The Big Day started at the PA Factory at 9:am. A Fly Off between Scott Swett's Viking Powered SeaRey LSX and the Factory Rotax 912s Powered Searey Sport. A contest that brought the local Viking Engine owners, Bill Starkey, Steve Barber, Myself and Scott Swett. The only flying Viking Searey in Central Florida at the moment and we all wanted to know if it was as good as a Rotax 912s. Kerry Richter flew the factory plane and Scott flew his. It was a disaster that had all us Viking owners questioning our decision to buy a Viking. The 912s left the Viking in the mist. After that Kerry flew Scotts Viking and said the plane was rigged good but had no power and he would not fly 2 people in it. Scott changed the prop and used a Kool Prop that Steve Barber had bought for his SeaRey that he was building. It was a little better but not enough according to Scott. Kerry, Scott and I went to lunch and then they came to my house so Kerry could do the 1st test flight of my Viking powered SeaRey. The 1st flight was short and he came back and adjusted the flaps and trim and took off again. On the second flight he did some stall test and check the rigging. He got on the radio and stated that the plane was performing well. I asked if it was better than Scott’s and he said “Yes it was”. I started laughing like a girl, I was so excited. When he got back, he stated that he thought it had the performance of a Rotax 912s. He wanted to let Scott fly the plane to see if he thought it was better than his. Scott took off and said on the radio,” This thing rocks” and flew twice around the pattern. When he got back, he and Kerry talked about how there could be such a difference in performance. It was getting late and they left and I put the plane in the garage to work on it that night to do some things that Kerry suggested.
