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 Previous Item - The History of "Splash and Dash Seaplane Delights"
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Dan's trip to Maine (part 1) |
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Jon Ladd - Mar 08,2005
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The Maine Preparations
'Would you mind taking my Searey to Maine?'
'Let me get this straight. You want me to fly your new airplane from Orlando
to Deer Isle, Maine? Your Searey that has less than thirty-five hours on it?
You can't be serious.'
'I am. Paige said you might do it. I have spent so much time in Florida
that I have to get back on the airlines.'
'Paige said I 'might' do it? What a character! Where can I find the keys
and when can I go?'
I suppose I should have been a little cagey about the prospect. After all,
my enthusiasm did reveal me for the amateur I am. A 'professional' pilot
would have delved into the details, all the while maintaining that Chuck
Yeager detached mannerism. It's hard to be professional though when you're
doing a happy dance around the telephone.
It is absolutely no wonder that there is no money to be made in aviation.
There is always some fool who is so in love with flying that they will do
anything for the chance to fly an airplane. Money is not a factor.
There was one complication: Jeff's Searey is a serious airplane. Unlike my
poor barefooted Searey, Jeff's is complete with a fire-breathing, turbo
charged 914 power plant, hydraulic gear and brakes, electric flaps and a
color-moving map. I would never be able to petition this august group for a
hearing if I dinged the airplane without first getting some transition
training.
Fortunately Kerry had told me he had several weeks clear of flying duties.
He intended to catch up on office affairs. Here is my advice for Kerry: try
to adopt a professional attitude about flying. Don't be so willing to drop
everything in the office and head to the airport at the prospect of flying.
You are supposed to be in the money end of this business.
I met Kerry at Sheets airport and he gave me a good briefing on the airplane.
Jon had graciously lent me his Rotax 914 documentation to study so I wasn't
completely baffled by the new engine and its peculiarities. We spent a lot
of time going over the various electrical and hydraulic systems.
Then we went flying. It was hot (95 degrees F) and we were heavy. I'm not
saying how heavy but I thought I heard the airplane groan as we taxied down
the dirt road to the east side of the field.
We went through the preflight checklist, added about 20 degrees of flap, and
launched. We were off the ground in a comfortable time as the road and trees
grew in size. The climb, however, seemed pretty meager for the big engine.
We were only climbing at 300 to 400 feet per minute.
After we cleared the trees and got a couple of hundred feet the climb
improved to 500 or 600 fpm. Kerry explained that the down wash of wind over
the trees always degraded the initial climb. The hot weather didn't help
either. Last fall I flew with Paige in a 914 and it seemed to climb on
rockets in the cooler air.
We got up to 2,000' to check out the stall and slow flight. It was another
reminder about hot and heavy flying. In its clean condition the airplane
stalled at 62 mph IAS (mine shows 55 under the same conditions). With flaps,
we reduced the stall speed to 52 mph at 20 degrees, and down to 48 for full
flaps.
After doing the work we needed to, we headed back to the airport for the
final exam: the landing. Despite the homework I didn't apply the lessons
just learned from stalling. I planned an approach speed just slightly higher
than I'm used to in 220WT. Coming down final I pegged the speed at 70 mph
with flaps. I thought that was a little fast (the benchmark 1.3 times 50 is
65 mph).
It wasn't too fast. There was barely enough energy for the flare. Let's
just say the landing was 'firm.' At least I confirmed that the gear legs
were robust.
There were some adjustments that Kerry made to the airplane to check a right
turning tendency. He had previously adjusted the flaps. This time he played
with the wing wires to modify the angle of attack (he tightened one and
loosened the other). He showed me the relative angles could be inspected by
squatting at the tail and looking at the lower wing surface. You should be
able to see both equally.
Kerry then ferried the airplane to X61, my point of departure. I brought him
back to Sheets in the Husky. After the experience in the Searey I was
committed to showing Kerry that I could make a good landing.
Don't even ask. I kept the speed too high, didn't apply full back elevator
on landing, and ended up bouncing down the runway. 'Crap!' I thought.
'Kerry is sure to call Jeff and tell him to get a qualified pilot to fly his
airplane to Maine.' I guess the call didn't get through. Of course I did
get out of town early the next morning.
There were some technicalities to take care of before departure. Jeff and I
have the same insurance company. He was told it would cost an additional
$300 to cover us for the flight. Maybe Kerry called the insurance company
and warned them.
There was also much packing to be done. Jeff's airplane may have been fully
equipped at the factory, but it didn't have all the paraphernalia I'm used
to. Here's a partial listing of all the equipment I had to scavenge:
Inflatable PFD (for those long swims to shore)
Cell phone in watertight bag (to call Jeff and explain why his airplane
is wet)
An anchor (in case the airplane remains afloat)
Ropes and tie-downs (in case I make it to shore)
Marine band radio (to talk to the Coast Guard)
CB radio (to talk to my fishing buddies)
Medical kit (for mosquito bites)
Signaling devices (in case there are any good looking girls in the rescue
boat)
Sunglasses (see above)
Emergency supplies (in case I get hungry while treading water)
Flashlight (to look for all the stuff that falls into the bilge)
Empty fuel tank (for those long treks to the marina)
Fire extinguisher (it is a fire-breathing engine)
Diving knife (in case of croc attack)
Tool kit (it's a macho thing)
Maps (in case the GPS quits)
Aussie Flight Manual (because no one else has one)
Training Syllabus (to irritate Frank Gracy)
AOPA Airport Guide (to find all the really good airport restaurants)
Swim suit (someone put this on my checklist...I don't know why)
Sunscreen (for fair weather flying)
Bug repellent (I've heard about those vicious Maine black flies)
Pads for Searey seats (I have a sensitive butt)
Camera (to collect exculpatory evidence when necessary)
Noise canceling headset (so I don't have to listen to all of the
airplane's groans)
Spare batteries (for all the toys)
Laptop Computer (don't leave home without it)
Searey cap (to maintain a cool head)
Clothes (yes, these are required even for Searey trips).
It's amazing how much will fit in one of these little airplanes.
There were a few maintenance items to take care of too. The airplane hadn't
seen any grease (I refuse to deliver an airplane that's cleaner than mine).
The drains for the carbs did not have a hose attached (they drained directly
onto the 1500 degree F turbo charger).
The big thing was changing the oil. I figured it would be a good thing to do
before leaving on an extended flight. The thing I didn't figure on was a
compulsion to read the maintenance manual for the 914. It should be the same
procedure as draining the oil in my model 912, and no real man reads manuals,
but it was Jeff's airplane.
Things were looking good until I got to the part in the manual that said;
'Use 4-cycle motorcycle oil with gear additives.' 'What the heck is this?' I
thought. I guess I should have explained that I read the manual AFTER
filling the engine with 20W50 Valvoline Blended Automobile oil.
A frantic call to Kerry found him baffled by the reference too: 'Everybody
uses automotive oil. I've never heard of using motorcycle oil.'
'What the heck. It's Jeff's airplane. He can change it when I get there.'
There was one last modification to make. The gear switch sits, unguarded,
right next to the two fuel pump switches. The switches are identical. I
could just see myself getting confused and turning off the fuel pump while
raising the landing gear just after landing at an airport. I put a piece of
tape on the gear switch to make it different from the rest.
The only thing left to do was get some good weather. The weather channel
promised that for Wednesday.
Copyright 2000 Dan Nickens
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