Desert Exploration

I wanted to get a closer look at the country just past Mann Lake Road, where I had seen the Kiger Mustangs on my return from Burns. I checked the Wind Speed forecast for the area on the computer, and it showed that it was going to be a bit breezy. However the wind wasn't blowing at all at the house, so I rolled it out, warmed it up and off I went.

Once I got up above the protection of the hills to the NW of me, I could feel the wind. Nothing serious, but bumpy none the less. I went up past Cow Camp intending to drop down in front of the Sheep Heads, ( Rather large Sage covered hills, with Big Horn Sheep on them of course) and then on to the area that I wanted to look at.

The wind wasn't too bad, but I was still crabbing a bit and my speed was down about 5 MPH. I dropped down over the Sheep Heads and turned to the East. There were some pretty nasty cloud formations brewing a desert storm, that generally doesn't produce anything other than turbulence and lightning. It didn't take long to convince me that the weather was going to get worse before it got better, so I turned to go to the Alvord instead. It was clear in that direction but still a bit cranky.




The quality on this thing sucks and even though the camera is recording at its highest level, it is still a bit fuzzy. (and takes forever to upload) I was running at low cruise, (5100) I was still doing 85 to 87 MPH. The funny part was that the airspeed indicator was showing the same reading. I decided to cross over to the Mickey Basin and then on down to the Alvord. The closer I got to the Alvord the bumpier it got, even close to the ground. About that time I developed a desire to watch TV, so I climbed high enough to clear the hills and headed home. Once I got over the boundry hills around the Alvord it smoothed out and it was fun flying again. I called Karen for a wind check and to tell her that I was returning to the house. She gave me this. "Wind out of the North 6 to 10 right down the runway". So I knew it was going to be windy. The plane started to crab again and I was out of the wind shadow that had favored me after clearing the hills at the Alvord.

I checked the ranch next door as a matter of courtesy and found every thing to be under control. None of the cows were stuck in any of the "pot holes". I could see Sam turning hay on one of the pastures that had been cut, so I went by to say "Howdy". Apparently my engine was louder than his tractor and ruined my surprise.

I landed on runway 34 and it was indeed 6-10 right down the runway. It was good to be back on the ground, and I was glad to close the hanger doors. No problems, but not a lot of fun either.

I flew for 1.5 hours, covered 89 miles and burned 3.5 gallons. I had changed my jets back to the original .135 thousand instead of the .125 that I had put in before installing the HACman system. The 125's were not small enough to put my EGT's where they needed to be without the system, but with the system I now would need the bigger jets if I ever decided to fly to the coast at sea level. I removed my plugs for a check to see how they looked with the increased EGT's, and found that they were just right.

These plugs now have 50 hours on them.