Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Out flying the Swoose today and I hit the water when I was setting up for a low and slow fly by. A little double vision problem I have. That's getting taken care of soon after the first of the year. Anyway, my bad, pilot error.Not much damage.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Hey GB great to see you get back to the Swoose project, such a georgous airplane. I remember our discussions about it well. Where is that site is it around one of the marina's at lake mead?

Its curious just a day later I had a successful second flight with my Catalina Cadet. The problem has been my second club down at Lake Havasu the Havasu Sport Flyers a water club only has had their site at Rotary park messed up with construction by the park service and I was getting afraid that that the only wheelchair access to a water flight station Ive ever found. Seems they had to expand their skateboard track but thanks to some great leadershio in the club not only was the site saved but is even better than before.

Anyway get her fixed and post it up.

John

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Thde swoose project never went away, I have been flying that one for a year but off of land. The guys at the dry lake finally decided to get into float flying, they waited until the summer was over of course. All I did was put the floats back on and wait until they said they were going out again. One of the guys has the rubber raft so I waited for him to go out.
That site is the old Boulder launch area. Just follow the road around ans not far past the camp site the turn off is on the right. You can driver right up to the water and get off loaded but they don't want you to park there, you have to park about 20 yards from the water.
Not sure how many people use it during the summer but when we drove back out the long way to get out going north there are a lot of places to fly from. This just happens to be a really good spot.
When they didn't think I was going to walk again and I was still in my chair I got one of those forever passes so it's free to get in, I'm sure you have one too. I was told, but don't know for sure that we can fly electrics off of Lake Las Vegas too?
Word went out that the lake bed was flooded so we fly the smaller planes at the Hemingway area right there on the lake. I went to see the lake bed and there was a lot of water on it but it isn't completely flooded, sure is a lot of mud though! I just heard the south end is OK and there is a small area right on the north end that the guys are flying the bigger planes on. That rain storm caught us all by surprise, all it will take is one good monsoon rain to fill the bed up enough to float fly from. I still have a pair of waders and I'm ready for it!! I'm not going to fly anymore until after the first of the year and I get my eyes fixed. It hasn't been fun for a long time. I think I'm hooked on float flying though.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Yup float flying sure is enjoyable. Hmm just had a flash vison of a guy in a wheelchair, wearing waders trying to recover his airplane

John

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I was a guy in a wheelchair wearing waders and out in a marsh duck hunting. My partner would load me up with all our gear, I'm talking so much gear I couldn't see a thing. He would push me along the top of the jetty's to our hunting spots, {we discovered several places} he would off load me and put out the spread of decoys and I would get out of the chair and crawl around putting a blind together. He acted as the dog and did all the retrieves. My job was picking up all the empty shells. That and I was pretty good on a duck tooter. As I started getting the feeling back into my legs and the pain started to go away I had crutches with funnel type of things on the ends and started helping out with everything. My waders were needed because our blinds were often in the water. Just off the jetty but I had to sit in it. Sounds like a pain but we always had fun. Never knew when the chair was going to run off the jetty when the fog was in. Waders are good insulation too. Hard to get down when you had too much coffee though!! Walking and standing hurts but it's better then having people move me when I'm in there way Xmas shopping. That happened a few times. When I got fed up my wife always got perfume, a lot of perfume!!
I sure miss duck hunting these days. Not a lot of good marshes in this desert.