 | ||
| Watch your step! |
|
©Ian Coristine/1000IslandsPhotoArt.com
So, does it fly?
So, does it fly?
This was the 4th summer of a project that I intended to complete in one. Ok, so I was full of it but I was ambitious and determined. Good parts of two of those summers were preoccupied with Janice’s cancer issues but still… Last summer ended with my finally having the plane inspected and signed off by Transport Canada (The plane is licensed in Canada) setting things up to begin flying as soon as we arrived this past June. People don’t follow every minor event in this saga, every little step forward that has been made, so once in a while they simply ask…
does it fly ?
It’s been a great project but they can’t help but wonder if it will actually really work. Like, really work. In mid-June, Janice had the misfortune of needing surgery once again (totally unrelated to the Cancer) so I spent a month on the island to help care for her. Then, we had our customary two week of rentals where we did a little traveling and we had friends and family visit.
I know, I know, but just tell me. Does it fly?
Early in August when checking the throttle cables my inspector found that they were questionable in reliability. Obviously, we decided to replace them and it was to take a few days. Two week later the new ones arrived causing yet another uncontrollable delay in my ability to launch and begin to fly. All this time I have an instructor waiting in the wings with my giving him reason after reason why I was not ‘quite’ ready to go. Finally, the day came where I was able to start the engine up for the first time. She fired right up and sounded positively sweet! Everything was great and I was ready to start the break-in. New engines whether in cars, boats or planes need to be ‘broken in’ for a certain amount of time.
Blah, blah blah! Yes or no. Does the #%*& thing fly?
Going through the systems I went to turn the engine off, and, it wouldn’t. A minor electrical wiring issue clearly had to be resolved. Another delay. Days later after fixing it I made another attempt. Everything was fine, so I let the engine warm up to start the break-in once again. The break-in consists or powering the engine up and down at different RPM’s for set periods of time. Obviously it is done on the ground and is the first phase of testing a new aircraft.
I have an instrument which monitors the engine temperature at various points to make sure all is well. Somewhere between the sensors and the instrument was another minor wiring glitch which had to be worked out. The problem was that I was now looking at a drop dead end date of September 15th when my instructor was leaving on a 3 week trip. After that date, it would be all over for the season.
HA, HA!! I KNEW it! It doesn't work, does it? Have you flown it or not????
I reached a point where I felt somewhere between frustrated, discouraged and an overall sense that there was an active, effective conspiracy working against me. Sensing my crushing frustration, my friend Ian stepped up and offered to to the test flight if I was ready. Ian, you may recall, has provided me with all the areal pictures of the islands I have used in the blog each month while we are here in the summer. He took them from his identical aircraft that he flew for 20 years.
So, after an exhausting pre- flight inspection (do you blame him?) Ian and I hopped in and I taxied to the runway. Then, I got out (test flights are done alone) and he flew off. Once satisfied, he returned and I hopped back in and once again, took to the sky.
It was freeking magical. I fulfilled a dream that I shared with Leonardo da Vinci. On his deathbed he said that his biggest regret in life was that he had never flown. Over the years many lives and fortunes have been lost pursuing the dream of flight.
Does it fly, you ask? Of course it flies! I built it, didn't I?
I am not saying that building this airplane was hard, well no harder than assembling a 5000 piece puzzle of a clear blue sky anyway. This is not a big airplane. You don't so much get in it as put it on and wear it. Still, it is the real deal and I have spent may hours going over it, not so much to check it as to think just how clever I was to pull this off.
 |
| So happy you would think I was double fisting cans of Red Bull |
 | ||
|
A kid with a dream
|
 |
|
The view
takes on a radiance and sense of possibility that seems to border on the
divine.
|
 |
|
Prozac
smile happy
|
This months visitors
Last month we had the pleasure of daughter Mandy’s company here at the island for the 5th summer in a row. She flew from Germany for a 10 day visit to get her yearly island fix. Unfortunately she was sick a good deal of the time here but we still managed to get about as much as she was up to.
Currently, we have our niece Jessica and her friend Sina spending the week end with us. Jessica is an old hand here but this is Sina's first visit so we will have to see how he takes to being marooned.
Mr. Christopher
The Make-A-Wish foundation grants children with life-threatening medical conditions a wish, organizes all the logistics and pays the cost of granting it. Our grandson Christopher’s wish was to go to Disneyland to meet Lightning McQueen and Mator, the animated figures of the movie “Cars” (If you are over 6 years old, you don’t get it) The whole family was included so dad, mom, 4 kids, two nurses plus all of Christopher’s medical equipment flew to Los Angeles like a traveling circus. They spent two days in Disneyland and a day at Knots Berry Farm before returning home. Many of the costumed Disney characters met with them for pictures and they were given VIP rock star treatment by going to the head of every line for rides.
Projects
This month, we completed a few
projects around the place. First, I had to raise a collapsing corner of our
working dock. Over the years the supports have gotten weak so I found a novel
way to jack up the heavy dock over the water. Shoring everything up with much
more substantial beams, we should be good until I am pushing up daisies. Next,
I finished the skirting on the inside of this same dock.
 | ||
Before
|
It is the original dock that was
here when we bought the property and I have been meaning to get around to this
for some time. You can see from the before and after pictures that while we
have no tides, the water levels can vary substantially.
The second was to build a
platform to allow for a hammock. Having found her perfect spot, Janice turned
me loose to make it happen. The problem was that like all things on the island,
it was close to the water.
The local authorities have strict restrictions on people building anything near the water, so following the time tested experience of our children, we thought it best to ask for forgiveness if confronted rather than to face sure denial if we asked permission first.
 |
| Can you find it? Click once on the picture to enlarge it. |
This called for using one of the principals I learned while performing stage illusions. The best place to hide something is in plain sight. You just have to help people see what they expect to see, as opposed to what they are really looking at .
 |
| Ahhhhhhh....... |
Singer Castle
I have written before of our visit to Dark Island and the tour of the Castle of sewing machine magnate fame. This month, we were invited to return, not so much to repeat the tour but to experience a rare behind the scene visit of its tunnels, secret passageways and hidden access ways.
 |
| Singer Castle, during the day |
Our friend Kim was big time reporter in a previous life and now publishes her own glossy magazine called "Island Life". She has developed an extensive list of local contacts and gets into places the rest of us mere mortals never see.
 |
| A secret twist would open a door behind you |
So, a small group of us were invited to a private guided tour of the areas not part of the public tours. Much like many European Castles, this one was designed to allow service staff access to all areas of the Castle without disturbing the residents or walking the same halls as the owners. Thus, a shadow system of access ways, corridors and doors hidden behind closets walls and secret panels allowed staff to come and go to provide for the owners every need and yet, be rarely seen.
 |
| Staff could spy from behind this picture to see if dining guests below were ready for next course |
Kitchen staff could monitor the dining guests needs, for instance, from behind a picture high on a wall. The latches to these secret doorways were pure James Bond. A twist of a coat hook or even placing a coin at a certain location on a wall would release a magnetic latch located behind the wall, opening a hidden door.
This Castle was the location shoot for a recent episode of "The Great Escape" TV reality show. All in all, a ton of local fun.
