Day 946: PPG Flight 100 to Concrete Arrow

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Ben

This morning, in honor of Rosh Chodesh Adar, a month in which we increase our happiness, Trish made green scrambled eggs to enhance our sense of whimsy:

I took my wing over to Michelle’s wing shop for repair. A wing was being inspected:

Back on Day 861, I had laid out the wing and tried to kite it up to verify that the lines weren’t tangled. A twig attached to the ground snagged the wing as I tried to kite the wing. With the wing held back, my pulling on the lines caused a seam to fail where a “C” line attaches to the wing:

I called Michelle and she told me how to patch the wing, which I did:

Today, Michelle said the patch looked good but we decided to fix the wing by sewing it anyway. I would post a photo of the repaired area, but it now looks like all the other “C” line attachment points so I’m not sure which one it is. Thanks Michelle!

I photographed M’s overstuffed Junior Ranger wall hanging:

Tonight I launched milestone flight #100, an RV storage area in the background:

PPC pilot Ron took off right after me:

My goal for the flight was to find a nearby concrete arrow, the base for the 1930s LA-A #68 navigation beacon. I spotted it along the ridge directly above my feet:

It was exciting and appropriate to “discover” this relic of aviation history from the air:

I would have flown lower to get a better view, but strong winds were creating turbulent conditions along the ridge, so I opted to stay up high.

I flew back to Michelle’s field. Kirk was just taking off as I flew over:

I checked out a nearby radio controlled airplane field. They must fly some really large R/C planes here:

Hooray for 100 post-training flights!

Day 945: NM Mineral Museum, Salinas Pueblos NM, Emergency Welding

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Ben

Today we drove over to New Mexico Tech to visit the New Mexico Mineral Museum:

The sample in the center is Trinitite, which is fused sand formed by the Trinity nuclear bomb test:

Big chunks of gold and silver:

These mineral samples have not been altered. They are as they were found:

The radioactive display:

We drove north and east to Abo Pueblo, one of three sites managed by Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument:

Spanish Franciscan monks came here from Mexico in the 1580s to convert the Puebloan Indians who lived here. In the 1620s the mission at Abo was built:

To persuade the local Indians to help in the construction of the mission, The monks told the local Indians that the new mission would include a Kiva for Indian rituals. Once the mission was completed, the “Kiva” was used as a garbage pit:

Droughts and Apache Raids (in retribution for Spanish slave-capturing raids against the Apache) caused the Salinas Pueblos to be abandoned around 1670:

The kids completed the Junior Ranger workbook sections dealing not only with Abo Pueblo, but also Quarai Pueblo and Grand Quivira Pueblo, and the section for the main visitor center in Mountainair, so they received all four location ribbons for their badges:

We drove on to visit the main visitor center in Mountainair. The rear wheel was sitting a little funny, and after a bit of investigation I found that the rear leaf spring hanger had broken. The part indicated by the arrow had broken off the frame of the RV:

The rear leaf spring more or less stayed put because it’s attached to the equalizer in front, and the axle is attached on the other side to the other leaf spring with the intact equalizer and rear hanger. Nonetheless, we needed to get the broken off hanger pieces welded back on without too much driving.

I asked the ranger in the visitor center about local welders, and she asked the other ranger for direction. The other ranger is a coach at the local high school, and he called the shop teacher, Mr. E. Mr. E. happens to be a certified welder, and he asked us to drive over to the high school. We crawled our way from the visitor center to the high school, hoping everything held together. We arrived successfully:

I disconnected the ground wire from the battery to protect the electronics in the RV from damage from the electrical current imposed on the frame by the welding:

Mr. E. used an angle grinder to prep the frame and the broken parts for welding:

I jacked up the frame to unload the equalizer so the rear leaf spring could slide into place. Mr. E simultaneously pulled a chain tightly around the rear axle to encourage it into place:

Welding ensued:

Mr. E did an amazing job and we were ready to get back on the road! Thanks so much for your help, and it was a pleasure to meet your students!

We drove on from Mountainair to arrive at Michelle’s flying field and wing shop, where my wing will be repaired. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 944: North to Socorro

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Ben

Trish made an amazing breakfast this morning:

We’re the last ones here, and today we packed up the RV:

We drove north to overnight at the Walmart of Socorro. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 943: Flight South to Elephant Butte Lake Dam

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Ben

I’ve been fighting a fever for the last couple days, which culminated with me waking up in the middle of the night with a fever of 101.6. This morning, my temperature was normal, so I launched flight #99:

I flew south towards the dam:

The terrain became mountainous, so I stayed above the road as it would be my only landing option in the event of an engine failure:

The Elephant Butte Lake Dam:

Heading back:

The landing:

My fever returned after breakfast, and M is coming down with this illness as well, so we stayed home while Trish and B went into Truth or Consequences to do some shopping, do the laundry, refill the propane, and fill up my PPG fuel can:

Day 942: Flying to Kettletop

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Ben

Shabbos here at Elephant Butte Lake State Park was pleasant. This morning, I got up early to get in a flight before the forecasted winds blow in later today:

Launch of flight #98:

I decided to fly out to Rattlesnake Island, seen here in the upper right corner of the photo:

I circled and climbed to gain enough altitude to safely glide back to the mainland in case an engine failure occurred while making the crossing to the island: