Opening the man door to the hangar reveals my Corvair powered taildragger sitting in the dark. When the hangar lights came on I thought I noticed a twinkle in the cowl openings. As the large bi-fold door rises up the clear sunshine and cool breeze enters as I take a moment to inspect this machine to see if it is ready for us to spend some time above the earth.
Soon enough I'm strapped into the seat and with a shot or two of petrol I watch a few blades go by and then I'm rewarded with the throbbing thunder of the 120 horse flat six telling me that we are soon to be ready for the skies. Lining up on runway five with a call for departure I can almost hear a voice saying, "Myunn you are go for launch!"
Slowly feeding in the power along with gobs of left rudder we are very soon up, up, and away! The air is cool and buttery smooth as I climb up only a few thousand feet while turning towards the lakes about 20 miles away.
I'm consumed with thoughts of how blessed I am to have the priviledge of flight in a beautiful bird that has been nearly flawless in operation. I study just how smooth the engine is, how responsive the controls are, and how quickly the landscape passes by below me. This is my second flight this week in gorgeous weather after many days of cold, wind, & rain. It's still winter but spring is in the air.
I post this as incentive to all of those of you that are still building or finishing up your beautiful birds. The road you are on will continue after the flight testing is finished. You will be amazed at where you have arrived but the journey is not over at all as now you start on another part of it by the discovery of your plane and the adventures you both will have together.
Much like a great marriage ... it just gets so much sweeter with time. Stay the course my friends.
Dale
3.0 Corvair/Tailwheel