Lynn Matteson

Hi Frank- At that rate, I guess the $3.26/US gal local (Lower Michigan) price for 100LL isn't too bad. Of course, one would have to calculate the Aussie dollar versus the US dollar, but that kind of math is beyond me, not knowing the exchange rate. Our current price for a gallon of unleaded regular is about $1.94. Lynn

Skydog- My plane is orange in color, and has a large #3 on the tail, or if seen from the left side it looks like an "E". This is in honor of Dale Earnhardt, the late, great, NASCAR driver. I flew in the Homebuilder's Review both times last year, landing after the first one, and after the second one...on Friday as I recall....just kept flying south towards home. I figured it was an easy way to leave Oshkosh...there were no incoming planes, and I pretty much had the sky to myself for quite a few miles.:big_grin: This was in marked contrast to the first year (2007) when I tried to fly in the Review, and after taxiing all the way down to the staging area, when I tried to restart the engine, it wouldn't start....I had left the fuel shutoff on, and it flooded...and I ground the battery down. I had to be towed over to the Emergency Repair facility to get the battery charged. So flying in both Reviews last year was redemption for a poor showing the year before. Lynn

Hi Skydog- The economy hasn't dampened the flying as far as I can tell, but being retired, I don't get around that many of the "still working" folks. Those that are on a fixed income such as myself still fly, and recently fuel prices have dropped quite a bit from what they were. For instance, I paid $4.93 per gallon for a 275 gallon fuel delivery a year ago (for the bulk tank at my hangar) and now the price at a nearby airport has dropped to $3.26 per gallon. Even though it is delivered, the fuel price is always about the same as that at an airport. I also see planes on the market here, but the Sport Pilot ruling that allows older folks, or medically-challenged folks such as myself to fly an LSA (I had a 5-way heart-bypass surgery in 2001, and did not want to try to train for Private Pilot), has made some of the older, lighter aircraft such as J-3 Cubs, certain Ercoupes, certain Aeroncas, etc., eligible for this market, and those planes are now the hot item in the used aircraft market. I've flown to Oshkosh the last two years, as it is only about 407 Statute miles for me, going around Chicago, and taking 3.6 hours on my return flight last year...I just checked my log book. Four months after I got my Sport Pilot certificate, I built skis for my Kitfox and flew up to Oshkosh for their annual Skiplane Fly-in, then returned home via the northern route which takes you around Lake Michigan...I'm too smart/chicken to fly over the water of Lake Michigan. That return trip took 7.1 hours total, and the outside temperature showed six degrees F. below zero at one point...I took a picture of the OAT reading when it got that low. Oshkosh is really great. They have a "Homebuilder's Review" each year, in which a person who has built their plane can fly it in front of the huge crowd just before the main Airshow. The planes are spaced about a minute apart so the announcer can tell the crowd a little bit about the plane as it flies a couple hundred feet off the deck as it passes down the flightline. There were two flights last year and I flew in them both. About 17 planes participated in each flight, making two passes each flight. You are only in the air for about 6 minutes, but being able to say that you made a flight in front of the crowd at Oshkosh is a tale worth telling over and over. Lynn

Thanks, Major- After the "bounced landing" here, I'm starting to figure out how to smooth 'em in. In real life, I've made about 1500 taildragger landings, and every now and then I get a good one! And so far, only one broken tailwheel spring...not my fault of course;) Lynn

Thanks for the welcoming words, guys. The engine is running just fine now, but the trouble I had back in August was a broken crankshaft timing gear at 562 hours. I repaired the engine myself and it is back in the air with about 60 more hours on it since the breakdown. I also had some worn and leaking distributor shafts, and have since removed both distributors, and installed an Electroair direct fire ignition system which uses a crankshaft trigger wheel and two magnetic sensors for ignition timing. No more floppy rotors or distributor worries. Before all this,(at 273 hours) I had the rocker arm bushings go belly-up, and I installed bronze bushings where Jabiru used a teflon-coated bushing. The teflon coating was completely worn through on several of the bushings. I should note that adequate oil WAS getting to the rocker arm area, so that wasn't a problem. When I installed the new bushings, I drilled a hole in the rocker arm and the new bushings, so that oil could enter the bushing from the top, rather than rely on oil getting into the bushing from the side clearance. All these improvements have made my engine much more reliable. Speaking of the Kitfox, when I was building it, I ordered the Skyfox cowl for it, so the Jabbie engine really thinks it's right at home...inside an Australian cowl! Lynn

It seems like I must have bounced my landing (couldn't figure out how to post), so this is my 2nd attempt at the same runway, so to speak. I'm a 72 year old, USA-based (Michigan) Sport Pilot with a 2200 Jabiru-powered Kitfox IV, which I completed in 2006, received training in, and got my pilot's certificate later that year. Since then I've been to both coasts of the US, and to Oshkosh twice with the plane. I've presently got over 600 hours on the plane. I've had a few problems with the engine, but love it...except for the forced landing with a broken engine, but I got lucky and landed in a freshly-harvested wheatfield. All-in-all, I have enjoyed most every minute of flying, and I'm always learning new things. Lynn Matteson (I don't know about "tags", "trackbacks" and "icons", so until I do, this'll be just plain and simple...words!)