Monday, April 16, 2007
In Deep Water: Flying w/Paul Furnee
This morning, I skipped out on the briefing for flying to Sun
'n Fun, in favor of getting some instruction time on heavier seas.
The extreme wind of yesterday had died to a dull roar of 12
knots, gusting to 18 this morning, so I took off from Bartow, and picked up Paul
Furnee at Winter Haven before setting out to try my hand at waves of 12" and
more.
Let me say that--to this newbie's glance--winter in the North
Atlantic would have had nothing on the waves on the leeward side of Lake Mattie
at 9 AM today. Paul showed me a technique of flying low (5 feet or less) over
the waves to gauge their character. It took me quite a while to get comfortable
with them, landing in a full stall to minimize the pounding. It's particularly
"interesting" (in the sense that narrowly avoiding being run over in the street
is interesting) when you get a particularly large wave to kick you up, just as
you're losing flying speed.
After getting a handle on that, we headed to a couple of other
nearby lakes to work on some other methods of dealing with higher winds; landing
in the lee of the shore, landing cross-wind at the windward end of the lake,
etc.
What impressed me most was how much the character of the waves
would vary from lake to lake, exposed to exactly the same wind. I guess it's
things like the treeline, nearby topography, shore obstructions, lake depth,
shore shape, etc. that make the difference, but one lake can have irregular
heavy rollers and rogue waves while a nearby lake of similar size might show
only a regular, moderate chop. It's the former that makes for an exciting ride;
especially on takeoff with water sloshing across the windscreen, blocking your
view of the next wave, not to mention anyone else dumb enough to be out on such
a day.
Eventually, I was pretty comfortable, and--more
importantly--had a good handle on what is my personal limit at this point in my
learning. As time passes and I gain experience, I'm sure I'll be more willing to
try challenging conditions, but for now--when it's past my capabilities--I'll
stay on the ground or find a suitable airport.
When we returned, I guess I had impressed Paul enough that he
signed me off in my logbook for water operations for insurance, so I'm good to
go when Barb gets down here Thursday.
Maintenance sessions with Harry Shannon,
or "Lessons in Hydraulic Accumulators and Other Mysteries"
 When
I returned to Bartow, the maintenance sessions at Amphibians Plus were already
under way. Harry Shannon's Amphibians Plus, (like Paul Furnee's Aircraft
Innovation,) is one of the world's foremost shops specializing in Lake
Amphibians. Both facilities are unparalleled experts in the Lake, but their
principals also have very different personalities.
Harry, I think, has a little showman in him. (The moustache is
a dead giveaway.) He puts on an excellent presentation. I'd expect he'd be a
good actor or maybe public speaker if he weren't so good at what he does
already. At his hangar at Bartow, Harry had several different demonstrations set
up, including one on changing spark plugs (I think...I didn't see this),
bleeding brakes, re-bending misshapen canopies back into shape, and--the best,
in my opinion--the mysterious Lake hydraulic accumulator.
When I arrived several days ago, Paul Furnee had helped me fix
a number of minor glitches on our aircraft, one of which was that the hydraulic
accumulator apparently was not correctly pre-charged with nitrogen. Paul
explained to me how it worked, and I sort of got it, but Harry had a very
thorough demonstration, complete with visual aids(!) that de-mystified it for at
least the 20 or more rapt attendees.
 I
had hoped to use my digital voice recorder to post a recording of his
demonstration--I asked Harry to slip it in his pocket while he talked--but I got
there late, the sound quality wasn't good, and--frankly--it's hard to figure out
what's happening without seeing him while he's doing it, so the recording isn't
worth posting.
Suffice it to say that--if your hydraulic system drops in
pressure rapidly (overnight with no action, or in just a second or two when
operating flaps or gear), or cycles often (every time you move the flaps), it
could very well be that your accumulator needs pre-charging (a fairly simple
fix.)
