rick1128 Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 (edited) Earlier this week, I flew my Enstrom from 7N7 (Spitfire Aerodrome) just east of Wilmington, DE to FPR (Fort Pierce). Due to the headwinds, it took a little longer than I had planned, but as usual that the way things usually go. My first fuel stop was at MFV (Accomack Co). I stop earlier than planned was my next leg was a 12 nm run over the Chesapeake Bay. The folks there were quite helpful. After a quick refuel and download, I was off to my original planned stop of FYL (Mid Peninsula Rgnl). Another quick refuel and I was off again. If you look at the charts, you will see that my routing was not very straight. Part of my planning considerations were airspace restrictions and fuel prices. I used Airnav.com for research fuel prices. In fact every airport I stopped at, I used the self serve pumps. At most of the smaller airports it was the only choice available. But it is available 24/7 with no call out fees. Set off for AFP (Anson Co), but a little over an hour out, the weather starting going down rapidly. Punched the 'nearest airport' button and was off to RZZ (Roanoke Rapids, SC). However, no answer on the unicom and on approach I saw yellow "X's" on the runway. This is not good. Not a person or aircraft around. On the front of the old terminal building I saw a sign saying fuel at IXA airport 8nm away and a phone number. When I tried to punch in the airport ID my GPS wouldn't recognize it. An dbefore you ask, yes I updated my GPS prior to leaving. So I called the number and the airport manager gave me a distance and heading and off I went. When I got there, I talked with the manager, Ralph Johnson. A very nice Southern Gentleman. It turns out that RZZ had been closed about 2 weeks before and operations had transferred to IXA (Halifax Co). But when I got the notams prior to my departure, it was not listed. Since it looked like the weather wasn't going to improve before sunset, Ralph let me use the airport car and gave me directions to a couple of decent hotels. So after refueling the beast, I was off to get dinner and some sleep. The next morning the weather had cleared up nicely and I took off just as the sun was raising in the east. Finally made Anson Co by mid morning. Another quick refuel and download and I was off again. At JYL (Plantation, GA) I had a nice surprise, the self serve price was lower than what was listed on Airnav.com. As part of my planning, I planned to stay out of any restricted or controlled areas. Not so much as I am afraid of using that airspace, but more of if I planned on using that airspace, I would get denied access. So I planned around that and when I was cleared in I counted it as a short cut. The folks at Navy Jax anf Navy Cecil, were quite nice and helpful. Thanks guys. My next planned stop was OMN (Ormand Beach, FL), however, while I had enough fuel to make it after over 2.5 hours, it was time to get out of the helicopter and do a download. So I stopped at 28J (Palatka, FL) refueled, etc. Then went off to OMN. This was a short leg, just under an hour. I stopped at Tomlinson Aviation for a few minutes and off I went. After departure, OMN tower passed me off to Daytona Beach approach and they put me over the beach headed south. Finally got into FPR about an hour after sunset. Put the machine to bed and called it a night. Over all it was an enjoyable trip. Total flight time just over 14 hours and averaged right around 12gal/hr. My fuel prices ran from a high of $4.30 to a low of $3.327/gal for 100LL. Not too bad. http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160025.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160029.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160030.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160034.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160037.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160039.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160049.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160059.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160063.jpgOne of the many helicopter traps out there. The Garmin GPS396 and 496 really help in this. http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160072.jpg A North Florida power plant. http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160077.jpgAnother helicopter trap. Wires. http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160078.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...08_12160079.jpg Edited December 5, 2009 by rick1128 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helicopterdan Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 "On the front of the old terminal building I saw a sign saying fuel at IXA airport 8nm away and a phone number" ---That's what I love about helicopters, we can swoop down to take a closer look at signs to help find our way. About the closed airport, that can be a real drag. On a flight from Temecula, CA up to Harris Ranch CA, northwest of Bakersfield, I had picked out an airport in the middle of nowhere to refuel, that was a stright line from my departure to my destination. As I approached that airport and dialed in its frequency, I heard that some skydiving was going on. I told them I was on my way in, "landing at the fuel tanks." Quickly the FBO informed me that the fuel tanks were under construction. I then had to navigate out of my way, and worry about fuel, to Bakersfield. Not to mention how unprofessional it looked to my two elderly passengers... Since then, whenever on an extended flight in rural areas, especially at an airport I've never been to before, I always call ahead before I take off to verify that fuel will be available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helicopterdan Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 By the way, are you flying a C model? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick1128 Posted December 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 By the way, are you flying a C model? Yes, Dan I am flying a C model. My fuel burn is much better than the RFM states. 