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The
"Slow Birds" started assembling in Sierraville, just north of
Truckee. Jim Econome is on the left, Bob Dieterich on the right,
and Jeremy Lezin center. |
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Reviewing
notes after a full day of flying out to Susanville (where we couldn't
descend, even after pulling power!) |
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Jim
fired off his wing camera as Bob and I departed this rather forlorn
strip. |
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On
Bob Dieterich's deck, contemplating the meaning of life. |
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En
route to Quincy, we passed some breathtaking scenery. Notice
the watch tower on this narrow ridge, which begs the question: how
do they get up there? |
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Paul
taught us that we need not panic, should we find ourselves in the
wilderness with a bottle of wine and no opener. An old bar tender,
Paul coaxed us to think creatively. |
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Back
in Quincy, we met the rest of the gang (flying in from Oregon). To
the left is Steve Hardie in his Air Cam. |
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After
carefull knotting a small pice of twine, Paul pushed the cork down into
the bottle and then chased it with his knotted string. |
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Paul
Redhead piloted a magnificent bright red Air Cam, full of Redhead
inventions. This guy has anticipated more than most of of us and
come up with an answer to the problem (which we didn't know
existed). |
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Success!
A deft pull on the string sucked the cork out of the bottle and we were
back in action. I must say, this had some of the best "take
away" value of anything learned on our trip. |
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I'm
soliciting captions for this photo, so fire away. This shows Steve
Hardie refueling his header tank. |
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Paul,
a Viet Nam helicopter pilot, attempts an auto-gyro landing with Bob's
dog , Ace. |
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Paul
amazed us with a very simple invention: the tail pull. Handles,
ropes and a couple short pieces of aluminum proved enough to steer this
cam. Wow! |
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You
couldn't ask for a nicer organizer than Bob, who allowed all of the Slow
Birds to camp out at his home. |
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Up
at dawn to avoid the afternoon mountain breezes, we treated the local
inhabitants to the sound of ten Rotaxes beating. |
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Jim
Ecome, en route to Livermore after a memorable three days of flying in
the Sierras. |
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Flying
low over forests, it's reassuring to have two engines propelling you
forward. |
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Another
view of Jim's plane. |
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Not
quite as close as it looks in this telephoto shot . . . we kept all five
Cams in a left staggered formation. |
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Steve
Hardie was the only one of the Slow Birds who actually got some ass
during the trip (from Ace). |
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Steve
waves to Jim Econome (who positioned his Cam in every conceivable spot
to get the shot. Jim flies for American Airlines and doesn't get
to do this type of flying with the big hardware. |
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Bob
crafted this refueling station from some spare parts and a $150 trailer
provided by Harbor Freight. A great simple alternative to hefting
heavy plastic gas cans on the wing, methinks. |
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Steve
over a mountain lake. |
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The
Slow Birds descend into Quincy valley, after a satisfying day of low
speed formation flying. |
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And
Steve again, with perfectly synchronized props. No, this is not an
engine-out situation. |
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The
author's yellow "Chiquita" flying low over a meadow that
beckoned to be landed in. |
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Left
to Right: Paul Redhead, Jeremy Lezin, Steve Hardie, Jim Econome and Bob
Dieterich (who made this all possible). |
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Our
gang of five, also known as the Slow Birds, showed off the Air Cams to
the local chapter of the EEA. |
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