Friday, April 27, 2012

Ethel IFR & IPad Update

Ethel has been flying 86XP to get acclimated to flying it IFR.   As most of you know each plane is a little different so getting use to the GPS and autopilot has been one of those things that we have had to do. 

Ethel also purchased an iPad that we will use for the race.  She had downloaded ForeFlight onto the iPad and has been working with that during her IFR flights.  So many things to do and so little time.  We have only 53 days until the race and 45 days until we leave for AZ. 

Monday, April 16, 2012

Flying 86XP & Getting Caught....

Ethel has had the opportunity to fly Tom's plane in the past month. So now it was my turn. So Tom is away (in FL) so Barb and Ethel will play!!! Tom showed us how to get the plane out of the hanger on April 7th before he and Bobbe left for Florida. The winds have been horrible so I haven't gotten a chance to fly until this past Saturday, the 14th.

Ethel and I got the plane out of the hanger and were ready to go. I have to say we felt like two kids in a candy store!!! I had a great time getting use to the power and the weight of the 210 h.p. engine. It is similar to the 172 I rent but much different because of the constant speed prop. So after taking off and working on some slow flight in the practice area we got back into the pattern and I practiced take-offs and landings for 1.7 hrs. The winds were non existence or very light and the traffic wasn't too crazy for a Saturday morning at PTW. We didn't have any issues putting the plane back in the hanger and I was off running errands.

I got a phone call in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday. It was Tom in FL. He asked me how my flight was in the morning. I laughed so hard I almost cried. How did Tom Smith know that we were flying the plane that morning. Well I now know that everytime I fly out of PTW I fly over Tom and Bobbe's son's home. So Saturday morning we were spotted flying 86XP and Tom got a call asking him who was flying his plane. Small world.....

Classic Racer 25

Sorry I have been busy and haven't updated the blog lately. There are many things to tell. Back in March the race numbers were pulled and we are officially Classic Racer #25. Not a single digit number like we hoped but still a good one to have.

So our Eastern PA 99 friends Alison & Linda got Classic Racer #5 and Mary and Elaine bought Classic Racer #15. So we have #5, #15 & #25. It is a crazy combination when you know that it was based on chance.

Now I have been working on ordering the numbers and we will have to place two numbers on each side of the tail of the newly painted XP. Sorry Tom!!!