"Stuart & Kathryn Fields" wrote in message
...
A note of interest: I'm flying a Safari, have 250hrs and have not had any
real maintenance that was not caused by me fooling around with different
ideas other than oil and filter change. . . snip

Here's an anecdote BTW. I think it was in Laurel, Montana as we were fueling
after a RON on the way to Oshkosh.

There was a red helicopter at the pumps with "EXPERIMENTAL" placards. He had
just flown the same route across Washington, Idaho and Montana one day
earlier than us. The headwinds were nothing short of ferocious that day - I
was really glad they had calmed a bit when we came through.

He told me they were home based at Paine Field if I remember correctly. They
had to lay over an extra day for some part to be delivered. I think he told
me they flew over Mullen Pass accompanied by a Super Cub or something
similar. Kind of a buddy system.

In any case, he was headed for Oshkosh, too at a staggering 90 mph or so.
Two souls on board - I hope they made it all the way. The machine had Marine
Corps decals on it and looked sharp.

Rich S.