One of the members of the Musketeer board mentioned that Guthrie, OK was a good place for a weekend getaway. Old style western town with many Bed & Breakfasts. I drug out the planning I had done for the checkride and updated it. On Tuesday night, I tried to get a room but found all the B&Bs filled up. I tried again on Thursday and found one that had a cancellation. We took it and waited on the weather.
On Saturday morning, the weather briefing was good so we headed to the airport. We got there around 8:00 and opened the hangar. The mouse had a flat tire! We have a portable air compressor with a rechargeable battery for just that purpose, so I blew it up to 35 lbs. and started the preflight while Sandra cleaned the windshield. As I got back to the left side, the tire was low again. After verifying that someone might be around to change the tire, we tore down to Tex Air, bought a tire and tube and tore back. The left tire looked just like it did when we left for Tex Air. I checked it and although looking low, it showed just under 30 lbs. After some soul searching, we threw the new tire and tube in the cargo compartment, finished the preflight and fired up. It was nearing 10:00 and the rental car company would close at noon, so we would forego the stop in Ada and make it non-stop. With no wind, the flight time should be 1 hour, 40 minutes, but we should have a slight tail wind.
We took off heading north from the downwind leg of the pattern and opened the flight plan with flight service. The only worry other than the left tire was that the clouds were hanging between 2500 and 3000 feet. We flew at 2500 and had no trouble with the landmarks to the other side of Tishomingo. By then, we were riding the Ada, OK VOR inbound. As we approached it, I bore west of the field to avoid their traffic. This was necessary due to our low altitude, but we were skirting the bottoms of the clouds at 2500. Passing west of the field, we picked up the outbound radial of the VOR and headed for Guthrie. We passed about 10 miles west of Shawnee, OK and over Shawnee reservoir. Soon, we were over the power station at Harrah and could follow the power lines which led straight to Guthrie as we lost the Ada VOR. The air had been smooth, but we had run into bands of cloud and I was down to 2200 feet at one place.
We located the field at Guthrie easily and I set up for landing. Now I could worry about that tire. I made a good approach and touched down ready for the drag on the left side. It wasn't there, the tire was still up and I made the best landing of my career. We taxied over to the ramp and shut down. As soon as I got out, I called the rental place and got no answer. I headed for the FBO and the bathroom while Sandra got the bags out. After emptying me, I called flight service and closed the flight plan. As I was walking back out to the plane, I met Sandra coming in. She had tried Enterprise again and got through. The man was on his way to pick us up. I went back to the plane and completed the postflight and with help from one of the bystanders, squared it up and tied it down. I made the picture of the plane as Sandra was walking back out.
The man with the car arrived just as she got to the plane. We threw the bags in and he drove us to the office. It was just back to the highway and down (away from town) 1/2 mile. We did the walk around and signed the papers and were off to town.
As we got into downtown, it was like going back 100 years. All the buildings were of an architecture popular in the 1880-90s. We parked in the middle of town, called the B&B to let them know we had arrived and walked down to the tourist bureau. There we loaded up on literature and got advice on where to eat. The advice for lunch (it was now a little after noon) was back one block from where we were. We strolled leisurely there looking at all the historical markers along the way.
At lunch, we discussed flying as being the ideal way to travel. We mentioned gas and a man behind us told us that we could get Avgas much cheaper at Sundance on the northwest corner of OK City than at Guthrie. We all talked flying for a while and then our food came and we fell to eating. Leaving the restaurant, we walked all over the old part of town. We visited the Oklahoma Sports museum and saw the exhibits and memorabilia from all the famous Oklahoma native sports stars from Jim Shoulders (rodeo) to Troy Aikman (football) and every sport in between.
We arrived back at the town square in time to witness the gunfight reenactment and catch the trolley tour at three. Now we learned the why of Guthrie.
In the 1880s, Guthrie was the largest town in western OK. It was slated to become the state capital when statehood was achieved. As a consequence, many businesses moved to town and the town grew rapidly. A single architect was responsible for most of the buildings downtown and they were mostly all built before 1900. Land for the state capital was set aside on a hilltop in east Guthrie and the building was laid out. But disaster struck.
A group of people literally hijacked the state seal from the courthouse and took it to Oklahoma City, thereby moving the capital with it. The town almost died. It's only other bit of fame was that the Great Land Rush started from the flood plain on the west bank of Cimarron Creek in West Guthrie. The town lay dormant until the 1980s when they realized that with renewed interest in preserving historical places, they had a gold mine. Here was a Victorian period town with most of it's original buildings intact and unmodified. The city began getting those buildings in the national register of historic places. There are now over 1000 structures in Guthrie carrying that marker, including downtown and the residential areas surrounding it.
After the trolley tour, we went to the B&B to check in. The house also had a marker on it, having been built in the 1900s. We made reservations for the play being put on in the opera house that night and got advice for dinner. On a lark, we drove out to Cashion and made a picture of Sandra in front of the Post Office. This was as a joke on one of the teachers in Sandra's school who is from Cashion. We drove back to Guthrie and parked near the theatre. We walked over to the recommended restaurant for dinner. Good food in a very casual atmosphere. After eating, we walked back to the theater in time to pick up our tickets and go in to watch the show.
The show was "Bullshot Grummond", a spoof of the British spy radio show "Bulldog Drummond". It is a broad farce, extremely well done and utterly hilarious. We return to the room about 11:00 and retire for the night.
Sunday morning, while our hosts are preparing breakfast (this is a B&B), I call for the weather briefing and to file our flight plan. The weather is similar to yesterday with scattered clouds at 3000 but a 15k wind from the southwest. This will affect our flight time and true heading as we will be "crabbed" into the wind all the way.
We eat a gourmet breakfast, throw the bags in the car and make a final pass downtown. The only place we missed the day before is not open until noon, so we head for the airport. We stop on the way and add some gas to the car and drive directly to the plane.
The tire is still up to 30psi. I run a good preflight and add a quart of oil. There is about 30 minutes in the right tank and some 2 hours in the left. It is just under an hour to Ardmore, so we have plenty of gas. Sandra takes the car and keys to the FBO and we prepare for takeoff. The winds forecast for 3000 are also present at the surface as we take off. The plan is to switch to the right tank for 30 minutes after takeoff, follow the power lines back to Harrah then turn south to Ardmore.
After takeoff, I keep trying to bear south, but never find the power lines. The wind is blowing us hard east. Finally after we should be to Harrah, I start trying to get a real fix on where we are. From ADF, we determine that we are north-northwest of Shawnee or north and east of Harrah.
I set a southwest course and start looking for Shawnee reservoir. There is still better than ten minutes on the 30 minute clock as we approach Shawnee reservoir, so I dial up Flight Watch to tell them of the higher than expected wind. As I am talking to them, the engine begins to sputter. In mid-sentence to Flight Watch, I switch tanks, go to full throttle and full rich. The Redhead, only mildly panicked says "Stop talking and fix it." After a very short hesitation, the engine catches and I complete my report to Flight Watch. The right tank Booboo has bit me again.
The remainder of the flight to Ardmore is a quiet Sunday drive. We pass Paul's Valley, Wynnewood and Sulphur and get directly over I35. At the appropriate time, I get the ADM weather and contact ADM tower for landing clearance. They clear me for a base entry to 13.
We land and on rollout, the tower advises me to use the old 90 runway (now closed) to taxi to the ramp, just as I roll by it. She says "No traffic in sight, U turn on the runway is OK." I did and we headed for the ramp. On postflight, the right tank is clearly empty, and the left now shows just under 20 gallons or about 1.5 hours. I ask for 15 gallons of 100LL in the right tank.
The one useful thing about running a tank dry is that you get to check the accuracy of your fuel measurement. The gauges in the cockpits are notoriously inaccurate. They are only required to read full when there is more than half a tank and read empty when empty. The sure check on fuel quantity is a look in the tanks. There is a tab that sticks down into the tank. The bottom of the tab marks 15 gallons and a slot cut into the tab marks 20 gallons. These numbers are "absolute". The tanks hold 29.9 each, but only 26.1 useable. From an empty tank earlier, I had learned that 26.2 filled the tank so the useable number is good. Now is the time to check the accuracy of the tab.
We go to the facilities and get iced tea at the snack bar. Then a walk through the pilot shop and back to the airplane. I add another quart of oil and check the right tank. The gas is now a little more than half way between the bottom of the tab and the slot. In other words, 15 gallons usable shows about 18 on the tab. This is as it should be. We get in and head out.
