Well, the video uploading was summat of a bust. Which is a pity, for I put some real time into it, not merely in the recording of the stuff, but in editing and adding motivational music, like. Which was my downfall, in the event. To hear YouTube tell it. Divers and sundry techniques were attempted to get around the prohibition of playing someone else’s music for no personal gain, to no effect. Thus far. We have not yet given up the fight!
On Saturday, I headed down to Montgomery, for to knock out a cuppla dogfights. Not having forgotten where I came from, nor how I came to be here today. Which is Fallon, Nevada again. And it’s nothing like as clement as the weather down Sandy Eggo way, I can assure you. Which anyway.
On the first hop Saturday I was taxiing down the Hotel taxiway at KMYF for to break the surly bonds from Runway 28 Left. On 28 Right there was an inbound Beech Baron – a very nice bit of a twin engined piston plane – all set to land. Which only lacked a fully deployed set of landing gear for to make the landing perfect, for the pilot, he was in every other way stabilized for the approach and even beginning his transition to flare for landing. Which would have been, in the event, fearsome noisy and non-trivially expensive, on account of the belly rash and engine run-outs in it. Propeller driven planes owning severe sequelae to having their blades strike the tarmac all regardless.
Having satisfied myself that hizzoner had every intention of bellying it in inadvertently, I took it upon myself to calmly shriek, “Wheels up, wheels up on the left, go around!” both on ground and tower frequencies. Which he did, saving himself summers in the neighborhood of a hunnert thousand US dollars, depending upon the breaks. Which at the rates that twins are selling at these days might well have been reckoned a total loss, for there’s few that think the added safety margin of having twice the engines is any more worth the trebled operating costs.
Sunday! I played nine holes of bad golf, slowly. I can take bad golf, and I can take slow golf. But in combination, eh. Not so much. Went and saw a movie with the missus, had some actually quite nice Mediterranean chow at a local.
Monday I was going to play better golf. Or faster, anyway. But it rained. I had notions of seeing the “War Horse” movie. But it rained. So everyone else got there first. So I spent the day editing a movie, to little effect.
Today, my good friend Earl the Pearl, retired colonel of Marines, deigned to fly me up to Camarillo in a rented Cessna 172, the better to avoid the whole, “drive the bike to Camarillo, fly the jet to Fallon, go commercial to LAX on Friday, rent a car from LAX to Camarillo (the wrong direction), pick up the bike and travel back down to Sandy Eggo” adventure. Which I’ve done that once, and thank you, I’ll have no more.
A fifty-year old pilot then ferried a forty-year old fighter from Pernt Mugu to Navy Fallon in an hour’s time, and will now spend the next cuppla hurling myself against 30-year olds in five-year old 4.5 generation fighters at Mach 1.1.
The ironies do not escape me.
Good call on the Baron driver. Only time I ever had to belly in was a 310 with total and I mean total electrical failure due to a short in the gear motor.I could not extend the gear. Thanks to a back up hand held I carried I was able to get to Eugene, Or. The bellied in pitch black condtions on the cross runway pretty scared as it touched
on the pavent and sparks and scraping sounds ensued..
Er, pavement..
Offered a contract today to fly our 747-400 F between Chile and Miami for 25 consecutive flights carrying seeds. Yep, seeds for our summer crops are grown in S. America and flown to the U.S. for our farmers to plant.
Having been to KMYF on that very taxiway ready to depart 28 not long ago with Lex in the Varga, I got the sight picture of the Beech Baron about to belly in. Glad to hear he heard you!
Several years ago I was taxiing out from an overnight camping trip to a friends’ fly-in in a tri-cycle gear Aerospatial Robin and managed to cross a shallow ditch just at the wrong angle, and without knowing it, Q-tipped to prop. Unaware of the damage, I flew home (all of about 5/10ths on the meter) and when I shut down, saw to my horror over the top of the engine cowling, the prop blade was bent back curling backwards about one inch…into a very symetrical reverse geometrical form I had never seen before… on my walk-around to tie the airplane down, I saw the other blade tip with identical nasty curves….and I realized when I crossed the ditch earlier that morning on taxi out, the ever so slight decrease in RPM I thought I heard was real was the blade striking the soft wet dirt….. I had to pay about $675 for the prop repair and have never made that mistake again.
So, you’re no in the O-Club. Pleased that you are sharing your time with us Cube Dwellers. Do enjoy the workweek!
Did the Baron driver offer beers or just take it around and land quiet-like?
WRT your video: I recommend Vimeo. They don’t have them pesky no-notice takedowns and automagic copyright infringement programs for to ruin your fun.
Except, unless your visitors are coming from NMCI, which blocks the site….
Vimeo isn’t blocked on NMCI anymore. It was unblocked even before Youtube.
I second this…Vimeo eve lets YOU assign certain usage rights to YOUR stuff.
What was KMYF tower doing during all of this?
Apropos of your copyright issues, an important set of legislation is coming up that will give the copyright holders (primarily media companies) even more power. It’s actually pretty scary stuff. Wikipedia is shut down today in protest.
There’s a decent video overview of the issues on YouTube.
I’m a proponent of the concept of copyright, particularly because my work (software) is largely protected by it. But in my opinion the laws have gone far past what is necessary to encourage creative pursuits, and are now into the realm of crony capitalism and legal profiteering.
It is rent seeking of the worst kind. The same government that trashed the property rights of automaker secured creditors, that even after the property owners had permits, used the EPA to fine them into compliance BEFORE a hearing — that government now is bending over backwards to protect the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America.
Wonder why that is?
Scott, it’s not just Obama. DC has been letting the MPAA & Company write the copyright laws for several decades.
Brian, the good news is, you can make all kinds of outrageous factualy incorrect statements today, and no one under 30 will be able to prove you wrong.
Oh man, I hadn’t even thought of that!
Did you know that cow’s tails are actually a vestigial fifth leg? Also, “detente” is a French word that means “sitting around in an uncomfortable desk.”
…OK… lets say we cut through all this folderol and pose the following question to Lex that has, so far, remained unasked…
…So Lex.. how’s this second bite of the apple gig working out for you? Best
I managed to get a Cessna stuck in the mud taxing back off the side of the runway after a rain I hadn’t realized. As the nose dropped, I managed to shut down the engine just in the nick of time. The prop trimmed the grass and the wind dug a shallow ditch. The airport manager, aircraft owner and my CFI (yes, I hadn’t licensed yet) were all amazed I didn’t bend the prop. None of my friends were surprised that I could get a plane stuck in the mud.
I hope the Baron Driver more than offered to buy you a beer.
Twenty some odd years ago Dad and I were at the Key Brothers 50th anniversary airshow at KMEI watching the festivities. These included warbirds. On arrival, Dad managed to put the front tires of our Honda Civic in a very shallow drainage ditch approximately 4″ deep and easily backed out of said ditch. A local magnate participated in the warbird flyovers with his F4U-5 Corsair – complete with Hamilton Standard 4 blade propeller, Pratt and Whitney R-2800 radial engine. The Corsair was in Blue USN colors and markings, had mahogany with fabric covered ailerons, Rudder and elevators. Very nice looking and sounding airplane.
Said magnate managed to taxi his F4U into the drainage ditch. No harm, no problem, just get it towed out. Here it comes, you guessed it, he tried to power his way out. Of course the airplane rotated about the main landing gear wheels and he got a massive prop strike on the asphalt in front of him. Dirt, dust and chunks of asphalt went everywhere. You have never seen or heard a guy get booed or cussed at like that guy. I think he got about 6″ of that Ham Standard prop. All four blades.
That airframe sat on the ramp with the engine/propeller off for about 6 months. He did get it flying again.
Gorgeous Airplane but stupid owner.
Baron guy owes you a beer or three.
Did he say “Here, hold ma beer!” right before he pulled that stunt?
Best. Ever. Post.