Mar 2011 Going from Amphibs to Gear
It’s been another big week in Indy. The airport I’m based at, Mt. Comfort Airport, had a name change and is now officially “Indianapolis Regional Airport”. It was changed because the 2012 Super Bowl will be in Indy and the airport wants to make sure potential fly-ins recognize us as a possible destination for the big event. Nobody asked me but I’m thinking, if I’m flying into an unfamiliar city, I’m going to look at a Sectional or Area Chart, pick the airport I want, and who cares what the name is! Anyway, the big story here is, I’m getting that whole name change thing down pat flying my new Rans around the pattern. YES, it’s flying, on gear – not floats – and I’m impressed with its performance!!
Here’s how it went:
With a little help from our friends, we went from this....
to this…
....OMG....
then this….
Eeeks, this is worse....all I could do is pace...
Oh, please don’t fall on that beautiful belly!!
-
But the guys persisted…
Tadaa! And it finally looked like this!!!
Luckily they are good friends (and husband!) who I thank very much for their willing help.
And lucky for me they work for food! You can never go wrong with fried Chicken!! Â Thanks to Phil Jones, Ray Taylor, Boyd Birchler & Dennis Hutchinson for all their work.
I finally got to fly it yesterday and after we got a few bugs worked out – I was not disappointed! I picked up almost 25 mph from amphibs to gear and it climbs like a bat outa hell. Unbelievable. Really. We’re still getting acquainted. I’ve only got a few landings in her but the last couple I was pleased with. Thank heaven we’ve moved to daylight savings time and we can all hang out at the airport a little later now. I’m going to need the daylight to practice!
Jeanne MacPherson
Posted at 08:51h, 22 MarchJudy, thank you for the information on the Avatars~ Amazing!
Lisa Martin
Posted at 08:33h, 21 MarchThat looks like a big project! I recently hung around as a USDA Cub had skis installed (then uninstalled because he didn’t like the added drag). We bought a set of skis (Federals) for our Cub a couple months ago, but haven’t had any good weather days when we aren’t working to fly up to Ferndale, MT to get them. I guess we won’t get to try them this year, but have that new thing to look forward to next year. My husband and I are planning to go together and get a float rating next year, when our biennials are due.