The Wind Cries...... Scott and Dog

Friday 11/20/09.  I left Rhode Island late morning to catch up with Scott at Mitre.  Weather looked promising, rain clouds giving way to clear skies and wind calming down to around 5 Knots.  However when I arrived at Mitre, just after 1pm, the winds were fierce.  Hanscom AWOS was reporting winds 310 degrees 15 Knots gusting to 20 Knots.  I immediately scrapped any plans I had of flying.  Not surprisingly, Scott and Billy were readying their airplanes for immediate departure.  

Billy was getting ready for yet another launch of the rocket powered Super Cub.  I had been waiting to see this after hearing about it on the email threads.  The first 3 attempts yielded futile resuts in igniting the rocket.  After swapping out the rocket, igniters and igniter batteries, the 4th ignition was a success.  After a normal hand launch and a few setup runs to give the videographers a chance to set up their equipment (Scott on Camera 1 and Alex on Camera 2), he lit the candle on a downwind run.  I'm embarassed to say that I wasn't able to capture anything of quality on video since the airplane accelerated out of my frame, leaving a plume of smoke in its wake.  Nevertheless I caught it with one eye and both ears and it was spectacular.  He finished it off with a hover landing into the strong wind.  I had to bestow upon him the congratulatory message usually reserved for Scott "Jolly Good Show Old Chap".  I also bestowed upon him the nickname Billy "Hot Dog" Pfaff .  I expect to see that painted next to the canopy on all his airplanes now. 

The wind showed no signs of abating and in fact was picking up.  Updated wind reports, indicated winds at 16 Knots gusting to 28 Knots and Scott and Billy were preparing for follow on flights, incredible!  This would keep a lot of full scale general aviation pilots grounded.  But it was just another day at the office for Billy and Scott.  Scott's Waco had apparently suffered some ground damage due to the wind picking it up and blowing it over.  Well, fortunately Scott keeps a 55 gallon drum of foam safe CA on hand for fleet maintenance and the Waco was repaired in the blink of an eye.  He somehow lost the transmitter for the airplane, there's an APB out on it, if anyone comes across a lonesome TX, give Scott a call.

Scott got his Boeing Stearman ready, adding more and more lead weight in the nose to bring it into reasonable balance.  After takeoff, the plane was all over the sky and very unstable in pitch, indicating a still too far aft CG.  It must have been a handful to fly, especially in that wind, and yet Scott exhibited his calm, cool demeanor, chatting with me about some guy Howard that builds his airplanes as I was reaching over to his controls and giving him a "heapin helpin" of nose down trim.  He even threw in a dose of aerobatics with the airplane severely out of balance.  I reminded him that he might want to bring it down and add more nose weight.  He decided to humor me and set up a landing pattern.  He was looking good until short final when the wind grabbed it and turned it downwind.  Despite the now strong tailwind, Scott managed to get it down with minimal damage.  Back to that 55 gallon drum of CA.  I thought that Scott deserved a cool nickname like Billy for his display of skill.  Thinking of the movie Top Gun and Scott's approach to flying, i.e. "fearless and not a lot of respect for rules", I thought that the role played by Tom Cruise would be fitting.  Scott is now "Maverick", with his ego writing checks that his body can't cash.

Back to Hot Dog's turn.  He took the formosa up which cut through the wind well.  It also Knife Edges beautifully.  He put on some low inverted passes at my request.  On a subsequent run, on what was a medium altitude inverted pass, he pulled back on the elevator to recover upright in a manner similar to the Split-S.  He almost completed it but the wind must have affected the radius of the maneuver and it hit the ground hard and exploded into a sea of foam.  All the CA in Scott's drum would not fix this one.  Billy mentioned that at least the Mosas were cheap.  The radio, motor and other electronics will be transplanted into the Mosa MK II.  His day wasn't done, he went on to put on another rocket show with the Super Cub.

Scott broke out an Old Timer design that he'd affectionately named "Ole Sue" and flew it.  I didn't give it a chance in the wind but Scott proved me wrong and uncharacteristically brought it down in one piece.  No CA needed.  And what a honking motor it had on it for an old timer.

At twilight, the wind finally showed signs of dying down and Maverick dug out his piece de resistance of the day, I think it was called "mini Tumbleweed".  First test flight on this magnificent looking pattern plane equipped with flaps.  After a quick check and radio adjustments, it took off without a hitch and tracked as straight as an arrow through the air.  After Scott's standard EFNHA maneuvers, it was time to experiment with the flaps.  He actually landed it with the flaps extended culminating in a greaser of a touch down.  What a way to end a challenging day in the wind.  Truly I was amazed at how much wind these guys were taking on.  My mini Ultra Stick never left the back seat all day and my Ultra Micro Sukhoi crawled under the seat for fear that I might try to fly her.  Bravo Hot Dog and Maverick.


Alex