Where's Howard?

[Steve Helmick]

Howard left here sometime Tuesday. Did he show up for a contest this weekend, somewhere back in the flatlands?  Steve

[john e. holliday]

He didn't make it to Topeka KS. 

[Balsa Butcher]

Where in the world is Howard? Today...Sunday...he was in Davis CA flying at the Ted Goyet contest. Fun contest, gusty 15 mph plus winds. Now it's on to Muncie! 

[Steve Helmick]

Ah-hah! He should be in SLC area by Monday. We should have equipped him with a GPS tracker, or a JCT 18-wheeler.  Steve

[wwwarbird]

We should have equipped him with a GPS tracker, or a JCT 18-wheeler.  Steve

 Ha!

 I was thinking that, and with 24 hour link showing his location live on a U.S. (or World?) map. Even better would be to also have the dotted line "trail" showing the route as it goes along, just like the old cartoons. 

 A new section, "Where's Howard?", would of course deserve it's own spot here on the forum, potentially sponsored by Waffle House.  

[Randy Powell]

Maybe add a web cam on his dash. Howard is slippery.

[wwwarbird]

Maybe add a web cam on his dash. Howard is slippery.

 Ahh yes, a great idea as well.

[Heman Lee]

In the fields of Davis, CA:

[Peter Ferguson]

Seems like Howard knows how to make the most of his retirement. Beautiful sky. Happy Trails Howard see you when you get back.

[Steve Fitton]

Look at how far back his leadouts are!

[Steve Helmick]

That's where they were the last I flew with Howard. These guys (Paul and Howard) are always tweeking (their planes).  Steve

[Paul Walker]

Look at how far back his leadouts are!

Nice catch Steve.  However, you didn't notice mine at the Nat's. His are 2.0 inches aft if his CG and mine are 2.25 inches aft of my CG.

What is interesting us that they would be in the same spot if an IC motor was used. My CG has moved forward about a full inch with the electric power.  However the LO position wants to be in the same location as the IC powered location. I have spent a lot of time finding this out.

He stopped by the Ranch on the way and spent 2 days practicing. We tried them farther forward (once again) and they ended up back where this photo shows them.

His plane flies like an Impact now! He does a great square eight with it. Watch out!!

W

[Howard Rush]

Thank you for your interest in my whereabouts.  I had to go to Muncie to pick up some plaques that we had the AMA make for the R. F. Stevenson Memorial contest the weekend after Labor Day.  There was some demeaning begging of the use of the car of the wife of the guy who builds my airplanes.   Having gotten the car, I first went to the Walker Stunt Ranch, which is kinda on the way.  After the Ranch proprietor decreed my dog unflyable, we made several flights to get it to the point of Step 1 on the Walker Trim Chart.  In restoring the dog to flyability (it had picked up a warp in transit to the WSR), the flap tab linkage got CAed shut, so the tabs are now taped in place, making the airplane fly a lot better.  This is how Science is done.  Attempts were then made to teach me how to do some of the more obscure maneuvers in the stunt pattern.

I set out Friday toward Uncle Jimby's, which really isn't on the way to Muncie.  Two F-18s flew across the road in central Washington, one just in front of the car and one just over the car, an enjoyable use of my tax money.  I drove along the scenic and windy Columbia Gorge, where people were kite and wind surfing (figure 1).  I then turned left on highway 97.  A few miles in I came across a sign that said "no gas for the next 94 miles".  I didn't want you people to make fun of me again for running out of gas, so I returned to the Gorge to fill up.    Indeed there wasn't gas for 94 miles, all the businesses in the little towns between the Gorge and Madras having been abandoned.  There followed a slow and scenic trip to Weed, CA, where I hopped on I-5 and got to Jimby's in time for dinner Saturday.  Figure 2 is Mt. Shasta, one of the Cascades volcanos that sometimes blow up.  Figure 3 is the San Francisco Bay, taken out the window of the car without looking.

