Monday, February 21, th Cobra flight, 45th solo Big Loop around Sandia/Manzano Estancia, Morarity, Galisteo, Ojito 5 landings

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1 Monday, February 21, th Cobra flight, 45th solo Big Loop around Sandia/Manzano Estancia, Morarity, Galisteo, Ojito 5 landings Launched 8:30am Returned 2:05 pm (20 min pitstop at Moriarity) Airtime: 5:15 GPS odometer: 262mi Total logged time: 105:00 Total solo time: 89:25 Launch: Calm, runway 3 Landing: Thermals, cross 5, runway 3 Today is a one day break in the rainy weather that has swamped New Mexico for the last two weeks. Launch Code is predicting light or calm winds all day. The winds aloft forecast is calm at 9000 ft after 11am. I mounted my new Lowrance Airmap 500 GPS on the instrument panel. It should be much better suited for flying than the Garmin Etrex hiking GPS I have been using. My EGTs have been a cool 1000F, so I shifted one carburetor jet size leaner (145s). And I adjusted the scale factor on the FF1 fuel flow meter to make it more accurate. My plans are to fly a big loop around the Manzano/Sandia Mountain range, returning via the Galisteo River. Route planning with USAPhotomaps shows the trip to be over 220 miles and 4.5 hours. I filled the Cobra s gas tank to 20 gals. I should have plenty of gas, a burn rate of 3gal/hour gives me 6.66 hours of endurance. After one touch and go, I headed east to the plains in front of the Mazanos. Ahead of me floated a hot air balloon. As I approached, it fired up the burners. Was it trying to escape? I stepped on the gas and climbed 1000 ft to join it. I made a nice wide circle and exchanged some friendly hand waves with the balloon pilot and crew. Then the balloon dropped down to hover near on the ground. I left the balloon and continued east to the Manzanos. Balloons usually mean calm air. This was good news.

2 At the center of the Manzanos is a valley that splits the range in two. To the left of the valley is a ridge that forms a ramp all the way to the 9400 ft summit ridge. This provides an easy glide out to the west if any engine problems develop. (Click on mouse to see my route) Last weekend s snow storm had covered the top of the mountains with fresh snow.

3 The air was glassy smooth all the way up. I eventually topped out at ft, the highest I have ever flown in the Cobra. The summit looked calm and serene, but I didn t want to linger up here, my engine was cranking at 6000 RPM to maintain altitude. Through the gap I could see the cleared fields and wide roads of village of Torreon, 5 miles to east and 4000 ft below. But my respect and fear of rotors kept me from relaxing just yet. I stayed high until I was well clear of the mountain.

4 As I descended, I felt the wave coming off the mountain. I dropped down low to get under the wave then cruised along at 500 AGL over the Estancia basin farmland. The summit ridge raced by as I pulled in for extra speed and headed east. I did not know this at the time, but my new GPS was misleading me into believing the winds were lighter than they really were. It was on the default setting of knots instead of mph. My backup GPS (in my pack) later showed I was screaming along at 93 mph with a 25 mph tail wind as I left the mountain. I stayed high at 10000ft and froze until I was well clear of the mountain and had passed Torreon. South of Torreon, I saw a smoke plume, indicated winds from the SW. This meant the southern end of the Manzanos would be generating turbulence.

5 I continued east to Laguna del Perro, a 30 mile chain of salt flats and intermittent lakes that lie between Willard and Estancia. The main lake is only 1/4 mile wide so I could fly north up the center of the lake while preserving a bail out option on the eastern shore. I dropped down low (100ft AGL) over the wide sandy beach and pretended I was flying in Baja CA. At the northern end of the chain of lakes, I turned west and headed to the Estancia Airport.

6 I made a low pass over the sandy runway at Estancia. The east end was very smooth, no marks at all. The windsock showed a 10mph wind right down the strip. What happened to calm winds prediction I pulled up on Launch Code this morning? Everything looked good so the next time around I made a touch and go. Approach and landing was fine, but my wheels seemed to kick up a lot of sand. I got all three wheels on the ground and slowed to 15mph before stepping on the gas to take off again. The soft runway surface kept me from gaining speed like I do at Belen. I kept the bar out a little and popped off the deck when my airspeed hit 40, then pulled in to gain speed over the runway. I heard a faint vibration similar to hangglider wing flutter from the back of the trike. I gained some altitude then looked over my shoulder at the wing. It looked ok. I decided to check it out at Moriarity, 30 miles north. On Final at Estancia Airport

7 On the downwind leg at Moriarity, I noticed the shadow of a faster GA overtaking me on the outside and continue on another mile. Just after I radioed turning to Base and Final, the GA announced he was on the Base leg. I wondered if he saw or heard me. There was no reply when I asked if I could land in front of him. I assumed he was being a jerk and exercising his GA priority over ultralights. I extended my downwind leg and landed after the GA. The wind was 10mph and angled 30 deg cross. I had to work to keep the wing level as I taxied over to the tie down area. I got out and looked over my trike. Sandy mud covered the wheel pants and the strobe on the underside of the trike. The wing was pristine, but mud was on the prop and the 3M prop tape was curled up on all three blades. No wonder the prop buzzed all the way from Estancia. I made sure the mags were off, then removed all the prop tape and washed off the mud with my emergency survival water packed away in the trike. That looked a lot better, although all 3 prop blades had some small nicks from the encounter with the mud. I felt like an idiot, of course the dirt strip at Estancia would have been soft after last night s rain. I won't make this mistake again. On Final at Moriarity Airport Getting ready for launch, I noticed the intercom was set on Radio 2, not Radio 1. My Comtronics intercom is set up so I can hear both radios, and the 1/2 switch selects the radio you transmit on. That s why the GA pilot ignored my request and landed in front of me. Glad I yielded to him and avoided an incident. I took off and headed north.

8 San Pedros I flew past the San Pedro mountains to Galisteo River basin. Million dollar estates were nestled in hills including a castle built into the escarpment. I crossed a volcanic rill that formed a 5 mile long wall of rock. After crossing the rill, I turned left to follow the Galisteo river. San Pedros

9 As I cruised over the farms and fields in the valley, I kept wondering about the winds. My ground speed had seemed low the entire trip, in 45-50mph range. But now I was heading the other way. Shouldn t the wind be at my back now. Then it hit me. I checked the Lowrance and found it was set on the default unit of knots, instead of mph. After changing this, my ground speed jumped up to a more familiar 53mph. Cruising low over the Galisteo River.

10 I followed the Galisteo to the flood control dam, then saw Labajada Mesa with Tetilla Peak off to my right (mouse click). Trivia question: What is the English translation of Tetilla? Flew by the trike landing strip Frank and I used last October (right). Then followed the Rio Grande Bosque to San Felipe Pueblo (left). The river was running high from the record breaking rain and snow this winter.

11 The weather was so nice I considered taking a detour to Cabezon, which I could see off to the west. But I knew this would eat into my fuel reserve, so I stuck to my plans and turned south. The suburbs of Rio Rancho are not very scenic, so I stayed north and followed the Jemez river to San Ysidro. I had a nice flight up here to the Ojito wilderness study area last month.

12 Beyond the Ojito are the beautiful and empty plains of the Zia Indian Reservation. Every mile or two I would see a lonely outpost. Can you find the rock house in the picture to the left? Click on the mouse for help.

13 I entered the Rio Puerco valley and followed the river downstream. I throttled back on the engine and worked the nice big thermals for free altitude that I slowly bled off until the next thermal. It was 2 PM and thermally with a 5 mph cross wind when I entered the pattern at Belen. It took a while to get centered up on my first landing after getting bounced around by the thermals. On my second landing, I came in more steeply with extra speed (65mph) and had a smooth approach and landing. Saw Bill at his hanger and taxied over. He had flown his 3-axis ultralight earlier that day. He thought I had an iron bladder to have left at 8:30am. I told him I made a pitstop in Moriarity. At the hanger and checked the gas with a dipstick and found I had about 3 gallons left. I must have shifted the scale factor on the FF1 the wrong way this morning. The FF1 was showing 6 gals left on top of a 2 gal hidden reserve. Glad I used the clock and 3gal/hour rule.

14 Cabezon Ojito Tetilla Galisteo River This flight put me over the 100 hour airtime mark. I have entered the danger zone where complacency and over confidence will get you. Rio Grande Sandia Mnts Moriarity After some reflection, I recalled a few instances where I could have gotten in trouble. Underestimating the winds (GPS knots/mph error) as I crossed the Manzanos. Not yielding to the GA at Moriarity. Burning my fuel reserve by extending my flight to Cabezon. Rio Puerco Basin Belen NASA World Wind Map Manzano Mountains Estancia a S tl However, by exercising a little caution and following procedures, I kept the flight safe. A great flight, someday I ll have to repeat it flying the opposite direction.