Q-talk 90 - Hangar Talk - Motivation

I would like to share a short story with you fellas who are still building and sanding and sanding and building to hopefully add a little motivation to those about to finish your projects.

The last several days in the Bay Area has been overcast, stormy and dark by 5 p.m. Not much good flying weather. In other words, kind of depressing. We got a little break today, so I decided to get airborne.

I showed up at the Livermore airport about 2:30 p.m., gassed and jumped into the Q-Bird! Took off on 25R behind a Cessna 172. We were both on a right downwind but you know those Spam Cans don't have a chance against a sleek little Q-Bird. About half way through our downwind, I blasted past and began to climb. I flew through tightly scattered broken at 2,000' but once on top, I decided to climb up to 15,000' to get a better look at the snow in the Sierras. The outside temp was about 3C and the air was absolutely velvet smooth. The sky was that beautiful azure/cobalt blue that only a crisp winter day can conjure up. Having not seen it for a few days, the sun felt good on my face. I flew around for about 45 minutes, enjoying the scenery with the white-capped Sierra range on the horizon most of the time. What a beautiful site.

All of a sudden, from the comer of my eye, I noticed a Beech C90 commuter, at my altitude, off about 5 miles, headed parallel to my flight path and ahead of me. I am sure he never saw the Q-Bird. After all, they are tricky little birds to spot even if you are squinting and looking for them.

We had a good tail wind and were both cruising at about 235 MPH. I flew in trail for about 10 miles, just behind, above and to the right. He slowed and started a 200 mpm decent, probably headed into Fresno. This was my chance to sneak up and check out the C90 and its cargo a little closer. At about a quarter mile off his right wing, the little Q-Bird rocketed past him and rolled smartly to his right. I'm sure those looking out the right side of that C90 thought, "What the hell was that? A glimmer in the sun or a queer looking little X wing fighter at this altitude? Go figure."

We parted company. I turned toward home and the Pacific Ocean, thinking how lucky we are to live in America. This truly is the land of the free and the home of the brave!

After some time and losing daylight, I descended back to the surly bonds of earth, put the Q-Bird to bed and headed home on a dark dreary evening.

Maybe the sun will come out tomorrow!



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