Finally, by October 8, I can take it no more. I gotta fly! Sandra is busy, and I run down a list of people with no takers. So I have to go alone. I have to move the plane anyway, They are going to repave the taxiway starting on Monday. It is scheduled to take 10 days, but these things have a schedule of their own. We don't want the plane locked in the hangar for 2 or maybe more weeks if we have an opportunity to go somewhere.
I have made arrangements with Dr Kramer to park it on his ramp for the duration, so early afternoon, I head for the airport. No one there is available, so I get the bird out and check it out. All is fine, so off I go. It is not a bad day, but is a little hazy. I goof around a little and go into Gainesville. Fill the bird up and head for home. Another landing just like the one coming back from Lufkin. My, Oh My!
Park and chock it on Kramer's ramp. Button it up, take the flight bag and hoof it back to the hangar. It was a lot further than it seemed driving or taxiing. A group of the guys are sitting on Dave's patio, so I rehearse what I am going to say and park on his ramp. As I walk around, Dave gets up and sticks his hand out. He had seen the landing and wanted to congratulate me on as near perfect a landing as he had seen.
Poor weather on Monday and Tuesday. No real rain, but cloudy and threatening. Sandra came home with a cold/flu on Wednesday, so she couldn't go anywhere. Saturday was nice, so I went out if for no other reason than to attend the weekly ABS lunch. The entire airport seemed deserted. I went over and consoled the lonesome Mouse hunkered alone on the ramp. I checked out the progress on the paving, then I went home and coughed the entire afternoon. It is so nice of the Redhead to share what she brings home from school.
Sorghum Day
By mid week, we are both recovering at our usual pace and the weekend forecast looks good. Pending a better suggestion, we will go to Longview for lunch. Thursday morning, She calls and asks what I know about Wewoka, OK. It is close to Seminole, and there is a festival there. One of the other teachers is from there and told her about it. Quick check shows a nice airport at Seminole with little other data.
Friday morning, I call the FBO. They won't let us use their crew car to go to Wewoka, but they have an arrangement with Enterprise. I call Enterprise and make arrangements for a car on Saturday, do my flight planning and we are ready.
Showered, shaved, dressed and briefed, we are in the air shortly after 9. Straight north on a reasonably clear day. Climbing to cruise altitude, we both suffer from the problems associated with colds, so I level off at 4500'. The air is smooth, Fort Worth Center is watching over us and we can see Ada by the time we are over Texoma. How sweet it is!
Just north of Ada, we close flight following and begin our descent. I can't raise Unicom so they can call for the car. Fly directly into the downwind for 16 and land. Taxi in and shut down. Sandra calls Enterprise while I button up and make the picture. She cant get an answer, so she goes inside and uses the FBO land line. No joy.
She gives me the cell and says "you try it." I get them and tell them we are at the Seminole airport, waiting for a ride. He says about 20 minutes. I go outside to wait. And I wait. And I wait. He said 20 minutes and 45 have gone by, so I call again. Oops, he sent the driver to the Shawnee airport. Apology, apology, apology and the driver will be there shortly.
We landed at 10:30 and just before noon, the driver shows up. More apologies, and back to Shawnee to fill out the paperwork. Finally we are on our way, but by now we are starving. The first place we see is a Sonic, but we don't care.
We are soon on the road to Wewoka. The highway takes us right into town and up to the barriers blocking main street. We park and walk in. We are near the middle of downtown and the festivities extend in both directions. There are booths for nearly everything. There are old and classic and customized cars. There are numerous food stands. There are many traces up and down Main Street of the parade that concluded about an hour ago (Thanks Enterprise). There must have been a lot of horses.
We turn left toward the nearer end and start looking. Down to the Depot, across the street and back up the other side. One company is demoing a horse trailer/RV that puts our house to shame. Every couple of blocks, there is a band and people dancing in the streets.