[Howard Rush]

Even though Jimby's Systrema got 20 appearance points at the Nats, we decided that it needed some vortex generators to spiff it up.  The first photograph below shows Jimby attaching said vortex generators.

There was a contest, the Ted Goyet Memorial, right on the way to Muncie from Jimby's house, so I went as part of my duty as Stunt News contest score reporter.  The new Woodland-Davis club field is swell.  It has nice (except in one spot) grass circles and is in the open away from obstacles to make funny turbulence.  I flew some stunt which didn't measure up to West Coast Varsity standards.  Two members of the Varsity were there, so I came in third, the other contestants having had engine trouble.  I had some trouble taking off from the aforementioned bad patch of grass, causing Mr. Fitzgerald to laugh at me in a manner quite unbecoming of a champion, and which I heard and responded to, my electric airplane being quiet enough to enable the exchange of taunts. Arrangements were also made to have a buzzard hover over the circle during my second flight.  I don't know how they did that.

Advanced was more interesting.  It was windy.  The awning on Lanny Shorts's trailer blew off, which was pretty dramatic.  Lanny missed it, because he was flying stunt at the time.  He rolled his wheels on the ground on the bottom of a vertical eight in the mighty wind.  Heman Lee was undaunted, flying his .061-powered airplane in the mighty wind.  He might have placed higher had he not flung his fuel tank at the judges.

After the enjoyable Goyet contest, I set out for Elko, which has a nice donut shop and a cheap hotel.  The spectacular Nevada scenery was obscured by a pall of smoke from the Yosemite fire for a good hundred miles.   Utah scenery was swell and unobscured by billboards, an exception being one advertising a whorehouse in Salt Lake City.  Two F-16s passed in front of me really rapidly.  These empty deserts must be fun for military aviators.  I passed the famous salt flats.  The second picture below is the Bonneville Speedway, seen from I-80.

[Mark Scarborough]

Howard,, glad to see your GPS knows how to take the "fastest route",, mine detours me some times,,,,,,

did you take the borrowed car of the wife of the guy who builds your planes out on the salt for a top speed run?

[Brett Buck]

 I had some trouble taking off from the aforementioned bad patch of grass, causing Mr. Fitzgerald to laugh at me in a manner quite unbecoming of a champion, and which I heard and responded to, my electric airplane being quiet enough to enable the exchange of taunts. Arrangements were also made to have a buzzard hover over the circle during my second flight.  I don't know how they did that.

     I have to say my sabotage efforts worked a treat. I launched both of Howard's flights and finally got him second time around.

   Seriously, though, the airplane felt like it was literally glued to the ground on both flights. I tried to roll it forward out of its own divots and "float" it as per normal over grass, but it didn't want to float, it just sat there. I was amazed it took off fine in the first round because it felt completely wrong, but no issues. Second time it did about what I expected, felt like it was going over before launch, and started over at release, and dug a bit of a ditch with the very unstylish APC prop, but was otherwise OK.

       The aforementioned buzzard and the associated thermal might have had something to do with it, but it didn't feel wrong with respect to the wind. I started a little further around into the wind which got it off OK but was not too pretty. I launched David from nearly the same spot and it felt right the entire time.

    I speculate that the vibration from the engines are making them act like one of the guys in an electric football game, and that's what allows the "float" feeling on grass. The electric, with no vibration, just sat there like a lox.

 Advanced was more interesting.  It was windy.  The awning on Lanny Shorts's trailer blew off, which was pretty dramatic.  Lanny missed it, because he was flying stunt at the time.  He rolled his wheels on the ground on the bottom of a vertical eight in the mighty wind.  Heman Lee was undaunted, flying his .061-powered airplane in the mighty wind.  He might have placed higher had he not flung his fuel tank at the judges.

     There were some mighty thermals as well. First round was no issue and very friendly, nearly stunt heaven. Second round of expert was a little tougher. I would guess the basic wind speed was around 12-13 mph sans thermals, but then you would get down to virtually zero or backwards at times, followed by 17-18. I had maybe 15 at the beginning of my flight with some bizarre turbulence that caused some "snap" corners, then it conveniently backed off for the vertical 8. Aside from that I thought the air was pretty good, the direction was quite conducive to good air. 30 degrees to the west of there, I know from past experience it gets very very nasty. David said it was sporty for him but at least he got straight air the whole time in the second round.

