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Cruising the Oregon Skies at 11000 feet
photo by John Walther
Pilots: click here for an ATIS you NEVER want to hear...
About our airplane: N540GL is a Glasair III, built from a kit by Glenn Lawler of Auburn, Alabama (later Southern Kitcraft). N540GL was his personal airplane and we purchased it from him in November, 1996 with 330 hours on the airframe (it now has almost 800 hours on it).
The aircraft is powered by a Lycoming IO-540 engine rated at 300hp and has a typical cruise speed of 255mph and solo climb rate of 2500fpm. The power-to-weight ratio is just less than that of the classic P-51 Mustang, which makes for a very exhilarating ride. Range is 3.5 hours without reserves and the gross weight is 2400 pounds (1700 pounds empty). The airplane is equipped for instrument flight and currently has two GPS units, one VOR/ILS and one ADF for navigation. Landing speed "over the fence" is just over 100mph and touchdown is at 90mph.
The Glasair III has two seats, side-by-side, and our airplane is configured with an extra seatbelt and shoulder harness which legally (but not comfortably!) allows us to seat three in the airplane.
We've traveled as far east as Oshkosh, Wisconsin (7 hours) in the airplane and have made many trips to Las Vegas (2.75 hours) and Phoenix (4.0 hours) in it from our home base in Bend, Oregon.
About our pilot: Evan holds a Commercial License and is rated for Single- and Multi-engine instrument flight in land (wheeled as opposed to floats, etc.) airplanes.