I'm trying to decide if I want to start milling some lumber from my property or other wood that I've discovered and I'm kicking around a bunch of ideas, including buying a bandsaw mill or a chainsaw mill. I have kicked around building my own chainsaw mill using hardwood. This is what I've come up with so far...

Encouragement from afar!

Today I had a message in my inbox from a person named Lars with a message subject of "You". Normally I don't even open a message like that, assuming that it is spam but fortunately, I did open this one. Lars is a guy who lives in Berlin, Germany. He says he has read my blog from start to finish. Wow! That is quite a bit over the last 8 years! Lars sent some encouragement my way to continue plugging away at my goals for home and airstrip completion. I appreciate his comments very much and consider them a blessing!

Lars is currently working on building an Easy Riser ultralight in his apartment. He didn't say how close he was to being finished, but after I requested them, he sent pictures of the glider he designed and constructed. The workmanship looks excellent! Keep it up Lars and thanks again!

The "Post Delete" exercise went well!

Successful removal of post in the center of the room. The roof structure didn't move a bit. I'm rather pleased with my back-woods engineering skills!

Not quite yet...

Well, the intended post removal did not happen last night. I got called by my praise band friends to run sound for their practice. They are going to be doing something special at the church on Sunday and they needed my assistance. Unfortunately, I've got plans for tonight and tomorrow and church on Sunday so I probably won't be able to see if it works until Monday. Once again it seems that life is getting in the way of much forward progress on my house. I was supposed to have all the insualtion installed in the upper room already. Oh well, life can't stop just for the house, can it?

Will it work?

I have a support post right in the center of my 2nd story room. When I designed the house, I intended for the room to be a recording studio/music room. Because the upstairs has the best view in the house, I'm thinking it's going to be a bedroom. The post didn't present any problems with the room as a studio, but as a bedroom, it's a big problem.

Over the last two weeks, I turned the roof support structure into a truss that I'm hoping will be able to handle the roof loads without the center post. I couldn't seem to find a structural engineer who didn't want to charge me an outrageous amount, so I decided to engineer it myself. I'm not really qualified, but I'm very mechanically inclined.

I finished constructing the truss last night and now that the glue has dried, tonight is the night I'm going to remove the post and see what happens. Last night I cut away the part of the post that attached to the new truss, but not removing it's supporting ability. I was able to make the post move slightly by tapping it with a hammer, indicating that there doens't appear to be much weight on it. I guess we will see tonight!

Praise and Worship at Centerpoint

I was invited by a new friend of mine to attend a praise and worhip service at Centerpoint in Prattville last night. It was really an awesome, powerful expression of God's people. I was happy I went and look forward to the next time! Thank you Athenia!

Working, working, working....

Had a productive Saturday working on the house. Of course as it the routine on Saturday, I had to go into town for breakfast before anything. I like to eat a Waffle House, which just happens to be very close to the Home Depot where I buy building supplies. I got up at 7, but didn't leave until 8. By the time I ate, put gas in the truck and returned with building supplies, it was 11:30. Oh the joys of living 25 miles from anything!

I worked constantly from the time I got home until about 5:30. I completed one small section of siding on the shed dormer end wall. Hopefully, this will take care of the water infiltration that has been plaguing me since I constructed the upper floor. I know it doesn't look like much for six hours of work, but working by myself slows me considerably. At least I'm making progress!

Life gets in the way!

No wonder why progress on my house is so slow! Wednesday night I attended Ash Wednesday service at Robinson Spring UMC. Last night I fixed a plumbing leak for a dear friend of mine who didn't have the ability to fix it themselves nor the resources to call a plumber. Tonight I'm going to see the movie "Act of Valor" with several of my biking friends. Tomorrow at 8AM there is a scheduled 71-mile bike ride. At my pace, that's about 7 hours when you add up the rest stops. That's a whole Saturday of work time shot and I have a leaky roof that needs attending to! Sunday there is church, a relaxer bike ride at 2, then I've been invited to a Praise and Worship service in the evening. When do I work on the house?

