Chapter 53 Starting 2010

During the winters we have been having the last few years, we have to fly when the weather allows. Corpus Christi was late January and due to other obligations, February is always busy. The weekend of March 13-14 looks good, if a little windy. Let’s go somewhere!  We decide on a Hamburger run to Corsicana. I stopped there on my long XC in 2001, but we had never been there. Even after a 6 week layoff, the Mouse started easily and we taxied down for gas and then took off. It was a quiet uneventful flight with the NW tailwind and a reasonably good landing on 32. We took the FBO car into town and had a good lunch at The Other Place.  The flight back was equally typical until landing. McKinney was reporting 310@7G14. It should be interesting, but not extremely difficult. All went fairly well until the flare. Just as the stall horn chirped, the nose came up and swung to the left as the plane drifted to the right. We touched down hard and headed to the left. We got all the way to the left side of the runway before I could get enough rudder in to straighten it out. We were all over the runway a couple of times before I got it back under control. Sandra maintains that was the ugliest landing I have ever made and she may be right. When I could finally look around as we were rolling out, the windsock on a hangar at the north end was showing light northwesterly wind while the windsock I was just rolling past was standing straight out from the west.  The following weekend, we were to meet in San Antonio with the executive board. We planned to fly, but the weather just would not permit it. So instead of heading to the airport at 8:00AM, we piled in the Trailblazer and headed south. It was a good meeting with all the principals involved in the preparations for BAC Fest. But it was a long drive back on I35 with all of Spring Break trying to get home. We did enjoy a fabulous meal at the Stagecoach Inn in Salado. We arrived home to snow on our front yard.  There is a fly-in in Massachusetts on April 17. That will give us an excuse to do the places we planned to do after Gatlinburg. The bird’s annual is good through April, but it would make for a warmer feeling if it were freshly done before we leave. Checking the books, the oil change will not be necessary for another 15-20 hours, but the trip as planned will be more than 30 hours. So, the annual this time will also include an oil change.  We go out on March 29 and I fly around the pattern twice to warm up the oil and and we start the “teardown” for the inspection. Sandra starts removing all the inspection plates while I remove the interior. With both of us at it, it is done in a little over an hour.  On Saturday, I go to lunch with the ABS and after lunch, Dave and I go to the hangar where he goes through his sprinkling of holy water and I attend to the other tasks. After he is done, I reassemble the bird and lube the landing gear joints.  Monday, I go back and put oil in it and pull it out for a leak check. It spews oil all over the ramp again. Quick run to Walmart for kitty litter, clean up most of the mess and then look for the problem. Somehow, removing the old filter had left the bottom gasket stuck to the filter mount. Two gaskets are definitely not better than one! New leak check was good.  Wednesday, I go back and pull the plugs and Dave comes down for the compression check. All is well and now we are ready for a wash and test flight, which gets done on Friday. Inspected, tested and full of fuel, the bird is now ready for the trip east  The big trip East.
 
Friday, the weather is great, but a front is supposed to move in sometime Sunday. We consider getting out of Dodge on Saturday, but the forecast for Sunday morning still looks good all the way to the Atlantic. Only some early morning clouds in advance of the front that will arrive in the afternoon.  Sunday morning, I am up at six and getting the newspaper shows the clouds as forecast. They look like they may be high enough to get out under, so we begin our final preparations. When I start checking the weather, I find the standard fickle finger of clouds over our area. From a large area of clouds south of Waco, a finger extends all the way to the Red River. Ardmore is clear, Decatur is clear, Greenville, TX has scattered at 4000, But McKinney is overcast at 700. The forecast at Love says VFR by 9 with broken at 3500. So we head for the airport just after 8:00  Going east

As we pull out of the driveway I look at the sky to the east and see broken to scattered with sunlight coming through them. The open path to the east follows us north to the airport and as we taxi out, it lies just to the southeast of the airport. Off we go turning towards the opening. When we get out from under the clouds over Aero Country, it is scattered only in front of us. We pick up flight following and are on course at 5500’ by the time we are over Lavon.  By Sulphur Springs, the sky ahead is completely clear and the air is smooth. Sandra takes over around Texarkana and flies until we begin our descent into Greenville, MS for lunch. I make a good landing on 36L and we taxi in, make the potty breaks and head for town in the FBO car.  Full of good BBQ, we saddle up and take off again about 2:30. The air has roughened considerably and passing through 4000’, we hit a bump that sucks everything, including sound, out from under us. Honestly, for about 2 heartbeats, there was no engine sound. The sound returned as normal and there was no indication on the panel of any disruption of power.  So, we drone on, through the MOA Corridor to Columbus, MS and north of Birmingham, with Sandra again flying the last hour. The bumps and the headwind eat up our groundspeed, but about 4:15, we begin our descent into Gadsden, AL. I make a long straight in to 6 and another good landing. Taxi in and shut down in front of their truly nice FBO. The people inside are very friendly and helpful. They have already volunteered the FBO car for the night and after relaxing for a bit, we load up the car and head for town. We eat a fine dinner at Top of the River, take a soak in the hot tub and head for bed.  Monday morning, we are off the ground and headed east by 9:30. We climb to 5500 and negotiate our way north of Atlanta, across Georgia, over a corner of South Carolina, just north of Greenville and descend to another good landing in Shelby, NC. After attending to filling the Mouse and emptying us, we discover that there is not only no FBO car, there is only a temporary FBO. A nice guy preflighting his Cessna, volunteered his pickup for us to go get food. There is a hole in the wall café about a half mile from the airport gate. The hamburger was excellent, the meat had never seen a patty press.  We are in the air again shortly after 2:00, into bumpy air and dodging around the Charlotte airspace. It is a little bumpy, but not as bad as yesterday afternoon. Sandra takes over as we approach Raleigh and I relax. We were passing over Raleigh-Durham and I am looking down on the urban landscape passing beneath us, including midfield at KRDU when my thoughts wandered into the area of dreams vs. reality.  I wanted to fly from the earliest time I can remember. Many of my Walter Mitty fantasies included being a pilot and flying my own airplane. Now we are living that dream. But the reality is so much different than the dreams were. The dreams were sketchy at best and lacking in details. The reality is so much richer. Now I can fly trips in my mind with the details learned from planning and experience included. These day dreams include dialogue with ATC and plans for descents and approaches to traffic patterns. I go to sleep most nights running preflight/startup/pre takeoff checklists in my mind as if I were demonstrating and explaining them to a first timer.  The things we have seen from the air are so much more rich and vivid than I ever imagined. I can still close my eyes and see Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Devil’s Tower from our trip in 2005. I never tire of crossing the Mississippi and looking at the barge traffic. Or passing over any new city and observing the major highways and their intersections. The thrill of making the first turn on takeoff and seeing our shadow racing along the ground has not diminished in the least.  We are out over the coastal plain and making our descent into Edenton, NC by 4:30. We descend over Albemarle Sound and the town, enter a right base for 19 and pull off another good landing. We easily make the midfield turnoff and heading down the taxiway, we are looking directly at the ends of the above ground fuel tank just south of the ramp. The end facing us is painted in a big, yellow, smiley face. Cute!  Again, we have the FBO car for the night. After a break and loading up the car, we head for town and the motel. After a freshen up, we have some time before dinner and what we saw on the way to the motel looks like a beautiful, interesting old town. Exploration proves that impression to be true. After some exploring, we eat a very good dinner at Waterman’s Bar and Grille, looking out over the waterfront park and then retire for the night.  First flight, Williamsburg and good friends

Today is planned to be not much flying, but a lot of important sightseeing. The weather at our final destination today is expected to be going from bad to worse this afternoon, so we need to get there as early as we can. We are in the air by 9:45 and climb out to the edge of Albemarle Sound. We turn east along the coast and continue climbing until we reach the Highway 37 bridge. Since most of this flight will be over water or swamp, we want a reasonable amount of air under us. We turn south and cross the sound , then turn east over the south shore. We cross 2 small bays then over the water to the barrier islands that hold Kill Devil Hill and the town of Kitty Hawk.  Being ground shy over this much water, I wait too long to begin a descent, and descend way too slowly at first. This necessitates some aggressive “S” turns over the western edge of the island to get down to pattern altitude. Then we discover the next problem. On the downwind to Oh two, you cannot see the runway. The runway lies in a slot in the tall pine trees. I can see the slot, but not the runway itself. I can’t tell where the threshold is. I can see the ramp, and I know it is at the south end of the runway, so I can guestimate where the threshold is.

 

I miss by a little bit and am only slightly higher than normal turning final. It is not one of my best landings, but is is a good one. There is no taxiway, so I get stopped about the middle, execute a U turn and taxi back to the empty ramp. I pick a parking spot that will allow the picture to “see” the monument on top of the hill and shut down. Sandra piles out with the camera while I log the time and clean up the cockpit.  I get out and we visit the facility just off the ramp. I sign in in the AOPA book and we start up the hill. It is a long steep climb, but we finally make it. We have arrived at the Mecca of all aviators.  This monument recognizes a singular achievement. A battle monument only recognizes a specific battle out of the countless battles fought throughout history. Independence Hall recognizes the signing of a document that is one in a long line of defining documents going back to the Greeks. But this place recognizes the place where man first flew. No man had done that before and no other man could claim to be first.

The impact of the wisdom and courage of the Wright brothers on the shape of the modern world is incalculable. They methodically investigated the science of airfoils and produced wings and propellers that were effective and efficient. They recognized the need for and empirically developed the 3 axis controls which made powered flight possible.  We sat on the parapet of the monument while we recovered from the climb and thought about the magnitude of the event memorialized here. As we were walking down the hill towards the Visitor Center, we met a man who summed it up in one sentence, “from here to the moon in 66 years.”.

Over the years since 1903, the sand dune that is called Kill Devil Hill has shifted more than 100 yards southwest of its original position. Plantings on it now have stopped any further movement so that the monument will remain in place, but now it is a long walk from the monument to the actual place where the flights took place. The spot is marked by a stone placed at the end of the catapult ramp and four markers at the end points of each flight made that day.  We examined these and then went into the Visitor Center. They have a very nice reconstruction of the original plane there along with one of the gliders used to test control systems. After a peek into the rebuilt work sheds, we walked back to the ramp.  We are back in the air and headed northwest shortly after noon. We climb to 4500 and cruise along smoothly until Norfolk Approach brings us down to 3500 approaching the city of Norfolk. We look down and marvel at all the ships in the harbor and especially the Navy ships, including several aircraft carriers in port.  Past Newport News, we are brought down to 2500 over the north bank of the James River. A few minutes later, we can see Williamsburg-Jamestown and begin a further descent as we turn slightly left to line up for the right downwind pattern entry for 13. It is not a very good landing, but we taxi into the ramp and shut down. The Line guy brings our rental chariot out while we are getting out, making the picture and tying down.

It is now a little after 1:00 and we are hungry. There is a sandwich shop in the FBO and we decide to eat there. Very good choice!! They bake their own bread and it is great. We are here a couple of hours earlier than we planned, and the weather is going downhill as forecast. So we plan what we will do with the remainder of the day.  We drive out to Jamestown and take the driving tour. The walk at Kitty Hawk had pretty well drained our legs, so a long walking tour was pretty much out of the question. We wandered through the Visitor Center and then struck out for Yorktown. Road construction and detours made the drive a challenge, but we found it. Another Visitor Center tour and we pick up our third set of park brochures of the day.  Back to Williamsburg and negotiate the weird street layouts to get to the motel. Check in and rest up for dinner. We had been in the room for just a few minutes when my cell rang. It was Gary (“Gary and Mary get a Mouse” in the previous chapter), and after being assured that we were indeed in Williamsburg as intended, they said they would like to take Wednesday off, fly down and have lunch with us. That sounded great to us as it would give us a break in the walking.

Now to find dinner. The desk recommends a place called Seafarer, just a few blocks down the street. About 7:00, we head out. Sandra first goes the other way looking for the Wal-mart or Target for some supplies. We couldn’t find it, so back to the Seafarer.  This is a dining experience! We first receive a small piece of bread with a lemon drizzle. This is followed with a lobster bisque. Next comes a small scoop of orange sherbet to cleanse our palette. Our entrees are a stuffed flounder for milady and stuffed brook trout for me. By this time, we are the ones stuffed. The atmosphere is good, the furnishings are comfortable, the service is impeccable and the taste is excellent. Oh and by the way, the price was very reasonable.  Wednesday morning, we hit the Visitor Center before 10:00, buy our passes and hop the bus into town. Our intent is to scout the place in the morning and leave in time to meet Gary and Mary for lunch. The afternoon will remain open depending on their availability. We have a little more than half the main thoroughfare done when Gary calls to give their ETA. We have time to leisurely finish the scouting of main street, catch the bus back to the car and get to the airport to meet them.

Right at noon, zero eight Romeo crosses over mid-field and turns into the downwind for 31. They land smoothly and taxi in beside Four Lima Bravo to shut down. Greetings and hugs are exchanged and we all admire our planes. As Gary and Mary didn’t get the opportunity to see ours while they were at Aero Country, Four Lima Bravo got a little more attention than Zero Eight Romeo. After Gary orders fuel, we all traipse inside to eat lunch.  The fresh bread is still as good as we all remember and it fuels a 3 hour festival of laughter and good stories well told. We eventually moved the party out onto the patio and all too soon it was time for Gary and Mary to saddle up. We watch what have now become two very good friends taxi out and take off for home.   We get back to town in time to witness most of the re-enactments of the Revolutionary War events that took place in Williamsburg. As most of the shops begin closing around 6:00, we finally head back to the motel. We make snacks for the night out of leftovers from our two lunches, including 2 loaves of the bread Sandra and Mary managed to get as the café was closing, and some remarkable cheese purchased at a shop in Williamsburg.  But now, the bad news sets in. We left home, knowing that the weather forecast for the flyin was marginal to bad. The weather we had encountered so far was as forecast to a little better than forecast. But now reality sets in.  Our original plan was to fly to Ocean City, NJ on Thursday morning, with a quick stop in Georgetown DE along the way. Visit Atlantic City Thursday afternoon, Fly the Hudson River corridor Friday morning and arrive in Westfield Friday afternoon. But the weather forecasts now say there is no chance of going anywhere north of Pennsylvania or New Jersey on Friday. We need to re-plan.  It is eventually decided that we will go to Westfield on Thursday with stops in Delaware, New Jersey and Connecticut along the way. With the aid of the motel business center, I plan the route and enter the new flight plans in the GPS.  On to Massachusetts

Thursday morning, we are ready for the briefing by 10:00, but another glitch arises. Our lunch stop closed last weekend for a 2 week period while they do some construction. Quick change from South Jersey Regional to Trenton-Robbinsville, some 17 miles further. We fire up and Sandra reprograms the flight plan as we taxi out.  All set up, we are off the ground at 10:20 and turn east to cross Chesapeake Bay. We reach 3500’ before we cross the York River, continuing over Mobjack Bay, New Point Comfort and then over the Bay to Cape Charles where we turn more northerly.  At 11:30, we drop in on Sussex County Airport at Georgetown, Delaware to add that state to the list. It is a nice little airport, but we only stay for a short potty break. We are back in the air again before 12 and headed for Cape May. We fly close enough to our original Thursday destination to see it, along with Atlantic City and soon we can see Philadelphia to our left. After a little looking, we identify Trenton-Robbinsville directly ahead and are pulling off the runway a couple of minutes after 1:00.  There are no real facilities here, but after feeding the Mouse and pulling it to a temporary parking spot, we buy a drink from the soda machine and eat from our snack supply. The weather is nice and cool with a good breeze, but nice in the sun at the picnic table outside the flight school.  We are back in the air again just before two and headed north. The intent is to skirt completely around the New York airspace. We will do this by using the VORs which surround the Class B as waypoints. This leads to a degree of “mother henning” by ATC as they are continually checking with us as to our current on-course heading. It all works out fairly well, as we are crossing the Hudson River about 10 miles below West Point just before three. Fifteen minutes later, we begin our descent into Robertson Field in Plainview, CT..  Another nice little airport with very friendly people and clean bathrooms. We are only on the ground for 20 minutes or so and then off for the 33nm to Barnes Municipal. After negotiations with the tower and the shifting winds, we land a little long on Oh Two (it’s only 9000’ long) and taxi into Five Star Aviation. We have started in one state and flown across parts of six more, landing in four of them. Try doing that when Texas is the starting point.  The line boy brings our car to the plane while we are getting out and helps us get our stuff transferred. Steve, the event host, arrives while we are unloading and we all sit around on the FBO patio for a while. Around 6, we walk over to the Runway Café for dinner.

After a long dinner and much talk, we break up and head for the motel, just at dark and under lowering skies. Friday morning’s weather confirms the wisdom of our decision to come here on Thursday. It is cloudy, cool and blustery. On our own until mid afternoon, we drive over to Chicopee Falls to attend a Wal-Mart for some supplies and then drive around some more, ending up in downtown Westfield . Typical old New England town We are back at the motel in time to rest up a bit before Steve and Denni arrive. We sit in the lobby and talk for a long time before heading out about 6:30 for dinner. We eat a leisurely good meal and back to the motel for some more talk and motel cookies before retiring for the night.  Saturday morning is like Friday morning, only worse. Cloudier, rainier, windier and colder. We arrive at the airport about 9:30 in a cold drizzle. The visibility is pretty good, but the ceiling is about 700ft. Not good weather for a fly-in! We sit in the café with Steve for a while, wade out to check on the Mouse and then sit in the airport lobby for a while. We three are it.  Shortly after noon, we abandon the event and Sandra and I head for a Laundromat. The hotel has a “guest laundry”, but exploration found that it had only one washer and dryer, and there was a large noisy group of teenie dance competitors there. The odds of us being able to use that one machine were slim and none. We found a place in the shopping center with the Laundromat that served pizza by the slice for lunch. It was very good pizza. With the clothes clean, we were back at the motel by three with nothing else to do for 3 hours. Time to make further new plans.  We were supposed to leave for Biddeford Maine this afternoon, but that was now impossible. We also need to be back home no later than Wednesday night as Sandra is scheduled to teach on Thursday. That can be cancelled, but we will need a good reason to do so and extending our vacation ain’t good enough. We were supposed to fly from Biddeford to Niagara Falls on Sunday with a stop in New Hampshire and lunch in Vermont, and head for home on Monday Morning. The weather across all of New England is not supposed to break until Monday Morning, so the revised plan is to fly direct from here to Niagara on Monday and head for home on Tuesday morning.  We go to a movie and late dinner with Steve, Denni and 4 of their friends for Saturday evening. It was an enjoyable evening, learning how to train a dinosaur and having a very raucous meal afterward.   Sunday morning, we head out to explore to the north under scattered to overcast skies. We visit the Hamptons, north, south and west. After lunch, we go back to the motel to nap and get ready for dinner with the Cotes. I go down to check on the weather for tomorrow and when I return, Sandra is sitting on the bed, crying.   Kay (from Tyler) had called to tell her that Molly Stanley had been killed in a car crash this morning. The Stanley’s, Kerry, Retha, Molly and her twin brother Kerry Bob, have been mentioned many times in this journal. There are no arrangements made as of this time, but we need to get back to Texas as soon as possible. I go back down to the business center and start planning a route. We can make it back by Tuesday evening after two long days at the yoke if the weather cooperates. The only hang-up is that the weather here tomorrow morning is still iffy.  Because there is nothing else we can do, we go to the Cotes for a very nice dinner and then back to the motel for the night.  The long trip home

Monday morning is cold with broken to overcast sky at the motel. We get ready, pack and eat breakfast and head for the airport. I call the FBO on the way and they will bring the bird back up to the FBO. We are loaded up, preflighted, briefed and taxiing out by 9:30. We take off on 33 and turn southwest under solid clouds.   We bounce along between 3000 and 3500 until we are well into New York before we can slowly ease up towards our desired cruising altitude of 4500, and in sight of the Hudson River before we get there. Boy is it cold out here! The outside air temperature gauge shows -5. We drone on across Scranton and past Lock Haven, Admiring the rugged wooded terrain below us and soon are beginning our descent into Indiana, Pennsylvania.  We identify the airport, close flight following and I set up for a right base entry for two eight with the wind reported as 350@7. A Cessna takes off just as we turn final. It seems to be more than a little turbulent on final and the plane will not come down even after I have pulled all the power off. We are still many feet off the ground and nearing midfield when I initiate a go around. As I am turning downwind, we see the Cessna climbing away and hear him announce his go around.  I make a lower final this time, but still the Mouse doesn’t want to quit flying. We finally make a couple of bounces nearing midfield before I initiate another go around. The third time is the charm, sort of. It ain’t purty, but I make it stick. The feeling is that I am landing with a large quartering tailwind.

We pull off the runway and start down the taxiway in time to watch the Cessna make another attempt. He is high and sinking fast over the threshold. He arrests the descent and bounces off the runway, going very nose high and slamming it back on the pavement. It wasn’t pretty, but he made it stick.  We taxi to the FBO and shut down. Sandra heads inside while I make the picture. The line guy comes over and says, “Nice looking Musketeer. Are you a member of BAC?”  We chat a bit while I check fuel levels. He is Tom Robertson, and a member also. We settle the fuel quantity and I go inside. What a nice new building this is! Sandra checks out the FBO car and we get suggestions for lunch and head for town. We eat at the 9th Street Deli and find the food excellent for lunch sandwiches.   I had written down the number from Airnav for the Georgetown, Kentucky FBO last night, so after lunch, I tried to call them to arrange for our overnight needs. The phone went to voicemail and the next message said the mailbox was full. I tried twice with the same result, so I asked the guy behind the desk if he had a different number. He looked it up and it was the same 7 digits with an 866 prefix. I tried it and got the same result. Oh, well, we will just have to wing it.  We are back in the air again by 2:30, skirting just south of Pittsburg and Wheeling, West Virginia. The air is clear, but a little rough, and the landscape below continues rugged and heavily forested. After discussion of the potential problem of “dropping in” on Georgetown, we have three possible outcomes. We know Brad and Ann Mitchell from BAC who live in Georgetown and Plan C will be to throw ourselves on their hospitality.  Just past the Muskingum River, we notice another airplane. Flight Following has not alerted us to traffic, so we watch him. The only thing he is doing is staying at our 2 o’clock and getting closer. When he is about a half mile away, I get on the radio; “Center, Four Lima Bravo has traffic, two o clock, half mile, co altitude and converging course.”, as I bank right to pass behind him.  “Uh, Four Lima Bravo, we show no returns in your area. Do what you need to.” “Center, it is a rag and tube Piper. May not give you much of a target.” “Uh, he just popped up. No transponder, primary echo only.” “No harm, we’re clear of him and resuming course.”  We passed a few hundred yards behind him and never got any indication that he saw us. Back on course, we drone on and are slipping into the downwind for zero three at Georgetown, Kentucky at 5:00. After Indiana, I am a little nervous, but the landing is quite good. We taxi in to parking and shut down. Sandra heads for the FBO while I clean up the cockpit. As I stagger up to the door of the FBO, it is opened by a big friendly man, saying, “What can we do for y’all?’ “We’re done for the day, we need room and transportation.” “Not a problem, we got a car you can use and there are a bunch of motels that would love to have you.”   We just love it when Plan A comes together. Sandra brings the FBO minivan to the plane and we unload the bags, then off to town. We haven’t gotten to the main road when I remember that my jacket and flight bag are still in the FBO. Turn around and go back. I wouldn’t worry about the flight bag, but I will need the jacket tomorrow morning.  After a couple of wrong turns, we get to the motel and relax a bit. Sandra calls Ann to see if they are free for the evening. Brad is in Lexington for a meeting and she is on her way to meet with one of her groups, so we are on our own for the evening. We eat dinner at an Italian place we passed on the way to the motel and back to the room to discuss future plans.  Sandra has heard from either Kay or Becky about funeral arrangements. The visitation will be Tuesday evening, beginning at six and the Funeral at two on Wednesday. The only way we can make the visitation is to fly directly to Tyler tomorrow. But that would create a nightmare. We don’t have proper clothes with us for the visitation, let alone the funeral. Getting home for more clothes after the visitation and back to Tyler for the funeral would be difficult to impossible.  While we are soaking in the hot tub, Sandra comes up with a workable plan. She has shoes and a top that are presentable (I have neither), Meaning that all she would need for Tuesday evening would be a nicer pair of slacks. If Marie can meet her in Tyler when we arrive, they can go buy a pair of slacks. I will go home alone and gather her nicer things and drive to Canton Wednesday morning to meet them and go on to Tyler for the funeral. Sounds very workable to me. I make the necessary flight plan changes and we retire for the night. Tuesday morning is clear and calm. We are up, dressed, packed, fed and on our way to the airport by 8:30. Put a little gas in the car, load up and pre-flight the Mouse, pay the bill and get the briefing. We are in the air by 9:30. But this is EDT, and we will be in CDT in a short time, so we have plenty of time for this long day.  We pick up flight following as we climb to 4500’. We have to jog a little south to clear the restricted airspace around Fort Knox, but other than that, it is a smooth flight. We pass over Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake and just south of Paducah with Sandra flying. The air begins to roughen noticeably, and by the time we are over the Missouri boot heel, it is getting pretty bad. But now, we are looking for Walnut Ridge. We soon identify the area and begin descent. After a decent landing on 36, we are taxiing into the FBO at 11:45 local time. We feed the Mouse, feed ourselves and take care of arrangements. Sandra calls Marie to give her the ETA at Tyler and I call Cheryl to see about getting my shaggy hair cut tomorrow morning. Then saddle up and we are back in the air before 1:00. We pick up flight following from Memphis Center and climb towards 4500’. When we are about 4000’, November Five Niner Four Lima Bravo, Contact Little Rock Approach on one one nine oh five.”. “Four Lima Bravo going to one one nine zero five.” I change the frequency on Com1, change the audio panel and call Little Rock. No Answer. Wait a minute and try again. Still no answer.  After several more tries go unanswered and I am hearing no traffic on the radio, we begin to wonder if we have a communication failure. The alternator gauge is normal and we are seeing hits on the transponder. Set the frequency on Com2 and try again. No answer, and no traffic on this radio either. Now what? We can see Batesville off to the left, so I dial up their AWOS. It works just fine. Look on the sectional for the Little Rock Approach frequency. One one nine point five, not oh five. Well, that explains that! Reset the frequency and make the call. Instant answer.  Get back on course and altitude and continue on towards the Hot Springs VOR. We pass over Hot Springs about 2:15 and head for Texarkana. South of De Gray Lake, Fort Worth tells us that the Texarkana radar is out, but to remain on frequency and keep the squawk code and he would let us know when he picked us up south of Texarkana. Over the VOR, we bend about 10 degrees right and bounce along. We are back in Texas. Over the west end of Wright Patman, Fort Worth again has us on radar. Out of the hills and over flatter country, the air is smoother, but still not “hands off”. Over the Sabine River, we begin our descent into Tyler, looking into the haze for the airport. We have been there many times, but have never approached from this direction. We know about where to look, but cannot identify the runway, even though we should be looking right down it. I tell Fort Worth that we have the airport area in sight, but have not identified the runway yet and they hand us off to the tower. I apologize to the tower, but we still haven’t positively identified the runway. Tower tells us to report runway in sight and make a left downwind for oh four.  We are a couple of miles south of I20 before it pops out of the haze. In this light and haze, there is virtually no contrast between the runway and the grass, and the long runway at this angle, has the markings too spread out to help in identification. We could make a straight in to 22 from here. Jink over to the right and begin a descent in earnest. We are high, hot or both all the way around the pattern. Somewhere on short final, a little fast and a lot high, it occurs to me; this runway is 7200’ long and we are going to the FBO at the far end of it. There is absolutely no imperative to land on the numbers. What follows was an exercise in getting the speed and height where they needed to be and letting the plane land when it was ready. Beautiful, kiss of a landing about 2000’ down the runway.  Taxi in to Tyler Jet and shut down. It is just short of 4:00. Sandra calls Marie to find out where she is and when I turn my phone on, I have a message from Cheryl, telling me she can do me at 10:00 tomorrow. I check fuel and decide that there isn’t enough to get to Aero Country, so I order 20 gallons of their gold plated gas. Sandra finally guides Marie to the FBO and they depart for a store to get Sandra some nice pants.  I finally saddle up about 4:45 and taxi halfway to Houston for takeoff on 04. Takeoff, turn to 300 and climb to 3500 for the 85nm home. It is a smooth relaxing flight and the Mouse seems to know it is headed for the barn. With very little input from me, it flies directly into the downwind for 17 with McKinney reporting winds as calm. The landing only has a slight skip and I easily make the turnoff. As I turn into our “driveway”, I can see the hangar is open, meaning either John or Mike are there. I roll it into position and shut down. John strolls out to the plane as I am disconnecting the GPS and asks, “Where’s Sandra?”.  I put on a puzzled expression and look around the inside of the plane. “Gee, I wonder if I left her at the last stop or if she got out later.” “You didn’t notice that it was awfully quiet the last hour or so?”  We get stuff moved around, the plane unloaded and put away and I head for home. Unload the car, unpack the dirty clothes, eat a little supper and gather up Sandra’s stuff for tomorrow. Wednesday morning, I get up, catch up on the email, shower, dress and head for the Salon. Cheryl makes my hair look decent again and I head for Canton.

On arrival there, I lunch on leftover biscuit and bacon from breakfast while Sandra gets into her good clothes. Then we head for Tyler and the funeral. Afterwards, we eat an early dinner with Marie and head for home.