I hadn't been at the Gathering 2 minutes before Jim Faughn was sizing me up as "just the right weight" to go for a ride in his plane. A few minutes later Marty Roberts pulled alongside and I was able to snap this picture. This one's been shrunken and compressed, so if you want a larger version suitable for PC wallpaper, snag the one at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford/marty_wallpaper.jpg. Usually you can just right click on an image an choose "set as wallpaper" or something similar.
I won't swear to this, but it looks like a model airplane is buzzing those JetSki racers down below. That must have been an eye opener!
See that contrail coming from Marty's left wing? That's fuel coming out the vent tube, and is the reason he "burned" 30 gallons of 100LL on the 2 hour 15 minute trip from Tulsa to Lake Barkley.
Turning final in Jim Faughn's KR2.
Steve Bennett's KR 1.5 VW engine, featuring Ellison throttle body mounted on top.
The pattern on the back of the spinner is for an optoelectronic ignition system (or maybe it was the tach, I forget).
Steve Bennette, Terry Chizek, Marty Roberts, and Jim Faugh flew in on Thursday, and couldn't leave (due to weather) until the following Tuesday morning!
We had a larger tent scheduled, but high winds on Wednesday "took care" of that one. It's smaller replacement turned out to be a great place to sit and talk KRs. Not a bad turnout for a Thursday afternoon. Two years ago, nobody would have been here yet.
Steve Bennett taxis to the active...
and Jim Faughn gives another ride.
Troy Petteway made a brief appearance, but had some REAL flying to do in the King Air, so only stayed one night. His KR2 is now powered by a stock C-85, and is the first to fly the new AS5046 airfoil. He can now cruise at an honest 200 mph, with an empty weight of 615 pounds. And contrary to what you may have heard, he's quite happy with the "new wing".
Bill Kirkland got his first KR ride ever, thanks to Terry Chizek.
Terry's KR2. He's also building a KR2S.
Here's Terry's homemade canopy lock mechanism.
Sharp eyed viewers might recognize this canopy prop as an aluminum tent pole!
Steve Bennett's wing tip.
Marty Roberts' canopy latch...
...and the rest of his plane. This was one of the few opportunities to take a "still" picture, as usual. This beast boasts an 0-200 with C-85 pistons (which raises the compression ratio) that he spins at 3100 rpm!
Next year we need to do an award for "most innovative use of a VW pushrod". On second thought, he's got enough awards already.
Note elevator balance.
Neat homebrewed trim lever.
Jim Faughn's fairly stock KR. I can vouch for the fact that this is one sweet flying airplane, even with two aboard.
Mark Jones, Rich Parker, Mark Lougheed, and Ed Blocher.
Larry Flesner cooked a lot of burgers and dawgs, while Tommy Wymack takes notes for next year's Gathering in Pine Bluff.
This one rolled out of a trailer for sale, and sold the next day. Another nice example of a pretty stock KR2.
Marty had a tire blowout on landing. Lashing it to a creeper got it back to the ramp for replacement.
For Marty, it was Miller time...
...and the end to another nice day filled with KRs.
Steve Eberhart brought his BX-2 Cherry plans so we could see what REAL plans are supposed to look like.
But things got too deep for Dana after a while.
Those kegs really got around! I broke even on them, by the way, so thanks for the contributions.
The next morning Marty had his tire fixed and was in the air again.
Jim's cowling.
And his very sexy wheel fairings.
My composite forum became a discussion on the new airfoil, with Mark Lougheed presiding.
We even got local news coverage. Dana flew the anchorwoman around in his Bonanza for some good air to air video. We hope to get that tape and make the AVI available on the web. Next year I hope to get a good digital air-to-air shot of every KR in attendence. Then we'll have some REAL wallpaper!
The trailered in KR was looking a lot better the next day.
These clouds on Saturday night were the first real weather we'd seen, but we were in a clear hole surrounded by some big ones that prevented other KRs from making the trip.
At the awards banquet, Marty Roberts won "oldest pilot", "best engine", "best KR2", and the "spot landing" which we didn't really have, but we figured since he landed on just about every spot on the runway, he was a shoe-in. Jim Faughn won "people's choice", "best interior" and "best KR". It was "nip and tuck", but Steve Bennett won "best KR 1", but then his was the only one there, and his is really a KR 1.5. Also, Bill Kirkland won "farthest flown" for arriving from "halfway to the North Pole" in his Cessna 150, for the SECOND year in a row!
What would the Gathering be without singing Jim's KR song?
I vaguely recall that this might have been during the discussion of why the pilots prefer Pine Bluff over Ponca City. The basic reason is that the Pine Bluff airport is fairly remote and away from the majority of potentially "concerned citizens", allowing more freedom for the pilots...
Orma (AviationMech) made it late Saturday in the plane that he built in 1983. He has a lot of innovations, including ailerons that go all the way to the spar, and flaps that were added after initial construction (and he likes 'em).
That's all, folks!
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