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 Previous Item - NAV-A-GATOR
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Flying the LSX from Oshkosh 09 back to FL |
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Jim Ratte - Aug 07,2009
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I haven't been on the tech site much lately, having just spent the past 6 weeks moving my business onto a local airport. Been on a list for 11 years (at 5 airports) and my name finally came up  <br /><br />Some of you know me, and of course some others don't. I am a Searey dealer, so yeah, I may be a bit biased here - but I am a pilot first! This is my impressions / experience with flying the LSX for 15+ hours across the U.S. recently:<br /><br />A week prior to Oshkosh Kerry at PA phoned and asked if I would be willing to fly the Searey LSX back to FL after the show. I cannot say I jumped at the chance, as I don't often fly long x-country much. I've flown Searey's for 9 years, have assisted in completing 24 Searey's to date, and have flown probably in the neighborhood of 40-50 Rey's (yes Eric, your test flight is next!). My Rey flying experience typically is test flights, demos, and transition training - so I don't stray too far from home very often.<br /><br />I had approximately 20 minutes in the LSX just after Sun n Fun this year, and though I was impressed, it wasn't much time to really get familiar with the LSX and its flying qualities. The day prior to leaving Oshkosh, Kerry and I went up for a few minutes at the seabase to see if I had any questions before trecking southbound for home.<br /><br />Monday morning we awoke to thunder / lightning and rain at 5:30 am at the seabase and it appeared it was going to be set in for quite awhile. So off to breakfast for a quick bite. The weather over Oshkosh cleared, but there was some weather to the west of Chicago that could have been a problem. Sidebar: Those that were at the show, know that it was quite windy most of the show - On Saturday it was so windy that only Kerry was flying - and yes, 'hovered' the LSX over the seabase for all to see. Kerry landed to inform us that the winds (just 600 ft agl) were at 38 mph. Yup, you read that right.<br /><br />So, it's time to head out. Plane is loaded (to the gills), fueled up, passenger ready to go. We taxi out to the point of the seabase and I throttle up the 914 for a downwind takeoff off of water - sometimes this is necessary due to the waves incoming at a different angle then the winds. A longer takeoff run of course, but the LSX took it in stride and broke water in (I am going to guess) 650 ft and climbed out a healthy 800 ft/min.<br /><br />I am a conservative pilot, and I don't like flying in rough weather. After all we fly for fun, right? It was really turbulent, and the plane constantly bounced around requiring inputs for pitch and roll. Winds showing on the Dynon were bouncing from 38 mph to 41 mph at 2000 ft. I noticed about 20 minutes into the flight my passenger got very, very quiet - requiring a unscheduled stop in De Kalb Taylor (just southeast of Rockford, IL) to allow him to regain his composure. Flight time 2 hrs and used 11 gallons. <br /><br />Departing De Kalb brought us into Huntingburg, IN that evening to nice small airport, and it appeared everyone had gone home for the night. While using self service fuel and trying to determine if we could make it a little bit further before dark (what, where's the landing light Kerry!??!) a gent flew in with a Ercoupe he just purchased in Texas. Turned out he knew someone on the airport and we were able to get a courtesy car for the evening, all piling in for the local motel and a nice hot shower. A nice evening trading flying stories while at the local mexican restaurant. Flight time 3.7 hrs and used 18.5 gallons.<br /><br />The following morning Randy looks at the weather and decides to stay behind, with weather in the Ohio area and the Ercoupe being somewhat new to him yet. My passenger (name to remain anonymous) and I depart HNB with low viz conditions heading south. Climbing to 5,000 ft the air is smooth as silk, however the Dynon indicates a wind component still in the high 30's, and at one point 51 mph! <br /><br />Next checkpoints were Lebanon, TN and Guntersville, AL. Kenny Cobb where were ya? If your flying through this area, Guntersville is a beautiful area to fly through and a nice down home airport to visit. 3.5 hrs and used 20.2 gallons.<br /><br />Leaving Guntersville, our next stop was to be Tallahassee, FL. Forecasts indicated that weather would not be good in the area upon our arrival. So every airport we flew near I was constantly checking AWOS along the route. All indicated 'distant lightning in all quadrants'. Not good - we passed a few localized storms and spent an hour flying in rain along the route. As we neared Tallahassee I made the decision to land just to the north in Bainbridge, GA to check the radar. FL was lit up like a xmas tree with storms. We were both hungry and borrowed the car to get a bite to eat, hoping the weather would improve. We needed 3 hrs to get home, but alas, it wasn't going to be that night. Later that evening, I found out we made a wise choice when a friend said Orlando airport was closed due to 60 mph winds. 3.25 hrs and used 17.4 gallons.<br /><br />Wed morning found a few left over thunderstorms on the west coast of fl along our route, and expected that they would either have moved on or petered out by the time we got there. We flew due south, heading for the gulf coast. I hadn't had the opportunity to fly the gulf before - and it was beautiful. We flew at 25 - 50 ft the entire gulf coast (1.5 hrs) to just north of Crystal River, then turning inland for Orlando North airport where the LSX is based. 3 hrs and used 15 gallons.<br /><br />A total of 82.1 gallons used in 15.45 hrs for an average of 5.3 gal/hr. Our average tach setting was 5300 rpm for cruise. Cruise altitude varied between 2000 and 5000 agl. Current Hobbs time on the LSX is 156.1 hrs, of which 47 hrs was the trip up and back from Oshkosh, along with demo time at the show.<br /><br />(Selected portions edited by Administrators to remove technical content.)<br /><br />If you haven't flown the LSX yet, you need too! Believe me, it's worth it! I want one - c'mon Darrell, what can we work out...<br /><br />Jim Ratte<br />Recreational Mobility<br />
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Walt Bates - Aug 08,2009
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Very informative synopsis, Jim. Good decision making and well flown. I agree with your flying impressions of the LSX. I can't think of many plusses that the standard SR holds over the LSX.
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