Wow! Day Before The Mission

Getting close to take off time (tomorrow!) for The Abbey Animal final Fixit Project.  The excitement around the clinic is palpable.  I have tried to get the SPOT Link out to everyone but incase you missed it… (http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0WYY7FaP4VK6mTUPjm7ndYOHQ4tzpP3ek)… here you go.  This link should take you to a map (we will activate this tomorrow) that will show you where we are as we travel down the Island chain.  The way this works is that I set off the Locator and it contacts a satellite and sends a location that is placed on a map… magic! 

We are putting the final touches on our supply lists and have gathered almost everything up.  The most important thing is going to the Bank to get some travel money.  Many of the articles I researched mentioned the need to bring some cash for fuel as some of the airports do not take credit cards… Yikes!  I of course do not like to carry cash most of the time so I will have to be careful with this. 

The other very important thing to do when preparing to fly is check a weight and balance.  This calculation tells the pilot weather the plane is in the performance envelope… in other words, will it fly.  You can imagine how important this is (duh!), so I have been through the calculations several times.  It turns out that I will need to load the aft end more then I thought.  I have always been under the impression that loading over the wings or at least close to them was the ideal way… good thing that I am doing the calculations as it turns out that its good to load more evenly.  This is especially true when the two pilots clock in at around 475 pounds combined (truly American Pilots!), and 30 pounds of tools in the forward baggage compartment.  This tends to push the center of gravity forward so a little more weight in the aft compartment will balance this trend nicely.  Of course all of this is subject to change as we burn off fuel… we will land lighter then we take off.

I have asked for Alli to write something from a young persons perspective.  This should be showing up here on the blog… I look forward to reading it.  I think its important to encourage our youth to go out in the world and have adventures… it beats sitting in front of the TV or playing video games!  Not that there is any problem with an occasional game… just not to rule your life!

    Ok its off to check the weather one more time... another cup of coffee and finish out the work day!  Bye for now and thanks for your support!  Robin