LadiesLoveTaildraggers

New paint job on my spinner!

I’ve been dreaming about a new spinner for my Rans S7 for months and I can’t tell you how excited I am about finally getting the job done! Boyd and I have way more hours invested in planning, sanding, taping, more taping, and painting than I ever dreamed possible.

Oh, so cool!

It still needs a little work but it turned out pretty darn cool.

Opened the hangar door tonight for the unveiling. Not a soul around to admire it! (:

My “vanilla” spinner was painted perfectly but seemed like such a waste of space – it need a little pzazz! But it wasn’t just the spinner that needed attention, the top and bottom cowl had seen better days and were in desperate need of a touch up.

Wow, it's amazing what a fresh paint job can do!

Painting the spinner came in 3 steps…

"Periwinkle blue" all over to match the trim on the Rans for the first color coat. No taping yet.

Then we taped it and sprayed the white. Sorry, no picture though.

And the last color sprayed was the yellow.

It had to dry overnight which was a painfully long time to wait to see what it would look like!

But 24 hours later I was as happy as I could be screwing it to the mount and finally getting to stand back and admire it!

I’m in love!

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There are a few spots that need some dry sanding but for the most part it’s done. Of course, the hangar’s a wreck since we’ve been almost living in it for a week – probably time to vacuum (i.e. take the leaf blower to it again). Love my hangar gas grill! It’s been grilled brats and turkey burgers all week, lots of peanuts, Frito’s and diet cokes! Rule of thumb…. if you’re in a hangar, all junk food is legal. Diet when you’re home!

Saturday's almost here and I guarantee you, I'm flying and showing this baby off!

I love Saturdays! And I really love Saturdays when I get to spend the entire day flying into grass strips and hanging around great taildraggers. My mid-afternoon was spent getting my Biannual flight review and you can tell by the picture that CFI Wayne Norris and I had a good time doing it.

Biannual flight review !

Hey, I got started talking airplanes and flying way before that though! Chapter 1121′s EAA meeting started with an early breakfast then on to Harter Field for a look at what the guys are working on. Harter’s got a really nice 2500′ grass strip east of Indy. On this beautiful blue sky morning it was hard to believe all the boys drove in and my Rans S7 was the only fly-in arrival.

Harter Field EAA Meeting

They’ve got some great old airplanes in a couple of hangars including a Fleet, Champ, Chief, Cub, Cessna 170, and 3 Davis Monoplane projects.

A Fleet

The one getting all the attention was rightfully the Davis project…. No, make that 3 Davis projects. The group is restoring/rebuilding one D-1K Davis for the grandson of the original owner and they have pieces and Kinner engines from others they are incorporating into 2 additional aircraft.

Davis Monoplane

The Davis Monoplane is a rare, vintage aircraft designed and built in Richmond, Indiana by Walter C. Davis from 1929 to 1930 and this is an ambitious and exiting project for several Indianapolis area EAAers.

Davis D-1K - XB-AEI

It’s always interesting to see old aircraft coming back to life but nothing tops hearing the passion the builders have for their projects. We all owe a huge thank you to all the craftsmen that are saving and restoring these and other antique and vintage aircraft everywhere.

Never pass a photo op with a good looking Champ!

Judy

www.LadiesLoveTaildraggers.com

Anne and I had perfect flights to the East Tennessee Fall Super Cub Fly-in – beautiful weather & scenery and non-eventful! A quick stop for breakfast at Columbus, Indiana was down memory lane for Anne who had lived in the area almost 20 years ago and had landed at BAK on a cross country flight with her instructor. There’s a darn good restaurant on the field with big windows that overlook the ramp and runways and the French toast is the best you’ll find anywhere.

Turns out Anne’s Super Cub is a tad faster than my Rans S7 and so, even though we started our trip flying loose formation, we eventually gave it up. We communicated on 123.45 but after our fuel stop in London, KY she pushed ahead and I started hanging back just a little. It all worked out in the end and we somehow ended up landing one after the other at Elizabethton, TN.

Right off the bat I got to fly Greg Swingle's Rans S7!

I’ve been trying to meet the allusive and dare I say infamous Greg Swingle for ages and was beginning to think he may just be a Vimeo video allusion. What, you’ve never heard of  Greg Swingle, seen his fabulous, fanatical, theatrical, S7 videos?! Google him right now – do not delay! Greg showed up at the lady taildraggers flyin in August – for 15 minutes – the same 15 minutes I was out having a great time in a Navion (of all things at a taildragger flyin!) and I only saw him as I was departing and he was arriving. By the time I got back he was long gone, I was bummed I missed him and thinking, “how the heck ya come to a lady taildragger flyin and stay for just for 15 minutes?!!” Well, turns out he had a good reason but it left me well over due to finally meet him!

Pretty cool flying Greg's Rans over the amazing east Tennessee landscape

When he said “Let’s fly! Your Rans or mine?” I was not passing up the chance to fly that beautiful black & taupe, big bush tire, Ohio bush pilot, back-country, hill landing tested, riverbed driven, Alaskan flown Rans S7. We took his.

Flying over this was a WOW moment

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A great way to start out the Thursday, ‘early arrival day’ at the East Tennessee Fall Super Club Fly-in.  The event officially runs Friday through Sunday but a few people always start gathering early. Based on the number of aircraft that arrived on Thursday the last couple years they expected about 20 airplanes. This year 50. It’s going to be one great fly-in!!

Hello everybody! Fall is officially here and I’m counting on some nice, dry, cool flying weather for awhile. I had a very busy summer flying every chance I got and I don’t expect that to change just because the weather is changing. My great niece Kaylise and sister-in-law Regina were in town last month and Kaylise couldn’t wait to get a ride in an airplane. She argued that her brother was her age when he got an airplane ride … like I was going to say “No”?!

Kaylise & me

Boyd’s Mooney 231 was sitting right there and I think she was thinking “that’s pretty cool, let’s go in that!”  I had to convince her how great a ride in the Rans S7 was going to be. I think I finally won her over when she realized the difference between sitting in a side-by-side airplane was having to look around somebody else to see out. You just can’t beat a tandem, stick airplane!

 

Kaylise having a good time wearing her headset. I've got my new Halo headsets on which are comfortable & quiet but I won't be wearing them with the doors open. They're so light they'd probably get sucked right out the door.

Kaylise was thrilled to get belted in, taxi out to the runway and watch & listen as I did the run up.  She was as excited and happy a passenger as I’ve ever had and sooooo disappointed when I told her we were heading back to the airport.

Nice ride

A couple weeks later I flew to Marion, Indiana for the Fly-in/Cruise-in and ended up doing an interview with local WIWU TV51. It was kind of fun being interviewed by a woman reporter and her woman camera crew! I may not have done a great job but they sure did! They made the rounds that day interviewing pilots and attendees for their 30 minute TV program “Crossroads” – here’s the very short “commerical” version if you’d like to take a look. The temperature was a sticky 98 degrees that day!

Keep on flying and having fun doing it girls. Life goes by fast and we’re only here once. Leave with no regrets.

I’m so sorry if you don’t live close enough to fly to Lee Bottom Airfield (I64) in the summertime. Its a frequent destination for vintage taildraggers and antique airplanes and a spot not to be missed by taildraggers traversing cross-country. The gate keepers to the airfield are Rich & Ginger Davidson who own and operate this 4000′ grass strip in the Indiana low lands along side the Ohio River. When you’re flying right downwind for 36 you might have one wing in Indiana and the other in Kentucky. It’s a beautiful, scenic spot that’s been known to make you feel like you’ve traveled back in time – a time when airplanes all had a tailwheel and you could sit under a tree and be happy doing just that.

Hanging out under the trees

In the summer months Rich & Ginger host a Sinful Sunday one Sunday a month  (i.e. sundae) and the sundaes are FABULOUS.  Last Sunday it was Strawberry Twinkie sundaes and all I can say is OMG!  Fresh strawberries, whipped cream, ice cream, twinkies and a cherry on top. Can it get any better?!

Hey, one may not be enough!

And I wasn’t the only one thinking that!

