A/B Plans #112 has 1008 hours as of 02-09-2015 Ace
Posts: 1,694
Time Online: 36 days 13 hours 14 minutes
After almost a week of unflyable conditions or conflicting activities, the opportunity to fly developed yesterday. Bright sunshine, cloudless sky with winds less than10 mph and temperatures in the mid 60's made an irresistible flying combination. Anticipating a two-hour, late afternoon flight, I headed for Selby Aerodrome arriving at 4:00.
After pre-flighting my AirBike and visiting with other fliers for 30 minutes, I suddenly realized Saturday's change to Standard Time meant I had only one hour to fly before sunset at 5:25, not two. The Rotax 503 started on the first pull of the armstrong starter. After several minutes of pre-flight checks followed by taxiing around Brent Boggs, the PPC guy who was laying out his canopy, I was in take-off position.
Advancing the throttle to full, the AirBike's tail lifted and soon rolled only on the mains. The tires spewed dried shards of broken grass that quickly turned into dust. It has been a dry summer. I circled the runway several times hoping to get a photo of Brent taking off but his preparations exceeded the time I wanted to orbit, so off I went to Cherokee Strip (18KS) 20 southeast miles away.
These are my favorite conditions in which to fly; light breeze, sun low on the horizon, and temperature just above a chill. The shadows are long, watersheds are glass smooth and reflective, tree colors are highlighted and dust from an occasional pickup truck traveling a gravel road just hangs in place. I fly above it all and am amazed at the clarity and beauty of what lies 300 feet below.
The serpentine Arkansas River provides its own ecological character; white inviting sandbars, a thin stream of flowing water reflecting the blue sky, and a subtle variety of tree color. With two deer grazing near a treeline, the terrain appeared as a framed painting.
Two low passes at Cherokee Strip brought no response from any of the airpark houses, even Rick, who is one of the most active fliers appeared not to be home. A climbing banked right turn at the end of runway 17 put me on a heading directly into the setting sun.
The return trip brought me within range of several "Kodak moments" which I captured in the diminishing light.
I approached Selby Aerodrome just as official sunset closed in. Brent was off to one side of the runway preparing for another launch with a passenger. Landing beyond him, I taxied back clearing the area for his takeoff. Once he passed the runway's end, I took off in pursuit. There wasn't enough light for more photographs, so I made a pass below and off to one side of him before returning for a final landing of the day.
The hangar door was still open allowing me to taxi in and stop at the threshold. This is where I refuel and do a post-flight check before parking my bird in her space. Speaking of birds, a honking sound informed me of geese flying. That was followed by the sound of their wings beating the air 200 feet above as they flew down the runway. I guess they enjoy flying in the early evening too.
Great description of events and very nice pictures also. Just one question: What kind of resolution you have on your PC screen? Your pictures are very small.
A/B Plans #112 has 1008 hours as of 02-09-2015 Ace
Posts: 1,694
Time Online: 36 days 13 hours 14 minutes
Ricardo, my PC screen size is 1024 x 678 pixels. I try to size my posted photos to be somewhere between 30 and 50 KB. There is a maximum of 250 KB space per post and I try to get all the photos associated with an article on one post. Occasionally, I go over and post more photos on a following post. What I don't want to do is post photos so large that the reader must scroll the screen sideways to read the text. If you know of a way to make my photos display larger and still keep them in the 30-50 KB range let me know.
If I am supplying only several photos with a post, I will then make them larger but still staying under the maximum limit for a post.
If you are interested in reading more about this article, go to my website http://airbikeace.org/ where I have added several more photos and "enhanced" the text by about 15%. I may end up sending this article to a magazine for publication.
Thanks for your interest and any suggestions you have.
Paul: My screen is the of wider type, the screen resolution is 1360 x 768 therefore I see your pictures kind of small. Also saw you web page and I can see why you use those the pictures sizes. Thanks again for the great writting.
Logged
, but not tonight
