Bruce Spaulding. SEAT pilot. Epic Flight 8/22/2018.
Calvin Hackwell - New Record - 25 Lakes, 6 Rivers, 3 States
5/14/2018 - The gauntlet, South Fork of the Clark Fork River
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5/14/2018 - Spirit Lake. Tailwinds in the air. Glass on the water.
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5/14/2018 - Medicine Lake
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5/14/2018 - Calvin Hackwell ousts Lisa and is the new reigning champion with 25 Lakes and 6 Rivers in 3 States on one tank of fuel!
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Epic Flight - 24 lakes, 5 rivers, 3 states on one tank of gas in a straight float 1946 Piper PA-12
The baseline for the challenge has been set: 24 lakes, 5 rivers, 3 states on one tank of gas.
Rules:
Lisa gave it her best shot, with Glenn onboard to verify compliance to all rules and to record regulation landings. The pre-trip planning estimated 5.5 hours to complete the 210-mile route, including a 4 minute allowance for each recon, landing and take-off. The PA12-S has 36 gallons of usable fuel, 33 gallons so the required 3 gallons (30 minute reserve) would be onboard at the final destination. Average fuel burn with the Lycoming O-290 D2 is 6 gallons per hour, which estimated exactly 33 gallons of fuel required to complete the planned flight. That was a little too close for comfort, so Lisa’s Mom and Dad volunteered to deliver 5 gallons of fuel and a snack to the public dock at Rose Lake. The fuel level would be checked first, when shut down at Rose Lake, and the flight would be declared over at Rose Lake if fuel was required to finish the planned route. Ending at Rose Lake would have been a 22 lake, 5 river, 3 state on one tank of gas flight.
No worries, as the timing was incredibly perfect. A 5-9 mph tailwind followed the flight from beginning to end with the exception of one 5 mile leg toward St Maries that had a 9 mph tailwind at 1000’ agl. Then Lisa backtracked that leg to the Coeur d’Alene River at low level over Lake Coeur d’Alene, cutting the headwind to 3 mph. The nearly ever-present tailwind cut the flight time, and the recon/landing/takeoffs took significantly less than 4 minutes each. Shut down at the Rose Lake dock, the airplane was still well over ½ full of fuel. With only 3 more lakes in 35 statute miles, the flight was not over yet.
Back at home base, the total time was 3.2 hours, almost 20 minutes short of the estimate, and with 12 gallons on board still, it’s very possible to beat Lisa by bagging even more lakes and rivers on one tank. In this unique location, pilots looking to build time and experience may find this challenge to be one of the most enjoyable flights in their logbook.
Rules:
- All enroute altitudes must comply with all applicable CFRs including 91.119
- Each touchdown must include at least 3 seconds of water contact with power at idle prior to power application for take off
Lisa gave it her best shot, with Glenn onboard to verify compliance to all rules and to record regulation landings. The pre-trip planning estimated 5.5 hours to complete the 210-mile route, including a 4 minute allowance for each recon, landing and take-off. The PA12-S has 36 gallons of usable fuel, 33 gallons so the required 3 gallons (30 minute reserve) would be onboard at the final destination. Average fuel burn with the Lycoming O-290 D2 is 6 gallons per hour, which estimated exactly 33 gallons of fuel required to complete the planned flight. That was a little too close for comfort, so Lisa’s Mom and Dad volunteered to deliver 5 gallons of fuel and a snack to the public dock at Rose Lake. The fuel level would be checked first, when shut down at Rose Lake, and the flight would be declared over at Rose Lake if fuel was required to finish the planned route. Ending at Rose Lake would have been a 22 lake, 5 river, 3 state on one tank of gas flight.
No worries, as the timing was incredibly perfect. A 5-9 mph tailwind followed the flight from beginning to end with the exception of one 5 mile leg toward St Maries that had a 9 mph tailwind at 1000’ agl. Then Lisa backtracked that leg to the Coeur d’Alene River at low level over Lake Coeur d’Alene, cutting the headwind to 3 mph. The nearly ever-present tailwind cut the flight time, and the recon/landing/takeoffs took significantly less than 4 minutes each. Shut down at the Rose Lake dock, the airplane was still well over ½ full of fuel. With only 3 more lakes in 35 statute miles, the flight was not over yet.
Back at home base, the total time was 3.2 hours, almost 20 minutes short of the estimate, and with 12 gallons on board still, it’s very possible to beat Lisa by bagging even more lakes and rivers on one tank. In this unique location, pilots looking to build time and experience may find this challenge to be one of the most enjoyable flights in their logbook.
