Monday August 21, 2006

As reported in this Road Log, we returned to Bakewell last week and I flew to Collegedale. On the flight I noticed a low voltage reading. Since my next two legs are over some of the largest wilderness areas in the east, and safety is always foremost in our minds, I decided not to fly the next leg until the cause of the low voltage readout was pinpointed. ("If it doesn't work on the ground, it doesn't get any better in the air.")

Lucky for us, Bartow County Airport is located only about 70 miles from Collegedale. Why is that lucky? Because it has an extremely active ultralight group with a diverse group of pilots ranging from "newbies" to some who've been flying over 50 years. In this group are a few electric "gurus" with decades of experience. It's to these people I turned to locate the cause of the low voltage reading, and they undertook the challenge with gusto.

On a regular PPC finding the problem would've been fairly easy. Voyager, with its myriad of instrumentation and other extras, isn't a regular PPC. One of the guys looked at the wiring and declared it's more complex than a Cessna he'd recently worked on.

I'm happy to report that the field has been narrowed, and with a little luck I'll be back in Collegedale and in the air in two or three days. I intend to finish this trip safely.

The voltage glitch has nothing to do with the drainage ditch tour. Pure coincidence. Stuff happens!

So... I ask for a little patience. (Think of how frustrated I feel! So close to the finish....) I'll soon be winging safely through the air again. I can almost smell the sea air....