Three states, two countries, a V tail and a T tail
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I may have been away on business and seeing family the
last five days, but I still got to fly a bit.

Thursday June 9 - Minneapolis, MN

Flew with fellow sgi.rec.pilot John Gilmore in Bonanza 456B, 
his pristine 1948 model. Nice plane.  The V tail requires a 
LOT of rudder to get the nose moving in turns, otherwise 
it sits still or even moves in the wrong direction.  Much more 
rudder pressure in turns than other aircraft.  But once
assimilated, the handling of the Bonanza is very nice.
Flew local from Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie,
where John's plane is hangared.  .6 hours sole manipulator
time logged...high performance and complex, so I have 2.3
hours of complex now.

Saturday  June 11 - Detroit MI

Stopped by my Dad's old CAP home base at Grosse Isle,
Michigan, a field located under the fifteen mile rung
of the Detroit Class B, on an island in the east 
Detroit River.  Found the FBO there and booked a CFI
and a Piper PA-38 Tomahawk (aka, Traumahawk, Tomahatchet..).
The CFI of course was just along for the ride and to listen
to my pleasant conversation.  <g>

I flew from Grosse Isle (2G5) to Put-In-Bay, Ohio, located
on an island within Lake Erie, and back.  Flight was about 
35 miles over water, and within Canadian airspace.  Beautiful!!

Put-In-Bay is one of several islands within Lake Erie linked
to the mainland completely by air or by boat.  Each island
has a little airstrip.  The Put-In-Bay strip (OH30) is even
paved, 2,870 feet by 22 (!!) feet.  Felt really fast with
the little Tomahawk's wings overlapping the runway like that.

A Tomahawk is like a shark -- you have to keep it moving.  
stall speed clean is 52 knots, with flaps 47 knots.  Approach
speed is 70 knots, just like the Tiger.

Except there's no power.  Despite looking extraordinarily
streamlined, modern and fighter-like compared to the stodgy
C152, the Tomahawk is actually slower and can manage no 
better than 95 knots cruise.  Sigh.

Flies very nicely though.  Visibility is absolutely superb,
and in cruise the nose is very low, just like the Tiger
or Citabria.   1.2 hours PIC logged, most overwater.

So!  Three states, two countries, a V tail and a T tail!

Lee