Oh, who would have guessed you could get chocolate too?!!

Did I mention that they work really hard pulling this off so we can all fly-in for a tasty &  fun afternoon?

That's Ginger trying to crank out the strawberry twinkie sundaes!

OK, ice cream aside, there’s more to see than just ice cream…..

It's not everywhere you get to see a Culver Cadet land and if you hang out long enough, take off again.

I always think the people I meet at fly-ins are the most interesting folks. I had to meet this next lovely lady – she was wearing an Aeronca Champ t-shirt and carrying a 99er’s bag – had to be one of us!

A 99er and a Champ pilot!

Let me introduce you to Kaye Combs Moore from Lexington, KY who learned to fly in a Champ at Bowman field in 1958. Not many women flying Champs back in ’58! Very cool, Kaye!

I took this great picture when friends Phil & Tess Jones were departing in their RV7. He's probably got 100 hours on it now and is flying it every chance he gets.

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I have to agree, if there's going to be another women, I choose her!

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Or this one. He named his Cub after his wife.

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These guys like their taildraggers - and women! It's a Champ!

But when it’s all said and done, this is what we all came to see….

Rows of airplanes, mostly with the wheels where they belong; Luscombe, etc.

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RV8

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Looks like a Cabin Waco to me

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Experimental Murphy Rebel (I'd love to fly this one!)

Oh, heck yes, ya gotta see my S7 heading home….

Door's up - it's hot!

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ooh baby, can we climb!

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I love summer flying!

Hope you get a chance to visit Lee Bottom some day too. http://www.leebottom.com/

Judy

Jeannie Batto sent in a few Rans S7 pictures. This is getting to be one popular airplane ….. really!! Jeannie, I’m on the Yahoo group and get their daily updates. Actually, I haven’t posted a single comment but I’m getting a real S7 education reading everyone else’s. There’s a lot of knowledge floating around there so I’m learning from the wings – lots of really good information. Judy

Jeannie

Judy, got picked up from Bowman Field in Louisville, Ky and flew to Mountain Air, Cleveland , Ga. Here we are at a fuel stop. My father in law, Key Dismukes, owns this Rans s-7 and encouraged you if you have not already, to sign up for the yahoo group for the Rans S-7. We flew back for a family week with the in-laws.

Key Dismukes' Rans S7

The Georgia mountains. 3 hours was convenient to have a crew of 2 for the mighty Rans!

Always great views from a S7

Jeannie

Hey everybody, I’m getting some great flying in these days in my Rans S-7!!  I’ve adapted to the amazing rate of climb I get on solo take-off (1300′ + fpm) at 65 mph and the equally astounding rate of climb I get even with hefty passengers in the back (900′ + fpm). Right after I bought it, I’d pull the stick back to 60 – 65 mph and it’d climb so steep I’d hold my breath and just hang on! I knew it was going to have great performance but after flying nothing but the Champ recently, it was a shock! I loved my Champ but the two of us never set any Rate of Climb records!

Departing 16 at MQJ

The Rotax 912 engine runs smooth but I make a lot more power adjustments to keep pitch and altitude than I ever did with a Continental.  The Rotax hums along straight and level at 5200 rpm at 112 or so and burns 5.2 gallons an hour. I’m just as happy zipping around no where in particular at 4900 rpm at 4.0 gph.

Touch & gos on 16

I’m constantly surprised how well it glides and wonder if I’d feel the same if the engine actually quit!

Love this shot!

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Pretty near perfect evening to fly!

Haven’t flown with the doors open yet, but its coming!!

The Indy Airshow starts today at KMQJ and runs through the weekend. Laura Stantz will be flying a T-6 Texan. Come on by hangar 508-14 & 508-16 and say hi and have a hot dog with us . http://www.indyairshow.com/

Judy

It’s been another big week in Indy. The airport I’m based at, Mt. Comfort Airport, had a name change and is now officially “Indianapolis Regional Airport”. It was changed because the 2012 Super Bowl will be in Indy and the airport wants to make sure potential fly-ins recognize us as a possible destination for the big event. Nobody asked me but I’m thinking, if I’m flying into an unfamiliar city, I’m going to look at a Sectional or Area Chart, pick the airport I want, and who cares what the name is! Anyway, the big story here is, I’m getting that whole name change thing down pat flying my new Rans around the pattern. YES, it’s flying, on gear – not floats – and I’m impressed with its performance!!

