{"id":2188,"date":"2018-06-22T16:18:40","date_gmt":"2018-06-22T22:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/?p=2188"},"modified":"2020-03-30T10:14:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T16:14:38","slug":"a-flight-to-the-dallas-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/?p=2188","title":{"rendered":"A flight to the Dallas area"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 22-24, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that it’s summer and the doors are off the Cavalon, I wanted to branch out a bit and stretch the legs, so to speak.\u00a0 Up in the Dallas\/Richardson area, I have several family members so I figured a flight up there wouldn’t be too much to bite off.\u00a0 After making sure everyone was going to be available, and that we’d be picked up and housed for the weekend, we set our sights on the June 22-24 time frame.<\/p>\n

Friday morning, June 22, a quick weather check showed that a later start would be better than an early one (due to low clouds).\u00a0 So we got to the airport, stowed our meager luggage (which is all the plane will hold) and got things ready to go.\u00a0 With the tank near full, full luggage and two people, this was going to be an MTOW (the aircraft is at Maximum Take Off Weight) departure.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, I intentionally did a full MTOW take-off and landing, just to make sure I could do it in the summer.\u00a0 The roll-out was longer, of course, but I ensured the rotor was up at a higher rpm than normal before I engaged the throttle.\u00a0 I also kept the brake on until that moment, to ensure we had all the runway available to us.<\/p>\n

We got off the ground without much of an issue — around 12:10pm — even though there was a density altitude of over 2500 feet!\u00a0 The climb out was slow so my turbocharger was engaged much longer than normal but still a lot less than the 5 minutes maximum.\u00a0 Before long, we were at 1500 feet and heading NNW across Lake Anahuac.\u00a0 On days just prior, the weather forecasters had predicted a nice tailwind.\u00a0 Today, though, the wind had moved around so it was<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

blowing from the SW, not from the south, so our anticipated tailwind was reduced to almost nothing.\u00a0 Still, that’s better, by a long shot, than a headwind!<\/p>\n

The flight plan for this trip was about as simple as they get.\u00a0 It was a straight shot, with no deviations required.\u00a0 I did go under the Class B just a bit, but I was planning to be lower than 3,000 feet, so I wouldn’t come anywhere close to that airspace.\u00a0 Between Anahuac and Rockwall, there were no other airspace I had to avoid or otherwise deal with.\u00a0 Easy!\u00a0 The only thing left to do was get in the plane and go, and so we did.\u00a0 Here is a shot of the panel just after we got airborne:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There may be some readers who will wonder what everything is, so let me explain some of it.\u00a0 (If you’re in the know, then skip down a couple of paragraphs.)\u00a0 The largest component — just left of center — is an iPad Mini 4.\u00a0 I run my navigation software on it.\u00a0 The other rectangular device — just right of center — is my smart-phone.\u00a0 It, too, runs my navigation software.\u00a0 I run both for redundancy.\u00a0 And having two screens lets me zoom into one or look up information while leaving the other one as it is.\u00a0 Either or both of these devices can be connected to my ADS-B “network”, but usually I just have the iPad connected.\u00a0 The ADS-B allows me, among other things, to electronically “see” other aircraft that are similarly equipped.<\/p>\n

The round instruments on either side of the smart-phone are (on the left) the airspeed indicator and (on the right) the altimeter.\u00a0 On the far right side are all the switches and circuit breakers that control power to all the instruments.\u00a0 On the far left is a cluster of analog gauges that tell me rotor rpm, engine rpm, oil pressure and temperature, water temperature and a fuel gauge.\u00a0 Scattered around the rest of the panel are my radio and transponder, compass, manifold pressure gauge, pressure system gauge, temp gauges, and more.\u00a0 At the top of the panel is where I put my SPOT locator, for emergencies.\u00a0 Behind it and partially obscured is the vertical card compass.\u00a0 There’s not a frivolous instrument on the panel, which is the way it should be.\u00a0 If you’re not accustomed to it, it looks complicated but with some training, it is easy to figure out.<\/p>\n

Another great addition to the cockpit is my wonderful co-pilot!\u00a0 While she is not a \"\"<\/a>pilot, she does understand a lot about aviation and is always willing to learn more.\u00a0 She doesn’t want to become a pilot, but she definitely wants to know enough to help me out when I need it.\u00a0 And, it’s fair to say, she is excellent and a great help!\u00a0 So, yeah, best “component” in the plane!<\/p>\n

My first trip in the Cavalon was and still is, the longest I’ve made… from Maryland to Texas.\u00a0 That trip was in winter, this one is in summer, so the environment I’m flying through for this trip is surprisingly different.\u00a0 And I’m not just talking about temperature.\u00a0 Summer is full of roiling air while winter air is (usually) calmer.\u00a0 Summer storms can spin themselves up quickly.\u00a0 Winter storms are usually just associated with a known air mass, or front, and usually with a lot of advanced notice.\u00a0 Given all the differences it seems easy to say that winter flying is better, but none of the aircraft I’ve owned prior to this one were enclosed or<\/em> had cabin heat.\u00a0 I have done some cross-country flights in open cockpits when air temps were in the 50’s, and it wasn’t fun.\u00a0 Ultimately though, one generally likes to just fly and will put up with a fair amount to do it and summer is one of those things you just put up with.<\/p>\n

Anticipating the summer heat, I took the doors off the Cavalon and it certainly does make it less hot when on the ground.\u00a0 When the doors are on, I typically leave the doors open until just before I take off, and, when landing, open them as soon as I’ve landed and am taxiing.\u00a0 When flying above about 2,000 feet, the air gets cooler and cooler so having the doors on and closed wouldn’t be too bad, but I do like to fly low, to be able to see things and take pictures.\u00a0 (No doors means better photography, too.)\u00a0 And the time from “doors closed” to 2,000 feet can be several minutes, depending on what’s going on at the airport, so that period of time could be quite hot inside the cockpit.\u00a0 This flight to Rockwall will be the first time we’ve spent long periods without the doors so I was a little concerned about being wind-whipped.<\/p>\n

I’d love to say that my concern was misplaced but I can’t.\u00a0 We were, indeed, buffeted constantly by the wind.\u00a0 It’s actually quite similar to being in a car, driving down a west Texas highway at 75 mph with the windows open versus the windows closed.\u00a0 It’s somewhat louder and, just as in the car with the wind blasting through the windows, you get a little worn out after a while.\u00a0 Even above 2,000 feet where it was a very nice temperature we still suffered from the small but constant battering.\u00a0 Describing it this way may make it seem bad but it wasn’t that<\/em><\/strong> bad.\u00a0 Just a little more tiring.\u00a0 I can easily say that compared to an open gyroplane or one of the fixed-wing ultralights I used to fly, this was still so much nicer.\u00a0 I may yet experiment a bit more with the doors on during the summer.<\/p>\n

One advantage I leave behind with the doors off is being able to go much higher.\u00a0 Temps drop about 3-4 degrees Fahrenheit per 1,000 feet.\u00a0 A sweltering 96\u00b0F on the taxiway is only a warm but pleasant 88\u00b0F at 2,000 feet. (Humidity is usually lower, too, and with some wind coming inside there’s a wind chill factor as well.)\u00a0 If I wanted to go to 9,500 feet — something I could have done on Sunday to reduce headwinds considerably — I’d be dealing with 58\u00b0F temps… or even lower, really, because of the wind chill factor.\u00a0 I know, it’s surprising, but being June we didn’t bring winter coats with us.\u00a0 If we had had the doors on we could have gone to 9,500 feet, fired up the cabin heat and been very comfortable at 75\u00b0F.\u00a0 My conclusion after this flight is that anything over 2 hours may require some serious consideration of keeping the doors on.<\/p>\n

Besides the occasional buffeting it was a pretty nice day to fly.\u00a0 The clouds didn’t go as high as they usually do and there was a bit of haze, but it was generally very pleasant.<\/p>\n

\"4N1A2618\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"4N1A2619\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"4N1A2621\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"4N1A2622\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The slight tailwind was nice, too, inasmuch as it allowed us to get to Rockwall Airport in a reasonable period of time…\u00a0 3 hours and 18 minutes.\u00a0 My plan was for us to average 70 knots, getting there in 3 hours, but when the plane is fully loaded, it\u00a0seems<\/em> to prefer slower speeds.\u00a0 Honestly, after takeoff and achieving my cruising altitude, I just tend to fly the plane faster and faster up to the point where I<\/em> start to feel a bit uncomfortable.\u00a0 There are small cues that occur at faster speeds: primarily the sound of the rotor and the shaking of the cabin.\u00a0 I am 100% confident the aircraft can easily withstand this increased speed, but I<\/em> prefer not to.<\/p>\n

When in smooth air I’ve gone up to the red-line of the aircraft, 85 knots, and felt comfortable.\u00a0 But I’ve only done that when I don’t receive those cues.\u00a0 I am able to go fast quite frequently when flying in winter but it’s more rare in the summer when the air is bubbly.\u00a0 I can’t quite put an exact number on any of it but I know when I’ve reached that point.\u00a0 Despite what the aircraft can handle, I simply prefer to enjoy my flight and try to feel comfortable, even if it takes me a bit longer to get to my destination.\u00a0 So my average speed going to Rockwall was somewhere just above 65 knots (76 mph).<\/p>\n

