Well, after that, what do you do for an encore? We vegged out for a couple of days, resting up and going through the 300 pictures. I started on the journal and Sandra started a scrapbook of the trip.
On Tuesday, the 28th, we visited the tired Mouse and gave it a much deserved bath. It took 2 hours to remove the collection of bugs from 7 states from it's nose and wings. Finally, it was looking shiny and proud again. And none of us was wearing a dry stitch.
Back to Raymond?
A "family gathering" was in the works for July 4th weekend. Johnny and Betty from Tennessee were coming to visit Terrell and Thelma in Raymond. Sandra and her siblings wanted to go. Here's another opportunity to use the Mouse. We planed to leave Friday morning and have whoever was already there pick us up at the airport in Raymond. Here was the opportunity to improve on the landings I made there in '02 and finally get a picture of the Mouse there.
The weather forecast said mostly isolated afternoon thundershowers for the entire area through the weekend, so we planned to arrive in Raymond early afternoon. Friday morning, there was a line of clouds lying east west across northern OK and Central AR, moving slowly southeast. This said, go early or not at all.
We were in the air before 9, with some puffies to the north and a solid line showing some activity lying along the Red River. We make our fuel stop in Sulphur Springs. Potty break and buy the current Memphis Sectional and we are on our way. Depart from the crosswind, check in for flight following and climb straight ahead to 5500. The puffies are now just off our left wing and the solid line still several miles north, but it does look like a race.
By Shreveport, the scattered puffies extend now a few miles south of us, but the line is still north of us. The puffies in front are beginning to build some, and slaloming among them, we begin to drift south of our course. Passing north of Caney Creek, we are now 15 miles south of course, but are still over widely scattered puffies with some of them blooming to our altitude. We pick out Winnsboro as we fly by and the solid stuff has now covered Monroe. Vicksburg is now reporting rain, but the bottoms are at 3600.
We again determine our position as we cross the Mississippi River, still about 15 miles south of plan. Hawkins, 10 miles east of Raymond, is reporting multiple layers, all of them high enough for VFR, and lightening in all quadrants. This is not good.
Handed over to Jackson approach, they say that it is raining just north of Raymond, but the bottoms should allow us to get in OK. I tell them that I will try to track the 223 radial inbound which will keep me clear of the up to 2400' towers just south of town. Approach says that oughta work.
Time now to go down under and turn northerly. We find the bottoms just at 3000' and when we are settled under them, it is time to run that radial into Raymond. Under the overhang we go.
Big Mistake! This is the worst turbulence we have ever been in. I back the throttle off to 2000rpm, but we are still doing 140 and climbing back towards the clouds. We are only occasionally in contact with our seats. Turn right towards the clearer air.
Back out from under the maelstrom, assess the situation. Check back with approach and get a vector. Raymond is 11 miles at 330 and we should pass safely between the Raymond antennas and the twin towers SE of Jackson. The clouds over there look awful wet, and approach says that Raymond is now under a shower. I can see the lights on the Raymond towers at 10 o'clock and the actual Jackson towers at 3 o'clock. We can also clearly see Hawkins past those towers 5 miles away. We have a clearly viable option, so we give it a try.
When I have the Raymond towers at 9 o'clock,
"Approach, Four Lima Bravo. How am I doing?"
"Raymond is 11 o'clock, 4 miles."
As he is speaking, ZAP! A massive stroke of lightning strikes a mile in front of us.
Frantically turning right, "Never mind approach. We are going to Hawkins."
"Probably the better choice. Report Hawkins in sight"
By this time, we are level again and Hawkins is filling the windshield, "Approach, we have the towers at 2 o'clock and Hawkins at 12, about 5 miles."
"Very good. Radar services terminated, squawk VFR, contact Hawkins Tower on 119.65."
"So long, Approach and thanks for your help."
Into a right base for 34 and execute one of the best landings ever. I don't even want to guess at my adrenaline level. After exchanging pleasantries with the tower, we taxi over to Jacobs where a lineman guides us into a parking spot right in front of the door. Sandra heads for the FBO while I make the picture.
Walking back around the front to put the camera down, I notice that the rear cowling latch is hanging loose. On examination, the piece attached to the top cowl has broken free from the part that locks into the lower cowl. The lineman takes a look at it and brings out the chief mechanic. After some hmms, he says that he can fix it enough to get us home, won't take long.
Circumstances as they are at this point in time in no particular order:
- We can't get into Raymond for at least several hours.
- It will be at least an hour before the cowl latch is fixed.
- Sandra's siblings will not arrive in MS until around midnight.
