My time in purgatory is up Jan 17. I am almost to the point of tearing my hair out and Sandra is considering euthanasia for me. But it is time to start the steps needed to get my medical re-issued. I visit Dr Kramer mid-January and we go through a non-official exam to determine if there is anything other than the obvious that will cause a problem. Everything is just fine, good vision, low blood pressure, strong steady heart rate, good urine test. Let's get on with it. I leave with a checklist of items that will be needed after the stress test to complete the paperwork. For those in the same boat with me, it is essentially:
- The hospital admission report with your history.
- All the hospital lab reports.
- The discharge reports.
- The checkup reports and intermediate labs.
- The stress test report and current labs.
We confirm that the source of the oil now coating the belly of the bird is due to a broken oil filler cap. One of the locking lugs has given way and it no longer seals the filler tube. When the cowling is removed to give access to the alternator, we find oil smears all over the front of the engine, leading back to the filler tube area. So a new filler cap is located and ordered and the alternator is removed and taken to the repair shop.
The blood work on Feb 1 is no biggie other than delaying my normal morning coffee intake, but tomorrow's stress test will be a biggie. I have stopped the Toprol on Tuesday to "un-govern" my heart rate and the rebound effect has my blood pressure slightly high. As I step onto the treadmill, I remember that Dr Kramer had advised me to take some Advil before the test to ease the cramps that terminated the previous test. Too late now, tough it out.
Stage one is literally "no sweat". I have been doing 4mph walks sporadically since October with no problems. I can walk for 12 minutes at that rate with no heart or respiratory anomalies and only minor cramping. Stage two gets hard. I am having no respiratory problems, but I have reached the target heart rate at just over 5 minutes with four more to go and my blood pressure is nearing 200. The leg cramps are getting bad, but not enough to stop. Then comes stage three. Still no respiratory problems or chest pain, but the heart rate is 109% of target and the blood pressure is bumping 200. My hips are screaming at the hill I'm trying to climb and the doctor mercifully ends the torture.
Before I can get positioned for the EEG, the heart rate is back to 100 and the BP is nearing the starting value. The EEG shows normal perfusion and the stent areas are showing wide open. Dr Akbar considers this a pass even though I didn't make the full time.
By Tuesday, Dr Kramer has everything together and ready for submission. Now there is nothing to do but wait on FAA and get the auction ready. By now, all the necessary airplane parts are on hand and all we are waiting for to finish the annual is warmer weather and the painter. On the 13th, Dr Kramer's office called and said that all was approved and all that remained was the "official" physical and the paperwork I had gathered up. Soonest appointment I could get was Thursday the 15th.
It was pretty much a non-event, fill out the 8500, check blood pressure, etc and sign the forms. I now have in my hot little hand a valid third class medical certificate, good for one year.
Beginning after the auction weekend, we start reassembling the Mouse. The painter assures me that the wingtip and cone will be ready on Monday, the 26th. Spring Break starts Friday March 2, so we start planning. Tuesday March 6 is our 20th anniversary, so we want to be in Natchez, MS for dinner at King's Tavern. We will also go to Tunica, drive to Memphis and visit Graceland.
Monday comes and goes with no word from the painter. Tuesday evening, he calls to say that he had to make additional repairs to the wingtip implying that he hasn't started painting the parts yet. Wednesday, I go to see him. The parts don't even have primer on them yet. I impress upon him the need to have the airplane flying by Saturday so that I can test fly it and maybe Sandra can get in a lesson on Sunday before we leave for Tunica on Monday morning. He thinks maybe he can get it done.
I don't hear from him, but go to the airport Saturday morning. The parts are on Dave's floor with what appears to be a still tacky single coat of white on them. I finish putting everything else together and call it a day. I'll come back tomorrow and put the tip and cone back on, test fly it and give her a topside bath. Then bathe the belly on Monday which is to be a little warmer. We will leave Tuesday morning, moving our schedule back one day.
Sunday is clear, temp headed for the upper 50s with a gusty NW wind. I get everything back together and Dave and I take her up. Out over the practice area for a few minutes to get the feel of her and then back for a couple of T&Gs. First landing is not pretty, but acceptable. Second one considering the wind, is pretty good. The third landing was successful. That is all that can be said of it. Drop Dave off at his hangar and taxi over to ours. Dave brings the van over and I run him back to his place. Then back to get the winter grime off the top of our bird.