1400 degrees on the EGT and runs smooth. As for the fuel situation. Airnav.com showed fuel at RZZ and none at IXA. Besides I wasn't planning on stopping there. The rapid change in the forced that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamin of a Commuter 2B Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Great Photos, I always have loved the Enstroms, to bad I lost my life savings trying to buy one and got conned, long story short, guy conned me,then died and no helicopter. but I did get to ride in a nice F28F at Mentone a few years ago. what a sweet ride that was. I bet you saw a lot of great sites on your trip. what was your cruise speed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 what was your cruise speed? Looked like it was around 95 knots if you look at one of the photos.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick1128 Posted December 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Looked like it was around 95 knots if you look at one of the photos.. Goldy, I was indicating between 95 and 105 MPH the whole trip. The older Enstroms are in MPH. However, my ground speed varied from 55 to 98 kts. Dreamin, Saw a lot of nice land. Flew near a couple of prisons. Bet the inmates wished I would land there. Plus a lot of helicopter traps. Towers, wires and the like. Daytona Beach approach had me fly down the beach. Not too many people on the beach that day. It was the first long trip I have made in this machine and was quite pleased with its reliability and economy. Have not flown and F model, but the extra power with little or no weight increase would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamin of a Commuter 2B Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Dreamin, Saw a lot of nice land. Flew near a couple of prisons. Bet the inmates wished I would land there. Plus a lot of helicopter traps. Towers, wires and the like. Daytona Beach approach had me fly down the beach. Not too many people on the beach that day. It was the first long trip I have made in this machine and was quite pleased with its reliability and economy. Have not flown and F model, but the extra power with little or no weight increase would be nice. yeah there seems to be more and more towers going up every day. there are a few near me that are 2,000 feet tall. I saw in one pic you had some rain at the airport, did you run into much rain? that is one thing I do love about a helicopter,if the weather gets to bad, we can just land. btw can you post a pic of your bird? would love to see a few pics of it, to me the Enstroms are the prettest piston helicopters ever built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick1128 Posted December 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 (edited) yeah there seems to be more and more towers going up every day. there are a few near me that are 2,000 feet tall. I saw in one pic you had some rain at the airport, did you run into much rain? that is one thing I do love about a helicopter,if the weather gets to bad, we can just land. btw can you post a pic of your bird? would love to see a few pics of it, to me the Enstroms are the prettest piston helicopters ever built. Dreamin, Here you go. As for the rain, I ran into mostly drizzle until after I landed at Halifax Co. Then the sky just opened up with heavy rain and thunderstorms. It blew through that night and the next morning I was off before the sun came up. http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...07_07060010.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...07_07060008.jpg Edited December 6, 2009 by rick1128 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...07_07060010.jpg http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m89/ric...07_07060008.jpg OK, I'm going to make a left turn on this post, but I've always wondered. What is so different about the Enstrom that there is no vertical fin on the tail at all? The tail just sorta ends with a rotor on the back, (like a B47) which is one reason why it has so much tail authority...nothing in its way. Why do many other ships need some vertical stabilization and the Enstrom/early Bell design ignores it? Goldy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 look at the size of the tailboom in general . . its almost a vertical fin itself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick1128 Posted December 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 OK, I'm going to make a left turn on this post, but I've always wondered. What is so different about the Enstrom that there is no vertical fin on the tail at all? The tail just sorta ends with a rotor on the back, (like a B47) which is one reason why it has so much tail authority...nothing in its way. Why do many other ships need some vertical stabilization and the Enstrom/early Bell design ignores it? Goldy Goldy, I am not sure, but I believe it is for controlability during autorotation. The early BH47's had the tubing covered with fabric. It was removed later to reduce side area. I see many 47's with a very small fin under the tail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamin of a Commuter 2B Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Rick that is a sweet looking helicopter, what year is it? the one I got conned on was a 1979 F-28A converted to a C model. To bad, when all was said and done and the family finely found what was left, it was not enough to even go bring home. lesson learned, never buy anything sight unseen. it was in Cali and I am on the east coast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick1128 Posted December 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 Rick that is a sweet looking helicopter, what year is it? the one I got conned on was a 1979 F-28A converted to a C model. To bad, when all was said and done and the family finely found what was left, it was not enough to even go bring home. lesson learned, never buy anything sight unseen. it was in Cali and I am on the east coast. Dreamin, It is a 1976 model. There are a few 28A/C's floating around. It was a SB by Enstrom to make the 28, 28A or 280 into a C model. Enstrom pulled the SB after problems with a couple of field mods. Always look at the machine and if at all possible get a prebuy inspection. I had a couple of issues with mine after the sale, but the folks I dealt with made them right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamin of a Commuter 2B Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 (edited) Dreamin, It is a 1976 model. There are a few 28A/C's floating around. It was a SB by Enstrom to make the 28, 28A or 280 into a C model. Enstrom pulled the SB after problems with a couple of field mods. Always look at the machine and if at all possible get a prebuy inspection. I had a couple of issues with mine after the sale, but the folks I dealt with made them right. yeah the guy I was buying mine from was supposed to rebuild it for me and let me make payments as we worked it, I was going to have my business partner doing the flying as he is already a helicopter CFII. long story short, this guy Rob Duda of Pomona Cali. was a con, and a good one. he would call me every 3 days with progress reports and e-mail me photos.turns out the photos where from machines he had rebuilt in the past. when he died, for all intent we thought we had a helicopter that just needed the blades tracked. what was found was the nose part of the cab stripped laying in the mud behind his dad's barn. I had talked to others that Rob had build helicopters for and they said well he is slow, but he will get it to you. too bad that did not happen. got a lawyer to sue the estate and the lawyer even ripped me off. Oh well water under the bridge now, now I will just be happy to get legal to fly my homebuilt copter. Anyway, buyer beware. I learned that hard way that you can not trust people anymore like you use to be able to. Edited December 7, 2009 by Dreamin of a Commuter 2B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helicopterdan Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 Rick that is a sweet looking helicopter, what year is it? the one I got conned on was a 1979 F-28A converted to a C model. To bad, when all was said and done and the family finely found what was left, it was not enough to even go bring home. lesson learned, never buy anything sight unseen. it was in Cali and I am on the east coast. The company I fly for bought a '97 Enstrom F28 Falcon with only 300TT. It was in a magazine, looked beautiful! After flying it for 80 hours, we took it in for the 100 hour. The mechanic called me shortly after I left and informed me that when he took the seat off he saw substantial damage to the seat structure, and support structure. The FAA grounded the helicopter, and determined that the company that sold it to us had crashed it, and "repaired" it in an un-airworthy manner. They said if anyone had a hard landing in it they would have fallen right through the seat structure and onto the ground. That was in 2005, after thousands of dollars of lawyers fees, hours and hours of depositions, they finally agreed to settle the day of the court case, just 4 months ago. Lesson to learn-- always do a pre-buy inspection with a mechanic that knows that type of aircraft backwards and forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flylow Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Rick1128, Nice pictures and good flight. I flew the same model from PA to TX a couple of years ago, and am scheduled to ferry a 280C from San Diego to Myrtle Beach then to PA in a couple of months. Really like the Enstroms. Decent cruise and fuel burn, very roomy for 2 on a XC flight. Nice baggage area. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick1128 Posted December 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Ron, I was going to say, if you're in the area let me know and we can visit. Have fun with your trip. Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flylow Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Ron, I was going to say, if you're in the area let me know and we can visit. Have fun with your trip. Richard Sounds good. We're planning on late Jan/early Feb for the long trip, if we get a good week forecast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted December 10, 2009 Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 Sounds good. We're planning on late Jan/early Feb for the long trip, if we get a good week forecast. If you need some weight in the other seat, I'd be happy to fly along from San Diego East for a few days. I've always wanted some Enstrom time in the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flylow Posted December 10, 2009 Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 If you need some weight in the other seat, I'd be happy to fly along from San Diego East for a few days. I've always wanted some Enstrom time in the book. I bet. I have several of those offers. The owner will be in the other seat. I'm his CFI. If I was flying solo I'd take someone up on it for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted December 10, 2009 Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 I bet. I have several of those offers. The owner will be in the other seat. I'm his CFI. If I was flying solo I'd take someone up on it for sure. Heck, he's just the owner! What does he know! Guess I'm gonna have to go buy one to get some Enstrom time... Have a safe trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Lyman Posted December 14, 2009 Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 Ha! At first glance when I read the title of the post I thought maybe my copilot had written it. I just did a trip from Lakehurst, NJ to Jacksonville, FL in a Blackhawk on 7-9 December! After a trip north through the Hudson corridor, we stopped at Dover AFB, NS Norfolk, North Myrtle Beach, Savannah and finally Cecil Field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeloJunkie Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 If you need some weight in the other seat, I'd be happy to fly along from San Diego East for a few days. I've always wanted some Enstrom time in the book. Are you in San Diego now Goldy...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 Are you in San Diego now Goldy...? No, but that reminded me. I will be in San Diego for business starting on Jan 11th and all that week, into the following weekend. I wont be flying down, but maybe we could get together finally ! Hope all is well down there. Have a great holiday. Goldy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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