This morning Mo went for a flight, and Wayne flew with my motor:

We confirmed that the HE125 motor has an RPM hole between 6,200 and 7,000 RPM, where the engine bogs down before the tuned pipe kicks in.  This is normally not a problem, except that I need that particular amount of thrust to maintain level flight.  Possible solutions include a smaller wing or a prop with less thrust.  For now, I’ll just deal with always slightly ascending or descending.

M tried to teach B some skateboard tricks:

The kids worked through today’s homeschool, including science:

Today’s big news is that Tricia and B rode their first training ride for this summer’s Tour de Simcha ride, which raises money for summer camps that serve special needs and ill children.  B received a 2014 jersey for her birthday, and she wore it today:

I installed Tricia’s new rear derailleur and chain, replacing the parts I previously took off of her bike to fix my bike:

This afternoon the wind was blowing close to 10MPH.  Wayne and local resident Jay took off.  To launch in such strong winds, I had to do a reverse launch to avoid being dragged backwards and falling onto the motor.  In this launch, the wing is brought up with the pilot facing it.  The wing is brought under control and, once stable, the pilot turns 180 degrees and launches normally.  This was solo flight #41, and it was my first ever reverse launch.  Glad I was paying attention in training:

Again, the wind was so strong I could barely move forward.  I returned to my takeoff location not by turning around, but rather by turning out of the wind so I was being blown back and to the right, then back and to the left, etc., until I reached my landing location:

Shabbos was pleasant here at Ak-Chin airport.  In the afternoon, Wayne flew, as did local trainer Mo and a few other pilots from the Phoenix area.  It was practically a mini fly-in!

This morning I flew solo flight #39.  I flew “around the block” over irrigated fields and farms.  Here’s takeoff:

M practiced a couple skateboarding tricks that don’t require rolling:

We installed the white sun shade we purchased at Quartzsite.  It goes across both slides and should keep the sunward side of the RV cool:

Towards sunset, Wayne and Mo went out for a flight:

I flew solo flight #40.  It was so windy that, once aloft, my groundspeed was only 4 MPH.  After going forward for a few minutes, I would turn into the wind, race downwind at 35 MPH, then turn into the wind to start another crawl upwind:

Coming in for a landing:

This morning we said goodbye to our friends in Scottsdale and drove south to Ak-Chin regional airport where Wayne and Susie are parked for a few weeks.  Wayne helped me install a new carburetor, as well as identify and eliminate high points on the head which were preventing the head seal from sealing properly.  It took a couple hours, but we got everything installed and tested:

Towards sunset Wayne got out his wing and went out for a flight:

Good Shabbos from Ak-Chin airport near Maricopa, Arizona!

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.