Phase 3F

in Tulsa, Oklahoma

January  29th through February 2nd

2004

Since March of 2003, when I did the 16 or so hours in a Schwietzer 269C here in Tennessee, I've only gotten to fly about 10 hours in our ship at Homer Bell's July Fly-In.  I got another 8 hours in our ship at John Spurling's Fly-In in October, 2003, when I got another 90 day sign off from Frank.   As luck would have it Donna and I and several others got the boot at our airport here in Knoxville last year and we couldn't find an airport to fly out of until late December, 2003.  By the time we got it going on again it was January, 2004, and I only got about 2 hours flight time in before my 90 day sign off ran out.  If you think there isn't a God up there think again! because just about the time my sign off ran out Frank called to give us a scheduled time for the check ride of February 3rd.  That wasn't much time to cram on the books but that's exactly what I did for the next three weeks hard and heavy for the third time since this piloting venture all began.  I had been keeping up with things since March of 2003, doing lessons and going over all the things the fellow in Tennessee had me do at least once a month and sometimes every two weeks or so but I still drew a few blanks and I sure didn't want to have that happen to me during the oral test.  This time cram studying was going to be a bit tougher because I didn't have my little buddy helping me along lol.  Brandy, my daughter done went and got a job and with school going on plus she's now at the ever so mature age of 17, she doesn't have much time for her dad anymore lol.  Donna helped me all she could and from the aftermath of it all it worked out just fine.

Westward we go!

Well here we go again Take 3 on our quest toward getting my ticket. We pulled out Tuesday night and headed for Frank Sweet's flight school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for some catch up flying.  We were hoping and praying this would be the final session and we'd come home with my Pilots License at last.  The trip there was pretty uneventful and went just wonderful, lots of traffic and the usual road construction along the way but nothing to write home about.  Once again, we had to cross that bridge just inside the Oklahoma border that the barge had ran into and knocked down shortly after 911.  I can't help feeling sorry for the people that lost their lives on it that day and every time we go across it I can't help but wonder what it must have been like for them and the people that had to witness it all.  Once in Tulsa we began our hunt for Frank's place.  It's located at the Riverside Airport on the south west side of town and as luck would have it wasn't hard to find.  We got there and saw Frank up in the air giving someone some flight instruction so we went and filled up the fuel tank with gas.  We were going to be camping out in the parking lot and surely didn't want to let that generator to run out of fuel in the middle of the night as cold as it was lol. When we got back they had already landed and were gone but the heli was sitting out still so we figured they had went to lunch so we had lunch ourselves while we were waiting.   An hour or so later they returned and it I've got to tell you, it sure was good to see Frank again.  We chatted for a bit and Frank told us where to setup camp with the bus.   After getting that all done Frank was ready to go flying so we headed out to the ship and jumped in and off we went. Now being up driving all night and flying on three hours of sleep didn't seem like a vary good idea to me but the clock was ticking and I was pumped anyways so what the hell lol, besides I had Frank there to catch my back so I couldn't really see a downside.

Wow!  I hadn't flown a Schweitzer since March, 2003, and I couldn't believe how foreign it was to me, I could hear that phrase Perishable Skills in my head again.  And we've got a new twist this time,  I had to sit right seat because this ship just happens to be set up that way.  It didn't take long to see my RotorWay had embossed itself into me again. I was trying to take off at higher speeds and faster approaches by second nature plus screwing up my peddles in anticipation of the ships torque reactions.  You would think you'd just give the ship what it's needing but it really wasn't working out that way.  I'm sure glad I came out early so I could get the hang of this ship.  Now at this point I'm praying it's enough time to transfer my second nature reactions in the opposite directions in time for the check ride.   In the first Auto we did I automatically hit the left peddle as I dropped the collective,,although it was brief it was still a bit of a nerving moment lol.   Night was upon us and it was time for Frank to head home.  Other than our motor home we didn't have any transportation so Frank had us take him home so we could have use of his Jeep for running around in in the event we needed it (he's such a nice guy).  After we got back from dropping Frank off at home Donna started cooking our dinner and I got back to studying.

