Epilogue Uno

The lawn got mowed first, before it grew so much as another millimeter. First after hugging the dog. We unpacked, cleaned the cat box, did the laundry, watered the plants, grilled our dinner, downloaded pictures onto the computer and read the mail. We are home again. The trip went really well, in some ways even better than hoped or planned for. The plane performed perfectly, we managed to avoid the real bad weather and we stayed on the big picture of our schedule- I was home in time for work on Monday. The pleasant added bonus is what we learned along the way. I learned all about 21374 flying at altitude, about mountain passes and clouds, about wind and landing, about leaning the fuel mixture for more than economy, that Sprint/Nextel does not have a signal between Oshkosh and Spokane, and a little bit about the flooding thru the heartland of this country. Marlys learned an awful lot about flying- not manipulating the plane thru space, but flying. When you learn to fly its hard to learn about flying because its all new and you're so busy trying to handle the plane. Marlys now knows all about clouds and weather, fuel, parking and tie down, courtesy cars, flying time versus clock time, airspeed vs. ground speed, maps, charts and GPS, Air Traffic Control, holes in clouds, getting on top, what rain looks like before you get to it. She became a very good navigator and second in command. Now the trick is to keep her in practice.

Day 8- eight days a week

Eight days a week- thank you the Beatles. The Last Leg. Homeward Bound. Marlys beat the alarm clock up- 6 am and we're moving. The taxi to the airport will be here at 7:30. We make it to breakfast in the motel lobby, fresh waffles too good to resist although neither one of us seems particularly hungry. Flight planning indicates that we will be on the ground in Ithaca in 2 hours and 27 minutes. I'll believe that when it happens but we are getting just a bit excited to get going. The taxi arrives early and we are on our way. Luck is with us- when we arrive at the FBO we find the fuel guy refueling a jet. This is good because he wasn't scheduled to start his day until 9 am and we must have fuel- he refuels us second. More good luck, the price of fuel at this airport has gone down twenty cents a gallon since last Sunday. The weather is hazy, once again a light wind right down the runway. Mornings are good to us. The forecast calls for a tailwind all the way to Ithaca. Minutes later we are up and away- headed right over Canada as a shortcut to NY. This means that we need a discrete code on the transponder to be in Canadian airspace, much like an IFR flight. 5,500' and absolutely smooth sailing. No less than 110 knots over the ground- sometimes as much as 120. Canadian ATC is great, the lake crossing uneventful. One hour and twenty five minutes after takeoff we are in NY airspace. Can this be true? We are exactly on time with our flight plan. Our good luck keeps rolling on. In spite of our good ground speed, time seems to drag. The Finger Lakes are a navigator's dream- so easy to see, to recognize to pinpoint your location by. I've got Keuka, there's Seneca, I think I see Milliken's smokestack. Thirty miles out from Ithaca we can hear the scenic flight tour pilots calling out Taughannock Falls- we radio the tower. It's Father's Day and that means the fly-in pancake breakfast at East Hill Flying Club. We had hoped to make the breakfast and now it's all going to work out perfectly. Lots of plane traffic, the tower is really working hard. We call out a 3 mile left base for 32 and get cleared to land. It's all so familiar now, I've made this landing hundreds of times before. Smooth and easy, roll out to Foxtrot, to the ramp with you tower. We taxi to the hangar, move the car, unload the plane, load the car. The plane's leading edges and the windshield finally get the cleaning they deserve. I call my Dad to wish him a happy father's day, Marlys calls her Mom to let her know that we have arrived. It's done. This great adventure is over- at least for now. What should we do next? Well those flyin' flapjacks look pretty good.....

Day 7- Does this make a week?

Early morning is a pilot's friend. Thruout this trip the early morning weather was about the best of the day. 7 pm or so and things tend to settle down again, but that's a bit of hit or miss. 7 am is almost always great. Good thing we are morning people. Day Seven, day two of the trip home, and its up at 6, a light breakfast with my mother-in-law and off to the airport. A spectacular day opened up in front of us, clear blue sky, a light breeze down the runway from the east and we were on our way, destination St. Cloud, MN. At 5,500' the air was smooth and the flying easy with a slight push and ground speeds around 110 knots. Effortless, I had the wing leveler on, feet flat on the floor. One eye on the weather though because there was definitely a line of storms in the area of Minneapolis. About 2 and 1/2 hours in it became clear that a little better examination of weather conditions was the prudent thing to do and so we landed in Alexandria, MN a tad short of our original goal. A nice young lady refueled the plane while we de-fueled our bladders. The weather picture was probably the most confounding one we had the entire trip- there was pleanty of nasty weather out there but where was it going and when would it get there? The answer my friend was blowing in the wind ( sorry but MN is Dylan's home state) so we did what seemed like the only reasonable thing to do- file IFR and go. Well it was more like go and file IFR in the air. Regardless, the ATC guys vectored us around the weather with a minimum of cloud time and we broke out about 100 miles from Oshkosh, WI, our new destination. Easy, Peasy. Another stop, another bathroom break, more fuel. Ladies and Gentlemen, the absolute winner for cheapest fuel along our route of travel, and some very accommodating people to boot, Basler Aviation, Oshkosh, WI @ $5.39 per gallon full service. Lunch, another look at the weather and it was very apparent that we needed to cross Lake Michigan today or get ready to sit for what looked like a week waiting for the storms to run out of rain- and thunder and lightning. Conditions were what could be best described as hazy, which means that there isn't much view forward, like to the end of the prop or so it seemed. This time we filed IFR on the ground because we wanted another someone paying attention to where we were over that lake- its about 55 miles wide where we crossed and that's an awful lot of cold water to go swimming in. Yes we had our life vests close at hand. 21374 was running perfectly, I would not have gone this way if she was running otherwise. Destination St. Clair, MI. Once again easy, peasy. The toughest job was finding the field to land. When traveling from East to West the time changes work out in your favor- you get to land before the FBO closes and the fuel guy goes home. Traveling from West to east, not so much. We missed the FBO and the fuel guy by 40 minutes. Beautiful night in north easy Michigan and it would have been lovely to camp out, but we wanted a bed and a shower and some food, and a beer wouldn't hurt either. Fortunately, Marlys brought along the GPS from her car and we were able to look up the hotel and the taxi lickety split and before long Mikey, professional driver, had us in his cab and on our way into Marysville, MI. I love Mr. Garmin and I don't begrudge him one penny of all that money he is making while keeping me headed in the right direction. Mikey set us up for the ride back to the airport the next morning and directed us to the best restaurant in town. A couple of cold ones, black russians for Marlys, a meal that couldn't be beat, a comfy bed and this day comes to a close. Home is less than 3 hours away.

Day 6- R&R

No flying today. high wind, rain, low ceilings, thunderstorms in the forecast all combined equal a day off. Time to do a couple of little things for my mother-in-law, catch up with Minot, ND, see the dikes that hold the flooding river at bay as I write this. I visited the Dakota Territory Air Museum to visit the Ercoupe plane that I'm going to win in their annual raffle. Positive thinking is always good. envision what you want and go get it. I stopped by 21374 to attempt bug removal. all the leading edges of 21374 look like a battlefield- blood and guts smeared everywhere. I cleaned until the rain drove me indoors. The forecast for tomorrow is so much better, I do believe that we will be on our way. It feels really good to not sit all day.

Day 5-Already?

Time to head home. A breakfast that couldn't be beat at the cafe in the terminal at Felts field. Flight planning while waiting for the fuel guy from the FBO to show up so we could pay for our fuel. Ladies and Gentlemen a new world record has been set- $6.26 per gallon. Now I don't feel bad about the 200 miles I put on the courtesy car. Planes flying all about in the pattern- before 8 am. Felts is definitely the busiest field that we have encountered. Skies look good for departure but the forecast for Missoula is a bit shaky and I'm not to eager to repeat the mountain pass adventure. We opt for out and up, destination Great Falls, MT. beautiful blue sky, sunshine and sparkling ice crystals in the air @ 20 degrees outside. it turns out that 14,500' is really the upper limit of climb for 21374 with 2 people and full fuel aboard. the clouds were higher. I did have O2 and the pitot heat on and went IFR when it became apparent that we were going to have to fly in the clouds for a bit. nothing but mountains below does make a difference. the wind was blowing 15 knots, gusting 20, right down the runway at Great Falls. Absolutely the best FBO of the trip- Holman Aviation. Beautiful facility, impeccable service, friendly people. Fuel for the plane and people and off we went, headed for Glasgow, MT. Finally a great tailwind and we saw ground speeds as high as 132 knots. That's about as good as it gets in 21374. Fuel and pee break at Glasgow and onto the final leg of the day, destination Minot, ND. Level at 5500', smooth as glass under the overcast. Oddly the most impressive view of the trip so far was on this leg- flooding as far and wide as the eye could see. A true natural disaster. Once again the wind was right down the runway, 15 knots gusting 22. The line guys tied 21374 down and topped off the tanks, today's flight is over. 2 time zones conquered, one to go. Marlys's mom picked us up and took us out to dinner. Tomorrow's forecast- not so good, but, as usual, we shall see.

