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Tuesday, March 28, 2017

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968 Shell Creek

I received an e-mail that SWF Skydive Club received my waiver.  Nothing else, no confirmation that I had their blessing, no list of dos and don'ts, just they received it and forwarded a copy to Richard.  I'll take that as a go ahead and continue to fly.  The DC-3 is leaving today.  Yesterday I chatted with the two Englishmen who are preparing it for the trip.  Good guys who would much rather be flying.

Here are the stats.
Duration        1:14
Altitude          800 ft
Distance        40.6 miles

No Drama.  I flew out past Mike Lange's workplace and on to Arcadia Airport then back to the field.  The winds were from the NE at 10.  Full reflex the whole way.

Monday, March 27, 2017

not really but almost .....Cross Country #967

Beautiful calm morning
59 degrees
3-4 ENE
1hour 36 minutes
53.9 miles
avg altitude 1000 ft.

Great Flight!  After the blowout at Lake Wales it was a pleasure to get in a nice long flight.  I followed a triangle course from Shell Creek to Arcadia Airport and back via Red Neck Yacht Club and Tracks and trails.
No Drama....
The most interesting feature was Carlstrom Field. It was built in the early part of the last century to train pilots for WWI and later WWII.  Back in the day it sported a circular runway for the old bi-planes.  Imagine that?
Over the years it was a juvenile detention facility and insane asylum.  After being abandoned for several years it was sold for 2 million dollars to a motor sports company who were going to use it for a rally car track.  I did see one video on YouTube of a little rice burner, tearing around the abandoned buildings.  The asphalt roads are in poor shape, too narrow and not laid out for good racing.  From the air it looked much better.  Maybe they are going to spend some money and do it up. I'll bet the old runway would be fun for a few laps.



Carlstrom Field today




Sunday, March 12, 2017

966 Shell Creek

No Drama
36 minutes
max altitude 1270
16.6 miles
Light wind at surface 18 mph at 200 ft AGL

Was met at landing by Skydiving Co who informed me that I would not be allowed to fly there any longer.  After a few minutes of chat they told me that I had to have a waiver.  They have (it seems) convinced Richard that I should not be flying there.  I'm not so sure that Frank Moss agrees with them.  I will call Frank tomorrow and send them signed waivers, which I hope will resolve their issues.

Below 200 feet there was a layer of cold bumpy air which prevented me from getting low level video of the bison.
Today I continued experimenting with the go pro on a selfie stick.  below is the video of take off and landing.



Thursday, March 9, 2017

965 Shell Creek

No Drama
55 minutes
Max altitude 2139
30.7 miles
Launch 4-5 SSW
Landing 6-8 E
Played with the GoPro on a selfie stick

The DC-3 has been removed from the hanger and is being crated for shipment to UK.