 Also,
I should mention that the luncheon put on by Amphibians Plus was fantastic,
particularly the chili, which was homemade by Harry's wife Cathy (left, with
Crystal from Amphibians Plus, Harry and Cathy's future daughter in law.) The
chili took 20 lbs of ground sirloin, Cathy said!
Amphibs Plus also sponsored the daily continental breakfasts,
and co-sponsored the opening banquet.
Thanks so much, you guys! It was both terrific and
appreciated...
Prop: Good to go
 While
at Harry's place, I had N8012D's Hartzell propellor eddy current tested, per the
recent FAA Airworthiness Directive.
Marc Rodstein had arranged a package deal for anyone needing
an inspection. I don't know the final cost, but it should be far less than the
individual cost of around $200 being charged by many shops.
The actual procedure is less impressive than you might think.
The technician moves a small probe over the surface of the propellor hub, and
observes a display on a black box attached to the probe. (Technical explanation,
huh?) When he's done, you find out if you're OK or soon to be much poorer.
We're OK.
More practice
 In
the afternoon, the wind had calmed a bit more, so I headed south this time to
explore more lakes in central Florida. Paul Furnee told me about a lakeside
restaurant in Sebring, FL. I set out to find it.
Eventually, I found the lake (Lake Jackson), as well as the
restaurant (Don Jose, N27 29.152 W81 28.754), a nice Mexican place with a
screened veranda overlooking the lake, a pier, and an nice wide beach to the
right of the pier (as seen from the water.)
As with many Florida lakes, the water level was a low, so I
grounded upon the sand about 100 feet from shore, in 12-15 inch water. No
problem, but a new situation for me. After a phone consultation with Paul F., I
dropped the gear part way to the sandy bottom, and also tied out an anchor. I
(No sense taking a chance on swimming after a wayward airplane in the wind.)
Then I waded in (too cold for shorts today, so instead I got my jeans wet and
was probably just as cold.)
 At
the restaurant, I met two guys (left), Fred Brown, a former Seabee pilot and
retired corporate pilot from Findlay, OH, and Don Adams, another pilot, from
Fort Wayne, IN and Sebring, FL. Both own homebuilts, but had driven down in an
RV for Sun 'n Fun.
They thought I might be having trouble...guess my newness
still shows.
Sebring race course
Being so close to the famed Sebring endurance motor racing
course, I couldn't resist seeing it from the air...and it turns out it's
actually on the grounds of the Sebring airport (SEF, N27 27.403 W81 20.520), an
old military base.
 I
took a photo, and made a touch-and-go on the original runway (jeez, they made
them wide back then...it felt like landing on a stadium parking lot. Plays games
with your depth perception.) Then it was back to Winter Haven (many water
landings later), where I'm having Paul install vortex generators--doesn't that
sound like something from Star Wars? "Luke, engage the vortex generators!" --in
the next day or two.
Tips and Tricks
 Back
at the Holiday Inn, I spent some time in the pool and then the bar, where I ran
into several fellow Lakers who were swapping tips and tricks.
Here are a few. I can't vouch for the effectiveness, safety,
wisdom or even logic of any:
 -
Myron Mitchell re-drew a diagram he had shown me some days ago of a way he says
you can moor a Lake at a dock, using 4 lines, and never having the plane hit the
dock once secured. Here is the actual "back of the napkin." (Tom Jadico and
Myron Mitchell, left.)
- He also sketched for me a nose wheel dolly, made of 3/4"
plywood, with a rectangle cut out of the middle, and 4 good sized casters.
(Another napkin sketch:)
 -
A water takeoff technique in which, for the first short segment of the maneuver,
the yoke is actually held FORWARD (!?) of neutral by an inch or two, and then
pulled back as the nose rises, somehow causing the entire aircraft to lift out
of the water more rapidly and get on the step. (If you're slow on the pull back,
you get to pretend you're a submarine!)
The greatest value to me of my first Lakeathon has been--by
far--the many "tricks of the trade" communicated by both the experts and other
Lake pilots. I can easily say that the things I have learned have saved me well
over the cost of the entire trip multiple times over.