Maybe it's time to review my priorities... but then again, don't I have them in the proper order? I will not abstain from church unless I'm sick. I won't sacrifice my health for the sake of the house (I've done that once already). And all work and no play leaves Glen slightly depressed and feeling sorry for himself. Hmmm, it seems quite apparent why the house isn't closer to completion, doesn't it?

Maybe I'll just opt for the Sunday ride and work on my leaky roof. A suitable compromise? Not really, but probably the most prudent thing to do. I'm getting tired of mopping up water and replacing insulation.

Home progress once again!

No need to go in to the details, but for one reason or another I have been doing very little work on my house. I have installed some additional foundation supports here and there and still have a bit more to do in that area, but I'm once again working regularly on the house.



Here's a shot showing the framing for the windows in the end gable. The view from these windows will overlook the entrance to my property and provide more natural daylight to the room. They will be picture windows, that is they won't open.



Here's a shot from last night showing the upper room with one of the walls insulated. I'm doing some structure work making a truss out of the roof support structure allowing me to get rid of the post in the middle of the room. This was always the plan, the post was there to expedite construction. Once the post is gone, I will have 18' X 22 1/2' of unobstructed space, hence the name "The Upper Room". Originally designed to be a recording studio, Since it is looking so nice, I'm thinking pretty heavily about making it my bedroom.

I Cannot Do This Alone

A poem by Dietrich Banhoeffer


Oh God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you:
I cannot do this alone.

In me there is darkness,
But in you there is light.
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me...

Restore me to liberty,
And enable me to live now
That I may answer before you and before me.
Lord whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.

Oh my...it's cold!

We are having quite an extended cold snap here in the south. Yesterday it was 17 degrees at my place when I woke in the morning! Usually on days like that, it will warm up to the 40's or 50's and then get cold again at night. Yesterday the temperature barely rose above freezing. It was 34 degrees when I went for my walk at about 5PM yesterday evening and was below freezing when my walk was finished.

Tuesday is always a good day to do laundry for me. I load up the washer with jeans and when it fills up it just fails to start. A humming noise was all that could be heard from the motor. My washer is in a portion of the house that isn't yet heated...I didn't know what to do. The pump wouldn't even work! So here I am with 30 gallons or more of water and blue jeans in the washer that are going to freeze solid overnight! I said a little prayer asking God to let my washer last just a bit longer. After several minutes of letting the warm water sit, I jog the timer around to different position. After doing this about a half-dozen times, the mechanism starts working. Praise the Lord! I could hear the ice inside moving around but after it all melted everything seemed normal.

I've been postponing working on the washer. It doesn't spin well anymore and I believe it needs an new transmission. That's right, washing machines as well as automobiles, have transmissions. I don't look forward to working on appliances but I guess I'll have to put it on the priority list along with everything else!

It's here, the time off that I looked so forward to. I have plenty of things to do, but I don't really want to do any of them. Well, there are things that I think I would always like to do, but the opportunities don't really present themselves in my current situation. I think that there is never any doubt that I would like to go flying. If I had a completed airstrip and a serviceable ultralight, It's questionable that I would brave the 50 degree ground temps that would probably turn into 30 degree temps aloft plus a 40 MPH wind chill factor from the open cockpit!

A significant chapter in my life is coming to a close. I was informed earlier today that my divorce papers are ready for signing. After 34 months of separation and many failed attempts at reconciliation, there is no doubt in my heart that the time has come. Still, a person who has the ability to be honest with himself can't help feeling bittersweet. I'm no exception.

A dear friend of mine has invited me to go ballroom dancing with him and his wife. It sounds fun, but I don't know how to dance. This particular night, there will be three 30-minute lessons for people of all skill levels. For more than 20 years I have wanted to learn how to dance, but this is one of those things in which the confidence that I posses in most things just crumbles to pieces and I feel very self-conscience about even taking a lesson! I will get over it no doubt, maybe tonight if I go, but in any case, I will eventually learn how to dance if the good Lord allows me to live that long!

The tree and the ditch revisited

Here is a diagram of what I thought happened in my car/tree encouter before I saw the tire tracks after work. After seeing the tracks, I can't explain how I didn't end up in a creek, upside down about 20 feet below the road surface. It's like the car was picked up when it was backward, moved 50 feet forward and turned around another 3/4 of a circle.

The tree and the ditch

This morning I got out of bed 10 minutes early for some unknown reason. I get in my car and head toward work in the dark. About 3 miles from my house I round this corner and there are a couple of trees in the road, spanning all but about 3 feet of the road. I'm going about 60 and the roads are wet from the rain last night. Even though my car has anti-lock brakes, there's not enough time to safely apply them. I head for the 3-foot gap and make it, unfortunately my left rear wheel slipped off the road and started the car spinning in a clockwise direction on the other side of the tree. I spin about 3/4 of a circle on the road, about 1/2 more off the road in the right-side ditch about 100 feet past the tree, all the while praying for safety. The car comes to a rest almost 90 degrees to the normal direction of travel. I get out and inspect my rare Thunderbird SC 5-speed for damage. In the dark, it appears that the damage is minimal. I start walking back towards my house because I don't have a cell phone. When I get about 100 yards from the tree, I see headlights of vehicle appear over a hill. I wave my hands frantically trying to warn the driver about the tree. They slow down, but drive right past me. When they see the tree, the vehicle stops and reverses to where I was standing. They man in the truck asks me if I hit the tree. I told him that I made it past and was in the ditch. He says he has a winch and was wondering if it would do me any good. I tell him that it would be great. I get in the truck and he is listening to gospel music. We drive to the car and I spend a few minutes on the wet, muddy ground searching for a place to hook the winch cable. Then I get in the car and the winch has no problem pulling me back on the road. I inspect the damage again...my right front fender is squashed a bit and could be fixed, but I'll probably just replace it. I thank the man and introduce myself. I won't post his name to honor his privacy. I ask if I can pay him and he tells me that if I call the sheriff and report the tree being down, that would be payment enough. I thank him once again and get in my car and drive off. On the way, I stop at a country store and ask the attendant to call the sheriff for me and he agrees. The rest of the drive was fine and I even got to work on time. I give to God all the praise and the glory!

God's simple plan of salvation

My Friend, I am asking you the most important question of life. Your joy or your sorrow for all eternity depends upon your answer. The question is: Are you saved? It is not a question of how good you are, nor if you are a church member, but are you saved? Are you sure you will go to Heaven when you die?

http://www.godssimpleplan.org/gsps-english.html

Compassion International Child

When Kristy and I went to the Mercy Me concert in late October, at the end the of the concert the guys in the band did their pitch for Compassion International. I had heard the pitch several times in the last few years, always wanting to sponsor a child, but not having the means to do so at the time. This time, conditions were just right. I had just finished paying off my car, freeing up $156 a month. Of course, I already had allocated the funds to something else but I felt Jesus tugging at my heart and remembering James 1:27 (paraphrased) "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Kristy and I ended up with two different "child packets". One was from a South American country, Ecuador I think. The other was from a child in Ethiopia. Kristy made the choice of the Ethiopian girl named Terefech. Here is her picture. She looks so sad.

Beautiful sunsets from the gulf coast

Took these over the Thanksgiving holiday at Englewood Beach, Florida. Several different nights.

Holiday at Englewood Beach, Florida

Deep sea fishing was one of those things that are like going to a NASCAR race at Talledega...I'm happy I did it and I see no need in doing it again. It was fun. We caught about 12 small fish yeilding about a pound and a half of fillets. The most amazing part of the trip were these dolphins that were following the boat on the way out of the harbor. Beautiful....

