On the Road Again!

Beside the ride

So, the bike is on the road. While I had great plans to restore the bike myself, that just never happened, nor do I think it would have ever happened. So, a bit over a month ago, I trailered the bike off to a guys shop in Dundee, OR to get it running. A month and a decent sized number on a check, and it's back alive. Not perfect, as it has some transmission issues, and could be beautified a bit more, but she runs pretty well.

I've taken Meggie to dinner and a BBQ on the back of it. She didn't die, and I think she even had a bit of fun. You can read her version of it here. At the BBQ, I got to take Meg's sister and girlfriend for rides. The first ever for Liz, and I think Cait too!

It's been fun riding out to the airfield to go flying on it. So Top Gun :)

Meg's pictures: here.
Liz's pictures: here.

UPDATE: I filled her up with her second tank, so I could check mileage for the first time. 38.2 MPG! More than twice that of my FJ!

Arlington

Flying into Boeing Field

So before STP (see the previous two posts), I was up in Arlington for the airshow. Bill up with low ceilings on Friday morning, getting in just after a big rain storm. The rest of the day turned out great, and we had a good time looking at the endless stuff for home-built aircraft. At the end of the day, we flew down to Boeing field were my aunt Janet picked me up to to get ready for STP.

So, I soloed Thursday, went to the airshow on Friday, then STP on Saturday and Sunday. Not a bad four days...

STP Day 2

Me, Ken and Meg at the stop in Kelso on Day 2

Day 2 was actually better than day one. We all just felt better. Maybe because it was cooler, but the day just flowed. Ken got pass-itis trying to pick off thousands of people, and I wanted to hang with fast groups, but Meg made sure we stayed at a sane pace (most of the time, unless we passed a group saying "a fast group with a chick!" and then she would hammer) so we all finished still able to walk. I was scared about the two-day option (Kevin and I did it in one day back in 2003) but it worked out very well. Good fun!

All the pictures are here.

UPDATE: Meg's take on the fun here.

STP Day 1

Picture (if it shows): Meg and I enjoying a beer after day 1.

100 miles down. Another 100 to go tomorrow. The day went well. We kept the pace up and got in to Centralia fairly early. It did get warm. Should be cooler (and us much sorer) tomorrow!

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First Solo!

Chris, my CFI, cutting out the shirt tail

Today was the day. Winds this morning were nice and calm. Chris called early. That scared me because he normally only calls to cancel when the weather is bad. But he said all was good and wanted to remind me to bring a camera. Relived, I headed out to Twin Oaks. We got up in the air and headed down to McMinnville and did a couple touch and gos with Chris in the plane. My landings were looking pretty good, so did a full stop on the second landing and after he filled in my soloing endorsements, let him out. Then it was my turn to do the solo. Full check list, taxi, take-off... the works. Take off was fine. Flying in the pattern wasn't a problem. Then the landing. I came in alright, but pulled back on the stick a little too much right before touch down which made for a hard landing. Not bad, but not smooth. My next two were much better.

Back at Twin Oaks, we did the full cut the shirt tails (why do you do that?) ceremony and took some pictures.

Pictures are here.

Video (My CFI did the recording, and the "color commentary"):

It's Hot!

Here's a good way to beat the heat: