Takeoff and head north to Sherman. I enter the pattern for 34 on a left base, with no other traffic in the area. The approach is a little shaky in the crosswind, but the touchdown is good and we taxi in to the pumps. Sandra heads for the bathrooms while I start fueling. She finishes bringing the tanks to 40+ gallons while I potty, and we fire up and head back.
On the way back, I am monitoring McKinney Tower hoping to get latest wind information. Due to the westerly component in the wind, we have drifted a little east of Aero Country and just after turning more southwesterly, I hear McKinney tell departing traffic there is traffic west of Van Alstyne southwest bound at 2700.
"McKinney Tower. Five Niner Four Lima Bravo. That is probably us bound for Tango Three One."
"Musketeer Five Niner Four Lima Bravo, Ident please"
Then "That is you, No other traffic in the area, departing traffic will pass behind you."
I did not give the full call sign initially, but he knew who we were.
I am back in position for a straight in to the downwind to 35. Fight it the rest of the way to the runway. My landing on 35 isn't pretty, but we didn't leave any parts of the plane on the runway. Taxi back to the hangar and Young Dave drives up as we are turning the plane around.
Due to the wind, they go out and do airwork. Stalls, steep turns and MCA (Minimum controllable airspeed). Overhearing the postflight briefing, It seems that she has done quite well.
March 31 is windy again, so they do more airwork. Sandra complains all the way home about doing stalls until her arms are tired from pulling the yoke with Dave telling her to give him one more.
Lunch in Longview.
April Fools day is too pretty to stay home, so we decide on lunch at Johnny Cace's. The wind is 150-160, but only about 10 knots. And as we cross Rock Creek Road on takeoff, I say, "OK, your airplane, take us to Longview. The initial heading is one fifteen."
She takes us smoothly up to 3500 and levels out. I have to help a little with the power setting as the right seat cannot see the tachometer that well, but we are soon cruising along in smooth air. I am watching the DG and see that she is easing to the left then bringing it back to around 140.
"One, one, five is the heading."
"I thought you said one fifty. That seemed a little high."
Her sense of direction told her that 150 was not right, that was why she kept drifting lower.
That fixed, she turns on Nav 2 and sets the radial to 115 and we wait for it to come alive. The air is smooth and I have little to do except watch the world go by. I help her with leaning some to get the EGT up to normal and marvel that she is holding heading and altitude as well as I normally do.
Over Big Sandy, I contact Longview approach and we are cleared for landing on 13, straight in. I can see the airport, still 15 miles away and we are a little south of a straight in path, but still have plenty of time. We are just about over Gladewater when the engine begins to sputter. One of us forgot to switch tanks! Switch tanks, throttle in, mixture in and power comes right back up. No problem.
I take over and begin the descent. Ease to the left a little to line up and make a good long straight in and decent landing. We are still laughing at "I goofed up", "No, I goofed up" as we taxi in.
Sandra signs out the courtesy car and we head for town. The food is a good as ever and we enjoy a leisurely lunch before heading back to the airport. The flight back, with a fuel stop at Wood County was uneventful.
More lessons
April 6, Sandra goes out for some more landing practice. It is windy, mostly from the west, but not too bad (<12 knots). She does quite well, and she and Dave are both pleased. She gets the chance to go again on Wednesday the 11th and this time she does it by herself. She says it felt very strange to go to the hangar by herself, open up, get the Mouse out and do the preflight without me around. Dave got there just as she was closing the doors.
At some point here, I got an opportunity to talk to Young Dave. From what I was seeing and hearing, Sandra was doing much better than I was with this many hours. His opinion was that a couple more lessons and she would be ready to solo. There were only a couple of items on the syllabus that remained to be signed off (especially emergency procedures and go arounds) and a little tweaking on round out and flare. The time had come to nag her a little about getting her medical.
We sat down one evening and went through the Turbo Medical pages on the AOPA website and got all that information printed off. We then formulated a plan and sequence for her getting the necessary paperwork together and visiting Dr Kramer.
Her next lesson was April 15, and the plane needed gas. The lesson was set for 12:00, so we got to the airport at 10:00. She did the preflight while I cleaned the windshield and some other minor maintenance. Then we took off for Sherman.
The air was so smooth that I put my hands in my lap climbing straight out from 35 towards 2500'. As I reached for the yoke to level off, a thought struck me. I put my hands back in my lap and said "watch this.", the typical last words of a redneck.
I ran the trim wheel forward a little and the nose started down. I had never tried this before, but knew it could be done. It is a little more touchy trying to achieve level flight with only the trim wheel and throttle, but I got it done by the time we were at 2700'. On to Sherman and again enter on a left base for 34.
Unfortunately, there is a long pasture just off the approach end of 34 and I lined my base up as if the runway ended on the pasture. By the time we were over US75, I knew where the runway really was and that this was going to make a really long final. I had to use a little more power on final than I wanted to, but it was still a good landing.
Normal (by now) routine for potty and fueling and then back into the air. We have plenty of time to get back for her lesson, so we goof around towards the practice area. I get it down to 65mph and do some slow turns then back up to cruise and a steep S turn. Piddle around here and there and back into the downwind for 35. This landing only has a slight bounce and we taxi back down to the hangar at 11:40.
Turn the plane around and get out the Pledge and rags to wipe down the windshield, nose and wings. Wouldn't you know that if we were ready by 11:50, Young Dave would get held up and not arrive until 12:10?
Since the air is smooth and the wind light, they head over to McKinney for some more landings. I can hear them on the radio, along with nearly every other student in North Texas. The pattern at McKinney must have looked like a beehive. I am sitting in the peanut gallery when they return. I can tell it is Sandra flying, because the descent is not as stable as Dave's would have been. But the roundout and flare seemed perfect and the touchdown was as good as mine had been 2 hours earlier.
BFR time again
My Biennial Flight Review (BFR) is due in May. Old Dave no longer has a Medical Certificate, but still has his CFII certificate. This means that he can do it as long as it is done before the end of May. Without a medical Certificate, he cannot act as PIC, so as long as someone in the plane is legal PIC, he can still exercise the CFI certificate.
The signoff is not much more than a formality for him as he flies with me regularly (He rode along on the check flight after annual) and I generally "debrief" with him after most flights. We "debrief" with him after nearly all of Sandra's flights and go to lunch with him regularly where the main topic is usually flight related. If there is anything about my airman knowledge or piloting skills and habits, he knows about it as soon as I do.
But that doesn't mean that I intend to "skate" through the process. I need to go out and run through a complete maneuver series just to assure myself that I can still do those specific items. But I still don't like to fly alone, so I need someone (a guinea pig?) to go with me.
I try to sucker Roger in for a lunch flight, but he can't get free early enough. But he wants to go fly anyway. So on April 19, we saddle up and go off to commit aviation. I warned him before we got in and got his blessing to do such things as stalls, etc..
We take off and head for the practice area. I have a sequence in mind that will cover the basics in a manner that allows one item to lead into the next without having to climb up for one and descend for another only to climb back up for the next one.
We climb towards 3500' as I explain power-on stalls. They are intended to mimic stalling on takeoff or climbing through a hole in the clouds. They are done in takeoff or climb configuration, full power, start at normal climb airspeed and then pull the nose up slowly until it stalls. As we pass through 3500, I pull the nose up to slightly above the normal angle for max climb. Then I wait, and wait, and wait as the airspeed slowly bleeds off. Finally, just below 70mph, the airplane shakes. I hold it a minute longer and then let the nose down. We are flying again immediately.
Before speed can build up too much, I pull back to normal climb angle again and when the speed is back to normal climb, pull back again. Clean stall, minimal loss of altitude and we are flying again. Parenthetically, I don't understand how anyone can get into a departure stall as long as the engine is still developing power. As the speed drops below the trimmed speed, the back pressure on the yoke required to maintain the nose up attitude increases also. By stall time, it is a very noticeable effort to hold the yoke back.
As soon as we reach cruise speed, I start a steep turn. Bank right 45 degrees and start the usual battle to hold the nose in the right place on the horizon. All the way around and the altitude holds within +/- 50'. Not bad, now roll back to the left. It is always harder to the left when you are on the left side of the plane. Between 45 and 90 degrees in the turn, I lose almost 100', but get it back before the 360 is completed.
Level out and begin configuration for slow flight. Throttle back to 1800rpm and as speed comes down, trim and add flaps. Slowly add power back to maintain altitude as the speed drops to just below 65mph. After it is stable, make gentle turns right and left. One air bump sets off the stall horn, so I am at just the right speed.
That done, add power and drop the nose until I get back to approach speed (90mph). Then reduce power and re-trim the plane to simulate a descent with 2 notches of flaps. When it is stable, pull the nose up a little and hold it until she gets mushy. Now, pull back a little more and let it stall. First, the shakes and then the nose drops in spite of the full back yoke. We are fully stalled. Full power, relax yoke and let the speed come back, pull up carefully to level and nurse off the flaps.
Repeat and we are done with the higher altitude stuff. The wind is very gusty, so I decide to forego the ground reference stuff. We level out and get back to normal cruise and just go looking around. After several false starts, I finally identify the old airfield south of Whitesboro. Each year, it gets harder to find. This year, it is nearly invisible unless you are looking down one of the runways. The grass is a slightly different shade of green on them.
On over to Gainesville for gas. The landing is nice, but not excellent. Inside the FBO, the AWOS display is showing winds varying from 3 to 15 knots and 130 to 170 degrees. This could be interesting.
On the way back, we go over to look at the new airport being built southwest of Sherman then home. Checking the McKinney AWOS, they report 140@5G15. I turn final in reasonable shape, looking at the windsocks all pointing nearly down the runway and standing straight out. Just as I pull the last of the power the stall horn blares and we go nose high. I get the nose back down and make a slightly firm touchdown wondering what happened. The windsock on the first hangar is hanging limp. No harm, the airplane is still in one piece.
Weather and other commitments kept us from flying until April 29. Sandra has a lesson at 2:00, and it is a pretty day, so we need to go somewhere. We haven't been to Hicks since the fly-in in 2005, so we will go to lunch. Takeoff about 11:00 and turnout to the west. Check in with Dallas Approach and are immediately told to remain clear of the Bravo and contact the approach control for the northwest quadrant. No problem, 2500' and over the north end of Lake Lewisville, then slightly south of Denton. Turned southwest, we proceed directly past Texas Motor Speedway then over the top of Alliance airport. Descend to pattern altitude and execute one of those landings where I am afraid to drop the flaps for fear the wheels are still off the ground.
Taxi over to the gas pumps with a nice looking Sport on the other side. Sandra goes inside while I put gas in then talk to the Sport owner for a few minutes. The cafe is now under new management and I get as good a BLT as I have ever eaten.
Sandra's lesson is for 2:00, so after eating, we saddle up and head back. Rather than check in with approach, we just head north until well clear of alliance and then turn east, passing north of Denton and angling back towards Aero country.
Her lesson goes well, and I am listening as they make multiple landings at McKinney. She makes a pretty good landing coming home and as I am readying the plane to put it back in the hangar, I hear Dave tell her to hurry up with the medical. If she had it, he would have made her solo today.
There is a BAC fly-in and tour of the Legend Cub plant at Sulphur Springs on the schedule for May 5. But the weather is gawdawful. We drive in. Three planes make it in, IFR. Jay and Deena drive down from Arkansas. A fellow named Jack Peppard drives up from Tyler. We see a little sun and a little misty rain as we go from hangar to hangar looking at the process of building airplanes. Then we all descend on the Red Barn for lunch.
After Lunch, we all sit on the FBO Patio for a while and talk. Jack learned to fly years ago and gave it up for family and career considerations. He recently got back to it with less family demands and a bit of financial security. After getting back to current, he started looking for a good airplane. After running the numbers several ways, he determined that the Baby Beeches were indeed the most airplane for the money and most of them would serve his needs well. He joined the BAC and learned of this gathering from that. He figured that this would be a good chance for him to see and touch a Mouse as well as pick the brains of some people who owned and flew them.
The weather was not conducive to any of the fly-in pilots there giving him a demo ride, but we promised Jack that we would fly to Tyler at the earliest opportunity to give him a ride and then have dinner with our friends there.
Sunday, the 6th, Sandra got in another lesson and then it rained some more. I had made arrangements with Dave for the BFR on the next decent Tuesday or Thursday. I spent some time getting my log book cleaned up and up to date, discovering in the process that I now have 599.3 hours. Not bad for 7 1/2 years.
The chance for the BFR came on the 12th. I went to the airport late morning and Travis joined us for lunch. We take a short break after lunch and then go to the hangar. Open up, pull out, preflight, and Dave, his oxygen tank and I pile into the Mouse. Fire up, taxi out and take off. We meander slowly towards Gainesville, doing a little of this and a little of that. Into Gainesville for gas and then back off to the east. Over to Grayson County for a touch and go and then home.
I take Dave back to his place and then go back to put the bird to bed. When I get back to Dave's, he has the logbook filled out and endorsed. I am good for another 2 years and I now have 602 hours in the book.
I seem to have established the tradition of reflecting on my aviation addiction as I pass each 100 hour plateau. This time, I will reflect on my blessings. My angina episodes last year were a warning that as I get older, I can no longer take my generally good health for granted. Some minor changes in diet should suffice in that department, and smoking my pipe less will help there. Exercise is more problematic as I have some arthritis in my hips and a long history of inertia.
My biggest blessing is the woman who was initially only my enabler, but is now becoming an enthusiastic partner in the addiction. Her retirement has been planned for several years, and we have our resources arranged so that we can continue in the style we have become accustomed to for several years, barring some catastrophic event. We just never planned that she would become a full partner in the flying part of it.
Her Medical Mess.
We knew going in that Sandra's medical would not be simple due to her diabetes. What we missed were a couple of other entries in her lifetime logbook. The diabetes is Type II, with ten years of good control on oral meds only, so all that is required there is a write-up from her doctor and recent bloodwork. We get all that setup and in early March, she goes to Dr Kramer for her first pass and we learn of problem #2.
She had Lasik about 10 years ago and has one eye long and one eye short. This will not get past a flight physical. Off to the optometrist to get set up for glasses that will even them out along with sunglasses for them. While this is in progress, we learn about problem #3.
She had been plagued with sporadic heart racing for a number of years in the early '90s. It was diagnosed as a congenital defect in the heart muscle and in August '96, she had a procedure which located the offending piece of muscle and gave it a hell of a jolt, burning away the offending chunk of tissue. Problem solved, no more racing heart. However, FAA is going to want proof. Echo-cardiogram and EKG are ordered and everything looks great.
But in view of her diabetes, her personal physician suggests a stress test to be sure. That gets scheduled and done, but the July 4th holidays have all the people on holidays and the dictation and transcription takes forever.
Will it ever stop raining?
This is now shaping up to be the wettest year on record, after the drought of the last 18 months. We have clouds, we have rain, we have monsoons, we have a few tornadoes, and then some more rain. We hope it will give up by mid June as we are planning to go to a BAC flyin at Front Range the weekend of June 22-24. In the meantime, the ground has finally become totally saturated. To the point that the least shower will leave standing puddles covering most of our back yard which now goes from muddy to a lake to a swamp to a lake to muddy and back again on a daily basis. We are not talking about a low spot or two, we are talking about standing water covering 50-90% of the yard.
We get a Saturday of decent weather on May 19, so let's get Jack convinced of the benefits of Mouse ownership.
Sandra has a morning lesson, so we plan for her to fly, park the bird while we eat a quick lunch and then go to Tyler. Kerry and Retha will meet us for dinner after the flying, so all is set. Out to the airport, Sandra preflights the Mouse, Dave arrives, they start up while I close up the hangar. I drive around and watch them take off then go over to Old Dave's to wait. Soon, I hear them coming back, so I go to the old aerobatics club ramp to wait. They taxi in and park. I chock and button up while they debrief, then we take Young Dave back to his car and we go grab a quick bite at Sonic.
Back to the airport, park and pile in the Mouse. Hop over to Mesquite for gas and on to Tyler. Jack and the Stanley's are waiting as we taxi in. We all go inside for a few minutes while Sandra talks mostly with Kerry and Retha and I mostly answer Jack's questions.
Jack and I go out to the plane and I give him a full walk around. Then we get in and fire up. Clear through the tower and taxi all the way to the end of 04. Take off and go southwest from the downwind to the area over the north end of Lake Palestine where I do a series of maneuvers before turning it over to Jack. He repeats the maneuvers and a few more, admiring the lightness and docility of the plane.
We do some more stuff including a power on stall to demonstrate the good manners of the type before heading back in. I demonstrate a descent to a right base entry that has us dropping from 3500 to pattern altitude and turning final right on the glideslope. Pretty good landing and taxi back to the FBO.
We all sit around and talk some more. Jack and Kerry discover some people that they both know and then Jack leaves. We (Us and the Stanley's) sit around some more and it is mentioned that Retha is the only one who hasn't been up, so we go out and fire up. We go out over Lindale and find their house. The pasture behind them is now being developed, but we can still identify their house. On back across east Tyler and out towards the lake before reporting ready to come in. We taxi back in and I order some fuel.
Then we all get in the Stanleymobile and head for town to eat dinner. It's a Cajun place, but not worth more than 3 stars. Then back to the airport, say our byes and saddle up. Quiet smooth flight to home.
The weather then reverts to the rain, cloudy, monsoon pattern again. We have some good weather, but it only lasts a few hours at a time. A good spot allows Sandra to get in lessons on June 13 and June 20.
We were supposed to leave for a fly in Denver on June 21, but the weather squashed that completely. We not only couldn't have gotten out of here on the 21st or 22nd, but couldn't have gotten back in the next week. Lines of thunderstorms running generally east west, north west of Dallas would have made it impossible even if we were IFR.
On the 23rd, it is fairly clear around here with thunderstorms expected along the Red River in the afternoon. The Mouse needs gas and Sandra has managed to find a hole in Young Dave's schedule for 2:00PM. So we head for Hicks and lunch.
Coming back, we go slightly north of Denton and can watch the buildups to our left. Sandra gets the lesson in, but we get more rain that evening. We get a hole the next Saturday and Sandra gets another lesson in. The broken clouds are too low for pattern work, so she gets exposed to foggles. The weatherman reports that we have exceeded our normal annual rainfall as of June 30.
A beautiful flight.
The weather finally broke a little on Friday the 6th. Sandra has a lesson tomorrow and the bird needs gas and I need some seat time. We left the house at 6:00 and fought the quitting time traffic to Aero Country. The radar indicated a line if storms building from Durant northeast and slowly extending to the southwest. We can see the cumulus buildup to the northeast, so we decide to go to Gainesville. The wind is almost calm but favoring 35, and the clouds are broken to few at 4000'.
Climbing out, the visibility is excellent and we can see rain showers beyond Sherman. The air is, surprisingly, very smooth in spite of the expected afternoon heating. We fly over GLE at 2500' as a Bonanza turns downwind below us. As we are entering the downwind, we see him turning final. I set up the approach and all looks good until I turn final. I am high, very high. My touch is gone and I flare high and hard enough to bleep the stall horn. I fix that and I am still higher than I should be. We run out of airspeed and plunk the last few inches very long. Roll to the next taxiway and taxi to the gas pump across from a gorgeous RV. He is based at Addison and trying to escape the $6 gas there. He has filled the tanks and 2, 5 gallon cans.
A Mooney passes under us northbound, and then a Chinook. Passing over Cedar Mills, the lake is now covering more than half of the runway and some of the cabins have water around them. None of the Docks and boat slips are accessible. We arc back to the south, just west of Grayson County with the big shower now to the west of us and apparently serious rain east of Sherman.
We are at 2500' and the cloud producing the shower is flat bottomed at about 4000'. It forms a dark roof to the west and the sun is now just above it. All the moisture in the air turns it golden all the way to the ground. We can see the smaller shower apparently just over Aero Country. Looks like we may get a bath.
As we plod slowly south, the small shower moves clear of Aero Country and by the time we are over Prosper, it is over Preston road. Cars northbound on Preston are coming out from under it with lights on and as we pass over 380 entering the downwind, the westbound traffic there is still throwing up rooster tails. Sandra asks about landing on a wet runway. Shouldn't be a problem, there is little wind and the runway drains quickly. As I turn final, we both note that the runway is wet only as far south as the displaced threshold markings. Again, I'm a little too high, a little too fast and I plunk it on. No biggie, this has been a memorable gas run.
Saturday Sandra's lesson is for 2:00, so we go out early and make the ABS lunch. The day is swelteringly hot and sky is full of little white puffies by 2:00. They go back to McKinney for some more T&Gs. Sunday, her lesson is at 10:30, so we plan to go to lunch and get gas afterwards. They go out and do air work and come back in about 11:45. Shutting down, she discovers that she has forgotten to turn on the alternator.
Small adjustment. We will sit around for 30-40 minutes with the cowlings open to allow the engine to cool down, then go. But, we can't stop at Mesquite and make it to Sulphur Springs by Red Barn closing at 2:00. We check and the cafe at Lancaster is open until three. But while we are sitting around, the clouds to the south turn ugly and are moving easterly. We ain't going to Lancaster this afternoon. Put the Mouse back to bed and eat lunch on the way home.
Another week of clouds and rain. Reasonably nice early morning, but clouding up around noon. Some more torrential rains, etc.. Thursday, it becomes obvious only after we have committed to other activities that today will remain clear in this area. I go to the Saturday lunch bunch get together and keep watching the sky for some indication that I could go get gas in case Sandra has a shot at a lesson on Sunday. There is always at least one quadrant of the sky that looks threatening every time I look. Sigh.
The Sunday forecast says another day just like Saturday. Isolated showers in the area. Young Dave isn't back from wherever he was going, so we need to go somewhere for gas and hopefully lunch. The Parker County Peach Festival is in full swing, but all comments about KWEA are negative, including the runway conditions. The highest chance of isolated showers is to the east, so we need to go west. We decide on Decatur. It is only 42nm, but we have less than 20 gallons of fuel on board.
Sunday morning, we cannot see a cloud from where we are, in spite of the satellite picture showing some. Mainly south and east. Just before 10:00 we head for the airport. Preflight shows the oil at 1 qt low, but we are going to start an oil change when we get back anyway. Saddle up and take off on 17. The socks were showing that the last puffs were northerly, but the current traffic is using 17. The puffs must have come back as we rolled, since it took longer to get off the ground than it should have at this load.
Right turnout to a WNW heading and climb to 3500'. Visibility is good and we can see Denton and Lake Ray Roberts clearly. We go north of the US380 loop across I35 and flying over Krum, we can already see Decatur. We easily identify the airport and begin a descent. I request airport advisories from Unicom and get only "Unreadable" as a reply. The AWOS indicates variable at 3, but the visible clues indicate that the variable is generally northerly. I set up for the right pattern to 35 and begin normal position announcing.
Good smooth pattern and the touchdown is very smooth. Taxi up the hill to the FBO and shut down at the gas pumps. Bring the tanks up to a little over 50 gallons and push the bird over to a parking spot.
We all go inside to cool off. The temperature is only 90, but so is the humidity. We sit around talking with the line guy about things in general and Decatur Municipal in particular until I am beginning to dry out some. Then we get recommendations and directions for lunch.
After missing a parking space on the first pass and driving around the square, we pull up to the Courthouse Cafe. Inside, it looks like an old courthouse square lunch room. The menu has cutesy legal names for all the items, but the decor is authentic. It probably looked just like this 50 years ago. There are a couple of really old couples, walkers and all, and a long table full of bikers, leathers, tattoos and all. Must be a good place to eat Sunday lunch!
The food is good, not memorable, but good. And the price is very good. We eat slowly and enjoy the atmosphere. The bikers finish up, pay up, saddle up and depart. We finish and head back to the airport. The glider club has 3 gliders set up on the grass where the ramp meets the taxiway. We taxi down the hill, out between them and head for the runup pad. The runway has a definite slope up on 35 and seems to end in the sky. As we take off, I can now see that there is a drop off on the north end with a farm, barns, silos and all, hidden behind the rise.
Turn out to the east and climb to 3500'. It isn't as smooth as it was 2 hours ago, but not bad. We cruise just south of Lake Ray Roberts and on east, passing over Van Alstyne before turning south over Lake Lavon. After having been 17' low last fall with all the boat ramps and marinas high and dry, it is now 5' high with most of the boat ramps flooded into the parking lots. Typical Texas feast or famine.
Back across Allen to a downwind entry to 17 which is now (barely) favored by the light winds. Turning final, I discover that I had pulled the flap handle all the way up on base. The process of realizing this dropped it back to notch two. When I pulled it back to notch 3, it didn't catch, dropping all the way to notch one. By the time I had that sorted out, we were a little high, so it became a crowbar descent. Level out and flare and wait. Touch down was long, a little flat, but still nice and we made the midfield turnoff with only minimal braking.
The next weekend was the annual girls weekend. We planned to fly Sandra to Tyler on Friday morning and then I would go get her on Monday. But the weather scotched that. Friday morning, it was raining in Tyler and the cloud mass was moving west. So about 10:00 she piled her stuff in the Tbird and headed out, leaving me to my own devices for 4 days. Since she was driving, she decided to stop in Canton on the way back and spend Monday night and Tuesday with her sister.
Monday night, she called to say that Young Dave had called her and had time available for a lesson Tuesday Evening, so she would be home mid afternoon. We joined the rush hour traffic heading north to the airport and were sitting waiting when Dave arrived. They fired up and left and I puttered around waiting for them to come back. I watched her make a very nice landing but when they taxied in, the engine was sounding a little strange. In a car engine, it would have been called loping, run smooth, miss a beat, run smooth, repeat. It also stumbled noticeably when she goosed it to swing around outside the hangar. Put it away, I'll come back out tomorrow and see what I can find.
Then as we made the turn away from the taxiway toward Old Dave's, the Eggplant engine made a squealing noise and as I swung to the right to pull onto his apron, all the stuff except the engine itself went off. Coast onto a space on the apron and shut down. Open the hood and the serpentine belt is shredded and wrapped around the alternator pulley. Dave called Eric and he said he would pick up a belt on his way to the hangar and have it ready for me tomorrow afternoon. Travis gave us a ride home in his gorgeous Lincoln Town car, and we called it a day.
Wednesday, we learn that the belt Eric got isn't the right one, and one of the idler pulleys is wobbling. He has the new parts, but it will be Thursday before it is ready. Also, Dr. Kramer calls to say that he has all the stuff for Sandra's medical and he can see her Thursday at 12:30! Finally!
Thursday, we go to his office to get the magic paper, stop for lunch and head for the airport. Drop off cake for Dave and Travis, pick up the Eggplant and go to the hangar. Pull the plugs on the right side and look at them. We had noted at annual that they were showing wear, but we should get another year's use from them. They aren't in terrible shape, but the wear is more obvious. No traces of oil, only clean burning with a little lead fouling. Taking a break before starting the left side, I call Tex-air and order a new set. The left side is a little worse than the right with one of the plugs badly lead fouled, but no indication of oil fouling.
Friday Morning, I head for Addison and then to Aero Country. Put in the new plugs and pull the bird out. It starts before the second blade comes by. It idles smoothly at 600rpm. Mag checks are normal. Static RPM check is normal. Taxi out and take it around the patch a couple times. Runs good! Put bird away, put tools away, pick up the trash and go home.
Sandra's Saturday lesson is at 12:00 weather permitting. It is totally cloudy and trying to sprinkle at 7: when I go out to get the paper. By 10:00, it has cleared enough that we decide to go to the airport anyway. If it turns bad again, we can go to lunch with the guys.
The weather is good enough, but very sticky. Young Dave had not gotten the pre-solo test to her, so there would be no solo today. They depart for some more emergency procedures and some T&Gs. Returning, her approach was not exactly pretty, and the landing was worse. She has had her first bad day flying, where nothing went right. She said later that now she understood why some days I would come back and not want to even talk to myself about it.
The pre-solo test arrived that evening via e-mail. Forty five questions. Between the POH, the old Jeppesen book from my student days, the FAR-AIM CD and a lot of discussion, she had it finished by Monday night and sent back to Dave. Now, all we need is gas in the plane and a pretty day. The next available day for Dave is Sunday, so we wait for a decent day to go for gas. The weather pattern is clear at sunup with increasing clouds and rain in the area starting in early afternoon.
By Friday, the chance of afternoon showers is down to 20%, so we take what amounts to our first weekday flight since Sandra's retirement. Big deal, we are going to Sulphur Springs for lunch and gas. There will still be too many clouds and chance of rain to go much further, and we would need gas to go further anyway. METAR checks at 9:00 show everybody reporting clear or nearly clear, but with only 6 miles visibility in haze. TAF checks say possibly scattered at 3500 to 5500 beginning around noon. It won't be pretty, but......
At Custer and McDermott, if you didn't know the water tower was there, you wouldn't have seen it. We concurred that if we were going somewhere we hadn't been before, we would be having second thoughts. Engine start is a few minutes before 11:00 and we take off.
McKinney clears the transition at or above 2500. Having a little under twenty gallons of gas, we are light and even in the heat, make that before crossing US75. The puffies are just above us, so we level out and hold around 2750' with the outside air at 75 degrees and a little bumpy. Visibility really is poor and we cannot identify the lake at SLR until we are over Cumby.
Back down into the heat and enter the left crosswind for 18. A procedural discussion on downwind and base leaves us high on final, but with 5000' of runway, it is no problem. Taxi into the north ramp and up to the self serve pump. This pump is cantankerous and we finally have to call the FBO for help on making it pump more than .1gpm. Finally get it filled to a little under 50 gallons and pushed over to a tiedown spot.
Then hike over to the Red Barn. By the time our lunch was served, we had stopped dripping. The food was as good as usual, and we took our time. Finally, back out into the heat and humidity and hike back to the ramp. Pick up chocks and towbar and saddle up. Announce taking 18, departing to the north from the downwind.
We want to fly over Lake Cooper to see the effect of this years rains. Cooper, like Lavon had been 17' down in March. But Cooper's watershed is not as large as Lavon's so that the last we saw, Lavon was over the spillway and Cooper was still a few feet down. Well, anyone who was worried about it can now rest easy. It is back to normal.
At 3500', we are a few hundred feet below the scattered clouds and the outside air is just over 70. We head straight west, to cross US 75 around Van Alstyne. After we are well west of 75, I give Sandra the plane to try some steep turns from the right side. She quickly learns that it is the side the pilot is on that determines which direction is easier. If you are on the "bottom" of the plane, keeping level in the turn is harder.
