Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/254584
EAA Experimenter 39 LIGHT PL ANE WORLD MY FLIGHT TO THE 24TH annual Midwest Ultralight/Light Aircraft Rendezvous held August 23 to 25 at Tommy's Airpark , southeast of Springfi eld, Illinois, was about as perfect as a fl ight can get. Sport aviation is one of the few activities that provides an opportunity for true adventure. Much of our life is organized, regimented, and predictable. With fl ying, the adventure begins at every takeof , but nothing does it better for me than fl ying with others in a group and traveling to a distant fl y-in to see other airplanes and pilots. For this to work, avia- tion has to be af ordable, or there will be no others to fl y with you. That's where ultralights and light-sport aircraft come into the picture. I've had the occasional pleasure of fl ying some- where with fi ve or more light aircraft to attend a regional fl y-in. Cruising along on a cross-country fl ight in nice weather at 1,500 feet with your fl ying buddies around you is the great- est fun you can have in aviation. On this trip, I was fl ying with a longtime friend and pilot, Rob, in an Eipper GT 400. He has fl own all over the state of Il- linois but had never been to Tommy's fl y-in due to confl icts and weather. I've introduced numerous chapter members to this trip and always enjoyed it because the landmarks are sparse but unmistakable; and it's just long enough to make it fun. At about 90 miles, it's a stretch to do under ultralight rules, but it's easily accessible for light planes on a one-day, out-and-return fl ight. Rob and I fl ew mostly side-by-side about one-half mile apart and at the same altitude. Flying closer together adds to the workload, and fl ying in trail reduces the ef ectiveness of having a buddy for the last pilot in the string. For larger groups, I pre- fer fl ying in pairs in trail. It is much easier than a V-formation. A loose gaggle is the worst as you can spend the entire trip looking around trying to fi nd your buddies and saying, "Where are you now?" on the radio. GET TING THERE IS HALF THE FUN I also love this trip because it serves as a reminder of the time not so long ago when pilots were "pilots" (in the nautical sense) instead of operators of onboard guidance equipment. There are no roads along the course to follow. We are fl ying diagonally across the patchwork of landscape that is Illinois. On one of these trips, a newcomer to the group began calling for help on the radio because he couldn't fi nd Tommy's Airpark on his GPS. We knew the airport identifi er (9LL5), but we almost didn't want to tell. The pancake-fl at prairie horizon was interrupted by a pair of obvious and distant white bumps exactly on our course; they corresponded to a black square on the aeronauti- cal chart labeled "plant." It was a pair of huge LP gas storage tanks. Obviously the caller had neither chart nor line. We only had to relax and fl y toward them. About 30 minutes beyond the tanks is a large lake with a nuclear powerplant that you can't miss, and the fi nal stretch has other unique landmarks. Once on course with ground speed verifi ed, I like to turn of the GPS and fl y by pure pilotage. It's fun and easy, and I feel a little more sense of adventure by doing the actual piloting. That's not to take anything away from the GPS. I use it on every fl ight. Airpark owner Tommy Georges is a radio-controlled (RC) aircraft enthusiast who became a private pilot and an Adventure Flight to Tommy's Airpark BY DAN GRUNLOH Tommy's Airpark near Springfi eld, Illinois, also has a go-kart racing track. Photography by Dan Grunloh E A A E X P _ F e b 1 4 . i n d d 3 9 EAAEXP_Feb14.indd 39 2 / 3 / 1 4 3 : 1 9 P M 2/3/14 3:19 PM