click
on the image above to hear Steve's last famous words
(well, slightly behind his words of OOOOOOOOOOH
SH**T (warning, this vid is a wee bit large
(1.2Mb) so expect it to take a century or three
to download))...!... though must say we did
receive a rather curious E from someone <proclaiming>
to be Steve who had this to say about his flight:
So the four of us, having just finished a gentle
cruise around the countryside of South South Carolina,
are standing around oogling Lees primo RV-4. As
we are rapidly approaching the hour when macho motorcyclists
become dedicated fathers and husbands, Lee casually
offers a "ride o-round the pattern" to
each of us. Jim and John look at their watches and
conclude that there just isn't enough time to get
their pants scared off and make the soccer game
on time. After sheepishly looking at the ground
for a minute or two, I finally declared "I
know the way home, and I don't have to be anywhere."
Fast forward about ten minutes. I am now strapped
into the back of Lee's bird of prey. While Jim and
John sarcastically wish me "good luck"
and Lee gives me a very compacted safety briefing
(don't touch the stick), I notice the words neatly
stenciled next to me which read "EXPERIMENTAL."
To add to the emotion, right in front of me is a
data plate attached to the rear of the pilots seat
which goes into significantly more detail about
just how "experimental" this experimental
plane is. The gist of it essentially says, "if
this is the last thing you read, we warned you".
Lee hops in, straps up, fires engine, lowers canopy
and off we taxi to the end of the runway for a quick
runup and final check of instruments and controls.
Canopy locked into closed position, quick check
for landing traffic and we are off. After a couple
of seconds, the rear wheel is in the air and shortly
thereafter the rest of the yellow rocket follows.
Just a few feet off the runway, Lee gains airspeed
and I give one last thumbs up to the guys as we
roar by. At the end of the runway, trees in sight,
the RV-4 leaps into the air as we climb to a very
estimated 500 to 1000 ft or so.
The view is astounding! With the bubble canopy,
you can see everything. Just like in a fighter.
As Lee maneuvers into an easy left bank and we fly
the pattern back to the base of the runway. Expecting
to just fly one round of the pattern, it looks like
we are preparing for a landing. Everything seems
normal in my limited flying experience except that
we are lined up to the left of the runway and we
are landing at about 20mph faster than my BMW goes.
It is only after we level off at about 2 1/2 inches
above the ground that I realize that "GhostRider"
is buzzing the tower, or in this case, Jim and John.
Boy were we going to get it when we landed.
Well, after we buzzed the guys, things got a little
more "focused." Lee pulled back on the
magic stick and we took off like the coyote when
the Road Runner foiled his villainous plans. Quickly
following the coyote-road runner maneuver was a
strong lefter that had me looking straight down
at the ground on my shoulder while we pulled at
least 10 G's. After a quick check from Lee to see
if I was still wearing dry underwear, we leveled
out and returned to the airfield.
I have to tell you, that was the most fun of the
day. It's like 3D motorcycling. If you get invited
to take a ride round the pattern, jump in. Just
don't pay any attention to the reading material
in the cockpit.
<Steve Foote>.
we
were looking for other words to come from Lee telling
tale of how he managed to toss poor Steve from the
2nd seat in mid flight, then landing said craft,
and riding both scoots homeward...alas,
all we got from Lee was the following:
Steve and I had a great little ride, short but
sweet! I was chasing the trim all over the place
during takeoff since I had not had anyone in the
back seat for the last 10-12 flights in the aircraft.
Didn't get it trimmed right in pitch until on downwind!
Fun little pass down the runway after that, though!!
Saw you guys over on the road and John right by
the south side of the runway, so I couldn't resist
buzzing by him.
right said Fred...rather fitting end to another
packed ESSCAPEd day that had us
all in a bit of flight (or fright), one way or another...