- Johnny and Betty should arrive by mid-afternoon.
- The motel reservations are actually in Clinton, halfway between the Raymond airport and Hawkins.
- It is 12:30 and Thelma and Terrell will be at lunch in the assisted living facility where they live.
- It is now beginning to sprinkle here.
Get another munchy from the kitchen and wait on Thelma.
Family fun
Ah, Thelma. The archtypical "Steel Magnolia". Think Claree (Olympia Dukakis). She and Terrill arrive and we toss the bags in and head for Raymond to await Betty and Johnny. After a stop at the local Sonic for some needed sustenance, we go on to Thelma's. Betty and Johnny arrive after 3:00 and we all sit around and gab. This family does a lot of that. Plans are made for tomorrow and we (Sandra and I, Betty and Johnny) head for Clinton around 9:30 with tummies full of spaghetti.
Wilton and Marie arrive around midnight (we didn't wait up for them). Saturday morning, the 6 motel rats gather for breakfast and more gab. I check the weather forecasts for the remainder of the weekend and more rain and scattered thundershowers are forecast. After the experience in Alva, I like the idea of having the Mouse in a hangar. I call the FBO at Raymond and learn that they have no hangar space available at any price and no one in attendance Monday to get it out anyway. Jacobs will gladly leave it where it is and they will have a full crew on Monday. The bird will spend the weekend at Hawkins.
Thelma and Terrill join us and the plan for the day goes into action. The girls head up country to visit an old lady who grew up with Betty's mother and do/see some other family related stuff. Terrill had to work the afternoon, so Wilton, Johnny and I were left to our own devices. We made the obligatory Wal-Mart run and had lunch. Then commenced the usual Crocker afternoon activity: nap time.
Not expecting the girls back until after dark, we headed out for dinner following Wilton's directions. He turned out to be even more adept than Sandra at finding the poorer parts of town. We finally ate at a KFC and headed back to the motel to await the return of the girls.
Sunday, we all ate the noon meal at the home. We had been joining in Thelma's teasing about Terrill being pampered by the waitresses, but now we saw that there was a kernel of truth to the tales. Terrill was served last at our table, and his slice of roast pork was half again as much as what the rest of us got. We teased him some more and then came dessert. His slice of cake was noticeably larger than the rest of them.
After we had finished, I was joking with one of the waitresses about pampering Terrill when another waitress came up with two extra pieces of cake and placed one on them in front of Terrill. Before I could say anything, the waitress I was talking to picked it up and put it in front of me. Terrill immediately ceased to be the point of the jokes. Bo was now getting his way by whining! Sigh.....
We all went to the local Olive Garden for dinner where I succeeded in changing my stuffed condition after "lunch" to overstuffed. Then back to the home for a fireworks display courtesy of the community across the highway. Then some more talk, watermelon and back to the motel.
And home again
Monday morning came with scattered to broken clouds and 2 lines of potential convective activity which we would have to deal with. The first was just east of the river and the second was across central LA. Both were nearly stationary.
I called Jacobs as we were leaving the motel and ordered fuel. We drove around to the plane and loaded up the baggage while I pre-flighted. Then a weather briefing which was more cautionary than encouraging.
We took off shortly after 10:00 and after picking up Flight Following from Hawkins approach, climbed to mostly on top at 4500'. We slalomed through the clouds, crossing the river at Vicksburg and were soon over eastern LA. This is beautiful flying. Other than the clouds, the air is very clear and the clouds in no way cover enough that we cannot determine visually where we are. Our lunch stop was to be Monroe, and we were vectored around a cloud and into a straight in approach. An excellent landing and taxi to the far end of the field to the FBO.
Pick up the courtesy car and get directions to a highly recommended sandwich shop and head into town. We missed a turn the first try and found it on the second attempt. It being July 4th, the place was closed. Oh, well, plan B. Pick one from the other eateries we had seen looking for the first one. Copelands was chosen and we ate well. Back to the airplane patch, add some gas and take off for home.
A check of the weather at Monroe had shown the front as a line of popup showers between Monroe and Shreveport. These were slowly moving north, but were not developing into large cells. It appeared that we could easily skirt around to the north of the one in our path and have clear sailing the rest of the way home.
Smooth climb to 4500 and we can easily see the rain columns from the showers shown on the radar. Slight right course change and we pass them, looking at what appears to be a solid wall ahead. We are now on the other side of the front and the "wall" is severe haze. Ground visibility drops to about 5 miles. Not to worry, we have the Belcher VOR and from there, we can use the Quitman VOR if we need it to get the rest of the way home.
