Mercy News A publication of Pilots for Christ International "Our Lord's Air Force" International Headquarters: PO Box 789, Edgewater, MD 21037 (410) 363-8837 September-October, 1998

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SOLD!!! "Baby Great Lakes goes Home!"

By Jim Hardy

I got off a three day trip on Friday night with the excitement / horror of having to leave the next morning for Ohio to get the Baby Lakes home. Through non revving on AA and the allowance of a jump seat on United express, by 1630 I was in Youngstown Ohio.

I was met by a 6'4" gentleman asking every body that got off the plane if they were looking for a Baby Great Lakes. I finally answered the question properly and was then whisked away to the waiting company bird, a Cessna 150! Let's see, to six footers plus, and each at or over 200 lbs. ( with my equip-ment), sure it will lift us!

About 20 minutes later we landed at Salem where the Baby Lakes and a small crowd of on lookers were waiting to see the fellow from Texas. Amongst them stood (or should I say squatted) the Baby Great lakes. Here was probably the first of many comments about the need for a radio control transmitter! A quick walk around and inspection of the external obvious, did please the eye and saw nothing major that glared at me. There were things that gave away it's age and that the full stitts process had not been used in the covering process. Things like cracking paint and limited ring worm. All controls were operating in the correct direction and without apparent restriction. I'm still looking for things that can be removed to lighten the empty weight a little towards the design 475 lbs. I see a few pieces of metal on the fire wall that I don't know if they ever had a purpose, old magnetos, a metal prop, and various other overbuilt items. I'll have to study the weight and balance before I start just pulling things out.

Trial fitting. I stepped in and sat down, finding it cozy and awkward. All controls were easily accessible though not always in the best place for creature comfort. At cruise throttle settings the throttle knob is right in the middle of one's left thigh! Throttle on the left with the ignition and carb heat, on the right only control is the tail wheel lock, well placed and out of the way in any phase of flight. The seat was placed and upholstered to place one in a slight forward lean that I grew to understand was a form of slow torture for lower back pain! Though plush on the initial sitting the lower pad also had no sustained cushioning traits. I can still feel the setter bones! Next came the test of parachute and me in the plane. Though, I knew it was possible, I felt it was against my better judgment to do the initial flight with it strapped on due to the restriction of motion from being crammed so tight in there. I think with a major seat rework, it all may fit fine.

Taxi tests. I jumped in with flight suit and goggles, and after an extended session of propping, finally got it to make a noise and blow some air. Taxiing takes some getting used to having to use differential braking to swing the castering tail wheel. Once stabilized, taxiing at speeds of 35 mph are not a problem. Next I lined up with the grass runway and locked the tail wheel down and tried some mock take off runs. All the warnings, to never give full power when learning to fly a Baby Lakes were and are still heeded today. Easily maintaining runway centerline at 50 mph speeds convinced me that I had to go fly.

Looking around I see a nice long runway with very tall pines at the far end on the left side of the runway. Will try to be above them if possible to avoid turbulence. Power at about 1500 rpm and accelerating and advancing the throttle slowly till about 50 mph then relaxing the back pressure and advancing throttle to about 2000 rpm broke ground rather handily. Though I advanced the throttle to about 2200 I didn't want to change much more. As in not arguing with success.

The first thing that struck me was the engine sounded terrible, to the point that I wandered if I should land. Leaning forward getting my leather covered melon out of the prop blast revealed the same comforting sound that my 140 Cessna makes. Climbing at 80 to clear the trees, then up to 2500 to get a feel for it. Elevator was very light and responsive, rudder was stiff but responsive, and ailerons were stiff and sluggish. Stalls and slow flight were manageable somewhere between 55 and 60. One thing that did bother me was a fairly large vibration at about 80 mph in the climb caused by one of the flying wires setting up a harmonic.

Now come the hardest part to me, landing an airplane that I have never flown before. I set up a powered glide at about 85 to 90, and flew a continuos turn from downwind to final. With all the drag of the flying wires and struts, one doesn't need flaps or slips to get it down in a reasonable glide slope. Flared out in ground effect, pulled the throttle and it suddenly drops to the ground. With the tail wheel locked its track is controllable with ease.

Taxied back, walked around a while and got the adrenaline levels down and started to work on the only problem obvious, and that was the flying wire vibration. We tried tension changes both way's but didn't like the results of either attempt. We then just put it back about where it was, and tried it again. Starting was again a problem, but did get it running and headed out for more testing. Just tweaking the flying wire the little we did, changed the aerodynamic flow enough to get rid of the vibration. The second flight consisted of a few more stalls and wing overs trying to get used to its handling oddities. Went back landed and installed the GPS for the next mornings flight out.

Showed up early Sunday morning, fueled the baby and checked the oil. All looked well, so I suited up and jumped in. All hands shook, engine started and we were off to the runway. I sincerely hope they didn't want a final fly by, cause I knew I had about 1200 miles in front of me and wanted to get started knocking them off one at a time. Heading south west, compass reading 330 degrees, I figured would be the perfect combination. In fact, anyway I pointed the compass read 330! Can't get lost that way! I knew it was going to be a long day when the GPS refused to read over 65, due to the 38 mph forecast head wind. Another quirk of this bird is that while heading 330 degrees, it will never run out of fuel! You guessed it, the fuel gauge doesn't work either. At that time I decided that it would only be an hour leg until I could determine a predictable fuel flow, then stretch it out a little at a time.

This is one of those post card mornings. Leaves are starting to change and the sun highlights a few patchy areas of ground fog in-between the hills. Judging from the ground speed I set my sights on the first fuel stop of Cambridge Ohio. Just over an hour later I plopped down on my first hard surface runway. Not bad! Still bouncing it, but no shame, I'm having fun.

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Praise Report On Jeannie Mashburn

Jeannie, Husband Tracy, and Mom Judy, returned back in the USA in September. Her surgery went well. Upon arrival in the USA, Jeannie was taken to the hospital in her home town for recuperation and physical therapy. Her therapy has been going great. She is home now. She still receives physical therapy 3 times per week in her home. She is able to get around in a wheelchair. Sensation is returning to her legs. She is cancer free! Praise Him! Please continue to keep her and her family in prayer. Our thanks go out to Ms. Melissa Guerra of United Way International, and the Delta SkyWish Program. They were instrumental in making this mission a success.

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