  First round of advanced was also fine, near as I could tell. The mistakes were very similar to those I saw on Saturday. I think any issues from the air on Sunday were a matter of people psyching themselves out rather than being overly difficult. Hardly unusual, but any of the airplanes would have made it through in either round. Heman's 1/2A never appeared to be in any danger of not making it, even on takeoff, and if it could make it so would anyone else. The Advanced crowd opted to take a lunch break to wait for better air, with pretty predictable results (i.e much worse air).

   We had a good time on Saturday, too, with the mighty Skyray with the even mightier *bone stock* 25LA taking 1-2 in Stunt 25 now that I have figured out how much gas to put in. Some people did better with their Classic planes on Saturday than they did with their "real" airplanes on Sunday, probably due to the psych-out effect. I saw some positive effects of our stunt clinic a few weeks ago, but additional coaching would not be amiss.

    Brett

[Brett Buck]

Howard,, glad to see your GPS knows how to take the "fastest route",, mine detours me some times,,,,,,

  Once you get to Davis, it's pretty hard to get lost on the way to Muncie. Get on I-80, drive 2000 miles, turn right.

    Brett

[Douglas Ames]

Nice catch Steve.  However, you didn't notice mine at the Nat's. His are 2.0 inches aft if his CG and mine are 2.25 inches aft of my CG.

What is interesting us that they would be in the same spot if an IC motor was used. My CG has moved forward about a full inch with the electric power.  However the LO position wants to be in the same location as the IC powered location. I have spent a lot of time finding this out.

He stopped by the Ranch on the way and spent 2 days practicing. We tried them farther forward (once again) and they ended up back where this photo shows them.

His plane flies like an Impact now! He does a great square eight with it. Watch out!!

W

Is this due to the effect of (IC) fuel burn and CG shift? Is it more than people think?
Could it be due to the lighter electric prop (less Gyro. Prec.)?

[Howard Rush]

Is this due to the effect of (IC) fuel burn and CG shift? Is it more than people think?
Could it be due to the lighter electric prop (less Gyro. Prec.)?

I think we can rule out both of those.  The CG that works best for an electric Impact is way forward and higher than that of an IC-powered Impact with a full tank of fuel, and there appears not to be much change in how the airplane flies between having a prop turn clockwise and having one turn counterclockwise.

[john e. holliday]

If he stays on I-80 East it will be too far north of me. 

[Dave_Trible]

I'm thinking this may have to do with power transmission.  IC gives a pulsed power when electric is continuous torque.  I'm experiencing the same strange stuff converting two airplanes from .61 to .76 IC power. The engine is heavier, bigger tank, CG farther forward but the airplanes now feel tail heavy to fly even flying slower lap times.  The only thing I can figure is more torque and airflow on the wing and over the flaps/elevator.  Using the exact same props I used on the .61s since my mother load of new props from Brian Eather have not arrived yet.  Also even though the airplanes are more nose heavy, the leadout positions did not change.
Dave

[Russell Shaffer]

Howard passed within 200 yards of my house in Klamath Falls on his way south on 97.  I surely hope that he waved.  It's OK, though, I was elk hunting 300 miles to the Northeast so my feelings are not badly bruised. 

[Howard Rush]

I didn't have your phone number, Russell, or I'd have called.  You sure live in a pretty neighborhood.

[Howard Rush]

I had lunch Monday in Park City, UT.  I had to try to avoid being recognized by the locals, who know the Jive Combat Team from Sundance, so I wouldn't have to answer the same old questions.  Wyoming was scenic as usual.  Nebraska and Iowa weren't, but had adequately spaced rest areas and Starbucks.  They also had plenty of traffic, but folks there know lane theory, so it moved along.  Indiana has some political objection to socialized highways, so they have left their Interstates to potholes and billboards and have actually bulldozed their nice rest areas.  I'd avoid the place, but I had to go through it to get to Muncie and free lodging at my sister's house. 