Even on the best of days the Cavalon is not a fast aircraft and is not intended for only flying from Point A to Point B quickly.\u00a0 It excels in local flying for fun and being close to the ground to see things.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
A Methodist compound, near Palestine T <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Huge <\/a>
Huge Walmart Logistics center <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Boats\/jetski's <\/a>
Boats\/jetski’s playing on Cedar Creek Lake <\/div> <\/div>
\"Interesting <\/a>
Interesting patterns in a field <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Interesting <\/a>
Interesting patterns in a field <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Obviously, a trip from Houston to Dallas is not trivial so the Cavalon can<\/em> be used for cross-countries… it is arguably one of the best gyroplanes for cross-countries, in fact, being quite comfortable and, with doors on, isolates the occupants from the wind and can keep them warm in the winter.\u00a0 It also has a large fuel tank, allowing flights of 3-4 hours without stopping.\u00a0 \u00a0And it can fly at altitudes beyond 10,000 feet, making it very versatile for short or long distances.<\/p>\n

For this trip to Rockwall, with the doors off, the Cavalon was comfortable despite having the doors off and having to deal with occasional gusty winds.\u00a0 About 3 hours 18 minutes after we left Anahuac, we are in the pattern at Rockwall.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Rockwall Municipal Airport [F46]<\/figcaption><\/figure>My nephew, Brian, and his family were soon there to pick us up.\u00a0 Before they arrived I had the plane refueled to be ready for tomorrow.\u00a0 I had offered to take anyone in the family up for a short flight.\u00a0 I brought my own chocks and put them around one wheel and, as a precaution, I looped a tie-down chain around the front wheel.\u00a0 (Unlike fixed-wing aircraft, a gyroplane isn’t greatly affected by winds on the ground but it never hurts to be careful!)\u00a0 Then I put the cover over it.<\/p>\n

This was only the second time I had used the ‘travel cover,’ the other time on my way back from Maryland.\u00a0 But I had the doors on the plane, then.\u00a0 With the doors\u00a0\"\"<\/a>off, the travel cover doesn’t\u00a0quite<\/em> close off the open doors.\u00a0 \u00a0Hmmmm.\u00a0 If it rained, I could easily see some water finding its way into the interior.\u00a0 This is something I hadn’t thought of.\u00a0 A quick weather check and it seemed like there was only a tiny chance of rain overnight, so I decided it was good for now.\u00a0 I checked with the FBO and they did have a hangar (just a covered, open-air spot, commonly called a T-cover) I could rent for the night but I decided I’d wait until Saturday night to do that.<\/p>\n

After dinner and a fun evening with my nephew, his wife and two young sons, we got some much needed rest for the next day.<\/p>\n

Everyone showed up at the airport around 10:30 am and the elder of the two sons got to sit in the plane while millions of pixels got altered in everyone’s cameras.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Soon enough the cloud base was high enough for some local flying so I started by taking my nephew, then my niece, then the two (much older) sons of another nephew, and then my brother.\u00a0 Mostly we flew to the east of the airport, out in the rural areas.\u00a0 Somewhere in there Brian’s wife was talked into just a quick flight around the pattern and I think she’s glad she did it… she had a smile on her face the entire 4 minutes!<\/p>\n

I tried to record each flight so they’d have a kind of keepsake…. here is the track when my niece had her flight, heading east but then circling back around and over the lake:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At one point, we started to see some raindrops on the windshield, so after landing I quickly put the plane under its T-cover and waited a while.\u00a0 But that was short-lived and soon we were again flying around the area.\u00a0 The last flight was with my brother who had a mission for me.\u00a0 There were a couple of churches in Plano he wanted some aerial photos of, so I marked them in my navigation software and off we went, this time to the west.<\/p>\n

After over-flying the two churches I realized that my nephew’s house was close by so we diverted south-southwest, took a few shots of the house as we turned, then headed back.\u00a0 Here is that track:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At the end of the sixth flight I rolled the Cavalon into its T-cover space for the night, chocked it and covered it, then again went to my nephew’s house.\u00a0 Whew.\u00a0 It was fun to let them enjoy the flight of a gyroplane but it’s also a bit tiring.<\/p>\n

The next day, Sunday, the weather looked like it was going to cooperate with us, but I did note that the wind was going to be directly against us.\u00a0 It may be as much as a 20-knot headwind!\u00a0 Based on weather maps, the only altitude that may provide some relief was at 9,500 feet but, with the doors off and lack of winter clothing, that was out of the question.\u00a0 We knew we were going to be in for a long, slow return home.<\/p>\n

We left around 10:30 am… again, to let some of the low clouds rise up or burn off and, in general, the air column was less hazy than the prior two days but the cloud base was still only around 3,000 feet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our return track was virtually identical to the one we flew on Friday.\u00a0 I did offset the track by a mile or two to the west just so we’d see slightly different things.\u00a0 But the big things like lakes were the same.<\/p>\n

