Well..... I was almost ready to maiden. Weather outlook was good. Loaded up and headed out. Got there, started setting up and the winds started gusting. Damned weather channel got it all wrong, those were not 9 MPH winds. I got the Cub all assembled, she looks good in the sun. Got the engine running, its a used 100 Saito, and it is well tuned, but needs bearings, I can hear them at idle and there is some shaft play now that its been run. Any way, I had it on the run up stand, got the engine adjusted, figured out the cut off settings, and the engine would not stop running. I swear it was idling at 400 RPM. I could see the blades of the prop it was going so slow. I finally stuck my finger in the cowl and pressed the fuel line closed which finally got it to stop running. My other 100 is just like that. So I walk back to my trailer with my field box and radio, and then walk back to the run up stand, and find the Cub hanging off the side of the stand. Thankfully it didn't get full wind or it may have wound up in the pond behind the field.

Checked it out, and no damage was done, WHEW, close call. SO I got it back to my trailer, and contemplated flying it, but wanted to check the winds up high, got my Somethin Extra out, and flew it. Winds weren't too bad up aove, but landing was hairy, mainly due to the fact there are still large semi trailers at one end of the field, which in this case is the approach side, and the winds were unpredictable, W, NNW, WNW, and gusting up to 25 MPH. It was pushing the SSE towards the trailers on every approach. I finally got it lined up just right and almost greased it in, but a wind gust slowed it enough to drop the nose, and I bounced it. Was almost a perfect landing.

I then thought, well I know how my other Cub flies, so let me try it. I got it off the rack, checked the battery and they were low, so put it on the charger. 35 minutes later the winds were getting worse, so I packed it up. No sense ruining a year and a half of work to rush it.

It was so windy that the sides of my friends trailer were booming. It was whistling through mine, and as I held a Pepsi bottle it was singing a tune. When its like that, not worth the risk. If they were steady and in one direction, I would have had no problem flying it, but with the way it was swinging around from the north to the south out of the west, I felt it be better to wait a little longer. If the winds were out of the east I may have tried it though, its those semi trailers on the east end of the run way that had me concerned, hit one of those on landing and its all over. Hopefully they will have the containers moved onto the pads and the semi trailers unloaded and removed soon. It really is impacting our runway.