What is a 181 Liberty you ask?  Well that is the same question I asked my friend Rob when he asked me to go down with him to Vancouver, Washington to bring back yet another "one off" experimental aircraft. He replied that it is sort of like a Cessna 180. After a morning flight to Portland, Oregon with Alaska Airlines, we were met at the airport by Paul (the aircraft owner) who took us to the small local airport to get the plane after a stop at the local eatery for some brekkie.  After seeing the 181 Liberty for the first time I summized that the only thing it had in common with a C-180 was that it had wings. We waited for the west coast morning fog to lift and then we departed for Wenatchee ( our first stop). The plan was to fly along the Hood river valley but due to some remaining fog we went direct over the Cascades.

The plane flew well with the exception of poor control on the longitudinal axis which I think was due to limited aileron deflection. It flew nicely at around 2200 RPM and 20" which gave us about 100kts burning around 11.5 gph. With 90 gallon fuel capacity it has great range. After departing Wenatchee, we lost charging and by the time we got to Omak there was not enough juice to use the radio or transponder( which we needed to cross the border). The battery was charged overnight and the alternator was deemed defective. A few other snags were repaired before we left Omak for Kelowna.  On departure from Kelowna my door became unlatched and violently swung open but I was able to close it and fly the plane while Rob retrieved some rope from the back so I could tie the door to the seat frame. Four hours later we landed at Rose Field.  It was great weather all the way home with very little turbulance in the mountains. Now Rob plans to fix some snags and give the plane a pretty new dress.