We pass just south of Lake Claiborne and continue west, passing over Belcher and Caddo Lake, then Lake of the Pines. We pass south of Winnsboro and can see Lake Fork. Just south of Greenville, ATC warns us of an aircraft at our altitude and maneuvering. We cannot locate him in the haze and turn north and climb to get clear. Soon, we make out Lake Ray Hubbard and Lavon. Descend into the heat and head for home.
Now that we are on the backside of the front, the wind is considerably different from the low variable we started the day with. McKinney is reporting 120@17G26. Good healthy crosswind component. Get lined up exactly on short final, drop the upwind wing and kick the downwind rudder. Only a slight bump on touchdown and a small jerk to straight ahead as the nosewheel came down.
Taxiing back to the hangar, we noted the windsocks swinging all over the place and going from limp to straight out. Such fun!
The Big BAC Fly-in
Our next "adventure" is to be the Great Rodent Roundup on July 9 at Meacham Field and Hicks at Fort Worth. This fly in has been on the schedule since Mark Miller announced it in May. The schedule is for breakfast at a diner near Meacham and a tour of the museum there. Followed by a fly out to Hicks for burgers and hangar talk in the afternoon.
We are in the air before 9, into a cloudless but hazy sky. Contact Dallas Approach for Flight Following and entry to the class B. We cross Denton "at or below 2500'" and are turned southwest. We pass directly over Dallas Motor Speedway and across the south end of Alliance airport. When I report Meacham in sight, we are turned over to Meacham Tower which clears us for a straight in approach to 16. 7500X150, what do we do with all that concrete? I line up on final just before the "rabbit" and grease it on. Nine o'clock on Saturday morning, so there is no one to see it. But we suddenly have a serious nose wheel vibration. It stops as suddenly as it started, and we easily make the A1 turnoff. Get clearance from ground and taxi to the south end to the air museum. I have just landed at my 100th different airport.
We are Mouse number 3, with Jay and Dena and Rod and Denise already there. Shortly, two more Mice scamper in and a couple who own a Mouse based at Hicks arrive with Mark. We all pile into an SUV and van for the short ride to the diner. Gathered around a long table, we chow down on the buffet breakfast and swap some tales and introductions.
Back out to the museum, we get a guided tour. The museum has some very unique artifacts and models which suffer some from lack of organization and identification. But the main attraction is the planes. Most notable are a B17, two twin Beechs and a Stinson Reliant. Shortly after noon, we saddle up for a mass takeoff for the 6 mile trip to Hicks. We are number four in the lineup with Jay and Dena as tail end charlies.
Hicks is easy to find from the south or west, but the runway is nearly invisible from the east and north. We simply follow Rod and Denise around the pattern and the runway becomes visible on short final. A much smaller vibration when the nose wheel comes down this time, but the landing is, shall we say, somewhat firmer than the one at Meacham.
The rest of the gang taxis to the grass across from Mark's hangar while we taxi to the gas pumps. Sandra walks over to the group while I set up and pump gas. I finally coax the hot engine back to life and start over to the group. As I go around the end of the island, the left wheel stops and swings me around about 45 degrees. What the???? I look out my window and see the ground wire trailing out from under the wing to the reel on the island.
Shut down, get out and walk around to see how much damage is done. Fortunately, the clamp had come off the exhaust pipe without bending it. But when it came loose from that, it whipped around the left main gear and is now wrapped around the brake disc. Push the poor Mouse back a couple of feet to get some slack and untangle it. No harm to the gear or brake disc and the wire seems undamaged. Reel it back in and now face all the people in the diner who have watched this embarrassment.
After much coaxing, I get it started again and taxi over to the parking area. Another Mouse comes in and parks beside me as I am shutting down, making a total of 10 of us. After carefully inspecting all the planes, burgers, etc. are ready and we all sit down to eat. A couple drives in from Cleburne and immediately heads for home to bring their plane in. They return an hour or so later, upping the Mouse total to 11.
Much hangar flying and swapping of stories, tales and possibly outright lies is done. Some informative and some sidesplittingly funny. We compare notes and equipment. Suprisingly, of the 11 Mice, 4 of them are Continental powered. This is a good time to get some engine comparisons done.
By 3:30, it begins to thin out. We hang in until after five waiting for it to begin cooling off. Climbing out on downwind, we pick up flight following. This time we are directed well north of Alliance before we can turn east. Visibility is not too bad, and the air is reasonable smooth at the 2500' we are cleared to. Soon, we are released into the pattern at Aero Country and an fairly smooth landing with only a hint of nose wheel wobble.
Push the bird mostly back into the hangar and get out the stuff for oil change. Start the old oil draining and loosen the filter. Then get everything else ready. On a 98 degree day, it took a while for everything to get cool enough to touch, but we finished up including opening up the old filter to see what it had caught. Nothing to worry about.
Then it got really hot
I went to the airport on Tuesday for the ABS lunch and to inspect the nosewheel etc.. I disconnected the shimmy damper and checked it for proper function. Like any shock absorber, I could compress and extent it slowly, but not rapidly. It showed no sign of leakage or rust on the case. I re-connected it and the play on either end was nominal as well as the play on the steering arm. Nothing here to indicate a reason for the vibration. Dry off and go home.
It is now simply too hot to fly. Heat index over 100 by noon for days on end with occasional afternoon showers. The showers only keep the humidity level up without lowering the temperature.
After 4 weeks, Saturday August 9 is forecast to remain under 100. We decide to at least go somewhere for lunch. Sober reflection regarding the nose wheel vibration has concluded that the crosswind landing on our return from Jackson had probably scrubbed a chunk off the nosewheel tire and left it out of balance/round. Full inflation and a little use and then see if it continues. The vibration had been less at Hicks and even less back at Aero Country indicating that this may be the correct course of action.
Out to the hangar and check inflation on all 3 tires. We have plenty of gas from the fill up at Hicks, so off to Sulphur Springs and the Red Barn. What a ghastly day. At 3500' the temperature is bearable, but the visibility is poor. We cannot see the lake at SLR until we are past Greenville. Into the pattern and a good landing. The nose gives two separate but distinct shudders as we roll out and turn off. Over to the FBO and pile out.
Hike to the Red Barn and eat. Food is good as usual. Walk it off on the way back to the FBO. Sit inside and cool down while I check the current weather. There are some showers from Paris north across the Red River and some from over Tawakoni south, but a clear area between. We will need to scoot through there quickly in case they are thinking of getting together. So much for taking the long way home.
Go saddle up and head out. Visibility, if anything, is worse, but we get through the gap easily. Back into Aero Country and a good landing. This time there is almost no hint of nose wheel vibration.
Michael Jackson gets a ride
More hot weather and August slowly simmers by. The trip to SLR winds up being the only time we get in August. The weather for Labor Day looks like VFR, but the temperature will still be mid to upper 90s. We don't have a destination in mind that is worth the heat, so back to the "I wanna go" list.
Michael Jackson is one of the members of the Special Olympics Combined team. Michael is developmentally delayed, but very high functioning. He holds a decent job and drives his own truck. He is fairly athletic, but very shy. He has been asking Sandra for a plane ride for nearly a year, but has never asked me. Sandra started telling him last spring that if he wanted a ride, he would have to ask Mr. Boggs.
After the volleyball league finals, as Sandra and I were ready to leave, he shouted across the gym, "Mr. Boggs, will you take me for a plane ride?". How can I refuse? The entire team (Sandra is the coach) met for snacks afterwards and we finalized the arrangements. I would call him with the time, weather permitting, and meet him in the Albertson's parking lot on Saturday morning.
We met at 10:00, and pulling out of the parking lot onto Custer, I point out the barely visible water tower as our gauge of visibility. It is poor, but more than 5 miles, so we are good to go. Out to the airport and he is amazed that there are so many hangars. He follows me carefully through the preflight and we close the hangar and get in.
He has flown years before with one of his relatives, so I have no qualms about him being airsick or scared. I verbally go through pre-start, start and after-start and we taxi out. The wind is light and generally southeast so we pull up to one seven and I verbally go through pre-takeoff. We depart to the north from the downwind, looking for a plane maneuvering over Celina. I turn east over Van Alstyne across US75 and then back to the north towards Sherman. Passing just west of SWI at 3500 feet, we continue to the dam on Lake Texoma. From there, we go west over the lake, looking at the marinas, boats and islands. Then over Cedar Mills and I turn SW towards Gainesville. I can't see it in the haze, but the direction feels right. Soon, the city appears at 11:00 o'clock and I only have to jog slightly to the left to put us into the 45 for the downwind.
Landing is good with almost no nose wheel wobble and we taxi up to the fuel island. Fill the tanks and go into the FBO. After the necessaries, sit around the lounge for a few minutes listening to an old head spin yarns. Back out and head for home. Climbing out, the visibility seems to have improved a great deal until we pass through 2000'. The haze is really a thin cloud layer which extends from 2000 to higher than we went. Under it was hot and bumpy. In it was limited visibility. What can you do?
