December 11, 2018
This won’t be a story as much as just some photos I took on a “local” flight.
The primary purpose of this flight was to ensure that my ADS-B was working well. On my previous cross-country flight to Brenham, the ADS-B system seemed to have stopped working about 1 hour after I took off, each way. So, I wanted to fly for at least 90 minutes, today, to make sure I had “fixed” the problem. [The problem was self-inflicted — as many aircraft problems are. I had unintentionally set my transponder into Mode S, and the ADS-B doesn’t work well in Mode S. When I figured out that it was set-up wrong — after my return flight from Brenham — I changed it back to Mode C. So this was a flight to ensure the problem was solved.]
The air temp was around 40ºF/4.4ºC when I arrived at Anahuac, and had worked its way up to about 50ºF/9.9ºC by the time I took off. I first did a lap around the pattern and then a touch-n-go. I then headed south but didn’t get very far before my door popped open! Yep, it’s always a surprise, but not as much as the first time it happened (on my way back from Maryland). I managed to get the middle latch, uh, latched, but then the front latch on the other door pops open. That’s when I decided it’d be wise to return to the airport and fix the door issues. So that’s what I did.
I landed, taxied around to the run-up area, killed the engine, ran around to the other side of plane and made sure the door was latched completely, then jumped back in and taxied to the hold-short line. I then ensured my door was very tightly closed and latched and took off again to the south. No more issues after this.
Where was I going? Since I was actually just killing time, I figured that having some scenery to look at while flying around is always a good choice, so I headed for the southern end of Galveston Bay. It seems there’s always something interesting to see down there.
Unlike my open-air gyro brethren, I was toasty in my Cavalon… it’s kind of a flying terrarium in some respects. It was between 45ºF and 50ºF outside, but quite warm inside the cockpit and getting warmer all the time. Even though I had a sweatshirt on, after 20 minutes, it was getting too warm for me so I opened both of my ventilation hatches, and left them open for the remainder of the flight.
I should also note: this gyroplane is definitely liking the cooler weather. There are a few quantitative elements that I can measure — how quickly it takes off, how much smoother the rotors operate, etc. — but there are also a lot of qualitative elements that are harder to pin down. In retrospect, I’m now really glad my first long trip in it was in the dead of winter. At the time I had a lot of anxiety about that. But the fact that it runs better when it’s cold means my first impression was the best it has to offer. Of course, I live in SE Texas where it’s hot and humid for the majority of the year, so I do have to accept that it doesn’t fly as well then. Overall, I’m very happy with it… just a little more-so in the winter! 🙂
As you can see (at right), upon leaving Anahuac I headed SW and my track took me down near the city of Galveston, then I turned NE to fly along the Bolivar Peninsula beach. When I had about 45 minutes on the clock, I turned north back toward the airport. Rather than just head in — I wanted to be really sure I had a lot more than 1 hour for this trip — I kept heading north and flew to Liberty County airport and did a touch-n-go. After that, I just headed south again and landed back at Anahuac. A two hour flight, lots of nice scenery, and zero issues with my ADS-B system. Very successful! Below are some of the photos I took on this flight.
Overall:
* distance: 120 nm (138 sm, 194 km)
* time in the air: 2 hour, 8 minutes
* fuel burned: 7 gallons (26.5 liters)
If you’re interested in “flying along with me,” take a look at the video. I shot this while approaching Anahuac airport from the south, and includes close-up shots of the instruments as well as some outside views, and even a few moments with yours truly! (Actually, the video demonstrates one of the good news/bad news element I have about winter flying… having to leave the doors on. It’s too cold to fly with them off in the winter but, you can see for yourself: all the reflections in the doors that, as a photographer, are not easy to deal with.)
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