I'm back at it again

Well, after being lazy for months, I'm starting to work on the house again. My good friend Frank is coming over once a week to help me. He'll be over tonight to continue closet framing upstairs.

This weekend I installed a the final window on the first floor. Of course when I framed it up (months ago) I framed it wrong so I had to modify the opening a bit. I did most of the work with a chain saw from the inside of the house so, of course, it made a huge mess. I knew I was going to have to buy a vacuum cleaner eventually and since I have a rug over the subfloor (which now had sawdust all over it) this was the time to buy it. I was amazed at the amount of dirt that a cheap vacuum can gather! The rug looks much better now as does (what will eventually be)the living room!

I guess I'll buy a camera for myself for Christmas so I can take some pictures. Words by themselves are so boring!

Opening day - Cotton Patch Gospel

Tonight is the first of eight performances of the "Cotton Patch Gospel", the last published work of the late Harry Chapin. I have been practicing as a guitarist in the orchestra and I hope I'm ready. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

On another note, I lost my cell phone. I don't have service, but I had all my contact phone numbers on it and I used it as my alarm clock. Since my Cannon camera quit working, the cell phone was the only camera I had. Now I have no camera. That expalins why there aren't any recent pictures on the blog, doesn't it!

Time to go camera shopping!

Wrenched some more on Wes' car on Saturday. Had to remove the lifting chain from the new engine, put the hoist in the truck, go out to the back 40 and set the old engine on the ground, next to the Cougar parts car. Went back to Wes' Tbird and proceeded to bolt the engine to the transmission and the torque converter to the flywheel. In retrospect, it was the easiest hookup I've ever done. Just a gentle shove to the transmission and it was in place, ready to bolt up. Even though it was just a few bolts, I still ended up with about 2 1/2 hours on the job, including moving the old engine.

Then I went to Sharla's house to paint on the repairs that I still haven't completed. I spent about and hour and a half there, then I went home to watch a few college football games.

On Sunday, I attended Autaugaville UMC, whcih is the new church I will be joining. At about 1:00, I went into Millbrook to volunteer with a group of people to "spruce-up" the West Elmore Christian Outreach Ministry Extension (W.E.L.C.O.M.E.) center. about 20 people from Millbrook First United Methodist showed up to demolish, clean, repair and paint. I didn't do much, but I did go through a tube of caulk while plugging up cracks in the block walls.

I went home after about an hour and a half and took in a couple of NFL games. Not much else on.

After Wes's engine spun a rod bearing and started to knock a couple of months ago, We picked up a used one with 86000 miles on it. Hopefully it will work well. Here, Wes is installing the flywheel that we forgot to do while the engine was on the ground. At the moment, the engine is sitting in the engine compartment, but hasn't been bolted in yet. Wes and I will continue next time he visits.

I worked on clearing the airstrip about 2 hours today. Progress is certainly being made. I stopped at a local equipment rental place on Saturday and learned that I could rent a tracked Bobcat skid-steer with a bucket for $225 a day. If I pick it up at closing time on a Friday, I don't have to return it until they open on Monday. I think this is what I'll do instead of hire someone with a bulldozer. Here is what the airstrip looks like at the moment:


The start of runway 24.


Midpoint of runway 24. Those trees at the end will be removed to provide clear access to the end of the runway.


Midpoint of runway 6. There will be some fill required on the right side near the end. The higher side of the clearing will be cut away to provide the fill and eventually the runway will start very close to my front yard. All the trees that will interfere with the runway will be removed on both sides.


These trees at the end of runway 24 will all be cut down. As you can see, I've already started.


As it stands right now, without any cut or fill, it appears that I'll have 300 feet with both ends clear. It will certainly be tight on both take-off and landing but I believe it will be do-able!

Working on the runway!