\"Approaching <\/a>
Approaching Cedar Creek Reservoir <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lots <\/a>
Lots of houses on the shore <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A couple of islands with homes <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The outlet into the Trinity River <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Some <\/a>
Some big houses! <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A nice sailboats <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The earthen dam that helps create the reservoir <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A large prison near Palestine <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A nursery <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The Trinity River <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Tractor, <\/a>
Tractor, mowing the field <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"More <\/a>
More tractor activity <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Interesting <\/a>
Interesting patterns of trees <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Near <\/a>
Near Lake Livingston, the Trinity River spreads out. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Flying into wind, objectively, wasn’t much different than flying with a tailwind.\u00a0 We were still subject to buffeting and gusts but, generally, we were quite comfortable and at 2,000 feet the air temperature was pleasant.\u00a0 But subjectively, we could look down and see the very slow progress we were making.\u00a0 Shadows of clouds were rushing by us, heading north, while we crawled south against a 15- to 20-knot headwind.<\/p>\n

There were times when our ground speed was only 40-knots!\u00a0 Ugh.\u00a0 I managed to keep it up around 50-knots (ground speed) most of the time.\u00a0 We had to do some recalculations on fuel, of course, due to the slower ground speed (which means a longer time in the air).\u00a0 Ultimately we decided that we probably wouldn’t have enough fuel to make it home (and still have a normal safety margin) and did a precautionary landing at Livingston Airport where I added about 7 gallons of fuel.\u00a0 With the fuel already in the tank plus the added 7 gallons, we had 2 hours of flight time available to us and needed a little more than 1 hour to get home, with no diversions.<\/p>\n

Here is the Cavalon parked at Livingston:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We also took advantage of (what we think was the) FBO’s tiny air-conditioned office, available to pilots, to gulp down our lunch and take a much needed break.\u00a0 Soon enough we were back in the air, with a bit more than an hour to home.\u00a0 Though we were anxious to get there, wishing for it didn’t do any good and our ground speed did not improve.\u00a0 Still, there were more interesting things to see as we looked around:<\/p>\n

\"The <\/a>
The outlet for Lake Livingston, into the Trinity River <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Chung <\/a>
Chung Tai International Retreat Center <\/div> <\/div>
\"Hwy <\/a>
Hwy 59, diverting around Shepard, TX <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Some <\/a>
Some kind of water works, possibly diverting water from the Trinity River? <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"People <\/a>
People enjoying a sandbar of the Trinity <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Sam <\/a>
Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center… a very pretty site! <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The town of Liberty, TX <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Just minutes from our home airport the clouds started to look darker, more threatening.\u00a0 Many of them had very dark bases and a few drops fell on us here and there.\u00a0 I even decided to fly around one particularly dark and low cloud as I didn’t want to be the recipient of a sudden downpour.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Based on frequent radio calls on the Anahuac CTAF there didn’t seem to be anyone in the pattern so I made a direct descent to runway 17, landed at 3:12 pm and taxied to the hangar.\u00a0 It had been a very long return trip.\u00a0 From Rockwall to Livingston we had been in the air for almost exactly 3 hours.\u00a0 That means a ground speed of about 52 knots!\u00a0 Ugh.\u00a0\u00a0From Livingston to Anahuac it took 1 hour and 13 minutes for an even slower ground speed of 48 knots.\u00a0 No wonder we were tired.\u00a0 Altogether that’s 4 hours and 14 minutes in the air or almost a full hour longer than our flight to\u00a0<\/em>Rockwall.\u00a0 If we had had the doors on and climbed to 9,500 feet, we likely would have avoided most of the headwind.\u00a0 This has caused me to have second thoughts about leaving the doors off, in summer, for long cross-country flights.<\/p>\n

The other significant variation was that, flying near MTOW, my fuel consumption was much worse than my flight from Maryland when I was lighter and flying in the cold, dense air of January.\u00a0 I managed 4.4 gallons-per-hour for the 1,335 mile flight from Maryland, but this weekend’s 500 mile trip I only managed about 5.6 gallons-per-hour.\u00a0 The increased fuel consumption becomes more of an issue when fighting a headwind!\u00a0 My range is definitely affected.<\/p>\n

Overall I was very happy with the flight and performance of the Cavalon.\u00a0 With no special clothing or helmets required, able to eat or drink as needed (and, if we had wanted, we could have listened to some music), we were about as comfortable as driving down Highway 67 from Marfa to Presidio with the windows open… but we were a lot cooler, most of the time, and had a better view.\u00a0 It was great to see my family and show them the fun I’m having with my gyroplane and I loved the quality time I spent in the air with my wife.\u00a0 Can’t imagine a nicer weekend!<\/p>\n

To see the full track and where the photos were taken, check out my Ramblr page for this flight:\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/rblr.co\/gLLD<\/a><\/p>\n

I made a short video showing my family members’ smiles as they fly with me (no music, so, you might want to mute it):<\/p>\n