West Coast Trip

[onex28]

Just signed on Kip and really enjoyed the posting of your trip. One of my goals when I finish my Onex is to fly to as many fly ins as possible to meet other builders of Sonex products. Since I'm building a tri gear I can't make you an offer on your rods.

David

[N111YX]

That's great, David. Post lot's of pics here during your build...!

[N111YX]

Trip Stats...

5/22 6.9 hours
D73-FFC 0+27 (Monroe, GA to Peachtree City, GA)
FFC-TUP 1+50 (Peachtree City, GA to Tupelo, MS)
TUP-HOT 2+10 (Tupelo, MS to Hot Springs, AR)
HOT-MLC 1+28 (Hot Springs, AR to McAlester, OK)
MLC-OUN 0+48 (McAlester, OK to Norman, OK)

5/23 7.2 hours
OUN-AMA 2+01 (Norman, OK to Amarillo, TX)
AMA-TCC 0+50 (Amarillo, TX to Tucumcari, NM)
TCC-AEG 1+33 (Tucumcari, NM to Albuquerque, NM)
AEG-INW 1+55 (Albuquerque, NM to Winslow, AZ)
INW-FLG 0+28 (Winslow, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ)

5/24 1.7 hours
FLG-HND 1+42 (Flagstaff, AZ to Henderson, NV)

5/25 0.7 hours
HND-HND 0+40 (Local flight at Henderson, two rides)

5/26 5.0 hours
HND-REI 1+36 (Henderson, NV to Redlands, CA)
REI-AVX 0+47 (Redlands, CA to Catalina Island, CA)
AVX-TRM 1+02 (Catalina Island, CA to Thermal, CA)
TRM-BXK 1+22 (Thermal, CA to Buckeye, AZ)

5/27 0.5 hours
BXK-DVT 0+26 (Buckeye, AZ to Phoenix, AZ)

5/28 5.4 hours
DVT-0E0 2+15 (Phoenix, AZ to Moriarty, NM)
0E0-TDW 1+29 (Moriarty, NM to Amarillo, TX)
TDW-OUN 1+34 (Amarillo, TX to Norman, OK)

5/29 6.0 hours
OUN-SGT 2+25 (Norman, OK to Stuttgart, AR)
SGT-DCU 1+55 (Stuttgart, AR to Decatur, AL)
DCU-D73 1+33 (Decatur, AL to Monroe, GA)

8 days
4331 Statute Miles
33.4 Hobbs (flight) hours
129.7 average mph
178.1 total gallons used
$1100.53 total fuel cost
24.32 mpg
$6.18 average price per gallon
5.33 gallons per hour

[Mike53]

Great trip,and enough memory's for a lifetime. That was a lot of flying in 7 days. Did you keep a daily journal and if so is there any particular day that stands out?Thanks for sharing.
I hope to fly to the Yukon from southwestern Ontario when the Onex is completed.(start date October 2011 completion date :?: )Not much room for baggage behind the seat but enough I think for a sleeping bag and a lightweight tent.
Mike

[N111YX]

Mike, I will put together some memories soon.

Some highlights...

-running from the Joplin tornado weather system
-flying at 10 feet over a dry lake bed
-looking down and seeing the meteor crater out of nowhere
-giving my best friend from childhood a ride in Las Vegas
-diving down a mountainous valley from Big Bear to Redlands, CA
-approach and landing at Catalina Island
-watching large stretches of Rt 66 slide by below
-seeing the Grand Canyon
-visiting my sister in Phoenix
-having a Waiex builder spot my plane on the ramp and calling me (we ended up going for a flight)
-countless mindboggling desert views
-zero maintenance issues!

[Sonex1517]

Great trip report Kip!

[Andy Walker]

I think that crater was made by an RV-12. :lol:

[Andy Walker]

Mike, the winds were the biggest hurdle on the trip. Every day it was 15-20 gusts to 25 or 30 knots. Luckily, the airport designers out there did their homework and the winds were pretty close to an available runway. The taildragger Waiex gets iffy with a crosswind component of more than eight knots in my opinion. The problem is at lower than flying speed (rollout) where the rudder dies. The best thing to do is a 90% full stall landing (three point) or if you really have a strong crosswind 100% full stall to kill all available speed in the air and get the tailwheel available for steering. Note that a 100% full stall touchdown will have the tailwheel contact first so it's not ideal every time as you might apply undue stress on the tailwheel assembly.

With a Jabiru, seek out a crosswind from the right if you can for takeoffs so the the left turning tendencies are balanced by the crosswind.... ;)

That's interesting, I'd think you'd keep the speed up a few extra mph to penetrate better. Of course all my experience is nose dragger so a TW plane might have an entirely different technique.

[N111YX]

The controls are plenty authoritve during landing. I LOVE that about the Sonex. A gusty landing in a C-172 will have the pilot fighting with his/her arms. In a Sonex the pilot is exercising their wrists or fingertips...:)

Extra speed is just more to bleed off during rollout which is more of a challenge than in the air...

[Andy Walker]

The controls are plenty authoritve during landing. I LOVE that about the Sonex. A gusty landing in a C-172 will have the pilot fighting with his/her arms. In a Sonex the pilot is exercising their wrists or fingertips...:)

I've only ever flown LSAs, and they are all like that to one degree or another. Definitely a good trait, to just have to barely move your hand instead of wrestling with big movements. I bet your Kolb flies the same way, right?

I also like that the Sonex/Waiex is light, but not "squirrely." My first 20 hours were in a CH601XL Zodiac (yep, the one with all the wing failures...) and that airplane feels similar to the Sonex/Waiex but with a lot more wander and less stability, especially in pitch. I also flew a Tecnam P92 Echo Super and that plane was very light on the controls, but stable as a rock. If I were going to buy a factory LSA, Tecnam would be at the top of my list.