Chapter 28 Whither the weather

Fixing the mixture cable


By the next Monday, Dave had found a mixture cable in a salvage yard and it was (hopefully) in the mail. It arrived on Thursday, and on Friday, I went out to change it. Dave said I could change it myself, but he would have to inspect and test it before signing it off.

Down to the hangar with a couple of tools and remove the old cable from the panel. No big problem there. Removing the broken of piece of wire from the control arm on the engine was a different story. It is in a tight place. Eye level, back of the engine, between the engine mount cage and flywheel flange. You have to get 2 wrenches and 2 hands in there simultaneously to loosen the nuts and extract the wire. That's done, now to install the "new" one. The mounting on the panel is slightly different. The old one came through the panel and was held by a nut on the panel face. This one goes through the panel and is held by a nut on the back. The total length of the cable is about 3 feet. I feed a few inches through the hole in the panel and reach behind and slip the lock washer and nut over the end. Holding the cable behind the panel with 2 fingers. I start feeding more through the hole. The end jams on something and when it pops free, the cable comes out of my fingers and the washer and nut fall into the void behind the panel. Feeling around in the dark under there, I find the nut and TWO lock washers. They are very close to the same size, so I don't know which one is right.

Time for a new approach. Lying on my back with the right seat removed and my head under the panel, I feed the cable until it is ready to go through the firewall. I then place the washer and nut on the cable and stick it through the firewall. Continue until the cable is all the way in, Next, I slide the washer and nut past the other stuff behind the panel and up to the back of the panel. This washer is just a smidgen to small to go over the threads! Pull the cable back until the end is back inside the cabin. Slide the nut and washer off the end. Put the other washer on and then the nut. Stick the end back through the firewall. Push it on through until it is snug to the panel again. Tighten the nut on the back and then replace the dress cover. Done on the inside.

The plan on the outside is to attach the wire to the post on the control arm first then attach the clamp. Trying to work the wire, 2 wrenches and 2 hands in that tight space, I drop a 1/2 inch box end wrench. I hear "chink, chink, slide, clang". All sounds are heavy metal on heavy metal. No clunk of heavy metal on light aluminum as in the cowling or ching of wrench on concrete floor. I feel everywhere I can reach and cannot find it. I look everywhere I can see (using a flashlight) and no wrench to be seen. The Mouse has eaten a 1/2 inch box end wrench!

Travis comes down and he looks and feels. No wrench. The guy who owns the Bonanza parked next to me comes in and he looks. No wrench. Travis and I finish hooking up the wire and clamp. Now all that remains is the cotter pin on the control arm nut and finding the wrench.

Now Mike, the hangar owner comes in to see what we are doing. He is in a wheel chair, and can just barely see over the top edge of the open cowling. But he takes a flashlight and looks around. He says, "Hey Bo look on top of the nose wheel plate. That may be it."

From my side I look down there and can see a "bubble" on the edge of the round plate. Reaching down, the "bubble" is the box end of the wrench laying completely on the plate except for this small part hanging off. If it had oriented itself more clockwise, it would have been easily visible on the right side. More counter clockwise and it would have been easily visible from the left side. All Mike could see was slightly more "bubble" than I could. But his different angle had been enough.

We're done! Put the cotter pin in and close up.

It is Monday before Dave can inspect it and we can give it a test flight. We go up to Gainesville for gas and some new sectionals and he signs it off.

After we get back, Dave says it is time to put out the word that the old men at the airport no longer need to gather by the runway to watch me land anymore.

On Wednesday, March 31, I take Paul Landry to lunch in Ardmore. Paul is another of the people from Special Olympics and nearly the last of the ones who haven't had a ride. Fairly smooth flight, fair visibility and a good hamburger. Paul was suitably impressed.

Man, I needed that!


The weather goes sour again. It is April 25 before the Mouse gets out of the hangar again. I went on Saturday after the flight with Paul and gave it a bath, but the weather wasn't good enough to fly. After the bath, it needed a new coat of wax on the leading edges, which we normally do just before the first flight after the bath. I went out on April 24 and gave it the wax. The left main was totally flat. I blew it up again while I was there. It had been losing air when sitting for weeks, so I didn't think much of it then.

When we went out to fly on the 25th, it was still up nicely, so off we went. At this point, other than the test flight with Dave and the trip to New Orleans, I have only 18 hours in the last 4 months. We have decided to try Mineral Wells for lunch even though it is only a short trip. The day is crystal clear but a little windy. The wind is from the east northeast, and MWL uses 13-31 normally, so 13 will be very close to the wind. The trip over is calm and relaxing. I am enjoying just the feeling of flying and Sandra is shooting some new video for the school thing. We find MWL easily, pattern entry to 13 is smooth and the landing is not too bad.