At the upper end, there is a park with more vendors and a real press turned by two mules pressing sorghum. I sit and watch while Sandra shops. Then we go into the Seminole Museum and look around. Back out and down the street. Sandra gets a roasted ear and proclaims it good. The on to the starting point.
After we get in the car, we do the obligatory drive around town, then back to the airport. Sandra takes care of the car while I get the plane ready. Update the weather briefing and we are ready to depart about 4:30.
Up to 4500' again and call up Fort Worth Center for flight following. There is a little more haze looking into the sun, but we can make out Texoma shortly after we pass over Ada. I realize that with little change of direction, we could take off from Seminole, turn right 20 degrees, T&G at Ada, T&G at Tishomingo, T&G at Lake Texoma, T&G at Grayson County and land at Aero Country. The runways are all 17-35 or 18-36 and a straight line from Seminole to Aero Country will pass within a mile of each of them.
Back on the ground, I taxi into Kramer's ramp and Let Sandra out. She goes for the car while I go try out the new taxiway. It is very nice. And she arrives before I get completely shut down. Open up the hangar and push the Mouse in. They have also removed the hump that we always had to push the left main over. How sweet it is!
The next weekend, Sandra is bus driver for Special Olympics, so I am on my own. Back to the list and finally on Saturday morning, set Tia McVey up for a ride. I meet her in the Albertson's parking lot and we head out. Open the hangar, preflight and pull the bird out. She closes the doors while I go potty. I come back out of the apartment and she has closed both doors completely.
"Uh, Tia. How are we going to get out now?"
"Uh, oops"
Oh well, open the first panel on the west door, exit, close it and lock it. Then get in. Start up and taxi out. The bird is light on gas since we made the trip to and from Seminole without refueling. It is also cool, and we climb to 3500' very quickly. There are a few bumps, but it is generally smooth. Straight to Gainesville, gas up and sit around in the lounge for a few minutes. Then out for the joyride part of the flight.
On an arc from Gainesville, over Texoma to east of Denison, we pass from Texas to Oklahoma 6 times. From Denison, back to Aero Country and put the bird away.
Daylight Savings Time goes out that Saturday night, so it is now time to get night current. Besides, we are hopefully going to Gaston's next weekend and at least one part of that flight may be at night.
Tuesday is clear and nothing forecast for the next day, so I head for the airport about 4. Sunset is at 5:30, so the plan is to takeoff at 6:00 while it is still light, leisurely go to Gainesville and do a stop and go there at 6:30. Follow that with a full stop, top off the tanks for the weekend and straight back to Aero Country.
As usual, I get antsy and am off several minutes before 6. Just head straight north while I watch the sky darken to my left. At 6:20, over US82, I turn west towards Gainesville. Over Whitesboro. I hear the calls and see the lights of a Cessna taking off on 17. There appears to be no other activity, and I enter the pattern for my first landing. As usual on my first night landing, I am lower than normal but make a smooth touchdown and gently brake to a stop. Then off again and around the pattern. This time my slope is more normal, but I run out of airspeed about 6 inches above the ground. No bounce, just a little firmer than I like.
Taxi in and top off. Go inside and get a drink of water. Back out and saddle up. Engine fires right up and I taxi out. The taxiway lights are not working, but it is no problem. Run up Ok and off I go. Climb back to just under 3000 and level off. Take up a course that will get me home.
I am a little off in the dark and come in over Prosper rather than Celina. I know my error before I get to Preston road and turn directly east, announcing that I will pass over the approach end at 2000'. Good opportunity to check that the runway lights are on before turning south to get to the downwind. Around the pattern and make another decent landing. Put the bird back in the hangar and head for the house.
BAC to Gaston's
The Beech Aero Club (BAC, the Mouse Gang) has planned their final 2005 fly-in for Gaston's Resort on the weekend of Nov 5. It's just under 300 miles from home, so we must go. The major problems are that Gaston's is a bit pricey for room, and their refund policy requires a 2 week minimum cancellation notice. This is not good for VFR flyers.