Here’s how it went:

With a little help from our friends, we went from this....

to this…

....OMG....

then this….

Eeeks, this is worse....all I could do is pace...

Oh, please don’t fall on that beautiful belly!!

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But the guys persisted…

Tadaa! And it finally looked like this!!!

Luckily they are good friends (and husband!) who I thank very much for their willing help.

And lucky for me they work for food! You can never go wrong with fried Chicken!! Thanks to Phil Jones, Ray Taylor, Boyd Birchler & Dennis Hutchinson for all their work.

I finally got to fly it yesterday and after we got a few bugs worked out – I was not disappointed! I picked up almost 25 mph from amphibs to gear and it climbs like a bat outa hell. Unbelievable. Really. We’re still getting acquainted. I’ve only got a few landings in her but the last couple I was pleased with. Thank heaven we’ve moved to daylight savings time and we can all hang out at the airport a little later now. I’m going to need the daylight to practice!

Good news! My Rans S7 is finally in Indy and tucked into its new hangar!! I’m happy as I can be today but you may not have recognized me yesterday, the day I figured out how to fly it and brought it home. It was one incredible roller coaster of emotion day; elation…. anticipation… anxiety… excitement… nervousness… and that’s just the beginning! Oh the joys of airplane ownership.

Even though I was hoping for blue skies and warm temperatures for my “figure out how to fly it and get it home day”, Manoquia, Wisconsin was cold, had a dusting of snow and low ceilings in the morning. I started out taxiing it around and all I can say is, visualize a big ol’ shopping cart taxiing around and toe brakes instead of a rudder . It’s got 6 little wheels and they wanted to slide across the dusting of snow and weren’t always interested in heading the direction I wanted to go.

Fuel stop at DeKalb, IL on way to Indy. "That guy sure nailed the landing", comment made by a couple guys on the ramp before they saw a woman get out of it. Of course I got a kick out of hearing about that one! :)

The first couple of landings I had an overwhelming urge to pull the power, flare and do a full stall landing and that’s a bad idea. By the third landing I was figuring it out – left some power on and flew it in flat and raised the nose ever so slightly right before touching.  Amazing – it worked! I did a few more touch & goes getting a better feel for how it flies and waited for the ceiling to come up to 1,000 agl. By noon I was off and on my way for my 500 mile southbound trip home.

I was trying to get a picture of the float and wheel near Kankakee

I flew out of the low overcast somewhere around Wausau and had a little tailwind to boot. I had to stay low that first leg of the trip but was happy to climb a little higher when the weather started clearing further south. At least I was happy till a cloud layer decided to form at 2,000′ agl and the updrafts and down drafts started picking up. Talk about getting beat to heck, I had a good couple hours where I was hoping those boats hanging underneath me (make that floats) were hanging on there tight cause I was sure getting tossed around and didn’t want to lose them on the way. Luckily, the bumps eventually eased up and my new little buddy and I got to spend some quality time together over the flat farm lands of Indiana.

Happy news -it’s official – it’s mine!! I now own this lovely Rans S7 Courier longtail! It’s a done deal and I don’t believe it myself yet. I think I’m still in shock! We finalized the deal this afternoon and the annual is tomorrow. I haven’t even got to fly it yet because it’s out of annual but that’s all going to change on Sunday.  I’m REALLY anxious to see how it flies on the amphibian floats.

Judy's Rans S7

Boyd and I are at Minocqua, Wisconsin right now where the Rans has been based. The weather’s not going to be great tomorrow anyway with snow and high winds gusting to 40 mph forecast so might as well get the annual out of the way. If all goes well, I’ll get a few practice landings in Sunday and head back the 500 miles to Indy.

Judys New Rans S7 Full Lotus FL1260 amphibious floats

Wish me luck ladies as my adventure unfolds!