We order fuel, pick up the courtesy car and head for town. Our first choice isn't open on Sunday, so we settle for plan B, a Mexican place. It is fairly good, and we head back for the airport. Pay for the fuel and saddle up.

Out at the end of the runway, the run up checks are normal. I close the pilot window and Sandra tries to close the door, but it won't latch. The striker had been sticking periodically in the retracted position and now it is really stuck. She tries reaching out and jiggling the outside handle to free it, but no luck. Push it further in and see if it will come out. Still no luck. Take off headset and seatbelt, climb out on wing with my pocket knife and pry it loose. Get back in and close it. She is refastening her seatbelt and putting on the headset as I taxi onto the runway.

As we start our takeoff roll, I see in the heat shimmer down the runway a black blob. There is something on the runway! Decision time. It is at least 3000' down the runway and we only need half of that. I don't know what it is, but unless it can fly, it will not cause us a problem. As we pass over it, I can see that it is a large turtle, just crossing the centerline, southbound across the runway.

"Uh, Mineral Wells Unicom. Four Lima Bravo."
"Go ahead Four Lima Bravo."
"Uh, you have a large box turtle just crossing the centerline of 13 about 3000' in."
"A what?"
"A large box turtle."
"OK, we'll go get him."
Click, click.

The day is warm and bright. The air is smooth and fairly clear. The flight to MWL had only been .8 hours. Going straight back is not an option. We head a little more north towards Lake Ray Roberts instead of Denton. Over the lake, Sandra videos some boats and then says that she wishes we could find a place with right traffic so she could make better landing videos.

Idea! If the wind is still northerly, it is a right pattern for 35 at TKI. I dial up McKinney Tower and sure enough, they are still using 35. We continue east and nearing Melissa, I contact the tower. After negotiation, I am told to report 3 miles out on a right downwind for 35.

I report and we watch a Warrior taking off towards us. He is cleared for a north departure and alerted to our presence and a Cessna on downwind is cleared for the option. We are then cleared to land number 2 behind the Cessna turning base. We see him and I start setting up for landing.

As I pass the numbers, I hear the tower tell a Cessna to hold short. Thinking that it will be waiting on me, I tell the tower to let him go, from here there is plenty of time. Tower says that there is already one in the position and hold and the Cessna landing is touch and go.

With the wind from the east, the base leg is short and as I am turning final, I see the Cessna on the runway still sitting on the bars. I straighten out on final as the tower clears the Cessna to takeoff. This is way too close! The Cessna slowly begins to move. The tower comes in:
"Cessna xx3, position and hold, Four Lima Bravo, go around."
"Four Lima Bravo is going around. Will break to right."
"Four Lima Bravo, Midfield crosswind at your discretion."
"Cessna xx1 (the one now heading for the parking area), you need to let me know when you are going to do a full stop landing."

Sandra was videotaping all of this and the speaker was on. The entire sequence is audible on the tape. Oh well, no harm, no foul. We do 2 more that are not good in the crosswind and then head for home.

Greenville, Texas


The next week is another rotten Saturday with Sunday forecast to be nice. Sandra was wanting to go visit an old schoolteacher friend of hers who lives in Greenville. Well, Why not? She called Mary Saturday and asked. Mary was delighted. We would meet at the airport and go for dinner and maybe a ride after.

When Sunday came clear and with little wind, Sandra called her back and firmed up plans. We would arrive at the airport around 11:30 so we could beat the Sunday lunch bunch. When we got to the hangar, the left main was completely flat again. We have a battery powered air compressor for just that purpose, so air it up and we are ready to go.

We took off about 10:30 after clearing across McKinney, had a short, smooth and uneventful flight. After landing, the Redhead called Mary and I made the picture. Mary arrived while I was in the bathroom. We discussed all of us going to Sulphur Springs, but gave that up when we couldn't scrounge another headset. Pile in Mary's SUV and head for lunch. We went to an Italian place on I30 where I had very good Chicken Marsala. Then back to the airport.

I mentioned to Sandra that this would be an opportunity for her to video the plane for takeoff and landing, so she got the camera out and ready. I and then Mary got in and I went through the pre-start checks. The battery would just barely turn the prop! Check the aero club and a maintenance hangar before finding someone with a vehicle and jumper cables to start the plane. It started very easily.

Taxi back up to the FBO and load Mary in. Take off and head east. Almost to Sulphur Springs, Back over Commerce and back across the north side of Greenville. Then into the Downwind to 35 and make a very good landing.

Sandra had gone out to the taxiway to video the landing and while she was there, security had called the FBO to tell them to make sure that she wasn't filming the E-Systems facility on the north end of the field. She did get some good video of the landing.

