A Trip with Flight Design CTLS

Flight Design Panel

The panel in Philip's Flight Design CTLS is intimidating. There is information about engine performance, weather, temporary flight restrictions (TFRs), airports, routes, airplane attitude and direction, speed... a lot of stuff to digest and stay on top of.

The yellow label centered at the top admonishes, "Read manuals before flight." Notice the plural "manuals." It's a rule that reminds me of a jocular warning label in some old Piper Cubs: "Do not exceed mach 1.5 in inverted flight."

How did we get into such a complicated airplane? It begins with a flight with our Zenith 601 HDS, N314LB, from Dallas to Deming, NM, under adverse wind conditions. The best choice is staying low, indeed very low, for the entire route. 

Over the desert of West Texas, this means flying 500 ft AGL. There are no towers or other obstructions, and flying so low is safe, indeed exhilarating. US 62 going west from the Guadalupe Mountains across the Salt Flats toward El Paso seems like a road from here to infinity.

US 62 going west across Salt Flats near Guadalupe Mountains

Our friend Philip picks us up in Deming and takes us home to nearby Mimbres, NM. His wife Lynn welcomes us with her special chocolate-chip walnut oatmeal cookies. This is the start of a wonderful three-day visit.

The next day, the three of us hike the Dragonfly Trail, named after an impressive dragonfly that is featured in one of several petroglyphs. 

Fall has started, and juniper berries are beginning to turn blue.

Juniper berries in fall

A dead juniper stretches its branches into the grey sky.

Dead juniper tree of Dragonfly Trail

Along the trail, each marker shows a small picture of the dragonfly. But when we come to the destination, a large rock formation, there is no hint where the petroglyphs are, and we never see them. But there is a poster admonishing that nothing should be defaced or disturbed. It's like showing a child a present, saying, "Isn't this a beautiful present!?" And then adding, "But you cannot have it."

Nevertheless, the hike is great. We take in the fresh air, the aromas of flowers and trees, and the vistas of distant mountains.

The next day, Philip takes us in his Flight Design CTLS from Deming to Socorro, NM, for the fifth annual M Mountain Fly-in. M Mountain, officially named Socorro Peak, gained its nickname from the large white letter M at the top. Opinions differ as to what the M stands for, but most likely it's short for "mines," since the local university was originally named the New Mexico School of Mines before it changed to the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.

The day starts with a thorough preflight of the plane.

Philip preflights the Flight Design CTLS

From the hangar, we taxi to nearby Runway 02. After a short takeoff run, we are in the air, climb steadily at 800 fpm, and head toward Socorro. We wear Bose headsets. The engine produces no vibration and sounds like a quiet sewing machine. 

We are reminded of a talk with Philip a number of years ago. At the time, he said, "I cannot get used to the sound of the Rotax engine." We had some advice for that problem. "First, go to Home Depot and buy an 1/3 hp electric motor. Every day when you get home from work, go into the garage. Let the motor run for 20 min and listen to it. This will accustom you to the sound of the Rotax engine." We could have added, "If you want to get accustomed to the vibration produced by the engine, put your hand on the electric motor while it is running."

One and one half hours later, we approach Socorro. A number of planes are near the airport or in the pattern. It's time for see-and-avoid. Philip makes the smooth landing look easy. Actually, the plane requires careful power management until the wheels touch down. This is not a plane for student pilots, and it requires transition training even for experienced pilots.

The star of the fly-in is the B17 Flying Fortress "Sentimental Journey" restored and operated by the Commemorative Air Force.

B17 Flying Fortress "Sentimental Journey"

Another big attraction is a HH60 G Pave Hawk helicopter, whose core mission is recovery of personnel under stressful conditions, including search and rescue. The "stressful condition" part is accounted for by large caliber machine guns on both sides and various rocket pods.

HH60 G Pave Hawk

The polite and knowledgeable airmen patiently explain the multiple functions of the helicopter. The helicopter has a very long range when extra fuel tanks are used. It can even be refueled in the air, using the forward-pointing tube visible in the lower right corner of the photo.

The B17 takes off with several passengers, makes a low pass over the runway, tours the area for a while, then lands again. The parking area at the FBO is not designed for such a large plane. The plane tries to turn and proceed between the HH60 G helicopter and the FBO building. As the copilot watches with concern, the right wing comes dangerously close to the roof of the building.

B17 wedged between HH60 G helicopter and FBO building

Wisely, the pilot decides to shut down the engines, let the passengers off, and have the plane towed backward to the parking spot.

The builder of a Zenith 701 proudly displays the partially finished plane. His name is Jerry.

Jerry and his partially completed Zenith 701

His plane shows excellent workmanship, and he has followed the plans very carefully. Since the nose gear and rudder controls of the Zenith 701 are the same as for our Zenith 601 HDS, we point out that these parts can be improved, as described in Design Improvements for the Zenith 601 HDS.

On the flight back to Deming, we forget initially to turn on the Bose headset, thus using only the rather modest passive noise reduction. Even with that, there is not much noise, proving that the Flight Design CTLS is a very quiet plane indeed. That flight, and the return home the next day, are uneventful, except that on the return trip we run into low ceilings and rain near Dallas.

As always, we have learned several things: That friendship is one of the most important things in life; that joining a not-so-large fly-in can be a terrific experience; and that we have to get weather radar data into the cockpit of our Zenith 601 HDS.