By Thursday, the weather looks good although windy, with the chance of clouds and a frontal passage by Saturday afternoon. So we pack for possibly two nights in case there are clouds on Saturday afternoon. Our plan is to leave Gaston's about 3, get gas and arrive at Aero country well after dark. If there are any clouds below 5000', we ain't gonna fly after dark.
Friday, I finish and print all the nav logs, finish packing, shower, dress, lunch, brief and leave for the airport at 2:00. I have the cell phone so I could call the FSM FBO and just north of 121, It rings. Sandra's meeting is canceled and she will leave school immediately for the airport. We have reservations in Fort Smith and now there is enough daylight with the expected tailwind to make it to Lakeview before dark. Sigh!
We are in the air by 3:00 and headed north. Level at 5500' before we get to Sherman, we pick up flight following. When we are handed off to Fort Worth Center, north of Durant, I casually ask for our ground speed. 125 knots! What a tailwind! The visibility is good in the haze looking north and east. The ride is smooth in spite of the forecast for mild turbulence and we are approaching Fort Smith shortly after four. Razorback approach vectors us behind a regional jet for landing and on downwind I carefully watch him on final to judge his touchdown. We turn final in good shape and just over the threshold, we are all over the place. I fight for the centerline just as we are slammed onto the runway. At the top of the bounce with the stall horn blaring, I give it enough power to hold it up. The stall horn stops and I ease back the power and center the plane on the runway again. We ease back down and roll it onto the runway.
There was a reason why I looked for his touchdown spot, wake turbulence. Then on final, I completely forgot about it and headed for the threshold like normal. The Redhead won't let me make that mistake again!
No harm, no foul. Taxi in to Tac-Air and shut down. 1.6 on the clock from startup to shutdown for 178nm. Not bad!
We catch the shuttle to the Aspen Motel. Very nice place. We had chosen the Aspen over the Holiday Inn because they furnish shuttle service and the extra $10/night was better than a rental car or taxi fare. From our room, we can see 4 restaurants, so dinner is no problem. We eat at the Chili's and then spend the remainder of the evening watching TV.
The continental breakfast is good and plentiful. As we are heading back to the room, I tell the desk clerk that we will be ready to go to the airport in a few minutes, could she call the shuttle? She says he hasn't come in yet, but she will call him. We come back down with our bags and are told that he isn't coming in, she has called a cab. No offer to pay for the cab, so much for saving money!
We mention this to the cabby on the way to the airport. He tells us we should have stayed at the Holiday, they give you vouchers for the cab ride.
Ah, well, back to the flying tales. As arranged, Keith Miller is waiting for us at the FBO. I walk down to his hangar and drool on his Sierra while they are bringing the Mouse around. He takes off in his Sport for Gaston's as I am doing my preflight. I don't add fuel as the flight up yesterday was so short in time that we still have plenty. I want to be as light as practical taking off from a 3000' grass field in a deep valley.
We are in the air right at nine, climbing towards 5500. There is a layer of clouds between 2500 and 4000 with several holes and edges visible. As we start out over them, I dial up the Flippin weather and they are reporting clear below 12000 there, so these don't extend that far. I see edges north of us, so we edge a little that way just before we see the east edge of the clouds below. The air is smooth we still have that tail wind from yesterday. Soon, we identify Flippin and Bull Shoals Lake. Now to find Gaston's.
We scrutinize every clear strip of land oriented in the right direction while I descend towards the 1600 pattern altitude. Sandra finally finds it thanks to the row of bright airplanes parked by the strip. I am still very high, so I do a 360 back into the downwind. I can't get slowed down enough as well as descend enough and by the time we turn "final", I know that with the turbulence in that valley, I won't make it. Go around and try it again. Dave says thank you for this as it gave him time to get in position to make a video of the landing. We haven't seen the video yet, but Jay says that it was a good landing.