Stand around talking for a while. Sandra and Mary talking shop and old (pre Bo) times. The FBO guy and I talking airplanes. I see the guy who gave us a jump pre-flighting a Cherokee, so I decide that we better find out if the Mouse will start before he gets away. He agrees to standby for a minute while I give it a try. It starts right up. Taxi back around to the FBO and pick up the Redhead and we are off.

Now for those of you wondering about boarding passengers with the engine running. This is not a practice that I endorse nor do under normal circumstances. However, Both Sandra and Mary have been around small planes before and are aware of the danger. The only way into the plane is from behind the wing and with the door locked open, that area is shielded from the worst of the propwash. These 2 occurrences and twice with Dave (getting out on the taxiway so I could solo and getting back in after a jump at Denton) are the only times I have allowed it.

Since I really need some hours, and it is still early and the day is beautiful, we can't just go straight back to Aero Country. We head northeast over Commerce and across Cooper Lake. Then almost to Paris and west along US82. We see that they have closed the runway at Bonham for construction of extensions. Then south over my friend Tom's. From there, back down 121, clear across McKinney and back into Aero Country. Total 2.4 hours.

Maintenance day


Monday, I go to Tex Air and buy a tire, tube and battery. Out to Aero Country and Dave's hangar. Set the battery on a 2X12 and carefully pour the acid into the cells. After waiting 30 minutes, attach the charger and head for home. Dave says that he can clear the hangar so I can change the tire by Thursday.

Thursday morning, Dave calls and says come on out. The Arrow is still in the hangar, but is ready to move. I go check with Dave, and then go get the Mouse. When I get back, Dave decides that we can just pull it up on the apron with the Arrow still in the hangar. The mouse had just barely cranked at our hangar and now it doesn't have enough juice to start hot. Dave drives his lawn mower around and we use it to pull the Mouse up to the hangar. While the gang stands around and discusses what we do next, I pull the old battery out and install the new one.

Then we all go the Cotton Gin in Prosper for lunch. After we return, we securely block the right main and nose wheel. Then jack up the left main with a standard floor jack. Remove the axle nut, and the 2 bolts holding the brake caliper. The wheel slips right off. Take it inside, deflate and remove the three bolts holding the wheel halves together. Separate the halves and discard the tire and tube. Blow up the new tube and deflate. Liberally sprinkle baby powder in the tire and roll it around until the entire inside is coated. Stuff the tube inside, aligning the valve with the red spot on the tire. Stick the valve through the hole in the wheel half and work the tire onto that half. Line up the other half and the brake disk and reassemble the wheel. Blow the tube up to about 60psi. Deflate. Blow up to normal pressure and back out to the plane. Slip wheel back on axle, replace hub nut and then reassemble the brake caliper. Tighten the hub nut, back off until the holes line up and insert the cotter pin. Replace the wheel cover and we are done.

Go clean up. Come back out and check that we have electrical power. Remove the chocks and push back onto the taxiway. Get in, fire up and taxi back to the hangar. We're done!

San Marcos "Fly in"


One of the members of the Musketeer board had been talking about a fly in at San Marcos on the 8th, breakfast, seminars, etc. It is a 2+ hour flight, so we planned to fly down Friday night and back on Saturday afternoon. On Wednesday, the weather looked doable, so I called the FBO to make reservations. The girl on the phone didn't know anything about an airshow, so I told her I would re-check and call back. I emailed John and he replied that it was on and there was no reason she didn't know about it. I called the FBO in the afternoon and although the girl on the phone still didn't know about it, asked for a room and a car anyway.

The Friday forecast looked good except for some possible cloudiness and rain south of San Antonio. The Redhead had said that she could possibly get away from school at 2:00, so I said that I would be ready at 2:00 and get briefings etc as soon as she walked in.

She came in at 2:25 and while she was changing, I got briefed. There was a line of spotty storms building between San Antonio and Victoria and moving slowly north. The probability of making it to San Marcos was still reasonable, so I decided that rather than filing flight plans, I would use flight following. We headed for the airport and launched about 3:20.

I had planned to pass east of downtown at 2000' and turn on course over Lancaster. This was based on experience coming into Dallas from the south with flight following. So I turned slightly southeast and contacted Dallas approach before we reached 2000'. After giving them my desired altitude (3500 due to haze), they cleared me to 3500 and gave me a heading that took us over Love Field and just west of downtown. As we were over Love, they asked for a desired on course heading. This was going to bring us out of the class B west of Lancaster. The corrected course from Lancaster to the Centex VOR was 195. I asked for 190 and was cleared on course.

This turned out to be a good guess. By the time Waco was off the right wing, landmarks put us 2 miles west of the originally plotted course. Shortly thereafter, The Centex VOR came in and we were within VOR error of the originally calculated radial. This course kept us 3-5 miles east of I35 over very open country past Temple. There, I35 bends further west, but we could see Lake Grainger, 25 miles ahead.

