Gassed and Glassed

Not too many yard mows left to do this year, and I got one of them out of the way first thing this morning. I've been getting some mowing assistance from Co-pilot Egg, but she had a science assignment that needed done, so I was solo. Papa needed gas, so once the mowing was done we headed over to MadCo to buy a few gallons. I checked the AirNav price, and it looked favorable. I noticed that KUYF was also listed as one of the new 'AirBoss' airports, and was promising a dollar less a gallon. I knew, having had experience with the reality of AirNav, that the guy pumping the gas would have no idea whatsoever about it if I asked him, and before the short story can become long, he didn't. That's normal for AirNav: lots of promise (and promises), but weak on the implementation. They'll get there, though. I love the concept, and I'm hoping that they can smooth out the wrinkles and make it work.

Anticipating that I might do some Advanced Aerial Maneuvering on the short ride between Bolton and Ugly Young Farmers (UYF), I made sure to secure the passenger side belts to avoid them flying around and potentially making a nuisance of themselves, but they had already been secured by the previous user. Man, is he a good co-pilot!

With the relatively high ambient pressure and the light weight of me as the sole human inhabitant of the cockpit, Papa was really feeling his oats and we had a good time cavorting about the sky. I dialed in the UYF unicom as I approached the field, and heard a Twin Comanche heading in from the west. I got behind a Beech Baron in the gas line once, and waited for what seemed like an hour for 100+ gallons to be pumped into his cavernous tanks. Once bitten, twice shy, I keyed-up and asked the Comanche if he too would be buying in large quantities. If so, I wouldn't head in to land quite yet, you see. Well, he said he was only looking for 30 gallons, so in we went.

There wasn't much wind, and that usually gives me a fair shot at a nice landing. I did pretty good, but darned if I didn't miss the first turn-off. Drat.

Once I got back home, it was straight to the Boat Works to get a second coat of epoxy on the top deck glass that I layed on last night. The second coat is a lot easier to apply, but it's also easier to get runs down the sides. I put some making tape in place to try to catch any runs that happened hours later after I'd finished. That's the tricky thing about them: they're slow motion runs. You think you got them all, and the next morning you're surprised to see new ones. I promised an updated picture yesterday, so here it is:



I'll put on a third coat of epoxy tomorrow, which should fill in the rest of the weave.

Here's the view from the driver's seat: