Cool! You have some beautiful country out there. Quite a row of derelicts as you taxied back in. Are you planning to do a series on your border trip?
Very well thought out route, staying in sight of prominent roads, which went through the lower elevations, always a good choice. Airport to airport gives a chance at each turning point to land and rethink the next leg if desired, or continue if all is well. Part of good judgement. Outstanding pilot skills demonstrated, and country I would love to fly over. That Luscombe is a fine example of the product. They are good, honest flying machines, and reward a skilled pilot with superior pleasure when flying. My time was all right seat, but loved the way it flew. There are still a few around here, but none as beautifully prepared as yours. Did anyone else notice the propeller tip streamers from the pressure change? An interesting phenomenon, and closer to the dew point, can be created by the whole length of the blade. I have experienced that, and the Cessna 150 seemed to be in a tube of white haze. Straight ahead was perfectly fine, though, and when the power was reduced from wide open, it faded toward the tips, and just thin streams. One of the features of flying from a small airport next to a stream. The evening had gone from very humid in the day to saturated as the sun set. Another time, with less of the blade making fog, I was up half an hour, and when I returned, half of the runway was under a thin fog, with the lights clearly visible, and I landed with no difficulty.
One tiny observation. NOT a criticism. In back country flying, there’s no reason to be locked into a straight-in final. On that first approach and landing, it appeared to me that if you had offset your final about 30° left there was a notch in the trees that could have gained you quite a bit more clearance over the trees. Clearly not a big deal on this runway, but could be on others.
I have a couple other videos already uploaded and scheduled to go live: taking up my first passenger for a trip around Mt. Rainier (a friend), and taking up my second passenger for a tour over Tacoma (my wife). I've also already created a "teaser trailer" of my big trip. It's uploaded, but not scheduled yet. I'll schedule it for the week following the other two, so that one should go live in 3 weeks. I started editing the first episode two days ago.
Taking my first passenger up. Flew my buddy Mike around Mt. Rainier, one of the most awesome objects on planet Earth. YouTube video link: https://bit.ly/3rki4pA
Thank you! I appreciate it! Yeah, I'm extremely hard on myself in general. Some weird personality thing, I guess.
Love the video. I enjoyed reading your updates from this trip, but now getting the videos will be icing. Completely curious; what is the huge bottle of windex for? For all I know, you have glass windows in areas on a Luscombe. I'm sure you are not spraying that on plexiglass.
I actually didn't know standard Windex was bad for acrylic, but apparently that's the case. I'll look for an alternative.
Dont trust me. I'm as new as you! Ive always cleaned with "water only" trying not to scrub or even touch as much as possible. After it air dried I used pledge to put a thin coat of wax over the plexiglass. Not sure where I heard about it.
Your comment prompted me to Google it. Seems like ammonia or alcohol can do bad things, although I'm not sure exactly what. Windex actually makes an ammonium-free window washing fluid, which seems targeted to acrylics. I may try that. I think my window is none the worse for wear after the few times I've used Windex on it, but I'll change my practice from here on out, though. I'm glad you mentioned it.
A lot of people use Plexus plastic cleaner for their windshield. I'll throw out one more out in case nobody told you: use only soft cloth (an old t-shirt is good), not paper towels, on your windshield; paper is abrasive. Where it gets you is flying into the sun, then the microscratches make it impossible to see anything. Nice vid, too.
Lots of people use Lemon Pledge instead of Plexus. Also when wiping the window is recommend to wipe only in a vertical motion to the micro scratches you are inevitably going to put in the plexiglass over time all go the same way instead of swirls and cross hatch marks on the windsheild/windows. Brian
I have for many decades and it does a good job. We're not alone: Slightly better, I've found, is TurtleWax Ice Detailer. Works at least as well but wipes off a little more easily.
Ever try Honda Spray on a plane, Eddie? Been using it for years on my bike and it seems fine for the plexi.
I somehow missed you were uploading the videos; catching up now. Watching #2 as I type this, really enjoying it. You did a great job. Those huge rocks and that little airplane...I'm getting flatlander anxiety lol.
Thanks for saying hi, Jim, and for the compliment. It's encouraging to get a comment so I know people are watching and enjoying the videos. If viewers are getting anxiety at certain times, hopefully that just means I did a good job editing.
I'm liking your videos and editing. I'm PNW also. The way you mark the end of your flight leg is a little disconcerting, however.
Great vids! Thanks. You may like the book, Zero 3 Bravo: Solo across America in a Small Plane by Mariana Gosnell. And she did it in a 1950 model 8F Luscombe. On Amazon, and might be available used from Powell's in Portland, OR or any used book source.
Ha! I'm loving the videos too, but I agree, my heart sank the first time I saw the explosion at the end of your route!
