after checking the the bird out in the corporate hanger, we found all is well,

Its off to the Ric’s hangar to check out his Berkut. What a nice airplane and the workmanship was impeccable. I cant wait to see this oversized LongEZ with 260 six cylinder horse power take off…. It is going to be a rocket ship!

This airport is a hot bed of experimental aircraft… this one is a winner at the Reno Air Races. It only has 100 hp and can race at 175 mph and can turn at 12 G’s. The neat thing is it has wood wings and was designed in the 1950’s. How cool is that?

Ric asked if I wished to go up for a quick flight in his Kapana C1 airplane and I enthusiastically said yes. What a beautiful bird…. slow and sweet.

We flew around the mountains to the valley on the others side and over the great Salt Lake.

Another beautiful western sunset and it off for some sushi and to get ready for the next leg of my adventure….

Today was the beginning of the rest of my trip. After staying with Lee and Terry, it was time me to test the electronic ignition to see if replacing the terminal with a wire would really and permanently fix the ignition problem.

After saying good by to my fantastic hosts, it was time to take the bird up for a test flight.

Lee and I took off and headed south, Lee was heading to his job in Denver so I thought I would take a quick picture of him silhouetted against the Rocky Mountains.

I flew for about 30 minutes, landed and checked the bird out and headed northwest toward Salt Lake City.

Tho country was breath taking from the air and quite desolate too.

Somewhere about 1.5 hrs (of a 3.4 hr trip), I started encountering high clouds (not shown on any weather predictions) and since the outside air temp was about 24F I knew I had might start to develop icing. I was given a block altitude of 12,000-17,000 ft, and started climbing. Eventually everything went IFR which wasnt good.

Shit, I started picking up icing on the air frame, which in any airplane is not good and especially bad for a canard. Here you might be able to the ice on the front canopy which means ice on the wings too.

Whenever I had a chance to see the country side (less and less frequent) through the sucker holes, it was beautiful.

After what seemed an eternity of being in the clouds feeling the plane get heavier with ice, I finally cleared the mountains to the west of SLC, made an immediate decent into warmer air of the valley to divert to the closest available airport (Ogden, UT) to check the plane out. As soon as the air warmed up, the ice started coming off in sheets from the canard and windshield and finally the plane started picking up speed and returning to normal.

In this picture I was trying to show what remained of the buildup of ice on the wings… about 1/2″ remained on the leading edge of the main wing. Most of the ice on the canard had already sheeted of and went through the prop.

I have had a few incidents of ice on the plane, so this was not the first time this has happened to me. Since then, I make it a point of completely avoiding icing conditions. Period. I never fly into conditions where icing is possible. Sometime there is no way to know what is in front of you from the available weather information, nothing below you where you can land, cant go back so you must go forward. Thinking back, I should have been able to completely clear the clouds at about 18 or 19,000 ft, and should have just kept climbing… oh, well hind site, another lesson learned….

After checking the bird over and a quick call to Rick, I flew about a 25 min VFR fight from just above SLC down to his airport just south of the city. Parked the bird in a big hanger and it off to lunch….

This is another adventure, I don’t care to repeat……

Headed out to the airport to keep busy as I was waiting for the second new ignition system to be delivered. I wanted to balance the prop as there seems to be a little more vibration than I really wanted to see in the plane.

Don had a set of saw horses, some builder squares and a steel pipe. Ah, I could put the pieces together to make a prop balancer. Just call me McGuiver.

After finishing off the prop, I headed home for some lunch and found a nice surprise, the ignition system. Great! A bite to eat and back to the airport in my rental car to install the new system.

Earlier this morning Lee had to go down to Denver for some work and elected to drive his car instead of flying. I thought whats the big deal. As long as the winds are coming straight down the runway, it would be ok.. Boy was I wrong. After lunch the wind was 28 gusts to 38 and Lee was seeing winds of 49 kts in Denver.

I have been on the outskirts of many hurricanes in Charleston and the winds didn’t seem this bad. The dust was horrible. I ended up plugging the inlet of engine to prevent sand and grit from getting into it as I was working away at the plane. I thought this kind of driving sand must be what it is like in Afghanistan or Iraq. Grit in your teeth. Look how the wind sock is flight straight out!

When I finished with the bird, I had to vacuum it out to get all the dirt and grass out of it. Nothing was flying. As much as I wanted to take the bird up, it was a no go.

I ended up just starting the engine when the winds died down, all seems well and the ignition system was not overheating when I checked it. I think the problems are solved with the plane and I’ll test fly her tomorrow morning.

Now I am faced with a new issue. My buddy Ric Lee said there is a blizzard occurring in Salt Lake City and was asking if there was any snow here. I checked the weather and it may snow here tomorrow. Crap. Lee wants me to stay as long as I need to to be safe. It looks like saturday may be a good day to leave, and I can always fly south if I need to. I don’t need to be in LA until next Wednesday so all is good….

Today was a total disappointment for me.

Lee and I headed out to the airport about 10 am to get started on the plane with the new Lightspeed ignition system.

It didn’t take long at all to install it, the plane started and tested fine so I took it up for a short test flight. Boy, am I glad I did!

The bird ran great, I was doing 189 kts in downwind, the autopilot was working better than ever and everything seem to be 100%.

I shut it down and noticed a strange yet familiar smell which I thought it MUST be due to all the paving work going on at the airport, but I was a bit concerned. When I started the plane up again, sure enough I found the NEW ignition system had also stopped working too…. shit what now.

Off goes the cowls, out comes the ignition module, off comes the cover and I found it had burned out in almost exactly the same place as the first one. This time a TINY little $0.10 resistor. Hum, this is a trend which hopefully will point to a cause.

Up to this the point I have put 40 hrs on the bird with no problems at all so I knew it had to be something really out of the ordinary….

I called Lightspeed up again, REALLY apprehensive about talking to Klaus about burning up his brand new loaner unit, steeling myself for a major butt chewing. I must say, Klaus dropped what he was doing, and with the new information helped me diagnose the probable cause without getting on my case at all. He was very helpful and concerned! A pleasant surprise.

We think the failures was due to a bad ground. Sure enough I found one of the push on connectors was not TIGHTLY gripping the post so it may have forced the unit to find an alternative ground though the case, into the firewall and ?? He feels the bad grounding is the cause and was willing to ship another new unit out to me install. Wow, that was easier than I expected.

This tiny 1/4″ push on connector caused all my problems.

After going to the local Avionics shop, I was able to secure some supplies and rewire the ground per Klaus’s recommendations. The plane is now ready to be put back together after the new module arrives tomorrow at ????

Lee and I grabbed the module and head home

Time for a nice italian dinner, and a quite relaxing, evening at his place.

The plan now is to balance the prop tomorrow while waiting for the FEDEX and test fly again. This time I am going to stay up for an hour or so make sure all is well. Lee has to work, so I’ll be at the airport keeping Don company.

If all goes well, I hope to continue my trip to Salt Lake City on Friday…..