Day 4- all at once

5 am sharp! Up and at 'em. 6:15 at the plane, loading the luggage. Taxi at 6:30, up and away. Crystal clear skies, 34 degrees- windchill 33, the lightest of winds right down the runway. Could not have been more perfect conditions for flying. Off the departure end of the runway is a huge open valley- and a very impressive view of the mountains that must be flown over. 20 minutes later and 21374 was at 11,500 feet msl! Not bad for a 37 year old plane. Not once did this lovely plane offer any complaint, hesitation, or disagreement for anything that she was asked to do. Anyway, off into the mountains we did fly. Suffice it to say that flying over mountains is a learning event for a flatlander like me, and the learning has to be quick, direct and correct. The price for indecision, inaction, or inattentiveness is extremely high. The view was mind boggling- east coast eyes can't relate to so much everything. Our destination was Missoula, MT. Everything was going just fine and then the ceiling started coming down about 30 miles out from Missoula. We found a lovely hole to fly thru and popped out in the valley looking right at the airport but the first seed of doubt was sown. While getting refueled at the FBO we talked with a local flight instructor who gave us the same advice I had already heard in regards to the next leg of our trip- just follow the highway out to Couer D'Alene and it will all work out. This CFI added" you'll probably get squished a bit by the clouds, but that's kinda normal". So, trying to take advantage of the good weather in Missoula, off we flew once more for the final leg of the left hand side of the true cross country trip- look out Spokane, WA. Into the valley of Rt 90 we flew, mountains on either side. Beautiful country, highway below for an emergency runway, cloud deck above- but above enough to make sense to do this. Mullan Pass is the midpoint of this route, and all was going well as we passed thru. "Got this thing made", I thought. And then the clouds started coming down, and so we went down, and the valley seemed to get a bit more narrow. and the clouds came down, and down and oops we were in the soup. Uncomfortable redefined is flying in the clouds in a winding mountain-lined valley. IFR training to the rescue- full power and go UP. we broke out above the clouds and the hills and not 2 minutes later the whole valley opened up and down. Lesson learned, not to be repeated. Couer D'Alene was about to be rained on, so we made a left turn and there was Spokane, and better yet, historic Felts Field. A fabulous lunch at the Cafe in the old terminal building, a courtesy car from the FBO and we were on our way. We found the hospital where Marlys's brother Ken is recuperating from his 4 wheeler accident and surprised him half way to a heart attack when we walked in. This might have been the best spent time of the entire trip. Being so close we then had to drive to Ione to visit Marlene and Kevin, who are holding down the fort at Ken's Bar while Ken recovers. Second best spent time of the trip. 75 miles back to Spokane to collapse into a Motel 6 bed. The right hand side of the true XC starts tomorrow.

Day 3- part done

So much has happened in so little time and yet some things seem to last forever. Tuesday had us stuck in Lewistown, MT. Shortly before we arrived the winds started to build and at touchdown they were blowing 25 degrees crosswind at 25 knots! landing turned into work, even taxi-ing was difficult. the wings were rocking during fueling, the temperature dropped, the sky got dark and a small but persistent and loud voice in my head said "you ain't goin anywhere". We tied the plane down and, thanks to the very nice folks at the FBO, took the courtesy car into town for lunch. As it became clear that the wind was in no hurry to calm down, we called it a day and took a room. I could not envision trying to fly across real mountains with 25 knots on the nose- especially since I was still wondering just what flying across the mountains would look like at all. Oh well, early to bed and live to fly another day.

Day 3 part 2

Ok we are stuck on the ground in Lewistown, MT due to very high winds. fun, fun, fun.

Day 3- Part One

well some dumb guy left his computer at the computer desk at the FBO in Eau Claire Wisconsin. Fortunately it was found and is being mailed back to me at home, so updates from the trip will be difficult. Today I'm using a computer at the uiblic library in Lewistown, MT. So a quick update is in order. Monday morning we left Oshkosh, WI under threat of thunderstorm. We flew up to Eau Claire, site of the tragic computer incident, fueled up, got a weather update and headed out northwest, around Minneapolis to avoid the thunder boomers. we cleared the Bravo and headed to Watertown, SD for fuel and lunch. It was incredible to see the aftermath of the flooding thru out MN and SD. From Watertown we flew to Rapid City, SD, refueled and did a quick tour of Mnt. Rushmore from 8,000 feet. The last leg of the day was up to Belle Fourche, SD, just south of the Montana state line. All along the way we have experienced nothing but great people, amazing sites, and HIGH fuel prices. Oshkosh has been the cheapest at $5.39 per gallon.

Departure Day- Part 3

well the i pad is giving me problems. I haven't figured out how to load my pictures, and yes I did buy the adapter. Anyway, shortly after high noon the skies lifted and we made a bee line for the airport where things didn't look quite so good. We loaded the plane, performed the pre-flight inspection and took off, trying to stay above the terrain and below the clouds. It quickly became apparent that I would have to get on top of the clouds if I wanted to stay out of them and so we climbed up to 8500 feet and flew in the beautiful sunshine, with no view of anything but cloudtops, all the way to St. Clair, MI. so much for a pure sightseeing flight. The air was cool and smooth, with 15 knots of wind on the nose. not so good for ground speed, but a nice flight. we refueled in St. Clair
at $5.95 a gallon and immediately headed west again. this time we had a bit of a tailwind and we were on top of a broken ceiling of clouds at 6500 feet, mostly for altitude over Lake Michigan. That is one big lake. some pilots won't risk the crossing in a single engine plane, and we did have our life preservers along, but the plane performed flawlessly as usual. 30 minutes later we were on the ground at Oshkosh, WI. it was so strange to land here with no other planes in the air! we got a lovely room at the Hilton and had dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant in town, Durangos. these guys known their way around a margarita! so now, full, tired and very pleased with today's flight I'll call it a night.
ton and ha

Departure Day- Part 2

It's 11:30 am and still in "no go" conditions. We could not be more ready. The weather refuses to co-operate. A look at the radar shows that the rain has passed thru and the ceiling is coming down anyway. There seems to be some hope for an early afternoon departure, so now the mission of the moment is to recalculate plans for today. If we get to go, where will we stop and where will we stay? If today becomes a washout, how does tomorrow look? Oh, the agony of too much time to think about it all.

Departure Day- Part 1

We're off to a good start. Patience 101, wait for the storm to pass. The radar paints a pretty picture of green and yellow, with just a touch of red thrown in, moving quickly from the southwest. Time to have breakfast, double check our double checked list, try to relax a bit. Nervous energy making that task all but impossible. I can see clear skies behind the storm front all the way to Wisconsin for sure. The Dakotas are in question but, as usual, time will tell. Oshkosh may end up being the perfect place to call it a day. Too bad Airventure is a month away.

Weather

The real issue in flying a small airplane is the weather. It's the one thing that cannot be controlled or influenced in any way. We can choose to go or to not go but that's about it. Weather forecasts more than one day into the future are nothing more than a guess. Maybe a scientific wild ass guess, but a guess none the less. The only weather that is assured is the weather that you are in in any given moment. So what does a pilot do? Well for starters we look at the forecast- it might be a guess but its a starting point. We look for weather trends, what has happened, what is happening, what is forecast to happen. We look to where the weather has come from to see what else might be on the way. We check the weather all the way from one end of our proposed flight to the other. We allow for getting stuck on the ground. We pray it doesn't happen. We fly whatever portion of the trip we can safely fly whenever we can fly at all. We navigate around the known bad weather. We look out the window to see what lies ahead. We pay strict attention to Mother Nature. We get weather briefings from air traffic control, we talk to other pilots, we work every inch of the system that we can. We NEVER fly into a thunderstorm. If running out of fuel is stupid pilot trick #1, then flying into a thunderstorm has got to be stupid pilot trick #2. And when everything is perfectt we get CAVU- ceiling and visibility unlimited- conditions with the wind on our tail. So far the forecast for our trip looks do-able. We shall see......

91.103

de
The FAA seems to have all the bases covered. In Section 91, Subpart B- Flight Rules, lives 91.103 which says "Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight." All available information. Now that covers a lot of real estate. Navigational charts are updated with a new version every 56 days. GPS data bases are updated every 28 days. So all those charts that I purchased along with all those lovely electronic navigation devices that I have in the plane must be absolutely current because how could I possibly become familiar with all available information if I don't have the most current information? I even had to make a one time purchase of the western half of the USA for my GPS because my normal subscription service only covers from the Atlantic coast to about North Dakota. And then there is the plane itself- it must have current re certification of the transponder and altitude reporting system. This is the equipment that makes my aircraft specifically identifiable to air traffic control on the radar screen. Generally speaking this is a very good idea and it is required when flying thru the airspace surrounding the busier airports. It is possible to do this trip by flying around the airspace that requires a transponder but that would call for us to fly a mighty zig-zag course and ultimately limit where we could go which would also minimize our options for fuel, food, hotel rooms and bad weather landing spots. I am all about having options on this trip. Bottom line, I will be 100% current with "all available information" for this flight.