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| Brother Barbeau sits in the sunshine after 1.5 hours in the January chill! |
The plan was to fly over to Rutherford County and have lunch with the guys at the 57 Alpha Cafe. It seemed like a good idea. The weather was nice, especially for January, and Gary could get away for the afternoon---we would bundle up and take the Hatz! The only glitch in the plan was a pesky tail wheel steering spring attach clip, that has been giving us fits lately. We lost the right side steering spring on landing several weeks ago. The spring was replaced, but conventional wisdom (and a healthy respect for Murphy's Law) suggested a test flight before we ventured too far from Jellystone Air Park. We decided that if things looked good after a landing at Rock Hill, we would set out for Rutherford County.
The rear cockpit of the Hatz is fairly breezy. During the summer months it's quite refreshing. Wintertime; it's another story! While it's not as bad in the front cockpit, you certainly feel the chill if you sit there for any length of time. Our flight planning "suggested" it would take fifty minutes to fly over to Rutherford County. In either seat, that is a long time in January! Shortly after takeoff, Gary said: "It's too cold to fly all the way to Rutherford County. How about we head down to Lancaster and shoot some touch and goes?" An old sage once said: "A smart pilot knows when to modify his plan!"
Everything worked as advertised on the landing at Rock Hill, so it was on to Lancaster, SC, for touch and goes. We ended up sharing the pattern with a couple of RV's, and a Helio Courier from JAARS---an interesting mix of airplanes. Final tally for the day: 1.5 hours, and seven landings. Not too bad for January!
Ron's 57 Alpha Cafe
www.57alpha.com
The rear cockpit of the Hatz is fairly breezy. During the summer months it's quite refreshing. Wintertime; it's another story! While it's not as bad in the front cockpit, you certainly feel the chill if you sit there for any length of time. Our flight planning "suggested" it would take fifty minutes to fly over to Rutherford County. In either seat, that is a long time in January! Shortly after takeoff, Gary said: "It's too cold to fly all the way to Rutherford County. How about we head down to Lancaster and shoot some touch and goes?" An old sage once said: "A smart pilot knows when to modify his plan!"
Everything worked as advertised on the landing at Rock Hill, so it was on to Lancaster, SC, for touch and goes. We ended up sharing the pattern with a couple of RV's, and a Helio Courier from JAARS---an interesting mix of airplanes. Final tally for the day: 1.5 hours, and seven landings. Not too bad for January!
Ron's 57 Alpha Cafe
www.57alpha.com
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