All goes well this time until mid base when we get below the ridge line. Turning final, we are mostly into a wind that is swirling and rolling all over the valley. I manage to hold some semblance of stable flight until I am at the tree top level when it gets much smoother. The landing would have been a greaser on pavement, I don't know what you call it on grass. I keep the speed up a little and the yoke back until we are ready to turn off into the parking area. We make Mouse number 7, parking right beside Keith's Sport. Shut down, clean up, and pile out for the arrival picture. Make my own picture and stroll over to the south side of the "runway" where the gang is gathered in the shade watching the arrivals.
Since we were apparently the last arrival, that activity wore out pretty fast. Sandra and Mike Rellihan's wife head off to do some shopping and the rest of us just begin the normal hangar tales. After a while, we all gather on the river side for the pilots meeting. Door prizes were awarded and business discussed. Then back to the field for the group pictures and the early departures.
Gaston's is a "one-way" strip. All landings are to the west and all takeoffs to the east. This is due to trees and a canyon wall immediately off the west end of the runway. When we arrived, there was a 20 knot wind blowing nearly down the runway to the east. We had all discussed the advisability of taking off to the east with this much tailwind. Fortunately, by this time, the wind has diminished some, but will still be a factor. Keith is the first to go. He lifts off and seems to be climbing out well when a gust catches up with him. He sinks noticeably for a second or so before continuing his climb.
Two more depart, neither of them seeming to have any problem and the remainers sit around some more. Mark and Tyra and the others go in to eat leaving Mike and I to continue swapping lies. Shortly the shoppers return and we go to join them in the diner. The food is good and reasonable and the company is great.By 2:30, we are all heading for the ramp. We are the first ready to go and we taxi over to the edge of the strip. The sock is going from limp to well inflated as I do the runups. One notch of flaps, announce rolling and we turn onto the strip. All is normal, and we are off just past midfield. Hold level until Vx and pitch up until clear above the trees lining the strip. The wind gets us, but we are flying and well under control. Down to normal attitude, accelerate to Vy while nursing off the flaps and we head down the valley. Right pattern to follow the river and back along the ridgeline. I level off at 3000 and set the VOR for Harrison, 30nm to the west. The air is very rough and the headwind is still there.
Looking into the sun now, the haze is also very bad. Even with the VOR, in the haze, we are having some difficulty judging our progress. But just as I begin to seriously look for the Boone County airport, there it is directly over the nose. Quick descent to pattern altitude over town and into the pattern for 18. ASOS says 210@16G26, but the landing is good. Taxi over to the pumps and start pumping gas.
Let's see, now. Runway is 6100', density altitude is 3000'. We intend to fly non-stop to Aero country, 266nm. But there is that headwind, forecast to die out before dark, but yesterday, it was supposed to die out by noon today and turn northerly. I fill both tanks to within a inch or so of the top, giving us better than 50 gallons useable. That should do it.
Take the picture and go inside to use the facilities. The radar is clear, the satellite shows no noticeable clouds and a flight service briefing says all clear except for some haze and the headwind. Saddle up and taxi out a little after four.
We climb straight out, paralleling a ridgeline to our right that rises 1000' above the runway. Once above that level, the air turns rough. Well above the ridge, we turn southwest towards Fort Smith. There are hills between here and there that reach 3000', but the winds at 6000' are 20 knots higher than at 4500, so that is a no brainer. We'll take the bumpier air for 15 knots more airspeed. This only gives us 1500 to 2500 feet above the ground levels and the wind is dipping and rising as it passes across the ridges. Maintaining level flight is a task and setting trim to ease that task is not possible. Just trim as close as I can and work at staying near 4500', knowing that once near Fort Smith our altitude will go to more than 3500' AGL.
Razorback approach picks us up 25 miles SSE of Huntsville, just as we are passing the last of the ridges. We can see the bends of the Arkansas River to the south and are seeing a few clouds at 5000'. The air is smoothing out rapidly and I tweak the trim and relax as Fort Smith comes into view in the late afternoon sunlight.
