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Best Laid Plans

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Bill James:
Best Laid Plans
     Inspired by the goings-on at Oshkosh and my son’s upcoming elk hunting trip, the plan was to get rough field capability including tundra tires and a hydraulic lift kit. I liberated everything i needed from a guy with a 1963 Impala. Looking back on it now, I'm hoping he was actually the owner of the car.
     In homage to skis that propel you into the air, I figured that on takeoff with a little practice on the hydraulic control panel I could generate a rhythm that would eventuate into bouncing the plane a couple of feet into the air. Unfortunately the two large tires on the rear greatly outweigh the single smaller tire on the front creating an unforeseen CG issue causing a robust tendency to do a back flip. Another significant issue, I don’t have a trunk to load up all of the hydraulics. Those low-rider guys have it easy.
     To salvage the effort, I plan to roll through the Dairy Queen this weekend. Maybe I could try just one back flip. Anyone have an extra set of baby blue belly lights?
(Images attached, you have to be signed in)

Fred N.:
Bill,  I smiled.  Actually when I got to the pictures I had a long belly-laugh -- almost fell out of my chair.  Love your humor.  Admire your ability to entertain us and........... well and show us new, good ideas for canards.

LongEZDaveA:
Haha. It's no doubt your neighbors are even more worried about you now. 

Bill James:
Hmmm…yep, no doubt. However that list of those ‘to be worried about’ is long and distinguished. And i don't claim top billing.
Oh, and the neighbors haven’t heard the sound system yet. It is a product of research during the recent engine rebuild where several other engine options were considered. A turbo two-stroke was a strong contender but the diminutive "Neeeeee" sound on a low pass was unpalatable. Thus a robust sound system was proposed with powerful and majestic recordings of low passes by Spitfires and Mustangs and such blasting out of massive speakers on the bottom, including impressive tracks for startup and taxi. Actually,
I love the sound of a Lycoming in the morning.

easyrider:
Ah the venerable Merlin
A good read is Alec Henshaw's
"Sigh of a Merlin"

Easyrider

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