I'm in Muncie now.  I picked up the plaques at the AMA place and found they are having the F2B team trials this weekend, so I decided to stay a few days and fly some stunt.  It's hot here: 84 degrees now and forecast to be 90 or more for the contest.  Locals tell me that before this week it's been cool and pleasant since the Nats. 

[Steve Helmick]

Golly, Howard, I liked Nebraska...but I went South from Mt. Rushmore on Hwy 385 to Chadron, NE, then Alliance (stayed in cheap motel next to closed Mexican restaurant), then over to Grand Island on Hwy 2 and hooked up to I-80 south from there. But you were already on I-80, so you missed the nice part. Too bad!

Of course, the most notable thing was going to the Wal-Mart in Chadron NE (to buy a new digital camera, having lost mine in Sturgis). Not a Wal-Martian was to be seen. Everybody looked well groomed, sane, and sexually identifiable. And no JCT fashions were for sale or on display. Just imagine that! Yup, just like the 1950's.    Steve

 

[Allen Brickhaus]

Took his picture late this afternoon at the L pad.

Allen

[Peter Ferguson]

Howard, I'm disappointed to see that you didn't make it to the "Burning Man" on your trip . I thought for sure this trip would be the one. Best of luck at the Team Trials.

[john e. holliday]

Took his picture late this afternoon at the L pad.

Allen

?

[Steve Helmick]

?

No doubt saving it for FM or SN....or Howard may not have been wearing his JCT gear and objected to the picture being taken.    Steve

[Paul Walker]

Where's Howard?

2nd place after qualifying!!


That's where....

[Peter Ferguson]

Excellent , see what having a local practice site and a trip to the trimmeister can do.

[Dan Bregar]

Congrats Howard !  Absolutely FANTASTIC ! Better brush up on your Polish 

[Steve Helmick]

I'm hoping that Howard will keep us posted on his return trip itinerary, and wish him a safe trip in the JCT Team Hauler. Shiny side up!

Meanwhile, let's hope the "ran-dumb" UA tests don't kick anybody off the team... Steve

[Randy Powell]

I will look forward to hearing Howard's reports on the return trip.

[Duke.Johnson]

Congrats from the Johnson Boys!

[Doug Moon]

Well, we know where Howard will be this time next summer, Scenic Poland!!  Way to go Howard you deserve it. BOOM!!!!

[Peter Ferguson]

Chwalcie go ze wszelkiej mocy jego; chwalcie go według wielkiej dostojności jego.

[wwwarbird]

I will look forward to hearing Howard's reports on the return trip.

 Me too, always good stuff.

[Steve Helmick]

 Called Waldo Howard from Auburn Muni, about 9:30 this morning. He was having lunch with Randi and Russ Gifford, probably someplace in Iowa. Let's hope he keeps an eye on the gas gauge of the 'yoda on the drive westward.  Steve

[Howard Rush]

Weather for the Muncie contest was excellent, which is the weather in which I specialize in flying, except for Saturday evening's practice.  The wife of the guy who builds my airplanes flew in and demanded that I practice Saturday evening, although it was blustery and I had my mouth set for Middle Eastern food, there being a new restaurant on Bethel.  The restaurant was closed, so we went to the L-pad.  My airplane ejected a wheel on takeoff, and I found that I couldn't stand up reliably on the wet pavement with my worn-out sneakers, so I quit after one lackluster flight.  Fortunately I found the wheel, one of the pair that people made fun of at the Nats, and put it back on the dog, this time with two (2) retainers per wheel.  We got up early Sunday to go to Walmart for new rubber for my feet, but they didn't have any that fit, so we went out to the field.  I thought maybe if the circle got wet, I could send somebody out before my flight to dry the center with a towel.  That's what James Brown would have had done.  I had forgotten my cape, too.  I resolved to be better prepared next time.  I then flew three stunt flights and drew the ire of the other participants because my airplane wasn't available for postcontest ceremonies that I hadn't considered, the airplane having gone with the car to check out of the hotel.  The airplane returned, rituals were performed, and I giggled all the way to the Twelfth Street.  After some mush, we went to my sister's house, pruned a tree, shopped for an oven heating element, and replaced a toilet seat. 

I lit out this morning before dawn, dropped the W of the GWBMA at the Indianapolis airport, and set out past the ruins of I-74 rest areas toward home.  A formation of six biplanes flew across the road near Galesburg, Illinois, there being a Stearman fly-in there that I hadn't known about until just now.  Had the aforementioned lunch with the Giffords, but I didn't mention to Russ that the F2B team is all electric, because I didn't want to see him cry.  I went past Albert Lea and got out of buying Wayne Willey the dinner that I owe him, because he got an unexpected day off and had gone to Minneapolis to fly.  I am in a hotel in Worthington, Minnesota, where the desk clerk is concerned that some shenanigans may be played by the Texans who bring a turkey for the coming turkey race against Paycheck, Worthington's  famous racing turkey.  I'm not making this up.  You can look on the Internet.

[Dennis Moritz]

On the Road with Howard Rush. A momentary end to rhymes. His prose following the rhythm of his car and his ambling stumbling gait. Fabulous to think of him wearing the red, white and blue.

[Mike Keville]

. . . Had the aforementioned lunch with the Giffords, but I didn't mention to Russ that the F2B team is all electric, because I didn't want to see him cry . . .

                

[Steve Helmick]

The talk around Auburn Muni this morning was centered around whether Howard was going to be flying an Electric Yatsenko Shark in Poland. We decided that the wife of the guy that builds his airplanes should just pay the air freight for the existing dog.  Steve

[Paul Walker]

We'll Howard, since you went I-90, you will not be able to partake of Wall Drug this trip.  How will you manage?

[Howard Rush]

I-90 goes right past Wall Drug, as was pointed out to me hundreds of times today.  I am in Sheridan now, having spent most of the day in South Dakota, Land of Billboards.  I shall contact my congressional delegation and throw a little weight around.  Here is my plan:

1. decommission Mt. Rushmore as a National Park. It's just another man-made roadside attraction, too many of which SoDak has.
2. offer SoDak the choice of either: a) dropping federal funding for I-90 and supporting it with existing advertising, or b) making I-90 itself in western SoDak a National Park with the condition that all advertising be removed.  It is (or would be) one of the most scenic places in the USA-- much better than Yellowstone.

I took some respite from the billboards and stopped at the museum at Ellsworth AFB. It has some nice airplanes, including a B-29, a BUF, and a B-1, which has some 4"-square VGs on the aft fuselage.  I also observed that a 1.2-megaton nuke would fit nicely in a Prius.

Photographs below are:
1. Billboards featured in the view from a "scenic viewpoint" off I-90 in South Dakota, Land of Billboards
2. Goofy-looking F-111 stab hinge
3. F-111 landing gear.  Somehow the two enormous wheels along with tons of support structure fold up inside a small bay in the airplane.

[wwwarbird]

I went past Albert Lea and got out of buying Wayne Willey the dinner that I owe him, because he got an unexpected day off and had gone to Minneapolis to fly. 

 Sorry I missed you Howard, I was already about halfway to Minneapolis when I remembered that you would likely be passing through town. I would have really enjoyed the visit but it was nice to get in a long overdue day of flying at our club field.  

 Please put the dinner money toward a new pair of nice grippy sneakers, we're good.

[Mike Keville]

What?  No Wall Drug photos?   

[Jerry Olson]

Well I certainly hope you made it to the Corn Palace.

[Paul Walker]

Seeing that you reported from Rapid City yesterday, you must be home by now!

Nice drive, eh?

[Steve Helmick]

Seeing that you reported from Rapid City yesterday, you must be home by now!

Nice drive, eh?

Not possible, unless Starbutt's takes reservations or delivers at rest stops.  Steve