FlyingMonkey Posted October 3 Report Share Posted October 3 Me (in my CT) and my friend Kip (in his Waiex) just completed a nine day flying vacation out West. We planned to make it out to Catalina Island, but due to weather we had to leave two days later than planned and had to cut that part of the trip. We spent a lot of time in New Mexico and Arizona, touring around. Kip has a sister in Phoenix, so he spent a couple of days there while I went north to Cottonwood and visited a friend there. It was a blast and I logged about 34hrs of flight time and 4180 statute miles. As an aside, we had a special ADS-B guest appearance south of Tucson by N43CT, which I believe is one of Eric Swisher's CTs. Here's a 4k video of a formation flight with Kip's Waiex just outside of the Lake Powell wilderness area: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted October 3 Author Report Share Posted October 3 Oh I forgot to mention...both airplanes performed perfectly. We had zero mechanical issues, which is kind of rare for two airplanes over such a long trip...you usually have a dead battery, broken exhaust spring...something. The worse we had was Kip's airplane was putting a lot of oil on his belly, but he quickly figured out the oil separator attached to his crankcase vent was full and pushing out oil. Once he drained it the problem went away. My engine is past mid-time at about 1200hr TT, and Kip's engine is a new Jabiru 3300 with less than 50hrs on it (he replaced his previous 3300 at 1100hrs). I would have expected that between an older and a new engine something would have cropped up, but nothing did. I have continuing respect for how reliable the CT is when maintained well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted October 3 Author Report Share Posted October 3 Here's another video from the trip, landing at a friend's 5000ft dirt strip in southern New Mexico. I've landed on a lot of grass, but this was the first time on bare dirt. Luckily the surface we very well packed and it was a non-event. I floated forever though even though I was on speed, I think it was getting late enough that the rising heat coming off the ground just kept me airborne for a long time. Kip's airplane has even smaller wheels than the CT and a tiny tailwheel, so I had to recon the surface for him. He was able to land just fine too. Some photos: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towner Posted October 3 Report Share Posted October 3 That sounds like a blast. Sorry you didn’t make Catalina because it’s a fun airport to fly into. Still sounds like a blast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Koerner Posted October 5 Report Share Posted October 5 ...but the landing fee at Catalina is $38. It looked like you were going to scape the Waiex off on that last butte before he got wise to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrassStripFlyBoy Posted October 5 Report Share Posted October 5 Nice adventure, there sure is some beautiful landscape in the desert SW. One of these years I look to make it out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airhound Posted October 5 Report Share Posted October 5 Good Show! Congratulations!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted October 7 Author Report Share Posted October 7 On 10/5/2024 at 2:23 AM, Mike Koerner said: ...but the landing fee at Catalina is $38. It looked like you were going to scape the Waiex off on that last butte before he got wise to you. $38 landing fee was a drop in the bucket for what the trip cost! We were in constant contact and planned the low pass over the butte. Do you mind removing the airstrip identifer from your post? I purposely didn't list it because the owner is a friend and quite private and probably doesn't want it published. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted October 7 Author Report Share Posted October 7 On 10/5/2024 at 6:34 AM, GrassStripFlyBoy said: Nice adventure, there sure is some beautiful landscape in the desert SW. One of these years I look to make it out there. You need to do it for sure. It's amazing and you can find a lot of areas where you can fly for many miles and never see a person, vehicle, tower, wire, etc. Just great if you like flying low. And the terrain can't be beat. I'm looking to relocate out that way in the next 1-3 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Koerner Posted October 7 Report Share Posted October 7 Done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted October 7 Author Report Share Posted October 7 13 minutes ago, Mike Koerner said: Done Thanks Mike! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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