Monday, Sandra tries to make up some schoolwork while I go to scrub the belly. The lights are off on the second floor and her Office/testing room has no windows, so that is a bust. She volunteers to help with the belly, but 2 people on this task is not very efficient, so she starts on some other tasks while I go to the airport. Stop at home Depot for some stuff and start in. Start at the nose and work as far back under the wing as I can get without laying on my back. Then start at the tail and work forward. When I get as far as I can reach from the back, there only remains a strip about a foot wide under the wing. Go fish John's creeper out from under a pile of stuff, arrange the cleaning stuff so that I can reach it, slide under the wing and do that. How come it is that the breeze will always blow the soap, drips and spray into your face when you are underneath? It simply doesn't matter which way you are facing.
The bird is clean again, top and bottom. The solid white wingtip annoys me, but you would have to look at both of them to be sure that it was "unfinished". The tailcone is even less noticeable, so we will go in a bird we can be proud of.
We needed this!
Tired and arm weary, head for the house to finish flight planning and other preparations. Haven't done this in a while, so I am very careful. Print off everything but tomorrow's Nav log and go to bed.
Tuesday morning is crystal clear and only a little cool. The forecast for Tunica is for a high in the mid 60s so we dress in long sleeves. I have a few more butterflies than normal, but after a good briefing, off we go. We are in the air just before 9:00 for the 339nm flight to Tunica with a fuel stop in Mt Pleasant. Clear across McKinney and climb to 3500. The air is clear and so smooth that I fly most of it with my hands in my lap.
Unicom recommends 35, so we aim slightly north of the airport then turn into the downwind. I'm a little high on base, but wash the altitude off before the threshold, leaving only much more bounce than I like. Thank goodness for the new donuts! Taxi in and bring the tanks up to about 45 gallons. Final pit stop and pick up an in-flight munchy for breakfast.
Back off shortly before 10:30. Climb out to the east and pick up flight following. Level at 5500 with the Texarkana VOR locked in, Sandra takes over. It is still glassy smooth, so she has no trouble maintaining altitude, but she has a problem getting the knack of holding course. Her only experience so far has been going to Gainesville or Sherman for gas with the instructor. Both of those routes we have flown so many times she can almost follow the ruts on the ground.
Across north of Texarkana and over Hope. The FEMA trailers still cover the airport there, last report says about 9000 of them. Our tax dollars at rest. We are nearing Gurdon when:
"Four Lima Bravo, verify you are direct to Tunica."
"Four Lima Bravo, Affirmative."
"Uh, you are a little north of your course."
"The Wife is a student pilot and she is getting a little cross country practice."
A few seconds later he calls someone else with information for them and you can still hear the chuckle in his voice. I take it back with Pine Bluff in sight and re-center the OBS. We are only about 3 degrees north of the line. Just passing Pine Bluff, the Marvell VOR comes in. We got it made from here.
Begin a descent over West Helena with the town of Tunica in sight. We don't descend quite fast enough and enter the crosswind a little high and still over 100knots. Bleed it off by midfield on the downwind, but are still high turning final. I had to do a go around last time here, but manage to get into reasonable shape by the threshold and make an only slightly bad landing. We have just made our first flight since June 10, 2006, nearly 9 months ago! Oh what a feeling!
Why Tunica?
We don't do casinos, so why go here? Because the FBO here is super nice and can get very good motel rates during the week. And Memphis is only 16 miles up the road. Sign out the rental car and load up the bags. Stop at the first gas and food stop along the way. After a Wendys meal, we are on our way to Graceland.
We get there with no map and only one wrong turn. We do the full tour, audio cassette for the mansion, the auto museum and the airplanes. To us, the most impressive thing was that the "mansion" was only a little bigger than an average house today and the inside looked just like the houses we grew up in. Nothing fancy, just a comfortable home.
We are back in Tunica just before 6:00. Check into the motel and freshen up for dinner. When I spent the extra night in Tunica in 04, I had eaten dinner at the Blue and White Diner. That's where we went. Same old country town diner I remembered. My fried chicken was great. We ate long and leisurely. Then back to the motel for the night.
On to Natchez.
The plan for today is to hop the 143nm to Raymond, take the FBO car and have lunch with Thelma and Terrill, and then on to Natchez for dinner. Thelma had a mild stroke several months ago and we haven't seen them since spring last year.
As usual, I am up at or near the crack of dawn. We shower, dress and pack, graze over the sparse "breakfast" at the motel and head for the airport. Preflighted, gassed and briefed, we are airborne shortly after 9:30. It is a little hazy as we head south into the sun, but at 4500', it is again glassy smooth. The Redhead takes over for another shot at tracking a course. The route is to be inbound to the Sidon VOR then outbound to Williams Field. We lock it in for reference and she gets the hang of crossing a continually extending line of surface features. We cross directly over Yazoo City, about 3 miles west of right on course.
I tune up the Jackson VOR and when we are directly west of it, take over for the descent into Raymond. We have it in sight about 10 miles out and close flight following. I enter the crosswind for 30 with the wind at Jackson Hawkins reported as 290@3. Nice approach and excellent landing. Maybe the rust is slowly coming off.
Check out the airport van and head for town. Out the gate and turn in the wrong direction. Thelma has been driving us both times we have been here before and no one paid attention. When we get to I20, we know we are headed in the wrong direction so we turn around and go back. Miss the turn to Riggs Manor and have to go another block and come back again. Oh well, we got there well before noon, but our ground navigation skills seem to have atrophied.
A lot of talk and finally head out for lunch just before one. A buffet lunch at a place called Bo Dons. Good catfish and Sandra had the fried chicken, pronouncing it very good. Yak, Yak, Yak, over the food and all the way back to the Manor. Then some more yakking until we left just before three. No trouble getting back to the airport, once we have driven somewhere, we can always find our way back.
I do a quick walk around and we saddle up. The taxiways are closed for construction and a big twin is sitting at the entrance to the runway. I get through all my checks, including runup and ask; "Niner Niner Four, what are your intentions?"
"Uh, we're waiting for IFR release, we'll move out of your way."
"Why, thank you."
We taxi across behind them, back taxi on the runway and take off. The air is still smooth, but the haze is worse on the 245 degree heading with the sun moving west. I climb to 3500 and center up the Jackson VOR outbound then tune up the Natchez VOR. It locks right in, center it up and disregard Jackson. Over Utica and Cayuga, we go on up to 4500 which doesn't improve the visibility, but does improve the perspective. We can see the cooling tower of a plant on the river and the bends in the river which tell us where Natchez is. From our previous flight, we know where to look for the airport and it is still where we left it.
Like the majority of the world, the CTAF is 122.8 and there is a radio somewhere with a bad squeal and a stuck mike. I check our mike (It sticks occasionally) and try the other com. It ain't us. I pull up the AWOS and decide on 31 for the landing. Because of the interference, I cannot hear any other traffic on the frequency, so I opt for a full pattern with as much time in sight of the field as possible. Ergo, another crosswind entry.
We enter, announcing position and intentions at every move, with all four eyes looking everywhere. No traffic to be found and no activity apparent on the ground. Down final to the second good landing of the day. On the ground, we can no longer hear the bad radio and the line boy is waiting on us. Taxi in and shut down.
King's Tavern, followed by Mama's Oyster House!
Get the rental car and head for town. Check into the motel and call King's Tavern. Make reservations for seven and I watch the news while Sandra takes a power nap. Freshen up at 6:00 and drive around town at sunset arriving at King's Tavern just before seven. The place is essentially empty tonight, and we get to explore the entire place while waiting on our dinner. The stuffed baked flounder is as excellent as we remembered except there wasn't enough bread to finish sopping the sauce up. But the shared piece of cheesecake was good also. Pleasantly stuffed, we drove around some more, returning to the room just after nine.
Thursday morning came clear again. The weather reports indicate that we will have some early morning mist, but generally good conditions all day. It looks like we will have our first trip to Mississippi without a weather related problem. We shower, dress and pack. The Motel breakfast is very good and we drive around some more before going back to the airport. We are off shortly before 10:00 for the 92nm leg to Nachitoches for lunch. It will be outbound on the Natchez VOR as far as possible, then straight pilotage the rest of the way.
Out over Ferriday and Jonesville. The visibility is generally good with occasional patches of mist that almost make a cloud. By Jena, we are a little south of the line, but that is not a worry. We will know which way to turn when we reach the Red River. We are going to clip the south edge of the Jena 1 MOA, so I call up Polk Approach.
"Polk Approach, Four Lima Bravo. Is anyone in Jena 1 going to be looking for low and slow target practice today?"
"Uh, no. The area is cold today."
We pass just north of Montgomery and turn slightly right towards Nachitoches. Nachitoches AWOS indicated that 17 will be the preferred runway, so as soon as we have the field in sight, we close flight following and announce inbound for 17.
"Four Lima Bravo, Zero Eight Uniform."
What? Who is this and what does he want?
"Four Lima Bravo, go ahead."
"Is that you, Bo?"
"Affirmative, who is this?"
"Gene McPherson, doing a little pattern work at Magnolia. Glad to hear you back in the air again."
Gene owns a beautiful Sierra and we have met he and his wife at 2 fly-ins. Magnolia is 90 miles away from Nachitoches. Boy, we got good radios, we are both at pattern altitudes and he sounds so close I am tempted to look for him.
On into the pattern and make my third consecutive good landing. Taxi in and shut down. No tiedown or chocks, so I get the nice personalized chocks Sandra gave me for Christmas out and block the nose wheel.
It is not quite 11:00, as we get into the FBO car and head for town. We park along the embankment and walk south. We visit the book store that is guarded by 2 cats. Samuel is a magnificent orange tabby who runs any people in the shop. Princess is a Siamese tabby mix and runs the owner and Samuel.
On around the block and back to Mama's oyster house for lunch. Sandra has a shrimp po-boy and I go for the chicken salad sandwich and cup of seafood gumbo. After lunch I sit on a bench in the shade while Sandra hits a couple of shops, then back to the airport.
And then, back to home.
We've still got over 40 gallons of gas on board, so we fire up and head for home, 204nm away on a heading of 295. Climbing to 4500, we can tell that the air has roughened some and it is a good bit less than smooth. As we pass south of Mansfield, LA, Sandra volunteers to try it in the rough air. She's not as smooth as she was yesterday morning, but then neither is the air. By the time we have Carthage in sight, she has it under control and we bump along.
Shreveport hands us off to Longview and I cannot raise them. I go back to Shreveport and verify the frequency. This time I get a response; "VFR Traffic, remain clear of the class D.". They are talking a mile a minute to IFR traffic, so we turn west. Over Henderson, we turn back to the northwest, passing just east of downtown Tyler.
Knowing that Wood County has cheap gas, we decide to drop in on them. I had made a touch and go there on my second solo cross country, All that was there then was a runway and asphalt parking area. There is now several hangars, an FBO and fuel farm. I tell Sandra to start the descent as we pass over I20. Opposite Mineola, she says "It's not coming down fast enough.". "Well suck off a little more power.". Nicely done, I only have to make one extra turn to enter the downwind at the proper altitude and speed. Now for the fourth good landing in a row.
Taxi over to the pumps and load it up. Visit the "new" FBO and back out for the 68nm hop to home. Uneventful flight followed by an atrocious landing. What a nice trip! We have been missing this.
Across DFW at 3500'
Friday, we unwind, but Saturday is going to be too pretty to stay in. Sandra is unable to schedule a lesson for the weekend, so we have to go somewhere. We decide on Granbury for lunch. We are off the ground shortly after 10:00. As we pass 2000', I call up Dallas Approach.
"Dallas Approach, Musketeer Five Niner Four, Lima Bravo. Off Aero Country, VFR to Granbury."
"November Five Niner Four Lima Bravo Squawk XXXX."
"XXXX, Four Lima Bravo." As Sandra sets the transponder.
Then, "Four Lima Bravo, Radar contact, five miles southwest of Aero Country. Climb and maintain 3500. Come right to 220."
This will take us slightly north of Addison and directly to DFW. "We're going to get the DFW transition, get out the camera.".
Sandra takes some pictures as we approach the airport. We are directed to 260 which will have us crossing the approach end of the runways, putting the airport on my side. This is where Sandra's training comes in very handy. She gives me the camera and takes the controls. As we clear the west side of DFW, we are given 220 again which she executes smoothly. Over Ft Worth, we are told to proceed direct to Granbury. From what I can see, it looks like this heading will do it. So, on she flies. She begins the descent and sets us up for a right crosswind entry to 14. I take over to fly the pattern and execute a decent landing.
Taxi in, shut down and head for the facilities. Get the car and head for town. Park on the square and walk around it winding up at the sandwich shop for lunch. It is busy and the service is slow, but we have time. Eat our lunch and go back outside. I sit on a bench with our tea glasses while Sandra hits a couple of shops and then back to the airport.
We still have plenty of gas for the trip back. Sandra won't have a lesson this week and she will be out of town next weekend. If the weather is good, I'll try to find someone to go somewhere with me, but fuel will not be an issue. So, we take off on 14 and head north. It is now a little bumpy at 3500, but going higher is not worth it as we will be under the DFW Class B shelf very quickly.
Head north northeast, passing the north end of Eagle Mountain Lake and turning towards Denton. Over Denton, descend to 2000 and race the cars on 380 back to Aero Country. On final, there are 2 planes waiting to takeoff, and a whole raft of gawkers. I have a huge audience for a truly bad landing. As we near the approach end taxiing back, the other airplanes are gone and a Cessna is on final. His "landing" is even worse than mine.