Crossing Grainger and Taylor, we could see darker clouds on the horizon. The broken clouds overhead were still above 4000' so we soldiered on. AUS was reporting broken at 3200' (AGL) so that made them at 3700 there. We passed over the VOR and turned to pick up the 210 radial over AUS. After handoff to Austin Tower, we were turned to 240 to get us across the field quicker. By this time, we are running into occasional virga (the rain that hangs under clouds but does not actually reach the ground). And there are some lower clouds immediately south. The diversion westerly will take us past them and we pass between a small lake and I35 just above Kyle. Released from Austin, we begin a descent towards where we presume the airport to be. The lighter patch ahead becomes the airport which is reporting 2000' overcast and light rain. Yep, it is a light rain, but visibility is still well above minimums. We enter a left downwind to 8 and make a very smooth approach and landing.

What rain is still falling after we shut down is no more than an occasional sprinkle. Sandra heads for the FBO while I get the time (2.6 hours) and clean up the cockpit. I go to the bathroom and walk back to the plane while she drives the car around. Load the bags into the car and drive over to the CAF hangar to see if John is there yet.

He's not, but his partner, Alan is. Due to the rain and threat of more, the group is closing up with nothing they can do outside the hangar in preparation for tomorrow. Alan runs John down by cell phone and he is stuck in traffic between here and Austin.

We head for the motel. Based on the advice of the desk clerk, we head out looking for Texas Red's. The southbound traffic on I35 is at a standstill (why John is between here and Austin), so Sandra opts for alternate routing. After the nickel tour of San Marcos, we find it. The food, though pricey, is excellent and the service is better than that. We get back to the room in time to find CBS and watch half of JAG.

Looking out the north facing window in the morning shows nothing but gray. The weather channel shows rain passing west of us and more coming from the southeast. Good day for a fly-in, right? We shower, dress and pack and when we step outside, it isn't quite as bad as the north facing window made it appear. Sandra drops me off at the FBO and I taxi the Mouse around to the CAF hangar while she drives over. We get it parked and meet John who apologizes profusely for not meeting us last night. At this point, ours is the only plane there. The weather indicates that they shouldn't move their planes out of the hangar and John and Alan's Mouse is down for repairs.

I park where they direct me and shut down. I get the rag and Pledge and clean the bugs off and put description sheets in the windows. Then we go into the hangar for pancakes. After breakfast, I go to the Wings Seminar and Sandra goes off to run an errand. By the end of the seminars, the Mouse is still the only plane out there. Several people go over to look at it and I talk to several of them. The cheerleaders from the Austin Wranglers (Arena football, I think) come over and pose with me. Sandra comes back before noon and we hang around a while longer then I taxi the Mouse back to the FBO, order the fuel truck and we go looking for lunch.

We find a place out the west side of town and eat a couple of decent hamburgers. Then back to the airport for briefings. There is considerable cloudiness coming and going overhead, but still lots of sky most of the time. The briefing tells of some low clouds near Austin and a line of scattered echoes from Stephenville to Waco, moving north. Not good. Well, flight following and flight watch are going to earn their pay this afternoon.
We launch shortly after 2. Climbing out, we can see the clouds over Austin. I level out at 2500 and contact Austin Approach. They say that there is more stuff moving up I35, north of Austin, so over west Austin, I break for the clear area to the northwest. We quickly break out into scattered clouds and climb to 3500'. Austin gives us leave to contact flight watch for a newer picture of what lies to the north. After a long conversation, their advice is to go west to Brady, north to Mineral Wells and across the north side of Dallas. We are now heading for the Lampasas VOR anyway, so I opine that that may be what we have to do.

Going back to Austin Approach, they hand us on to Gray Center (Temple). Gray has echoes between Stephenville and west Fort Worth, but nothing directly north. We (Redhead, Gray and I) decide that we will go from Lampasas VOR to Glen Rose VOR and play by ear from there. We continue on in reasonably smooth air with good visibility.

Turning north at Lampasas, I remark, "Well, we wanted to see some new ground."
The Redhead replies, "That's the good news. The bad news is that it is west Texas."

Near Hamilton, we can see dark areas to the north and when we go to Dallas Approach, they ask if we want to go to the east to avoid it. I told them that was what I had been considering for several minutes.

Come east to 030 and continue. This course gets us past the clouds over Glen Rose and brings us just north of Cleburne. We are directed to 2500' and cleared direct Love, direct McKinney. Nice, across Dallas for the second time in 24 hours. East of Addison, we turn north over the US75-LBJ interchange and on to Aero Country.

When I check the McKinney ASOS, it is 140@14G22. This may not be a pretty landing. It isn't, but nothing is hurt but my pride.