During WWII, Texas literally bristled with AAF training fields. This was due to (generally) flat land, good weather and, for that time, fairly well developed transportation systems. Many of those bases were turned over to civil aviation after the war and survive to this day. They are easily recognizable from the layout in the "4" configuration of their runways. Gainesville, Ardmore and Grayson County are current examples that I have seen to this point. Others were closed and returned to civilian use. In some cases, some of the buildings remain in industrial parks, but most returned to their original use as farms or pastures. Southeast of Whitesboro, there was one returned to pasture land. All the buildings were removed and the runways torn up and re-seeded.
The return flight takes us down the west shore of Lake Texoma and just east of Whitesboro. I glance to my left and I can see that old base. I had seen it once before on a training flight with Dave. Even though the runways and buildings are gone, the soil preparation for the runways can still be seen as outlines in the pasture grasses. The NE-SW runway now ends in a wallow. The N-S runway is very clear in the patterns of the grass and unbroken by fences or trees. It is truly an unexpected sight and I circled it so the Redhead could also see it clearly.
We returned to Aero Country about 2:00 PM, tired, sweaty and exhilarated. We took the tire and tube down to Dave and told him to put it on our account. If the left main held air 'til annual, he would use the tube there. In any case, annual should see replacement of the nose tire and tube anyway. Then we went for lunch/dinner and home to rest.
Kingston, OK
Sandra cannot stand being hot. She is hot when the temperature gets above 75. The bird has vinyl seats. Do you see the problem here? The trip to Guthrie had been north and the cabin in the shade. Coming back was south and in the sun. I was hot, but she was miserable sitting on the vinyl and sweating. I had mentioned seat cushions the previous summer when Dave and I would stick to the seats on hot days. She found a pair of spring type seat cushions at Wal-mart and we needed to try them out. Monday, June 18 was clear and little wind. We had talked about dinner at Texoma State Park in Kingston, OK and here was an opportunity to see if these cushions would be worth the cost.
We got to the airport about 4:30 and preflighted. The oil quantity is acceptable, right on 6 qt. We needed gas, so the flight plan was to Gainesville to Kingston to Aero Country. The flight to GLE was uneventful until we were about 5 miles out. I announced our presence and intentions and immediately a Cessna announced similar location and intentions. After a quick exchange, we determined that he was above and slightly behind me but closer to pattern entry. I announced and started a left 270 to give him time to get ahead of us. It worked out well. As we rolled into the downwind leg, we could see him turning final.
We landed and taxied up to the pumps with an Apache on the other side of the fuel island. On our turn, we filled the tanks to 25 gallons each, used the rest rooms and took off. The takeoff and climbout seemed a little sluggish, which I attributed to 95 degree temperature and high density altitude. We climbed to 2500 for the 20 minute flight to Kingston. The seat cushions were working very well. The springs gave some clearance between our bodies and the seats for air circulation. The cabin has very good ventilation and this little advantage is just what we needed.
We had no trouble finding Kingston (F31) and I had no trouble landing on one of the strangest strips seen so far. There is a highway along a ridge north of the runway, so final is over the highway (over the powerlines along the road) onto the runway about 30 feet below the road. The runway slopes down so that the south end is another 50 feet lower than the north end. There is no taxiway, so we back taxied up the hill to the parking area and parked the bird next to a gorgeous Bonanza. We called for a ride to the lodge and waited. We could see the lodge about a half mile away. And after waiting for 15 minutes, looking over the Bonanza and a light twin with a missing propeller, we set out walking. We saw the courtesy vehicle leave as we were walking across the parking lot.
The food at the lodge was not five star, but the view across the lake was worth the trip. We were on the patio on the east side of the lodge and saw 2 other planes on downwind while we were eating. To settle the meal, we walked back to the plane.
Walking back up to the plane, we noticed that there was a lot of oil already on the belly that the Redhead had spent so much effort cleaning 2 weeks earlier. In preflight, it took 2 quarts to bring it over 6 qt. As I was not yet concerned about the power, and the takeoff would be downhill, we rolled to the runway.
The takeoff is downhill across a valley and over a ridge sloping from left to right. We got off, but I had to ease to the right to clear the ridge. We climbed to 2500 and it took 2500rpm to hold cruising speed. These symptoms are very clear now in 20/20 hindsight, but were only worrisome at the time.
On final at Aero Country, Dave and the Cherokee were on the taxiway waiting to take off. Talk about pressure! Gotta make a good landing in front of the instructor. It only bounced slightly, I doubt that Dave could even see it, but we felt it.
