Web Log for N600LW:

• August 3, 2004: Dad and I travel to New Richmond, Wisconsin to take a look at an airplane. I take my first flight in N600LW (pic and pic), then Dad and I purchase the airplane from Matt Standing. Unfortunately, a minor airworthiness item discovered after the first flight grounds the airplane for now :(
• August 4, 2004: N600LW is packed into the trailer in New Richmond, WI. However, there was a case of ground handling damage (I spun the prop into the wing skin while trying to wiggle the fuselage into the trailer, between the wings) which will require even more repair before N600LW can fly again. After puncturing the tedlar on the wing, I had to call a break for about half an hour to regain my composure before going back to work.
• August 11th(ish), 2004: N600LW arrives in Anchorage, AK. It is stored in the trailer in front of Mom and Dad's house, until we can arrange a tie down at the airport.
• August 8th, 2005: I fly down to Denver to join my brother-in-law as he flies N6387V, a Cessna 172RG that he just bought, back to Anchorage (pics here and here). After a year's hiatus (too many responsibilities...sigh), this whets my appetite to fly again. I decide it's time to get N600LW airworthy again.
• August 16, 2005: Applied new leading edge tape to the left wing of N600LW. Still need to patch the hole in the wing skin, though...
• April 27th, 2006: My dad died while in Hawaii. Plans to fly the plane are put on hold, since I now have many more important things to do this summer. While it won't happen this year, I'm determined to get the airplane flying in his memory. The trip to buy the airplane was the last trip the two of us took together, and I'm more grateful than ever for the time we spent driving to Wisconsin and back.
• April 2007: Once again, I'm determined to get N600LW in the air, and once again life gets in the way. I spend early spring helping my wife open her preschool, working almost every day from the day after Christmas to early March at the school setting up equipment, painting walls, hanging decorations, etc. By April, things have slowed down, but my car has a bunch of mechanical problems. One month and $4000 later, I realize that, once again, I have to put off getting N600LW airworthy. I'm getting really frustrated at how long N600LW has been grounded. I need to get this thing flying, and soon!
• April 20, 2008: Another year has gone by without flying this airplane. This past year will be the last year that N600LW sits in a trailer. In an effort to get N600LW back in the air, I start tackling the last remaining items on the airplane's squawk list: I mounted an ELT remote shutoff switch in the cockpit, ran a cable from the remote shutoff switch to the ELT, and started to look for a mechanic to perform an annual/condition inspection.
• April 21, 2008: Woohoo! Things might be looking up a bit for the Falcon! I've got a biennial flight review scheduled for next Saturday, and I have a line on a mechanic who might be willing to take a look at the airplane.
• April 28, 2008: An unexpected two feet of snow this weekend cancelled my biennial flight review :( but I've got it rescheduled. I'm going to sign up for a tie down at Merrill this week, and see if I can get the mechanics to do the annual some time in the next two weeks.
• May 2, 2008: Things are slowly starting to fall into place. I finished my biennial flight review in an old friend, N94790, a Cessna 152 I used to fly at the Elmendorf Aero Club when I was learning to fly back in '91. 790's new owner obviously takes very good care of his airplane, because the airplane looks much better than I remember :) Now if I can just get the annual/condition inspection done on my airplane...
• May 13, 2008: Yet another step towards getting N600LW in the air this year -- I've got a tie down at Merrill! What's really cool is that the tie down is just around the corner from another old friend from the Elmendorf Aero Club, N64456, a Cessna 172 I used to fly quite a bit. Next step: getting N600LW out of the trailer and reassembled :D
• May 15, 2008: N600LW is out of the trailer and assembled at Merrill Field. Unfortunately, the battery is dead, so I couldn't start the engine :( Still, progress...I might actually get to fly this thing this year! <crosses fingers>
• May 23, 2008: Replaced the battery. For the first time since my prepurchase flight in 2004, N600LW moved under its own power (I taxied it to the mechanics for an annual/condition inspection)!
• Jun 4, 2008: Annual/condition inspection is almost done...just have to swing the compass tomorrow a.m. and pay the mechanics :D
• Jun 7, 2008: IT FLIES!!!
  I met my wife, my brother-in-law and my...umm...grand-niece?...at Merrill Field this morning (they wanted to watch the "maiden" flight). I did one approach with a go-around because I was waaaaay high on final, one touch-and-go, then departed to the east. Next was another landing at Birchwood (PABV) to check the airplane -- hey, it's been disassembled since 2004; I wanted to make sure nothing shook loose in flight -- then across Knik Arm to the practice area for some maneuvers. After poking around between Big Lake and Willow for a little while, I returned to Merrill via the same route. Total Time en route: 2.1 hours. Total fuel burn: 6, maybe 7 gallons.
  
  This one's for you, Dad!
  
  Plug: Thanks more than I can ever express to the great guys at CPA Air in Anchorage. If it wasn't for you guys, I'd still be on the ground wishing I was flying. If you are ever in Anchorage and need a mechanic, I highly recommend them.
• Jul 4, 2008: First passenger in N600LW. Since my dad wasn't here to watch the first flight or go fly with me, my mom became my first passenger. We did a real short flight over Anchorage, then returned to Merrill for a landing. She's still a creature of the analog world, so once I scan the pictures she took (35mm), I'll post them here :)
• Jul 12, 2008: Took N600LW for a short jaunt down Turnagain Arm to Girdwood (AQY). 1.5 on the Hobbes meter, and about 6 gallons of gas. Got passed by a Robinson R-44 on the way back (I'm so ashamed, lol). N600LW is not exactly a speed demon.
• August, 2008: I've been flying N600LW all over the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, including to airports like Big Lake (BGQ), Wasilla (AQY), Birchwood (BCV) and Goose Bay (Z40). I've logged almost 15 hours of flight time in N600LW since June, which is a big deal because I've also been working a second job as a flight instructor at Land & Sea Aviation at Merrill Field (where I've logged another fifty-something hours instcutor time since June).
• Aug 31, 2008: First cross country in N600LW. Took N600LW to Talkeetna (TKA), 65 N.M. north of Anchorage. This is a 2 hour round trip in a Cessna, but a 2.9 hour round trip in a Falcon XP :/ It was a beautiful day to fly though, and I had a lot of fun flying low and slow over the Susitna River. Total fuel burn was 12 gallons.
  
  Note to self: close your flight plan upon return to Anchorage...