- Oct 5, a personal invitation to a fly-in at Kountze, TX
- Starting Oct 12, the Fall Break trip. Sandra has a 4 day weekend.
- Oct 19, an anniversary party in Tyler.
Take a kid for a ride!
We make arrangements on Thursday for me to take Brian Spann for a ride on Saturday. Brian is the son of Kathy and David Spann and has MD. But he would love to go for a ride in an airplane. My plan is to go from Aero Country to Gainesville (for fuel) and then depending on the reaction (Is it rough and may make them airsick? Are they enjoying it?) make a long circuit back.
I meet the four of them, David and Brian in one car, Kathy and Bethany in the other. Brian is very smart and aware, but small for 8 years old. Kathy brings the daughter's carseat to place in the back so he will be high enough to see out the windows. This works like a charm.
After preflight, taking pictures, getting the plane out of the hangar and more pictures, we take off and head for Gainesville. At 2500, the air is reasonably smooth and the visibility is excellent. I check on Brian several times and he is bug eyed and looking everywhere. He makes several comments and asks good questions. Before entering the pattern at Gainesville, I tell him that when I say so, he is to not talk from that point until we are off the runway.
I explain pattern entry as we fly over the field and turn on downwind.
"Gainesville traffic, Musketeer Five Niner Four Lima Bravo, left downwind for 35, full stop. (on intercom) Brian, now is the time to be quiet. I'm going to be busy"
Not a peep until we turn off on the taxiway. I taxi over to the fuel pumps and shut down. David gets out and helps Brian out. They walk around asking questions as I pump gas. Then we go into the FBO for potty and I need new sectionals for the Fall Break trip. When I come out of the bathroom, they are both reading all the stuff on the bulletin boards. I buy the new Memphis and Kansas City charts and we go back out to the plane.
"Are we all having fun?", I ask. David says, "Yes" Brian says "Wow!"
The long trip back is in order. We take off and head east. I point out a flock of egrets heading south west below us. David and Brian both see them. Before we get to Grayson County (F39), I turn north and fly out over Lake Texoma and into Oklahoma. From there, we turn east and nearing Denison Dam, turn south. This takes us over Sherman (SWI) and on south towards McKinney. I contact McKinney tower and advise them that I will fly east of Princeton over Lake Lavon and then Turn west over Allen on my way to T31 (Aero Country). The wind has been light and variable, but mostly from the northeast. While east of McKinney, they noted that the wind was now southerly enough that they were shifting their pattern back to 17.
Over Allen, both David and Brian can find their neighborhood and their house. I continue west and turn north over Custer road and into the downwind for 17 at Aero Country. Again, when I enter the downwind, I tell Brian it is quiet time. I make a good landing and we taxi back to the hangar. David and Brian help me push the bird back in it's nest and Brian helps wipe the wings and nose of their accumulated bugs.
The fall break trip.
We had wanted to see the Ozarks in the Fall and hoped that the second weekend in October would be late enough to show some color. Marca and Chris (From the Winnsboro trip last December) live in Fort Smith, AR and Therman Crocker (Sandra's first cousin) and his wife live in Fayetteville. When Sandra was doing her annual Red River Revels trip with her college girlfriends, one of them volunteered that she and some other friends had a Condo in Branson, MO reserved for Oct 13-19, but wouldn't get to Branson until the 14th. Sandra has Monday and Tuesday as "Fall Break" so the itinerary now becomes Home to Fort Smith to Branson to Fayetteville to home.
A front comes thru late in the week, but the forecast is for decent weather on Saturday morning, a quick wet front Saturday night and cool to cold but clear for the next 4-5 days. As our overnights are all covered and we will be with friends on Saturday and Monday, I only have to make rental car arrangements for Sunday night in Branson. This turns out to be a small problem, but after 4-5 phone calls, we finally have a reservation with Rent a Wreck in Branson. All is set!
Going to Fort Smith, Arkansas
I decide that we will give our navigation skills a work out and try to fly direct to Fort Smith. The easy route would be Durant VOR to McAlester VOR to Fort Smith VOR, but that would miss all of the Arbuckle mountain range. It was also the same route we had used going to Tahlequah (at least as far as McAlester. I plot out the course line between Antlers, Ok and McGee Creek Lake, over Sardis Lake Dam, Fanshawe, OK, just west of Poteau Mountain and into Fort Smith.
