Utah to Boulder

Crossing Colorado at 13,500, man it was cold outside! I was comfortable with a little heat on in my shirtsleeves.

Flew right over the top of Mount Powell to take a close look. Took this shot so I could remember where it was.

Paul goes for a soaring flight over Boulder.

Jeff Babovec loved the flight around the peaks and rocks with the engine off. (I did too.)

Yosemite

Hollister California

On arrival in Hollister I found a guy trying to fly his truck. If you use enough horsepower you don't need wings!

Hugh Bikle has his own museum complete with early 1900 era planes and this nice P-51.

Paul Bikle took this very 1-23 glider to 46,000' in 1961! A few glider pilots have gone higher, but this altitude gain record of 42,000' still stands.

Hugh is the latest Phoenix buyer and we welcome him to the group!

Petaluma California

Stayed 2 nights with Uncle Don and Aunt Anne Carey. While there we took a hike in the mountains behind their house, and the colors were magnificent.

Don is a retired airline pilot, partly responsible for me wanting to be a pilot "when I grow up". He built this beautiful Glasair 2.

Wayne Cook surveys the Pacific while on a check out flight in the Phoenix. Wayne was in charge of weighing the aircraft during the GFC.

There was an airshow TFR around San Fran and the Golden Gate, so this was a close as we could get on the way to Hollister.

Moffett Field and Ames Research Center

Tim and I flew with the E Genius and Tauras G4 to Moffett Field for the public display and flight displays. We were honored to be allowed to land at this historic airfield. Here we are taxiing past the famous Hangar One.

Tim looks pretty sharp, using one of his best Phoenix poses. We have a couple of new decals on the plane, too.

The turnout was better than I expected, with folks from around the area showing up to check out the GFC planes.

Klaus Ohlman looks on as Eric, Dave, and Tim describe our formation approach to Moffett.

Next up are flights with customers in Petaluma, Hollister, Turlock, Denver, Kansas, maybe Iowa if I can stand being gone from home that long. But please drop me a line if you would like me to terrorize your hometown with the Phoenix!

NASA CAFE GFC Final Results

Jim Lee flying the Phoenix in tight formation with Klaus Olhman and Eric Raymond in the E Genius on the cross country flight from Santa Rosa to Moffett Field. Photo by Timothy Ettridge

Hello again, race fans,

The electric world has been stood on it's ear by the Taurus G4 and Eric Raymond's E Genius. Both finished the race by far exceeding the 100mph, 100mpg, and 200mile course with ease. I don't have final numbers, but the Taurus G4 won by a slim margin over the E Genius, taking home the big prize.

The Phoenix performed admirably, placing third, but was not able to do 100mpg (no gas burner can). We had a great time, and hope that the CAFE foundation gets the final stats up soon so we can see exactly what happened.

Post Race flights in Santa Rosa

Phoenix flies with E Genius electric plane and photo plane.

Tim Ettridge, the latest Phoenix buyer, enjoys an evening of ridge soaring next to Geyser Peak above a cloud layer

The Phoenix continues to take us places and offer views not yet dreamed off. Can you tell this is a ridge soaring flight?

Lisa Tate is a longtime friend and soaring pilot, enjoying her first flight in the Phoenix.