Gone flying

Posted at 6:51 AM on November 13, 2012 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

I am not here today and will be gone until the middle of next week. So there is no 5x8 today, but look for goodies from the NewsCut pinch-hitters later today.

As for me, tomorrow (Wednesday) I will attempt to be the first person (in my house) to fly an airplane he built himself across the country. Next stop: the Toledo, Ohio area (refueling). Then: Massachusetts. I'll do it in one day (I hope). It's a trip I've thought about making almost since the day I started building 11 1/2 years ago.

I'll let you know how it goes via Twitter and the usual places.

Did I say Toledo? A good reason to give you the latest from the Bus 52 pals.

Enjoy your week!

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Comments (4)

Have a great trip, Bob. Do you plan to use Flight Following? I have not tried it for a VFR trip, but since you would have a transponder code we might be able to follow your tail number on Flight Aware.

Posted by Mitch | November 13, 2012 9:21 AM

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Flightaware usually only shows flights that have filed an IFR flight plan. When you file IFR but just use VFR flight following then you are usually tracked on Flightaware just the same as an IFR flight.

What would be fun to follow is if Bob has a spot or some other satellite based tracking device.

Posted by Ed | November 13, 2012 9:31 AM

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I'll pick up flight following out of South St. Paul. From what I understand, they usually dump you around Rockford and then you takes your chances with Chicago. So we'll see. It won't be on Flight Aware b/c it's a VFR flight.

I do have an antenna for an eventual APRS system. I just need to buy a $300 gizmo (that ain't gonna happen real soon) to interface with the GPS, and then get the required ham radio license and then that will broadcast the plane's position and data. But, as I said, I haven't done that yet.

The problem now is the airport near my wife's mother's house --- North Adams, MA -- has pushed today's runway maintenance to tomorrow -- flight day -- and closed it until 5pm. My expected time of arrival is around 4:30, which is also sunset. I'm not going to feel my way through those mountains in the dark so I'm spending today trying to get the airport manager to pick up his phone.

Posted by Bob Collins | November 13, 2012 9:37 AM

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Just to update: We've had to cancel the flight(s). The tailwinds weren't going to be as strong as we'd hoped to allow for an extended refueling/lunch stop, so we'd be flying over mountainous terrain at night and decided that's not real smart. We'll try it in the late winter/spring.

Posted by Bob Collins | November 13, 2012 4:40 PM

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