Dr. Zane's space: Blog

Sophie having fun at the Hillsboro Airshow

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:46:51 GMT

I was on the fence about going to this years airshow. Last year the whole family went (didn't know we would have another little one a year later!) and Sophie had held up well till the Blue Angels performed. She liked the excitement and speed but tired of the noise and got pretty cranky near the end of the show. Thursday CAA meeting was Cessna night and when the prizes were doled out I won two tickets for the airshow so I no longer had to wonder about whether I was going or not. Sophie was quite excited to see the planes and this time I brought her David Clark so I knew the noise wouldn't get to her. My friend Andy Bauman flew up with another new Baron identical to the one I flew last year and am still working on buying. This time Sophie got to sit in it and she thought it was pretty cool. We still left early, wanted Sophie's experience to still be good so she'll want to come back next year ;).

EAA Pancake breakfast at Stark's Twin Oaks with Sophie

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:27:40 GMT

I took my four year old daughter Sophie to the pancake breakfast this last Saturday. It was a great father/daughter time and attention she needed now that she finds her new baby sister vying for our time. She is getting good at spotting types of aircraft and can spot that V-tailed Bonanza from quite a distance. She was really sad about this lone Bonanza sitting with its windows covered at the far end of the ramp and wanted to know why no-one was there to fly it. Our local celebrity weatherman Dave Salesky was there helping serve breakfast and was kind enough to let me take a pic of Sophie with him... he said his sixteen year old daughter is not as easy pick up as my four year old!

Flew the Royal Turbine by Rocket Engineering

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:52:31 GMT

Added some pics today of the STC modified Beechcraft Duke I flew yesterday. Man what a performer. We took off from KUAO (Aurora) with four on board 160 gallons fuel and were airborne in nine seconds climbing out over 4,000 fpm! What a rush. Feels like a Baron on steroids, bigger inside too, you can move around the cockpit which is pressurized and very quiet. We overflew the Columbia Aviation clubhouse at 2,000 AGL at 190 indicated, turned downwind and slowed to extend gear and flaps at 174, then full flaps at 130 as we turned base. Final at 110, landed on the numbers and took the first turnout. Impressed is an understatement, I was blown away. I'll take this kind of aircraft any day over a new Cirrus or Columbia and it's not that much more.