Back around and into the pattern at Aero Country. The landing is good with the normal burble crossing 380 and another when we drop below the treeline. A little float and a slight bounce and we are down. Taxiing back, a Cessna is on final. I stop and we watch. A burble as he passes over 380 and again as he drops under the treetops. He floats and bounces and then settles on. Typical Aero country landing when the wind is southeast.
The Fajita Flyin
The next week, we have a cooling snap that only lasts one windy rainy day. Saturday is my birthday and coincides with fly-ins all over this part of Texas. After picking and choosing, we decide on The Great Fajita Fly In at Lufkin, Texas. We've never been there, so.....
We are off the ground shortly after 8:30 and pick up flight following just south of McKinney. Out across Lake Ray Hubbard, Rockwall and Terrell in ever decreasing visibility. Like the flight with Michael, we have very thin fog/clouds. Thicker in some directions than others, but not enough to keep us from navigating.
South of Cherokee county, Fort Worth Center drops as being below radar coverage at 5500. We will be visible to Houston Center in 25 miles, but by that time we will be within 15 miles of Lufkin so we forge ahead on our own. We parallel US69 from Alto to Wells and begin our descent. Get the Lufkin ASOS and begin monitoring the traffic frequency. There is traffic, but not too much.
Identify the town, locate the airport and get in to the pattern for runway 7. Wind is out of the south east, but 15 is closed for construction. Make a good approach and only a little bump on landing, but there is a little nose wheel wobble. Possibly due to the crosswind. Turn off with one on final and one on downwind and another
announcing entry. Looks like we beat the rush!
Onto the ramp and we are parked next to a Bellanca. As we are getting out, we are joined by a small Grumman. This completes the parking of planes on the edges of the ramp. And they now start parking them down the center. Sandra heads inside and after cleaning up the cockpit and making the picture, I go in to use the facilities. Nice place! 50s modern, but clean and complete. I go back out and walk the ramp. Lots of Cessnas and RVs.
Back inside and hit the fajita buffet line. We find a space at a table and discover that we are seated with the Mayor of Lufkin. We talk about Katrina and the refugees being sheltered here as well as some other things. While we are eating, a four ship formation of RVs makes a couple of passes trailing smoke. Our seats give us a good view out the window of that as well as the continuing stream of incoming planes to the ramp.
Tummies full, we go out and walk the ramp looking at all the planes and especially the newer arrivals. Sandra goes back in while I stroll over to lust over a Luscombe that has just come in. I make arrangements for a little fuel and stroll some more.
Finally about 2:30, we potty and saddle up. There is a Citabria ahead of us for takeoff and he announces departing to the north. We position and hold as he rolls. When he has cleared the runway, we roll. I follow the Citabria, waiting for him to turn. I am gaining on him, so I finally turn northwest a little further than I need to. The last I saw of him, he was still headed east.
We climb to 4500 in the haze/mist. You can almost see the cloud formations, but the moisture is too thin to actually form clouds. There are some real clouds above and to the west, but well clear of us. We know that we would not be able to pick up Flight Following at this altitude until we were almost to the Frankston VOR, so we fly on barefoot. The air is more than a little rough and I am busy trying to maintain some reasonable approximation of 4500'. Just north of Cherokee County, the engine shudders. I am busy scanning gauges while Sandra asks "What was that?". It shudders again. It is not enough to cause a feeling of deceleration. The RPM is stable, and the EGT/CHTs are normal. I conclude that possibly it was a little water in the fuel. While things are seemingly normal again, I look over my shoulder to judge distance at 5 o'clock to Cherokee County and at 2 o'clock to look for Tyler. Jockeying the throttle and mixture shows only normal responses and all gauges still seem normal. We continue on, but it still takes 10-15 minutes before we can relax again.
Back over Terrell and begin a slow descent to get under the DFW Class B shelf before Rockwall. Down to 2500' before crossing Ray Hubbard and in over Wylie and Allen. Monitor McKinney traffic until crossing US75 and then on down to pattern altitude by 121, lined up for a downwind entry at Aero Country. Abeam the numbers, I pull the throttle back to 1600rpm and wait for 90mph. Even at that rpm and with one notch of flaps, we are neither slowing down nor descending. I finally get down to 90 and turn base a little longer than normal. The wind is 120-140 at 6 gusting to 11, so we will have the usual exciting left crosswind when we get to the tree line.
I finally have everything back in place as we turn final and let her sink below the tree line as we cross from the storage units to the grass on the north end. A last touch of power and come to level, raising the nose slightly as we come over the end of the pavement. Approaching the turnoff I have to stomp the brakes just to be sure the wheels really are on the ground.
Not a bad Birthday!