The Flight Service briefer has some fog and ground haze over southeast Oklahoma, but clearing behind the last front and in front of the next one. At 3000', a 20-30 knot wind at 240 degrees until the next front. We launch shortly before 9:00 for Sherman and gas.
The fog and ground haze is really bad. To our right (into the sun), we can only see the ground 3 miles away. In front, there is maybe 10 miles. Getting to Sherman is no problem, we've been there many times and it is only 25 miles. We'll get gas and see from there. We take our time at Sherman and finally launch at 10:10. The visibility to the east has only improved slightly, but we have full tanks and know that things are clear to the north and west.
The first checkpoint is a small town east of Durant, just west of the 188 radial from McAlester VOR. We don't see it, but decide that we are about 10 miles east of our course. Make a minor adjustment, cross check with the Durant and McAlester VORs and continue on. We identify McGee Creek in about the right position relative to us, but Antlers is lost in the fog/haze to the east. I can soon see parts of Sardis Lake over the ridges and under a cloud that is just below our altitude. We go through a little edge of the cloud and there is the dam right below us! Not only that, but everything to the north is now crystal clear! The visibility to the east is still poor, but we can now see 10+ miles.
On past Fanshawe and Poteau and I am now receiving the Ft Smith VOR. I check ATIS and call the Ft Smith tower from just north of Poteau. They immediately clear me for a straight in to runway 7. I see a runway and advise that I am in position to enter a right base for it. The tower tells me that I am looking at 1, not 7. But since the wind is 020 and they have no other traffic, runway is my option. I advise that I would prefer 7 as that will put me closer to TAC Air (the FBO) and will enter on a left base. We shut down at TAC Air at 11:30. One hour 20 minutes for 150nm is 115knots average including climb, pattern entry and landing.
"Welcome to Fort Smith, would you be interested in selling that Musketeer?"
I thought I might have to hold the Redhead back.
Anyway, she takes a load of stuff into the FBO and I show the man our pride and joy. He was getting too old to feel safe in his Bonanza, so was selling it and looking for a Mouse to replace it. He looked it over good, under the cowling, in the cockpit and all while I got the rest of the stuff out.
We went back in to the FBO, I went potty, filled out the paperwork and closed my flight plan. Just then, Chris came in. He works about a mile from the airport and had taken off at 11. We stand around talking for a few minutes and Marca and the kids come in. They all want rides. Marca and Micah had been up with me in December, so Kodi and Chris get the first ride.
We pile in and fire up. I check ATIS and call the ground control. This is controlled airspace, so I cannot just take off and fly around. Fifteen miles in any direction is under the control of Razorback Approach/Departure. Further, there is a restricted area over Fort Chaffee which begins 3.5 miles SE. Ground clears me to runway 7 and advises me to contract the tower when ready and be ready to contact Razorback on 120.9. We taxi out and do the runup checks. Tower clears us for takeoff and tells us to hold 060 after takeoff.
We lift off and turn to 060 and as we pass the end of the runway, are told to contact departure. I call them and we discuss routing options. The Arkansas river approaches town on the southwest side, makes a big loop around the north side and flows on to the east. We fly over a dam and locks east of town and turn north. North of the interstate, we turn back to the west. I turn around to look at Kodi and her eyes are big as saucers. Her ears have fallen into her mouth she is grinning so big! I ask her if she is having fun and all I can see is sparkling eyes going up and down as she nods her head.
I offer to let Chris hold the yoke, but he declines. Where the river turns east on the west edge of town, I tell Control that I will now turn south, west of the river and enter a left base for 7. They OK it and tell me to contact the tower when I have the field in sight.
I can see the east end of the field, but the west (approach) end is still behind the hill immediately to it's north. Chris recognizes the building where he works on the west slope of the hill and tells me the runway is right behind that (now at our ten o'clock). When I can see the west approach apron, I call the tower and am immediately cleared for landing. This one turns out to be one of my very best.
