Sometime in October, Texas weather goes to pot. It will get blustery and rainy between periods of severe clear and mild to warm temperatures. By Mid November, the average temperature will run 45-65 but we will still have days into the high 70s and occasional low 80s. These are mixed with days when the temperature will not get above 55 and that is what makes the average work. Finding flying time in this weather becomes a hit or miss proposition.
We have made all of the "must do trips" on the schedule for this year. Some have been rescheduled for weather, some we have made in marginal weather. We would like to meet Jeff and Kitten somewhere over the Christmas holidays, but weather will be a big factor then.
A ride with Ben
After periods of gloom and rain, we have a good day forecast for Sunday Nov. 16. The Cowboy game is a night game, so the day is free. Sandra has things to do, but Ben Retta wants a ride. He has been after one all summer, but schedules always seem to conflict.
We work it out to meet at the hangar at 1:00. The day is gorgeous, light wind and into the high 70s. He arrives about 1:20 and we load up. Well, I load up. Ben is tall! It was amusing to watch him fold himself up into the right seat. "Ben, you need to get in butt first, not feet first"
We go out southeast and over west Allen so he can see his neighborhood. Then west over the Frisco mall and northwest towards Gainesville. I offer to let him fly and he declines. Into Gainesville for gas and a drink. Then back off and to the northeast. NE from Gainesville, you can take a course that crosses the Red River 5 times as it meanders towards the upper end of Lake Texoma. We are over Texas, over Oklahoma, over Texas, over Oklahoma, over Texas, over Oklahoma and then east along the length of the lake.
We turn south over Denison Dam and down over Denison and Sherman. I then turn west again and look for that old military field south of Whitesboro. I can find it easily now and circle over it so he can see it. Then back into Aero Country. It was a good flight in smooth air with reasonably good visibility. And I made two more good landings.
Night current again!
In order to take passengers up after dark, the pilot must have made 3 night landings to a full stop within the last 90 days. It is difficult to maintain this "currency" during the summer when legal dark doesn't occur until 10:00PM. Last year, I managed to find a good evening in late October. This year, the weather was either cloudy or windy or cold in turn. I would make plans to go and it would be too windy. One day, I gave up the plan at 3:00 and by 5:30 the wind had died to nothing and it was clear with a nearly full moon.
On Nov 5, I got my new medical certificate and it was a pretty afternoon, but the wind was gusting over 15 knots from the west. Thursday the 20th was forecast to be nice, but by mid afternoon, the wind was 15G28. Friday was forecast to be 20-30 knots and low 70s. All they got right was the temperature. The wind never got above 15 all day and began slacking off in the afternoon.
At 4:30, I headed for the airport. After a preflight which included checking the Nav lights and landing light, I was ready by shortly after five. Sunset was 5:20, so legal dark would be 6:05. The plan was to do at least two landings at Grayson County and the return home would make the third landing. Takeoff was planned for 5:30 when it would still be light and give my eyes plenty of time to adjust to the dark before trying the landings.
After checking my big flashlight and dropping the minimaglite in my shirt pocket, I was off shortly before 5:30, so I needed to goof around some before arriving at GYI after 6. The 10 knot tailwind compressed the time going north, so I turned east. I goofed around over Bells and Savoy then looked for the airport at Bonham. Turning back there, I headed for GYI. When I tried to check the lower instrument panel, the flashlight wouldn't light. I fiddled with it and it came on.
The next time I tried to turn it on, I was descending to pattern altitude over east Denison. It didn't come on, and when I picked it up from it's normal perch between my legs, it disassembled itself. No problem, I laid the barrel on the right seat and got the mini from my shirt pocket. It didn't work either! I fished around on the floor for the batteries and cap and reassembled the big light. Good thing the air was incredibly smooth.