General Aviation under attack
Yesterday, Paul Furnee made the point that general aviation is
under serious threat by the current proposals in Congress to institute user fees
and--in some ways far more importantly--change the way funds are controlled for
GA airports and services.
Another friend of mine, Rob Mark (he flies corporate jets; not
as cool as a Lake, maybe, but he's still pretty dang cool) is an aviation writer
and publicist. He contacted me today about a piece he was writing for
www.jetwhine.com, pertaining to local airports and the need to get involved in
preserving our excellent national system of smaller aviation facilities. (Read
Rob's column by clicking here.)
It's just astounding to me that the U.S. can somehow be
spending more than a billion dollars a week in Iraq, but can't seem to find a
few weeks worth of that money to maintain, preserve, and improve our GA
airports. Instead, the airlines appear to be making a concerted push to raise
fees for GA, cut spending on GA airports, and to wrest control from the FAA to
their own private contractors for managing the aviation system.
Frankly, I can't see why it's such a big deal to them--there
is no competitive advantage to any one airline for making the change, and the
high competition in the industry will likely drive out any profit from the cost
savings in the form of slightly lowered fares.
That is, unless the reason isn't to save costs, but to reduce
competition. You see, when the airlines have excess competition, they tend to
have to lower prices to the point where all airlines lose (lots of ) money. This
happens until somebody goes out of business, or the economy and air travel pick
up and the competition decreases. When that happens, (see recent news stories
about the coming air travel crunch this summer), airlines raise fares and make
money fast. That's the reason that the airline business is such a boom or bust
venture.
So why should they care about GA airports as competition?
What's the single most revolutionary change in aviation in
recent years? (I mean, after GPS.)
The introduction of the "personal jet" or Very Light Jet (VLJ)
like the Eclipse Jet and the Cessna Mustang.
These aircraft, the first of which were certified just last
year, are still pretty expensive ($1-2 million), but are getting to the point
where even medium sized businesses can own them. More importantly, some
companies are planning to use them to fly point-to-point, per-seat taxi services
at fares not much more than airline first-class fares. (In other words,
competing for the airlines' most profitable customers.)
The situation is not unlike when the transition took place in
the U.S. from trains and buses to personal automobiles.
All of a sudden, instead of having to sit in a crowded bus or
train station, climb aboard a packed aluminum conveyance with dozens of
strangers, be carried to multiple intermediate stops, and finally disgorged at a
terminal far from your ultimate destination, you were able to leave from a
parking location close to your home, travel in privacy directly to your ultimate
destination, and park close by.
No wonder trains and buses are practically extinct. Could the
same thing be poised to happen to airlines (read: aerial bus companies)? At
first it was only the more wealthy who could afford autos (personal jets). But
eventually, the production volumes rose, the reliability and safety improved,
and the costs came down to the point where the middle classes could afford it.
So, think about it. If you were an (aerial) bus company, what
would you do? You'd try to eliminate the roads (airways), access ramps
(airports), and parking facilities (tarmac) for individual (aerial) auto owners,
so they'd have to wait in your lines instead.
How would you do that? You'd attempt to cut off funding for it
from Washington. And you'd do it by playing the "rich elite" card, before the
rest of the population realized that this new development would help them too.
Could I be wrong? Maybe. But even if I am, the result is
likely to be the same: less access to the air for individuals.
So I suggest we do something about it.
NOW.
Contact your U.S. representative and senators, and tell them
to oppose changes to the historically-successful system for funding the best
aviation system on the planet.
It really does make a difference for them to hear from you,
and if ever a difference were needed, it's now.
Monday, April 16, 2007
....after a snack lakeside.
SGW (sent from aloft)
1 comments:
J Levy said...
Steve, great blog! keep it up, good reads here.. some of your
pics are worthy for posting on www.airliners.net
-Josh
April 20, 2007 1:59 PM
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