We taxi back in and decide that we are all hungry. We will go eat and then take Marca and Micah for their ride. We pile into cars and go to Wendy's for hamburgers (we have an 8 and 11 year old along). After lunch, it is back to the airport and load up Marca and Micah for their trip around town. The landing this time isn't near as good, but they are still pleased.
We go "home" to their place south of Greenwood. They have a little over an acre with a nice house, way out in the country. To be expected, they are both from Scroggins, TX. Try finding that on your map! After sitting around a while (Watching the first half of the TX-OU game) Marca takes Sandra, Kodi and I out to show us the sights. Greenwood is built around a small mountain with a park on the top called appropriately, Lookout Park. From there, you can see all the way to Poteau Mountain in OK and well north of Fort Smith. Then it is time to load up and go to Micah's (6th grade) football game in Mansfield. The Greenwood Pittbulls are undefeated, but lose this one 30-0. The first time in history that Mansfield has beaten Greenwood. To make it worse, Micah pulled a hamstring late in the fourth quarter and will have to sit out at least one game. But, the bright spot was watching Kodi going through the stands telling everybody she knew that she rode in an airplane today.
The forecast front arrives during the game and we drive back to Greenwood in the rain. After a lot of talk, we all get to bed.
And on to Branson
Sunday morning dawns cool (low 50s) and clearing. Marca has a class to teach, so she goes to church while Chris and the kids take us to the airport. We preflight and load up the plane, say goodbye to our friends and taxi over to the fuel dock. With a normal load of gas on board, we launch for Branson at 12:00. This time, we have a headwind and Razorback Control offers flight following, so what the heck.
The plan is to fly outbound on the FSM VOR to HRO (Harrison, AR) VOR then Outbound to Point Lookout. The airport is at Point Lookout, across the lake from Branson and is built on top of a ridge. The runway is 3739X100, but each end is built up from the material removed in leveling the ridgetop. One comment says that it is like landing on a stationary aircraft carrier.
We climb to 4000', which is high enough to clear the terrain by 1000' and head for the hills. We have never used flight following before, but I get 2 reasons why we should and the reason why we don't. About 15 minutes out of FSM we hear:
"Four Lima Bravo, we see traffic, one o'clock at five miles showing 4500'."
"Thanks, Razorback. Four Lima Bravo is looking for him."
Then:
"Four Lima Bravo, traffic is now 2 and a half miles, two o'clock, showing 4300."
"Four Lima Bravo is looking. We have him about 3 o'clock and above us."
"Razorback, traffic passed above and behind us. Looked like an Arrow or Lance."
The plane passed 3-400 feet above us and about 1/4 mile behind. Reason number 1 for using flight following.
We are now approaching the first real hills and the ride is getting a little bumpy.
"Razorback, Four Lima Bravo would like to climb to 4500 looking for smoother air."
"Roger, Four Lima Bravo, altitude at your discretion. We have some reports of moderate turbulence west of Springfield."
"This isn't even moderate. But maybe 4500 is smoother."
"Uh, Four Lima Bravo, are you direct to PLK on GPS or are you going via HRO?"
"Four Lima Bravo is flying VOR direct HRO, direct PLK."
"That's what it looked like."
Reason number 2, they can double check your navigation.
Fifteen minutes later:
"Four Lima Bravo, you are leaving our area, and you are not high enough to talk to Memphis Center. Do you wish to climb to 5500 or terminate flight following?"
"Razorback, We can see Harrison from here. We will go on our own."
"Roger Four Lima Bravo, squawk VFR, resume own navigation. Freq. change approved."
"Thanks for the help Razorback. Four Lima Bravo out. And, by the way, 4500 is much smoother than 4000 was."
"Thanks for the report. Have a nice flight. Razorback out."
The reason why we don't use flight following. Most of our flights are over less populated areas at lower altitudes. Contact with the control facility would be problematic.
Since entering the hills, the scenery has been stunning! The day is almost perfectly clear and the hills and valleys, cliffs and creeks are all visible and in context. There is little sign of human habitation. But there are numerous clearings that would serve as an emergency landing spot. We both comment many times on the overwhelming beauty of the area as seen from this vantage point.
We fly over the Harrison VOR and turn north. We can already see Branson, 23 miles ahead. Amongst the green we have been flying over, the gaudy development ahead looks like a scar on the landscape.
I contact PLK Unicom and get airport information. Little wind and the active is runway 11. We identify the field about 5 miles out (The south side of the ridge it is built on partially hides it) and I call in my announcement:
"PLK Traffic, Musketeer Five Niner Four Lima Bravo. 5 miles south, inbound for landing. Will pass over midfield at 2500 and turn into a left downwind for eleven." A sightseeing helicopter announces at 1500, 3 miles north of the field, east bound. I find him and acknowledge him. He should be no problem. Then a King Air reports 10 miles east inbound at 4800. We pass over midfield and I report:
"Four Lima Bravo over midfield at 2700 maneuvering to a left downwind for eleven. Have Helo in sight."
"Point Lookout Traffic. King Air XXX entering a left downwind for 11. 5 miles out at 3500.
By now I have turned east and see the King Air about five miles out, head on and well above me. I continue my turn and announce "Four Lima Bravo, downwind for eleven. Have contact with King Air."
"Four Lima Bravo, King Air xxx. Where are you?"
By this time, I am midfield on downwind and see him parallel to but still well above me and about 2 miles further out.
"Four Lima Bravo has the King Air in sight. I'm turning base now at 1700'"
As we turn final, I hear:
"King Air xxx turning final. Number 2 behind the Musketeer on short final."
Rent a Wreck brings us a 99 Contour. Some wreck! We pile in and immediately go looking for a place to eat. We cross the bridge into Branson and turn onto 76, the "main drag". It is one lane in each direction with a turn lane in the center. Traffic in both directions is bumper to bumper and crawling along. Both sides of the road are packed with hotels, motels, motor inns, a few eating places, ticket outlets and on this end, a few "show" places. We find a place to eat and then go to look for our condo. We have the address as 1A Fall Creek Road. We drive Fall Creek Road end to end and no condo. We pull into a mini mart on Mountain Creek Road and call.
We now find the Condo out near the dam. It is just a large motel room with a "kitchenette" In a large development of condos and RV parks. But it is right across the road from the Lawrence Welk Theater! We take our stuff to the room and relax a few minutes. We read over the literature and discover that except for "duck" tours (Not a bright idea at 60 degrees) and a veterans museum, there is nothing to do except see shows. It being Sunday night, most of them are the "stock" shows rather than the "names".
We go back out and drive all over town looking at the theaters and motels. If they ever have a day when every room and condo is filled, this town will be the most densely populated place on earth. Traffic is unbelievable, and if that day ever arrives, the gridlock will be irresolvable. We visit the Veteran's Museum. It has a unique collection of artifacts from every conflict of the 20th century. It is a bit pricey ($11.00 each plus tax).
We hit 2 grocery stores before we find stuff for breakfast. Eat dinner and head back for the room after 9:00. Traffic has almost disappeared. This is an old folks place. We are on the lower edge of the age groups we see on the streets. I guess they truly do roll up the sidewalks at nine.
There really is not much to do here except the "shows" and we have done all of it. There isn't any thing to do tomorrow except drive out to the dam. Therman and Karen will not be off work tomorrow until 4:30-5:00 and it would only be a 40 minute flight straight line to Fayetteville. We have to have the car back at the airport by 1:30 so that leaves at least 3 hours to fill.
The weather is forecast to be more "severe clear" and the view from the plane was so good that we start looking for a route to Fayetteville that will take more time. We work out a route to Neosho, MO, south to Siloam Springs and into Fayetteville from the west. This will be about 1:20 plus any circling time. We plan to make a pass over Branson and Table Rock dam before leaving this area. I work up the nav log and we go to bed.
Then to Fayetteville, Arkansas
Monday morning is clear and there is frost on the cars in the parking lot. We are up, dressed, breakfasted and out by shortly after 9. We drive out to the dam and go through the park visitor center. From there we drive down the south side of Lake Taney Como to a lookout point and make some more pictures. Back into Branson through Hollister and the only roads we didn't see in daylight yesterday.
At 11:00 we start at the west end of town on 76 and head east. The intention is to stop for brunch somewhere along the way and get back to the airport. Traffic is bumper to bumper again. And we take 30 minutes to cover 2/3rds of it before stopping at the "Hillbilly Cafe" for lunch. I look out the window and, lo, there across the lake is the airport right at eye level!
After lunch, it takes another 20 minutes to get to the airport. We load the plane and I run the pre-flight. After weather briefing and filing, we take off. I extend the upwind leg so I can make a turn and run my downwind between the airport and Branson. This puts the town on the right side so Sandra can make pictures. Past the airport, with no traffic in sight or on the radio, I ease to the left some more so we fly over Table Rock with the dam on the right. As we are passing over the dam, I see the Branson Belle docked on my side. I turn right and fly parallel to the dam and north shore, then make a right 180 to come back putting the Belle on Sandra's side. This is all done at around 2000' msl or about 1000' above the lake.
I now turn northwest towards Neosho and begin a climb towards 3500' when I notice that the EGT (Exhaust gas temp) gauge is almost to the peg. This is the same "anomaly" that caused the problems on our Spring Break trip. I level out at about 2500, throttle back and go to full rich. The spring break trip and one other time I have seen this have both been when the OAT (outside air temp) has been cold. The OAT reads 8c (46F). I turn back towards Point Lookout and the temp drops below the marker, but I am running at 2200rpm. This will only give us about 90k in level flight. By the time I am back to the east end of the lake and would have to tell PLK I was returning, the Temp has stabilized just above the normal upper end and we decide to go straight to Fayetteville where we know there is a good mechanic. I hold 2500' and 2200rpm for several minutes and the temp is stable. We are over the west end of Table Rock and can see Beaver lake ahead of us. On our course, there are numerous private and public airfields all the way to Rogers and down past Springdale to Fayetteville. I slowly start easing the rpm up and am back to 2350 by the time we are passing Springdale and have to begin a descent into Fayetteville Drake.
I get their ATIS and report just east of Springdale, inbound for landing.
"Musketeer Four Lima Bravo, cleared for straight in to 16, report over the university."
"Drake Tower, Four Lima Bravo has the south end of the field in sight behind the hill. Unfamiliar with this area, may not recognize the university."
"Four Lima Bravo, turn west and you will be on left base to 16. Cleared to land."
Sure enough, the south end of the field disappears behind the hill and the north end appears. The university campus and facilities are obvious as we get over them. I turn final and put the bird down. We taxi in and carry only the things we will need for tonight into the FBO. Drake Field was the commercial field for Fayetteville for years until a new Regional Airport was built west of Springdale. When the airlines left, the city turned the terminal into an FBO. Super nice facility!
The mechanic is out and won't be back until around four. So we leisurely sit around and then walk over to the Arkansas Air Museum 3 hangars down. They have some nice old (mostly pre WWII) planes, engines and other items. This takes a little over an hour and we leisurely walk back to the FBO. I walk out to the plane with the cell phone to get the number and call Therman. He says that he will be there at 5:00.
There is a nice King Air parked in front of us and I ask the pilot if he would swap it for our Mouse. "In a heartbeat, but I wouldn't have a job tomorrow."
The King Air is owned by a law firm in Beaumont, TX and he just flies it for them.
Right at 4:30, a Cessna 310 lands and taxis up to the north end of the field. A few minutes later, the mechanic calls. He and a helper will be down in a few minutes with the stuff to check the brakes. When I ask him about the EGT, he says:
"Well, I normally have a baseline EGT for various OATs and only worry if it exceeds them."
"Are you telling me that EGT varies inversely with OAT?"
"Sure does. As long as oil temp and CHT (Cylinder head temp) are normal, don't worry about it."
As I had been worrying about this since March, I had asked everyone I knew if this relationship was true. No one would confirm it. Now I had a confirmation.
A few minutes later, I see a pickup coming down the taxiway and go out to meet them. Jim (the "old man" sticks his head into the foot well and the young fellow gets by the right wheel with a can of brake fluid and a pump on a hose. After a couple of cycles, Jim gets out and says, "Get in and try it." The pedal is now hard as a rock!
Just then, Sandra and Therman come out. I greet him and he and Sandra look at the plane while I talk with and pay Jim ($10.00 and he took a check!). When he leaves, I find Therman sitting in the pilot seat looking carefully at all the instruments.
