REFLECTOR: Flight - Natural High

[Jack Sheehan]

Al,
Congratulations
Jack
N55XL

At 09:15 AM 10/3/2006, you wrote:
>Al,
>
>I want to wish you a most sincere 
>congratulations.  It has been a joy to watch 
>your dream come together into an airplane.  Thanks for letting us share.
>
>I know I'm waiting for the day when I transition 
>to being an "aircraft" owner instead of a kit builder.
>
>Salute!
>
>Andy
>
>
>----------
>From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org 
>[mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On Behalf Of Al Gietzen
>Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 12:34 AM
>To: reflector
>Subject: REFLECTOR: Flight - Natural High
>
>A couple of visions, and the associated emotion, 
>are still with me.  The test pilot had taken off 
>and climbed out to the NE and disappeared into 
>the distance below some high scattered 
>clouds.  We knew he was out there, doing his 
>“work”, and occasionally we’d hear the distant 
>distinctive sound of the 3-rotor engine, and 
>we’d hear the occasional call to Center on our 
>hand held radio.  After about 35 minutes we 
>heard his call to the tower, and shortly after 
>could see the speck of the plane miles to the 
>east.  We also heard his request for straight in 
>over the runway, with a break to left downwind 
>over mid-field.  And soon, there it was – in a 
>hard left bank overhead, that distinctive 
>beautiful silhouette against the background of 
>high broken clouds.  Smooth and fast - MY 
>airplane; my sweat and effort and anxiety. What 
>a sight – what a sound!! That moment of 
>exhilaration I’ll remember, and know one of the reasons why we do this.
>
>
>
>Later I climbed in the right seat for a flight 
>to focus on engine parameters.  I did that 
>through most of the climb-out, and for awhile as 
>we cruised at 3500’ agl.  But then I started to 
>enjoy the view, and the sensation of speed - 
>even at that altitude, as we banked over the 
>hills and valleys. I took the stick to get a 
>feel for the control response.  And there I was; 
>flying my plane, with the very kool EFIS 
>displays, cruising at 200 mph, and enjoying the 
>beautiful view.  Definitely high; a natural high.
>
>
>
>Ok, there are still some problems to solve and 
>things to adjust, but I’ll think about that tomorrow.
>
>
>
>Keep building; and it will come.
>
>
>
>Al
>_______________________________________________
>To change your email address, visit 
>http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
>
>Visit the gallery!  www.tvbf.org/gallery
>user:pw >Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
>Check old archives: http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/private/reflector/attachments/20061003/e7788aec/attachment-0001.htm