10/31/20
We planned to go to McMinnville today, but there was fog up and down the entire I-5 corridor and we didn’t know when it would clear and we needed to leave pretty early in order to get back before dark. We ended up going to Richland instead and it was a perfect day for it.
It was clear and smooth the whole way. There was a 15 kt wind from the northwest, so we had a tailwind going and made about 210 MPH over the ground. Of course, that meant a head wind coming back, so it was more like 175.
It was 39 degrees at 9,500' and it was obvious that it wasn't too cold. There had been a wet system come through last week that did dump a good bit of snow in the mountains and even down to a relatively low level, but it was obvious that it didn't stay very cold as even though there was still snow evident on the mountains, the mountain lakes were still liquid without even a trace of ice in them.
We got there only to find that the restaurant was closed. There was a number on the door, we called and found out that they are only open Tuesday through Friday at the moment.
We came back by way of Moses Lake. On the way there I noticed a long line on the ground. It took me a while to figure out what it was. It was a shadow, a shadow from a contrail that I was almost right underneath. I have never seen that phenomenon before, though I doubt it is that rare if one were to look for it.
There are still an awful lot of planes parked at MWH. It is going to take a lot of time to get them all back into service.
It was mostly smooth and calm all the way back so we returned at 8,500' instead of 10,500'. I think that allowed for perhaps some slightly better video.
Upon arriving back home we found Arlington to be a total zoo. There were more airplanes in the pattern and in the general area than I have ever seen before. There were 5 airplanes in front of me and at least 2 or 3 behind me. I heard one guy call in that he was departing the area and would come back at a more opportune time. Note to self: don't plan to come home at 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon when no one has been able to fly in a month.
So, we were little hungry when we got back, but it was a really good trip.
Pictures can be seen here: https://steverush.smugmug.com/103120/
Video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eaxMzT2cUs
Outbound Track Log here:https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/90193556-C9AD-4D25-A92B-71B431BFEA77
Return Track Log here:https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/C92B6E61-C02D-4215-A2D6-3E91EE1A43DF
Sunday 11/1/20 was a much warmer day than one would expect for this time of year. It was in the upper fifties on the ground, but it was in the low sixties at 6,500'. It stayed warm until quite high.
Ordinarily this would not be a problem, in fact some might even think it a good thing, but for Carl and I it posed its own unique challenge. We are both flying RV-8s with very similar powerplant installations. Under ordinary circumstances they keep the engine very cool. Sometimes too cool. Ideally we want to see oil temperature in the 180 degree range, give or take 10 degrees or so with a little warmer being better than a lot cooler.
Under ordinary circumstances around here, even in the summer time it will run a bit cool, so we have part of the oil cooler face blocked off with aluminum tape. This reduces airflow through the cooler and increases oil temperature. In the winter we have to block off the whole face to have any chance of getting anywhere near 180 degrees.
Well, last weekend we had a cold snap and figured we were now in that time of year where we should tape off the remainder of the oil cooler. It isn't that hard to do, but you do have to take the top cowl off. Carl decided to bail since it would likely be a one time occurrence and we would get back to the cooler temperatures. I also didn't want to make the change but decided to go fly to do some testing. I was wondering if I could keep the oil temperature under control by using lower power than I ordinarily would.
I took off normal (full power, everything forward) and climbed normal (25 inches and 2,500 RPM) to 2,000' then lowered the nose and pulled the power back to 23.5" and 2,400 RPM to do a cruise climb to 6,500'. Oil temp at the top of the climb 202o. The OAT at 6,500 was 60o. Oil temp slowly climbed to 205o. I hoped it would come down at the lower cruise power setting of 20.5 inches and 2,400 RPM and hung out for a while. It gradually inched up to 207o then 210o. About that time I figured I'd better get back down before it went too much higher. It was obviously climbing and not going down.
I pulled the power back to descend at 18”. The temp quickly started to fall and was at 196o by the time I entered the pattern. There was no one in front of me and only 2 behind me.
Interesting note: I went to Pt. Townsend and then south toward Bremerton. Upon turning around back to the north at 23.5" and 2,400 RPM at 6,500' I was indicating 150 MPH with a ground speed of 182 MPH (TAS 171 MPH) and a fuel burn of 8.8 GPH.