The next day was filled with more of the same;  flying, studying and meeting all the crew around there.  There was plenty going on all the time so we weren't bored lol.  Tonight just about ten minutes after everyone left we heard a knock on the door, it was a fellow named John Tyler looking for Frank.  The wind was really howling out there so we told him to come on in and get out of the cold.  He introduced himself and we chatted for a minute or two and he asked us why we we're parked out here.   Thinking we're about to get the boot from our camp site because of an airport security issue we told him we were here attending Frank's flight school for the week.  He said you shouldn't be parked outside this hanger, you need to be parked inside out of this wind and cold weather. Our replay was Ah Yes that would sure be nice lol.  That's when he told us he was the owner of this hanger and it was sure ok with him.  He went in and opened the hanger door as we pulled around back and into the hanger.

Snug as a bug in a rug lol
Wow, now this was nice, it was like having your house in your house lol.

John stayed until about 10pm that night and we talked about all kinds of things one of which is the red and silver airplane here in these pictures he owns.  John was a very interesting fellow and sure was a nice person.   He made our stay here absolutely wonderful not to mention sharing some very valuable insights with us.   You know, Donna and I have yet to come to Oklahoma and not meet someone with an open heart and arms.  There must be something in the water out there and what ever it is we sure like it.  It comes very close to heading home gathering our stuff and moving here lol.   We spent the next few days meeting some more great folks and flying in the wonderful 32 degrees or so temps.  It wasn't too bad as long as the sun was shining but those days and times when it wasn't sure was a bugger.  Flying with frozen hands and feet putting it mildly, sucks lol.  So far each day I gained a little more ground on the ship and I was feeling fairly good about it all.

Friday Night after a day of flying and studying we got another treat

John and Michelle
It was John Spurling's Birthday, 29 Again <cough> lol.

 We got to go to John's birthday dinner with him, his wife Michelle, and some other great friends we've made in the rotorcraft world.   Dinner was great and after that we set out to a comedy club for some drinks and laughs. They had several comedians in the show and we had a blast.  After that we went to a small bar and had a few more drinks along with some dancing and you guessed it...A Great Time.

1st Pic is the whole gang (except the waiter cut Randy out)

2nd Pic is Arlene and Randy

Rd IC is Brad and his new bride Barbara.

4th Pic is Donna and Clell

Monday
 Check ride Eve.

Today was more of the same except this time we got to go to the pattern on the field called Charlie pattern.  Sunday we flew it but we did it in a counter clockwise LH pattern ending up pretty much lining up with the runway at the finish.  Today the winds were different so we had to fly it in a clockwise RH pattern and it wasn't pretty.  First the perimeters changed and I wasn't hitting the corners in the pattern right and then we had some trees and power lines to cross which I had to account for on my decent.  For the life of me I couldn't get it right.  I was too high, too low or too something, I'd fix it in the end but it sure wasn't pretty lol,,, guess this was my day of being an idiot because something sure wasn't feeling right.  After an hour or so we headed back in and called it a night leaving me nervous as hell because time has ran out and tomorrow at 8 am was the big day when I take my check ride <gulp>.

This is a picture of one of the cluster joints on Franks ship.

If your not familiar with these models of Schweitzer helicopters you may want to know this part of the ship is its weak link and needs to be monitored very closely. Back in the latter part of last year, 2003, Frank lost a very dear friend in a fatal crash in one due to one of these breaking allowing the tailboom to rise up and go through the rotor system.  Frank has come up with this modification to combat it and its already saved his and another fellows life.  They were out flying and after they landed the fitting was completely separated.  If it wasn't for this mod Frank and another fellow wouldn't be here with us today.  Frank is trying to get this add on approved by the powers that be so that it will have to be added to every model such as this in the future. If you own one of these types of helicopters you can get ahold of Frank and I'm sure he'll be happy to help with information on this safety item.

These are pictures of Franks Ship I flew in and took the check ride in.

END