She keeps the plane until we cross US380, 2 miles east at pattern altitude and near pattern speed. Then I take over for the pattern entry and landing. Decent pattern, but for some reason, I realize on final that I am way behind the airplane. I am fighting the yoke and rudders and getting less stabilized. Blink twice and assess the situation. I am near glide slope and near speed. Just get myself under control. Only a little long, but a nice landing. Taxi in and put the mouse to bed. Not a bad day.
The Redhead becomes a Pilot!
The day can no longer be evaded. No more delays, excuses or machinations. Everything is now in place and Sandra is going to fly solo. She is still going over scenarios in her mind that may put it off again:"Maybe I could rope and hog-tie him to the seat to prevent him from getting out."
"When he gets out, just shut down and get out behind him."
"What if I threw up in his lap?"
"If I break your airplane, will you kill me?"
It is Sunday, August 5, 2007, and the weather is beautiful. Clear but a little hazy. Wind 180@8 at 9:00. Temp will be up to about 90 by 10:30. She is supposed to start the lesson at 10:00, but we are ready to go to the airport by 8:30. The phone rings a little before 9:00. Young Dave is wondering where we are, he had it on his schedule as 9:00. Get it in gear, now!
Out to the airport and he does the endorsements on the license and logbook while she does the preflight. Close up the hangar and I pile into the Eggplant while they are doing pre-start. Head for McKinney with the handheld on the seat beside me. I hear them announce takeoff with left turnout to the east and I switch to McKinney Tower. They announce inbound for touch and goes while I am struggling through traffic. Every poke along in the world is eastbound on Virginia Parkway this morning.
As I am shutting down in the FBO lot, I hear her request a full stop this time. Gather up camera and radio and go inside. Tell the girl at the desk that my wife is about to solo and go outside. Tell the young couple standing outside with their child the airplane just turning final is my wife and she is going to solo today. Wait to see where they are going to stop and get where I can make pictures of Dave getting out and walking away from the plane.
Dave stands with me as she taxis out and gets in the 3 plane queue waiting to take off with at least 3 planes in the pattern. A man standing there asks if that is a Sundowner, and I tell him it is a Musketeer, forerunner to the Sundowner and that is my wife doing her first solo. Finally she is cleared for takeoff, left closed traffic. Her takeoff looks as smooth as any I could do.
Dave goes inside for a minute and I tell another couple standing there that that plane on downwind is my wife on her first solo. Dave and I get where we can see the runway and watch her first approach. Looking good, and from that distance, it looks like she dropped it on. But after the balloon/bounce, she eased it back on smoothly and was back in the air as she went by the FBO.
The second landing looked very smooth other than being a little off line in the now 220@14G20 wind. We hear the tower extend her downwind for traffic and finally she is on short final for a full stop. This one looks even better than the last one and as soon as she is down, I head for the car to see if I can get back to the hangar before them. Not a chance. Instead of the traffic jam she had sat in waiting to take off by herself, I hear the tower clear them for takeoff and right turnout to Aero Country before I can get back across Central Expressway. I call Old Dave on the cell and get his answer machine. I leave him a message that she had done it and I am on my way back to the hangar and we will stop by before we leave the airport.
Halfway across El Dorado Parkway, doing 60 in the 40mph zone, I hear them in the pattern at Aero country. After nudging traffic out of my way, I turn down the taxiway to our hangar to see the Mouse sitting in front of the open hangar.
Dave is already late to his kid's ball game, so he leaves. Sandra and I hug and bounce around the hangar. Push the Mouse back in and bounce around some more. Close the hangar and bounce around some more, then head for Old Dave's.
I have an idea. Yes, you will like it. Yes, it is in context. When I turn east on McDermott, she figures it out. She had demanded to eat at Mimi's when we came back from our first cross country, because she can never go in there without meeting someone she knows and she has to tell someone. (She has already tried to call her sister, but Marie is not back from church yet.)
There is no one in sight she knows and we sit, talking about it while waiting for a table, hoping some one will ask her what we are talking about. When we get seated, I tell the waitress to ask her what she did this morning. The waitress was properly awestruck (and got a nice tip for it).
Finally home, I download the pix from the camera and she packages them up to email to all her friends. Then we can relax a little. What a day!
Some of the things she said:
"I'm sorry I wasn't more appreciative when you soloed. I just didn't understand what a big deal it was."
"For all my fears and evasions it turned out to be a real non-event. Among the biggest days of my life."
"The bad part is, now I want to go flying again tomorrow. And again Tuesday. And again Wednesday."
"g'night pilot." "g'night pilot"
