Day 7. The Up North Beer Festival, Eagle River, WI

 

Today was a day of relaxation with the Up North Beerfest as our most exciting activity. Bill got up at the crack of dawn and did a bike ride. Rick L. and I walked a brisk 4 mile walk along the lake. Rick G. spent the morning chasing fish in the lake.  We then ultimately mustered up our will and went to the Up North Beerfest about 20 minutes north in Eagle River and sampled some of the wonderful local brews. We also enjoyed seeing a lot of very interesting and fervent beer fans with even more interesting t-shirts, costumes and so many pretzel necklaces!!

 

The Mild Hogs shortly before departing the beerfest. 

 

Before the beerfest we stopped by the Eagle River airstrip to take a look at Rick L's hanger and his plane that he and Bill had flown up in.   A few hangers down this gentleman was wheeling out this home built, space age looking experimental aircraft.  His name is Gary Schiffmann and he's been building this plane since 1983, 34 years!

 

The plane was his own design that he flight tested as two different radio controlled airplanes back in the very beginning. It's made of carbon fiber composite and has a 300 hp Wankel rotary engine. It was a beautiful plane, originally designed as an amphibian (water & land) but he said it was too heavy now to take off and land from water!  It has a pusher engine in the back, just above the tail fin. It's never flown but he has runway tested it where it accidently got about 8' above the ground for a couple of hundred feet before it touched back down again. 

 

As we were chatting with Gary around his plane just outside his hanger the wind which was pretty strong began raising the nose wheel off the ground a bit. Without Gary in the cockpit it was a bit tail heavy you see. As we moved over to steady the plane with Gary the nose wheel gear buckled and the nose dropped to the ground. We quickly lifted it back up and held it while Gary investigated.  After a few minutes of not being able to lock-in the nose gear we helped Gary push the plane back into the hanger and place a jack under the nose of the plane.  It's amazing to see someone with the passion, patience and skill take over 35 years to design and build a complex, first of a kind airplane. It's a complex and somewhat risky process to do what Gary has done but I hope he is soon able to fly a big part of his life's work safely. 

 

On our 7th day we had a wonderful home cooked dinner of NY strips and asparagus from the grill with baked potatoes and salad.  Thanks to Rick and Bill for being our guides on our ride east through Wisconsin and to Bill for hosting us in his wonderful lakeside home in Three Lakes, WI!! It was an enjoyable and restful visit. Tomorrow Rick G. and I are off across the Upper Penninsula of Michigan to Sault Ste. Marie.