I get in the right seat and offer him a ride. I had no illusions about him accepting, but he did want all the panel explained. After he was satisfied, we close up the plane and go to the car. As Karen won't be home until 6:00 we get the nickel tour of Fayetteville: the hospital (old and new) his office (he is an ENT) and arrive back at the house just behind Karen. She is a professor at the university in Landscape Architecture. Their house is beautiful. We had been there in the summer of 2000 for a family reunion, but now we had time for a real exposure to it. It was designed by a world famous architect and has many features that are unique. It nestles into a hillside with large windows looking out over the valley.
We all go down to the new garage to admire his new "toy", a completely and beautifully restored Model A ford. Then off to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. We eat and talk there for over 2 hours while Therman and Sandra catch up on all the family history and Karen and I put in a remark or two occasionally. Back to the house and talk some more and then to bed.
And back home.
Tuesday morning, I manage to have coffee with Therman before he has to go to the hospital for a patient with an emergency. We all get dressed and Karen takes us to the airport at 8:30. There has been a heavy dew and the plane is dripping wet. I discover that the inboard section of the left wing, still in the shade, is covered with frost. That means that we will not be leaving until it is all gone.
We go back inside, say goodbye to Karen and decide that since we have to wait, we might go eat a real breakfast. I get my briefing and file the flight plan. We will have a 20knot tail wind going back. The courtesy car gets back about 9:30 and we head for Denny's. Tummy's full, we saddle up and fire up.
As I am listening to ATIS, I see a Cessna 152 cross the runway from the Private hangars and start down the taxiway towards us.
"Good Morning, Drake Ground. Musketeer Five Niner Four Lima Bravo at the FBO, with Kilo and ready to taxi."
"Uh, Musketeer Four Lima Bravo, Taxi to Runway 34. Contact tower when ready for departure."
"Ground, Four Lima Bravo will let the Cessna go first."
"Cessna xxx, Thanks."
We taxi out behind them and turn diagonal at the end of the taxiway while a 172 lands. The 152 taxis into position. We are still sitting waiting for the oil temp to come off the peg.
"Cessna xxx, cleared for takeoff."
"Tower, xxx will go to the first turnoff, we have a mag problem."
"Roger xxx, Musketeer Four Lima Bravo, taxi into position and hold."
"Tower, Four Lima Bravo is in no hurry, we're waiting on oil temp."
"Roger, call when ready."
When the oil temp comes off the peg, I do the run up and call the tower.
"Drake Tower, Four Lima Bravo is ready for departure. We'll be departing to the south west."
"Four Lima Bravo, cleared for takeoff. Left turnout is standard."
Immediately to the west of the runway is a ridge some 300' high which parallels the runway and ends about a mile north of it. There is also another ridge east west just north of the runway. Our takeoff goes past the end of the east west ridge and we make a gentle turn past the north end of the north south ridge. We are well above it, but there is no reason to turn earlier. The turn takes us directly over the Drake VOR antenna, so it will be no problem picking up our outbound heading. We clear out of the Drake airspace and climb to 4500'. The visibility is excellent and there is not a cloud in the sky.
Our plan is to follow the outbound radial to Wilburton, OK, cross Sardis Lake heading south until we can pick up the Paris, TX VOR. From Paris, we'll follow US82 and TX121 home. Distance will be 236nm or 2:20 at 100knots. We pass over Sallisaw and Stigler, then turn south over Wilburton. Over Sardis Lake, I can already see Hugo Lake, 30 miles away. We angle west of Paris and turn SW just west of their airspace. Straight shot from there to Aero Country and the Redhead compliments me on my landing on 35 with a 20knot wind. Two hours exactly on the clock from engine start to shutdown. Tailwinds are nice, especially in the rare event when you have one going both ways of a long trip.
As Sandra is getting out, she says, "Oh No!" "Huh?" "The baggage door is open."
Inspection reveals that the screw holding the striker backed out and the guts of the lock are now somewhere between here and Fayetteville. It would be nearly impossible for anything to fall out of the door in flight with a 120mph wind blowing over it. Oh well, I fixed it Wednesday. New lock cost $4.30. Each trip we take seems to get better and more memorable. This one has been the best so far!