On June 30th, the spot that will be my runway looked like the pictures below. I've been putting in some hours clearing this small spot in hopes that it will serve as my ultralight runway. After this weekend, I'll post a picture of my progress, but it is substantial. I have only owned this property for about two years and I've been concentrating mostly on building my home. I've discovered that this spot has about a 4 foot elevation difference from one side to the other over about 100 feet. I hope this won't really be a problem because the only solution is a bulldozer.

I stepped off the distance from one end to the other and came up with about 370 feet plus or minus 25 feet. I could possibly gain another 60 feet on one end after removing some trees that would interfere with my wings when taking off.

I have learned that the local radio control (RC) airfield was 568 feet. I have successfully taken off and landed on this field. It has tall grass on either end of the mowed area and from what I can remember, the landing roll was a bit long and I went into the tall grass on the end before I stopped. Keep in mind, the grass on the runway itself is almost like a golf green, short and smooth. I'll have taller grass on my strip so I'll probably stop in a shorter distance. Who knows, might be the right time to get brakes! Somebody suggested that I have two different lengths of grass on my strip, short for takeoff and longer for landing. Sounds like a good idea. Airstrip progress photo coming soon!



The runway looking towards 243 degrees (runway 24). All of the trees you see at the far end will be removed to allow a clear approach to the short field.

The middle of the runway looking towards 243 degrees (runway 24).

The opposite end of the runway looking towards 63 degrees (runway 6).

Ultralight People

Well, I've been doing a bit of reflecting on my time spent at Mark Smith's fly-in. It's really strange. Many of the people who were at the fly-in I've met before. I remember their faces but not their names. When you have to ask, it can be embarrassing. If you still don't remember, it can sometimes be so awkward that you decide not to ask again. During the year I communicate with them through the Yahoo Quicksilverultralightowners group, but won't actually see them again for another year, or two or more.

Take Lester for example. I spoke to Lester at length at the fly-in. I didn't know his name and I didn't ask. I didn't learn until I got back that he posts as Bobo_MX on the Yahoo group. I'm certainly familiar with his posts, but I didn't associate a face with a user name. Isn't that strange? I'm sure a bunch of people at Mark's associated faces with user names and given names for the first time this weekend. Dan Umbarger is one whom I now associate with his Yahoo group name of "BOATDOC54". He said it was his first time at the Fly-in, but I would have sworn that I've met him before. Oh yeah, by-the-way, My Yahoo group name used to be RustyUL. It's now gr.weldon and the group doesn't display my actual name, even though I think my profile setting says that it should. "Norm in Cherokee Village Arkansas" told me his last name several times. Do you think I remember it? NO! I guess I'll just use the excuse everybody else does...I'm getting old, which is true.

It would be helpful if somebody could put together a list (a blog even) of peoples names, Yahoo group name, the city they live in and a picture of the airplane (or airplanes for those who are extremely blessed) that they fly. I know that some people are a bit leery of the perceived security issues, but you would be surprised how easy it already is to find somebody without anything more than a name and possibly a state. I think I could easily associate a name and face with an airplane. What do you think? Post a comment and let me know! I'd be willing to start another blog if a good deal of people would like to send their information to me. It would be like a ready reference to people who post on the group. I suppose I could even withhold real names if people wished. Like I said, let me know!

Back to the issue of people you only see once a year. It's amazing how you bond with some people even though you only see them very few hours over a long period of time. As I said in my previous post, Ultralight fliers are a really different type of people. They live different types of lifestyles and tend to be almost any age. Just about every single ultralight flier that I have ever met has been very warm, open and receptive. I know we think that it should be that way with everyone at any time, but for whatever the reason, that isn't the case. Ultralight fliers can disagree about everything...and I do mean everything. As long as they agree that flying ultralights is where it's at, they can be great friends at the flying field. They may not want to (and probably don't) associate with this person any other time, but the sport of flying brings them together. It is indeed an amazing thing.