The Mouse has now flown 5 of the last 7 days and is loving it. We have put 13.4 hours on it this week and Sandra has had the yoke a good part of it. As much fun as flying is to me, I think it is going to be even more fun with her sharing a bigger part.
The weekend that wasn't.
Sandra's out of town weekend with the girls comes a cropper on Thursday afternoon. She comes in after school, talking on the cell to someone. It is Becky and all the plans have fallen through. The event will have to be re-scheduled. She checks with Young Dave and gets on his schedule for 9-11AM Saturday. This means that we will somehow have to get gas in the plane before 9:00 Saturday. The forecast for Friday is for high, gusty winds in the morning, decreasing during the afternoon.
I have had no success getting anyone to fly on Saturday anyway, so I or we will have to get gas on Friday afternoon. She calls Becky back and she will meet us for dinner in Tyler. I am not night current and sunset is around 7:40, so we will have to have the Mouse back in the hangar by 8:30. It will be tight, but doable.
We are in the air just after 3:00. Quick hop to Mesquite and stuff the tanks. Then it is off 35 with a right turnout down I20 to Tyler. Approaching Tyler, we are given a left base entry to 04 with winds 360@15. This will be interesting. Landing on 35 would have been much better, but the runway is 7200X150, so it should be relatively easy.
Problem one. Identifying the approach end of 04 from our angle. We can see most of the runway, but the SE end is hidden by trees. I make a guess and when I can see the approach end, final will only be a little long. I turn final in pretty good shape, but have a problem tracking it. Every time I get the slip set up, the wind changes. We make a reasonably smooth touchdown, but about the center of the right half of the runway. Turn left on F and right on E and taxi up to the intersection with 13-31, without hearing a peep from the tower.
Stop and call the tower.
"Tyler, is Four Lima Bravo cleared to cross 13?"
"Yeah, You look like you know where you are going, just keep on."
Ooooh kay. Taxi over to Jet Center and shut down about 4:30. We calculate that we need to be in the air by 7:00 to get home before legal dark and Sandra calls Becky. Becky gets off work at 5:00 and will have to go pick up Glenn before coming to get us, so we wait. About 5:15, I realize that we could take the FBO car and meet them to save time. Sandra Calls Becky back and gets directions to Glenn's office and we run down one of the line guys and get the keys.
By the time we meet them, it is already 5:45 on a Friday afternoon. If we are going to eat, it will have to be somewhere we can get fast service. We decide on Bruno's, a place just around the corner from Sandra's house. Service is quick and the food is good and we are back on the way to the airport just before seven.
We get off the ground at 7:10 and turn northwest. At 3500, we are just beneath the haze layer in fairly smooth air. We are tracking more westerly than a straight line, but pass over I20 at Canton as the sun sinks below the horizon. I turn on the nav lights and look for Lake Tawakoni. We pass just south of Wills point and there is no sign of the lake. The world ends abruptly just north of Wills Point.
I become aware that it also ends abruptly just in front of us. There is a gray wall that goes all the way to the ground and we can't see anything under it. It is clear over it, and directly west, I can see US80 all the way to Terrell. Turn left enough to maintain forward visibility and soldier on. Just east of Terrell, we can turn back more northwest and can see the upper end of Ray Hubbard. Approaching Rockwall, I can see individual lights to the horizon to the west, But I30 ends just past Royse City. This "cloud/fog bank, whatever" is only a few miles wide and extends from just north of I20 as far north as we can see.
Anyway, check in with McKinney and head for home. There is a stiff breeze mostly from the north, so a cross over and enter the pattern for 35 is in order. Passing over T31, another plane is just turning off and the runway lights are on. There is still enough light to see features on the ground, but I am glad for the landing light. The landing is a pretty good one. We are closing the hangar doors at 8:30.
The Redhead flies again!
Saturday morning, we are up shortly after the crack of dawn and out to the airplane patch about 8:45. We are just finishing the preflight when Young Dave arrives. I have my brand new handheld and we hear someone referring to a B17 and look up to see him turning over the field. I grabbed the camera, but by the time I got it set up, he was between us and the rising sun. I did get 2 pictures of him as he was heading south west towards Love field.
Sandra and Dave saddle up and take off. The plan is some air work and then to McKinney for T&Gs. I can hear McKinney tower and them and soon hear them start back. The wind had been nearly calm at 9:00, but is now gusting up to double digits and 10-40 degrees off the runway. This won't be pretty! She got it on in spite of 2 prodigious bounces. To her credit, she didn't let the nose down which would have started a dreaded PIO. I know I have been as out of shape on many landings, but watching it from the outside was something else.
No harm, no foul, and the airplane is still flyable. Them Beeches are sure tough!
