Mission
STOL CH 801
- Venezuela -
Art Mitchell sent the following short article upon his return from
Venezuela:
It's good to be home! My trip to Venezuela to finish the CH 801, LOM
installation went very well. I spent four weeks with Michael and Keila Dawson in Puerto Ayacucho finishing a project that was started in my hangar
about two years ago.
 |
| Art
Mitchell and the Dawson family...
|
|
| Uncrating
the LOM engine
|
The temperatures were in the mid to high 90s for the
first two weeks and dropped way down to the mid 80s by the time we left.
Dan Johnson, who has been a great help with funding and also wrenching went with
me and James Wiebe, who flies my CH 801 and Air Canada's 767s came down the last
week.
There was a lot of interest in the plane by many of the pilots and aircraft
mechanics as well as the government inspectors. We were treated very well
by everyone. It is clear that many of these will be flying down there in
the next little while.
The combination of the CH 801 and the LOM engine is such a great match for that
environment. We originally had another engine partially installed on the
airframe when it left Canada. To start with we had to replace the nose
landing gear since the LOM requires special support. Zenair has also
greatly improved the windows and windshield since we put that unit together so
we changed all that. What a difference!
The Moravia LOM installation went on beautifully. This is only the second
801/LOM installation so there were little things to fiddle with but the results
were worth it. Right now Moravia is busy installing engines on two others
801s and several builders are getting close to doing the same.
The last day on the project I was able to do all the high speed taxi testing.
While I can't say the plane was officially flying, I also would not be able to
say that it was always on the ground either. Let's just say that all the
controls worked very well and the plane requires no adjustment to trim.
The plane is just waiting the last bit of paperwork and some final adjustments.
With Christmas just around the corner these things will likely not get done
right away. I am hoping to be able to go back early in the new year and
finish the flight testing and training of pilots. There is a line-up of
pilots wanting to get checked out in it.
 |
 |
I want to give a huge "thank you" to the people of Wayumi Air Taxi
Company who's hangar became our hangar. Their personnel were so
professional and helpful. Also the folks from Mission Aviation Fellowship
and New Tribes Mission were a real encouragement. I was very impressed
with the helpfulness and quality of the Venezuelan government inspectors. They
spent many hours making sure that everything was done properly. I agree
with the comment that so many of them made. The CH 801 with the LOM engine
is exactly what is needed in Venezuela.
GREAT AIRPLANE
--GREAT ENGINE
--GREAT PEOPLE.
What a combination!
 |
Click
here for more photos of the STOL CH 801 in Venezuela |
|