At Mark's fly-in, Dwight told me that I needed to set aside one day a week to work on my runway. I'm beginning to think that he's right. Up to now it's been house, house, house. I think I need to direct some of my work toward the ultimate end of flying. The fly-in re-ignited the flame. All I really need to do is cut down a five or six dozen trees and mow the lawn and I possibly could have 300 usable feet. If the strip is open on both ends, I'll should have no problem taking off and shouldn't have too much difficulty landing.

On Google Earth it looks somewhat like this, but these pictures are about 5 years old. The outline is 500' long and will need some fill on both ends.


Once I get the runway workable, I'll have to assemble the pile of tubes sitting in my minivan into an airplane. I can't wait to get started.

Car almost finished

When re-installing the new EGR tube, I had to remove the DPFE sensor from the old tube to put on the new tube. Wouldn't you know, the plastic was old and brittle and broke where it connects to the vacuum likes. That will be another $35 or so plus the car will throw the check engine light until I put the new sensor on.

When testing that everything electrical worked, I discovered that neither the radio nor the climate control fan worked. Nor the rear window defroster or the windshield wipers. I'll have to troubleshoot and find out what gives but tonight, I just had to call it quits at about 6:30. At least it's drivable and gets much better gas mileage than the 13MPG F250 truck I was driving while putting the car back together. I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow night. I really thought this project would be complete by now!

Replacing the AC evaporator core in a Merc Sable

This 4th of July weekend was relatively productive for me. On Friday, I worked on the last bit of roofing that need to be finished. I'm still not done. It gets tricky working 20 feet above the level of the deck. I have just a few more pieces of roofing material to install. After the roofing material is all done, I have some flashing to install where the walls meet the roof. After that, the roof will finally be complete. I figure about 4 to 6 more hours.

Saturday, I started the miserable task of replacing the air conditioning evaporator core in my car. I had to remove the steering column and dashboard completely, then remove the air handling unit which involved 2 quick disconnects (they weren't quick at all), two heater core hoses, and three large nuts from inside the engine compartment. I had to remove the intake manifold from the engine to be able to get room to make the majority of the disconnections. In the process I broke the EGR valve tube and the gear selector display, the little plastic piece that shows what gear you are in. I also lost the two screws that hold the multi-function switch (turn signals, hi-beam) to the steering column.


Screw access panels and glove box removed.



Steering column, radio/climate controls and glovebox removed









Air handler still installed in car



Air handler removed


Bare naked interior firewall!



Saturday night, my wife Sharla and I went to see fireworks in Montgomery. I have to say that it was shameful! I know budgets are tight, but the show didn't even last 7 minutes! We drove 40 minutes to get there, spent about 40 minutes waiting for the show to start...for what? 7 minutes of fireworks? As I said, shameful!

Sunday morning about 9:00, I started to disassemble the air handling unit to replace the evaporator core. Because I didn't want to be taking the dash out again for any reason, I replaced the heater core as well. I then started to put things back together. About 11:00 I started to re-install components back into the car. At 5:30PM, I had to stop because of impending rain, which was the first rain in 3 weeks. When I stopped, I had the air handler back in, the dash back in, the steering column mounted, and the radio/climate control unit back in. I still have to mount the multi-function switch (when I get the screws), install the glove box, re-connect the AC hoses and heater core hoses, replace the EGR tube, reinstall the intake manifold, upper motor mount and put the passenger side tire back on. If I can easily get the old EGR tube to come off easily (doubtful), then we should be talking about 3 hours to complete. I've got about 12 hours into the project already. With the cost of the evaporator core, the heater core and EGR tube, two freon recharges (the first one told me I had a leak), the total will be just about $550. After I already paid $160 for the first freon recharge, they told me it would be at least $600 to replace the evaporator core. This wouldn't have included the heater core. You know how things like that go...It would have been more in the end. Any way you look at it, I saved about $200. If I hadn't broken anything and cheaped out by using my old heater core, I could have saved easily $300 or more. Hopefully when I take it to the service center, it will hold a charge. Then I'll have AC again! Woo Hoo! It only quit working 2 months after I bought the car about 30 months ago.



