Comment

Comment by Dr. Edward M. Moody II on February 6, 2009 at 1:46pm

Hi Frank,
Good to hear from you again. Here in SW LA I've been inching ever closer to flying my 601XL/Jabiru. The painting is done, the wings are back on, primary flight control cables connected and tensioned, and I'm about to remount the flaps. I'm hoping to get to first flight in April. My wife and I just took a week off to find out if we still liked skiing in Taos after a 20 year hiatus... still love it!

Ed

Comment by Frank Derfler on January 29, 2009 at 2:39pm

Stephen -- We have a choice of cruising locally up and down the Keys or spending an hour to cross the Everglades. So you are either local or an hour up and an hour back. I always try to fly with someone. I'm fortunate in that I can find 30,000 hour pilots without a current medical, student pilots (of ALL ages) looking to fly, and a mixed bag of CFI and CFIIs who are taking it easy in the Keys.

Comment by Frank Derfler on January 29, 2009 at 2:34pm

Today, went back, took off the cowling, and examined a cracked baffle bracket. I'll post a picture when I get it off my camera. Then, started to do some corrosion control. The downside to living on a tropical island is that everything corrodes pretty fast. My cooling fins are coated with salt and corroding. The top of the "jugs" are corroding. I spent an hour in the hot sun with a bronze wire brush making some things brighter. I also have problems with the nuts corroding on the brake assemblies. BoShield T9 everywhere.

Comment by Stephen R. Smith on January 29, 2009 at 10:18am

Hello Frank,

I am wondering what your typical flights are like; long, short? How often do you go up? Do you fly alone or with someone?

It would seem you have flyable weather year round. Is it too hot to fly in the summer?

My 601XL has just over 400 hours on it. It first flew about 18 months ago. All those hours are mine except 10 or so. I try to go up every week. It is not uncommon for my flights to last 4 to 6 hours. Once I am up I tend to stay up until I run out of daylight or fuel.

I like your slogan: Flying for fun and finding it!

Steve

Comment by Sebastien Heintz on January 28, 2009 at 4:09pm

Ah... 69-deg. would be nice right now!
Enjoy...