Like a feather in the wind

The world is NOT flat!!

Pic: Curvature of the earth

Lola and we never really went high. Actually our highest was FL150 (15.000 feet for the non-flying audience) so far, so time to take that wonderful day and check the real, reachable, altitude of our beloved bird. We stopped in FL220 and surely could have gone to FL240 since our vario still showed a moderate 500 ft/min climb rate.

We not only experienced that Lola felt very comfortable but also proofed that the world is not flat!



Here are the facts & figures for my Comanche-friends:

Takeoff weight: 3600 lbs, approx. 125 lbs below MTOW (3725 lbs)

Powersetting: 28'' Manifold Pressure and 2600 RPM, which is the Max Cont. Power Setting according to the POH. I usually climb with those numbers at 130 mph (cruise climb) to keep the CHT below 430 F. That is a wonderful setting and gives you normally a good 1000 ft climb rate and brings you to altitude as fast as possible. Lola went up to FL 200 with exactly that setting. It was -10°C at FL 200, so density altitude was already at 21600 feet. Nice.

From >FL 200 the manifold pressure felt back to 26'' and finally in FL 220 to 24'' at 2600 RPM. It was -15°C up there as shown on the Aspen PFD, so the "real" or density altitude was 23.500 feet.

Antwerpen, July 2010

A song about the turbos. Applause. Why? Because you might need them and than you will sing a song about them. First picture in FL90 and than climb out to FL150 in less than 6 min.



One hour cruising on top and singing songs was all we did to enjoy that beautiful but demanding flight.




Picture were taken on the way back from Antwerpen to Kassel.

Business Flying

There are certain meetings where you always wonder how to get there. By Car is 5h driving. By train about the same. By commercial airline 1h - but to get to the airport, check-In, security, waiting etc you also have 5h triptime in total. "Kassel - Bruxells" is one of these 5h trips, so 10h travel time for an 1h meeting. Hm.

That is the reason why men invented "general aviation". Flying time for Lola is 1:25h, so let's say a total of 2h triptime from my house to the taxi which brought me to the meeting. Great!

Sun-seekers

After it has been snowing and snowing for almost 3 month now, the spring now wants to break through. And we want that, too.

It has been too long since we took Lola for a joyride. This time only to enjoy the winter-wonderland in the vicinity of Kassel.

Normandy Landing

Caen, Normandy. Thanks to an invitation from Kathleen and John we had the chance to visit Normandy. It is approx. 3 h from Kassel flying time for Lola to visit the family. The nice part was to fly "over" a front...well, not just crossing it on top, but climbing out through the front in Kassel and following the front "on top" all the way to Normandy. The pictures were taken the next day when flying sightseeing along the landing beaches.

It is a beautiful place and we will definitely be back soon for a further and closer look!

Der Eismann!

The way back to kassel. The Iceman came for a visit in flight and embraced Lola right after entering the Alps. So plenty of time to test the boots, props, windshield and pitot heat.

After a good 4h flight in IMC with some "VMC breaks" in between and plenty of circling around the CB's we landed back in Kassel. Bumpy as hell heavily headwind prevails me from beeing too positive about that trip :-)

"Dalmatian hopping"

Forty minutes is all it takes to fly from the Southern island Brac to one of the islands up North on the Dalmatian coast.

Before taking off, we ensured to practice how to pronounce the name of the island... Admit, not a stupid thing to do when the place is called Krk. "Hello Krk. How do you read, Krk?''

Flying away from Brac looks a bit like starting upside down - you take off, climb quickly, get over the mountains and then they want you to descend ... quickly again. But, he, there's nothing against a low-level flight over the Dalmatian coast :)

When arriving in Krk, one thing is clear. This island is way greener than the Southern islands. And the fish is even better here ;)

We spend some days relaxing over the bridge, at the other side of the island. What I remember of doing nothing for days? A good book, the beautiful town Vbrnik and the best fish in the world at Zwillinge, a family restaurant in Malinska.

Yep, I am convinced... Krk is not a bad stop on a Dalmation hop ;)

Luftwandering*

*Luftwandern = air-hiking.

We followed Norbert's (who also flies a beautiful restorated Twin Comanche) advice and flew after Dubrovnik to Brac Island to chill out for some days and enjoy the rest of our stay in Croatia. Flying "low and slow" among the coastline is truly an experience. The island itself is very small. Only 14,000 inhabitants in 22 villages (5 more ghost-towns) and ca. 40 km from west to east let's you explore the whole island in just one day.