Engine compartment with intake manifold and other things removed

Mark Smith's summer 2009 Posey Patch fly-in

So, I know this blog started as a way to document my ultralight flying adventures (hence the name), but for the last two to three years I've been tied up with some personal junk in my life. I've been building a house, not contracting it out, but building it myself. Until you get to a certain point with a house, it is the ONLY priority you can have, especially since my accommodations were less than comfortable and convenient. I still don't have a kitchen or even a stove, but I get by just fine. Even though the house is a long way from being finished, I'm at a point where I can take a bit of time off and enjoy different events. Mark Smith's fly-in is one of those events that I've missed for the last two years, but made it a point to go this year!

Many of you who read this blog know Mark Smith, many of you don't. If you ever get the chance to meet him, you will find that he's a "tell it how you see it" kind of guy. I respect this in a person. He's also a wealth of information about ultralight aircraft, especially Quicksilver ultralights and copies. As I found out this past weekend, he's also a pioneer in the realm of powered hang-gliding. These underpowered regallo wings eventually evolved into the many different types of ultralights we find in the world today.

Mark was one of the first and largest Quicksilver dealers in the 80's and 90's. Now he is an independent ultralight designer, builder and parts source for many ultralight fliers who benefit from his improved aftermarket parts and modifications. His airport, the Posey Patch, consists of two large hangars and two grass runways with a water runway nestled between them. Located in the bottoms of the Ohio river near Evansville, Indiana, It is an ultralight fliers paradise! This time of year the crops are low and there are thousands of acres all around his place. You can fly low over fields for miles at a time, popping up over hedgerows and tree lines from time-to-time, then back down over the crops and meadows. It's great flying!

My trip up to southern Indiana this year was as great as every other year that I've been. At the busiest time of the fly-in, there were at least twelve aircraft on the ground, possibly a few more in the air flying around. I'd estimate 40-50 different people attended at one point or another. I think there were eight or so people who camped on the premises for a day or more. I stayed in a tent for three nights.

Ultralight fliers are a different sort of people. Most of them have great flying stories, usually about mistakes or close calls that others have made. Once in a while, you will find them honest enough to tell you about the mistakes they have made and the emotional, physical and monetary cost associated with the mistake. The best thing about them though is the fact that they love to laugh! I laughed more this weekend than I have in the past 6 months total! I wouldn't doubt that some of them actually practice comedy routines for that once in a lifetime possibility that somebody might offer them an actual audience. I won't mentions any names...oh...well, yeah, I will....Norm and Jeff! The bottom line is this, everybody that I spoke with whether they were friends I have met previously or friends that I met for the first time...All were pleasant and friendly. I just can't emphasize that enough!

The aircraft assortment ranged from several CGS Hawks in different configurations, A couple of Quicksilver GT500 planes, a few GT400 planes, MX's, Sports, Sprints and of course, Mark's modified Quick-alikes, the Gray Navy and Navette. I fell in love with flying Navette. It is plane that will fly almost as slow as the slowest Quicksilver and will almost keep up with the GT400 planes if you give it enough throttle! I would estimate that speed range to be 25 to 55. All of us ultralight pilots know that true ultralights NEVER exceed 55MPH in level flight. That would be against the rules, wouldn't it!

I flew two different airplanes while I was at the fly-in. Mark is gracious enough to rent his airplanes to individuals that he knows are able to fly well enough not to bend them up. One of the airplanes, the "Gray Navy" I flew in two different configurations, with wheels and with floats. I didn't do much float flying. Because of the heat and my heavy body weight, it just didn't climb well and in my older (wiser) age, I don't like to push the envelope. After all, the plane itself is over 100 pounds heavier with the floats attached. When I was taking off, I barely made it out of the canal with only about 20 feet to spare. I would have preferred 100 feet or so. As I was attempting to climb out, altitude wasn't coming easily and instead of just feeling the plane and it's attitude, I had to actually watch the airspeed indicator and adjust the elevator before I was able to get over 100 feet of altitude. For those who don't fly, this might sound dramatic and scary, but it all takes place in a period of 5 to 10 seconds after leaving the surface and it's quite automatic. I'm just used to flying Mark's planes that have plenty of power to climb however you want and I neglected this when flying with the floats. In any case, I immediately set up the approach to land and nailed a landing and that was enough flying for me. Andrew, the airline transport pilot weights about 40 pounds less than I and he didn't have any difficulty with the floats at all. He flew with the floats every chance he could get!