Now, why did I choose Grayson County for my landings? I had previously used McKinney for these, even back to my training. As far as night landings go, I had only landed at Ardmore and Redbird before. Both times with Dave along. This year, I had been stretching my personal envelope. Flying longer legs, flying when the sky was not completely blue. Tonight, there would be no moon and the winds being reported were in the 7-10 knot range albeit nearly down the runway. GYI seemed to be a good choice. It would be easy to find and the runway is 9000' long.
The winds at 2500 were a little stiffer than at the surface. I had some difficulty getting into position to enter the downwind. When I turned on the lights, it was time to turn onto downwind. I straightened out in position and started my approach. There is nothing north of the runway, so I had no way to judge height. Only the perception of the runway given by the lighted rectangle. I was low on final, but not too low. I made a good touchdown just at the base of the numbers.
Come to a stop, clean up and give it the gas. Back off the ground and by the time I was over the south end, the altimeter was showing 1300' and the VSI nearly 1000fpm. I love flying in cool weather!
Back around for number two. Low again this time, but still a good touchdown. Back off and clear the pattern. Into the wind, the trip back to Aero country takes a little time. At night, over sparsely occupied country, in smooth air, you can almost get the sense that you are not even moving. No problem finding Aero Country and executing another smooth landing.
Now, we are good to go at night for 90 days.
The $100 Barbecue
During the summer, The Hard 8 in Stephenville had been mentioned on one of the boards. After the glowing recommendation there and the comments on Airnav, I moved it to the top of the one day trip list. Weather and other things conspired and so the trip hadn't been made. We scheduled it one time, but the weather turned rotten.
Sandra is off for 5 days at Thanksgiving, but we have thanksgiving at Marie's on Thursday and a visit to my daughter's on Saturday. We hoped to fly to Marie's but Thursday dawns cloudy and although forecast to clear by early afternoon, the wind is to be 25G35. So we drove.
Friday is crystal clear, but the wind is still way up there. We do other things and go see "Master and Commander" in the afternoon. There is no good reason to fly to Ginger's, and the wind is still very high. But the forecast for Sunday is for less wind and more severe clear.
The weather matches the forecast, so we take off about 11:00 for Granbury. The plan is to gas up there and then on to Stephenville, 25 miles WSW for lunch. It is right traffic to 14 at Granbury, and although I am a bit high turning final, we get a good landing into the 15 knot wind. We gas up, and go inside to pay the bill and use the facilities and watch a beautiful T6 come in, I guess that it would properly be called an SNJ as it was painted in Navy colors. They are taxiing up behind us as we start up, so I start without the brakes on to allow it to move out of his way as soon as the engine fires. We stop well clear of the fuel dock and I do the startup checks. Then on to Stephenville.
We are number 2 of three in the pattern. We land a little long and miss the second turnoff. As we take the third turnoff, the Bonanza touches down. He makes the second turnoff and taxis to the ramp area ahead of us.
We make the half mile walk to the Hard Eight. There, you get a tray with your meat outside by the pits. Then go inside and they weigh the meat and you add the desired "fixins". The decor is rustic to the extreme. Each table has loaves of bread and paper towels and you help yourselves. I had over a half pound of very good brisket and Sandra had turkey.
We walk back watching a Citation in the pattern and landing. We sit in the FBO and watch him unload passengers and get ready to depart. Sandra says, "Do you ever feel like this isn't real?"
"Huh?" "That we would be sitting in a place like this doing things like this. I just never dreamed of flying our own airplane somewhere just to sample a barbecue." "Yeah, I know what you mean."
After the Citation leaves, we saddle up. The wind is coming up a little, but is close to the runway. We climb out of the downwind on the VOR for Mineral Wells. It is located between I20 and the town proper. Crossing I20, We remark at the traffic headed for DFW, going home after the Thanksgiving weekend. Made me think again how much better and more fun this was than the drive home from Marie's on Thursday night.
The Annual Inspection
That night, the Mouse turned into a pumpkin. The annual expired. I had already "scheduled" the inspection to start on Monday, Dec 1. I had intended this to be an "owner assisted" annual for several reasons. First, they are cheaper when the owner does all the scut work of opening up the plane, removing inspection plates and then reassembling the plane afterwards, all under the A&P's watchful eye. Second, Sandra and I had generated a list of things that would not be part of the inspection itself that needed to be done. This was also agreeable with Dave.
On Monday morning, I called Dave to see when we could start. As usual, although the inspection had been on his calendar for more than 2 weeks, he wouldn't have the hangar available until Wednesday or so. Wednesday evening, he called and said that I could bring the plane over on Thursday morning.
Day one, Thursday. I taxied the Mouse to his end of the field and we pushed it into the hangar at 10:00AM. He left to give a lesson and I started to work. Remove the seats front and back. Remove the cowling. Remove the landing gear covers and 4 inspection plates on the bottom of the wings and one in the tail. Remove the aft bulkhead and take off the battery box cover and remove the ELT.
When Dave returned, we looked at the seats. The back on Sandra's had broken loose again and inspection revealed that mine was getting in bad shape. I had gotten new pins for them, but the broken pins had allowed the supports to damage the seat bases. Dave knows someone who does repairs involving aluminum welding, so he gave him a call. We disassembled the seats and removed the upholstery and padding from the bases. I loaded them in the van and headed for Farmer's Branch.
Day two, Friday. Inspect, test and reinstall the ELT. Work with Dave to get the climate control cables (3 of them) moving smoothly again. Struggle with the screws from yesterday that didn't want to come out. No word on the seats.
Day three, Monday. Dave has most of the inspecting done. He still has to remove and clean spark plugs and do the compression test. I take cleaning supplies out to the airport and give the interior a good cleaning. There are still cracker crumbs in the seat tracks from the cracker incident last summer.
Day four, Wednesday. Tuesday afternoon, Dave calls to tell me the seats are ready. Wednesday morning, I go to Farmers Branch, pick up the seats (The repair looks great!) and head for the hangar. Put the contact cement, seat cushions and frames near the heater to warm up.
Replace the tail inspection plates, and button up the back of the plane. Reinstall the back seats. By now, the cement is warmed up, So put contact cement on the cushion backing and seats, position carefully and press down. Replace the covers and reassemble the seats. Then reinstall them and put the cowling back on. All that remains is greasing the landing gear and Dave says that Tim (who is much younger than us) will do it that afternoon.
Day five, Thursday, December 11, 2003. Dave calls in the morning and we agree that early afternoon would be better for finishing up. I arrive at one. Reinstall the under wing inspection plates and the landing gear strut covers. Do a careful check of everything. All tools, rags etc removed from the cockpit, engine compartment, etc. All controls and switches in their normal positions, etc. We are ready for a test flight.
Do the rest of the preflight and pull her out. Along with the student there early for a 3:00 lesson, we fire up and take off. Out over the practice area, some slow flight, and steep turns and then back for a touch and go. Then land. Drop Dave and the student at his hangar, and taxi back to ours. The student drives down to pick me up (the van is down at Dave's) after we put the Mouse to bed.
Happy 100th Birthday, Aviation!
December 17, 2003, is the 100th anniversary of powered flight. Those of us who are still excited by the mere idea of flying should be sure to do something aviation related on this day. Fly if possible.
I wanted to take someone with me who would appreciate the significance of the date and I settled on Dave. What better way to recognize the person who taught me to fly? I got on his schedule a week ahead of time, now to wait on the weather.
The day dawned bright and clear, if a little windy. But this is good for Texas in December. I left for the airport about 9:15. By 10:15, I had the plane preflighted, the items removed for the annual back in and in order and drove on down to Dave's. He had a 10:30 student for a short flight, but should be ready by 11:30.
I went back to the hangar and saddled up headed for Sherman and gas. It was so clear that I could see the ground storage water tank that marks the entrance to downwind at Sherman while I was still on the Downwind at Aero Country. At 2000', the air was ridiculously smooth and I raced my shadow all the way to Sherman.
I don't know what it is about 16 at Sherman. I cannot buy a decent landing there. I make a good smooth approach and smooth touchdown and the world goes haywire. I finally get everything under control and as I roll by the windsock, it is pointing straight across the runway standing straight out! I look back across the runway at it as I am getting out at the pumps and it is aimed back up the runway and limp.
Gas up to the top and head back. About halfway back, I hear Cherokee 57350 in the pattern at Aero Country. I soldier on into the headwind, arriving at Dave's at 11:35. I go in and we come back out. The mouse is too hot to start and/or I am nervous about starting it hot with Dave. Anyway, we run the battery down and Dave gets his truck and the jumpers. It starts right up!
Off we go! Beautiful flight down the east side of Dallas with perfect visibility in smooth air. I am aiming for the south end of the runway for pattern entry to 13, when the Unicom advises that the wind is favoring 31. I simply straighten out and enter the crosswind. Nice pattern and nice landing in spite of a direct crosswind.
The cafe there makes a good lunch. Dave has a hamburger and I a BLT. Then back out and take off for home. The visibility is still excellent, but it is getting a little bumpier. The only comment Dave makes about my landing at Aero Country is that I should hold a little more aileron into the crosswind.
The second half (third) of my plans for today is the annual Christmas light viewing with the Redhead. Last year, we went on a Sunday, planning to eat at the cafe on field at Redbird (now Dallas Executive). When we got there, it was closed for the evening, so we did the lights on an empty stomach. I got back from the lunch about three. This time, I called the Casa Blanca and insured that they would be serving dinner.
We took off a little after 4:30 and headed south east of Dallas. The visibility was still very good and the lower sun had quieted the bumps I had experienced at 1:30. Over the intersection of I20 and US175, we turned west and I checked in with Executive Tower. They cleared us to enter a left base and report field in sight.
For the first time, I am having trouble seeing into the sun. Our present course with a crab into the southerly wind places the bright ball right at eye level at 11:30. The field should be about 1:00 and 12 miles. I report the visibility problem and the tower replies, "No problem, no current traffic. Make adjustments as required."
I continue at about 250, knowing that this will take me south of the field, but will move it further from the sun. At about 5 miles, the field is now at 2:00 and I advise tower that I will enter on downwind.
Neither of us are big fans of catfish which is the special, so we both opt for the Chicken fried steak. As we are finishing our salad, a familiar looking Cessna 310 taxis in. Sure enough, out pile Dave, Tim and the McKinney controller who had bantered with Dave as we were going by this afternoon. They come in and sit at the table next to us and we eat our meal in good company.
Saddling up, I request clearance across the Dallas Class Bravo and get direct Love, direct Addison. It is now more than full dark (6:30). When we turn downwind towards Love, the entire city of Dallas is laid out beneath and in front of us. We fly directly across Love and then Addison and out over Frisco. Maintaining a little over 2000', we circle over the subdivisions northwest of the Frisco mall and then east across west Plano/Allen. The night is crystal clear and the air is velvet smooth. The lights are simply beautiful! Crossing Custer Road eastbound, I check in with the McKinney Tower and am cleared to fly north over the Stonebriar subdivision, then back south over it remaining west of Central Expressway. Back almost to Plano, and then north into the pattern at Aero country.
A total of 3.4 hours on this historic anniversary.
This is the reposted flight journal, originally created by Bo and Sandra, to document their aircraft ownership and travels. Bo was a mentor and friend, he is greatly missed. Their journal provided me with so much cross country information that I wanted to keep Bo's dream alive and share his thoughts and experiences. In Bo's words.... It is a record (ongoing) of our flying (and other) experiences. It is our hope that the readers will enjoy reading it as much as we did living it. Enjoy!
