Day 6, Buzzin the Rockies

Today I got to go flying with my friends uncle over the Rockies! Our aircraft for the day is a Long-EZ, a plane dreamed up by Burt Rutan with a very unconventional design. Because we would be flying over 10,000 ft. it is required by law that we have supplemental oxygen (a first for me!) which consists of a tube you put into your nose hooked up to a regulator. Also the aircraft is controlled by a side stick, as apposed to the yoke I use in the Warrior and 172.

The Long-EZ

Not your daddy's 172

Another interesting feature is that because the engine is in the back, the plane is very back heavy. This means that unless a pilot is in the cockpit, the plane will flip backwards when the nose gear is down. To prevent this, whenever the pilot is not in the aircraft, the nose gear is raised and the aircraft sits on its nose.

Whatever that is supposed to mean...

 One more thing to mention is that this is considered a home build, experimental plane, meaning that it does not have as strict requirements for things such as maintenance.

Big wingtip/rudder

After the engine was started by a hand crank, we taxied out to the runway.

The canard out front as we taxi

Once everything was warmed up we lined up with the runway and headed towards the sky!

Rotate!

In the air we climbed parallel to the mountains until we were high enough to clear them.

Mountains on one side

Flat lands on the other

At this point he let me take the controls a little. It was very light and responsive to control. You more thought about what you wanted the plane to do than actually input control commands!

View from the back seat

My O2 regulator and control stick

At 14,000 ft. we turned left and headed straight for the mountains!

 

Over the mountains, my friend's uncle demonstrated some of the cool things you can do in a canard plane. It is almost impossible to stall, the second you let go of the stick, the plane more or less flies itself! This also means that it is near impossible to spin. He tried several times to get into a spin, and each time he let go of the stick the plane would level itself out!

The ski lodge we buzzed

Soon the sun was starting to set, and we had to be home for diner, so we headed back to the airport

Heading back

Coming back to flat land

Entering the pattern for runway 11

We landed and taxied back to the hanger (here is the video). I had an amazing experience and now want to do some more high altitude flying myself! The pictures don't do justice to how epic the views are from the airplane, if you are in the Denver area and have a plane capable of getting up there go check it out!!!