I spent the majority of my time flying "Navette". In fact, after I landed from my first flight in Navette, I asked Mark if we could work up a trade-in deal where I would end up with Navette. I was serious, but he just smiled and never answered. I assumed the answer was "no way!" Of course I spent some time in Gray Navy without the floats. It's a great flying plane as well. I practiced cross-wind landings in it on Sunday Morning when the clouds were out and the breeze was blowing the streamers straight out on the wind indicator. Probably over 10MPH or so. My plane doesn't have ailerons (yet) so it was great to be able to cross-control and approach parallel before landing. The spoilers on my plane work pretty well, but not nearly as well as ailerons.

All of the pictures of the Fly-in that are posted here were taken by either John Jones, Dan Umbarger, or Enrique Londono. This is because when I pulled my camera out to take some shots, I discovered that I left the CF card at home. If I would have checked before I went to Wal-Mart to get batteries, I could have picked up a card, but alas, I didn't and it was too hot and too far to go back to Evansville.

I reluctantly left Sunday morning about 11AM. I knew I had to be back at work on Monday and I wanted to arrive home early enough to unpack and settle-in and get a good night sleep. I got home about 6:30PM and was in bed asleep by 9:00. I plan on going again next summer. Mark also has another fly-in in October, but I think that will be too cold for me to attend. I've become quite used to the heat living in Alabama and I get cold really easy. 60 degrees with a wind chill of 40MPH while flying doesn't really qualify as fun to me so I'll have to wait for another year!

John, Dan and Enrique took great pictures so here they are:





Navette.


The cockpit of Navette.


Jeff Austin cooking the meat! It was delicious!


Anticipating the start of the feast. Click on image for a larger picture.


The feast begins!


Installing the floats on Gray Navy. I'm supervising of course! Nahh, it was a team effort involving Jeff, Enrique, Andrew (well, he was there) and Bill.


Jerad Barrett posing on Gray Navy with floats.


Andrew landing Gray Navy (obvously on floats). Click on image for a larger picture.


A good shot of Mark's Posey Patch from the air. Click on image for a larger picture.


Landing at the Patch. Click on image for a larger picture.


Typical scenery at Mark's taken from Jeff Austins MXII. It's for sale if anybody is interested! Click on image for a larger picture.

Last bit of the roofing!

I'm finally getting around to finishing the last bit of the roofing left from last year. I had to stop last November when it stopped getting warm enough to make the roofing material lay flat. As a result, the east roof on the house has wrinkles in it. Not to worry, much of the future porch roof will cover the wrinkled present roof.

As you can see from the pictures, I have the under-eave soffit just about complete on the west side of the house. Just a couple of trim strips to cover the joints and my corner trim board left and I'll be ready for siding on the lower west side. I still have the upper and lower soffits on the rest of the house to finish...in due time. There is NEVER any shortage of work to do. Most of the things that need to be done now don't really have a drastic effect on the appearance of the structure. Things like additional foundation supports. Lots of effort required with no appearance change.

I ran out of roofing material tonight. I have one 74 inch piece to finish. I had 72 inches left. One more trip into town...46 miles round trip. After finishing the last piece on the main roof, I still have the steep gable portion, but that will be relatively easy since the roofing pieces are small. It's an awkward angle, but with the deck in place it won't be too difficult.



Almost completed eave



Roofing starter strips nailed on



All but one 74" piece to complete



Steep gable left to complete