As we are approaching FSM, we hear Mark and Tyra taking off. With Razorback's approval, we go off frequency to talk to them. They are going straight across the mountains to the southeast to Durant. Their GPS tells them they are making over 100knots groundspeed with their 180 ponies, so they should be approaching Durant before good dark.
Razorback gave our groundspeed as 80 knots and the direct course to Durant would leave us over the Arbuckles at dark. We opt to head for McAlester which will keep us over flatter ground before turning south to home. This will add about 15 NM to our flight, but the peace of mind is worth it.
Halfway between FSM and MLC, we watch the sun drop below the horizon with Sardis Lake over the ridges to the left. We angle a little more to the south and soon in the nearly dark sky, see Lake Atoka and the towns of Atoka and Stringtown dead ahead. We can also see the lights of McAlester, 25 miles to the north. Sandra folds up the sectional and says, "If we can't get home from here, we have no business being here.".
I turn a little further south and we reach US75 about 20 miles north of Durant. It is now full dark, but 75 is a river of light that will lead us home. We slowly paddle upstream over Durant, the east end of Lake Texoma and between Denison-Sherman and Grayson County airport. Just south of there, we begin a descent, getting ready for landing and eyeballing the area ahead for the landmarks that point to home.
Slip into the pattern, all alone and execute the third good landing of the day. We are home. The trip to Gaston's had put 2.7 hours in the log. The trip home was 4.1, but it was beautiful.
Another milestone.
Six years and two months ago, Dave remarked "There was a time when Chuck Yeager only had one hour in his logbook. Well, now I have 500.3. That's a biggie. The insurance companies consider that a boundary. I consider it time for some more reflection.
What stands out in my memories of what we have seen? Devil's Tower, Rushmore and Crazy Horse, 10 crossings of the Mississippi River, of course. But there are also the little things we have seen from a perspective few have the chance to see. That truck going down that valley in Wyoming trailing the dust cloud behind it. The 5 mile plume looked like something straight out of a Road Runner cartoon. The sudden drop off of land in the Badlands, near Scottsbluff, NE or Palo Duro Canyon. The glint of late afternoon sun off any water between us and the horizon. The land falling into darkness and lights coming on below as we fly into night. The incredible variety of colors of the lights on the ground, shades of blue thru white into orange.
Add to this list, flying low over cities. Dallas, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans. Looking down into the Titan stadium. Flying up the west bank of the Mississippi, looking at the bluffs at Natchez. Looking down at the Texas Motor Speedway.
The friendliness of the people we have met. The other pilots, the staffs in the FBO's and most of the people in the places we have been. The places and things of interest that we might never have seen without our magic carpet.
Flying continues to be the most enjoyable form of travel I have tried. Outside of takeoffs and landings and bumpy air, I can relax. I can read the chart rather than glance at it. I can read and understand the panel rather than furtive glances at speed then back outside in case the car beside me has decided to change lanes.
In the nearly 50 years that I have been driving, I have had 2 moving accidents. In both of them, everything moved too fast for me to avoid the crash. In the air, when things have gone wrong, time has seemed to stand still while I took the steps necessary to make things right. Sandra says that when the engine quit turning final at Sulphur Springs, my right hand was a blur pushing things pulling things, turning things and flipping things. To me, it seemed to be a steady progression of actions; switch tanks, mixture in, I can make the runway from here, why hasn't it caught yet, boost pump on, check tank lever, throttle full (that should have been action 3), boost pump off, reduce throttle, retrim, full flaps and a normal landing from there. The same feeling was true in the clouds over Tunica; It doesn't sound right, the attitude indicator is way off level. make the yoke match it, level off, check current direction and turn back towards the opening I had just left.
After the first 500 hours we are, if anything, more enthusiastic about the time after Sandra's retirement when we can travel with no time constraints. The concept of getting up in the morning, checking the weather and going where it isn't is becoming more real. We now know how to make multi day trips with minimal weight for clothing, etc..
