wby0nder
Cleared for Takeoff
Just finished my longest cross country fight in recently overhauled Fly Baby 48ML. Last week Tuesday I flew from Ames IA(AMW) to Syvrud pvt(10 south of Madison WI) for "the day". Had pizza with Pete V (sorry Kent, I couldn't find your number) That 193nm trip took just 2 hours thanks to a great tail wind giving me 120mph groundspeed. Well, my pal there needed help with his crop dusting biz so I stayed all week, washing my 1 set of clothes each night and stealing a toothbrush. This morning, my replacement crew showed up so I was cut loose.
There was a large decaying thunderstorm complex moving east out of
Iowa and I'd been thinking of going farther east a ways so that I
could claim a 250nm leg back to Ames (for my commercial
requirements). So, I flew over to the shore of lake Michigan and did
a touch and go at Racine about 8AM. There were a few sprinkles on the
canopy as I turned toward the WSW for a short run to Lake Lawn (not
far from Wag Aero) where my pals were supposed to be with their Ag
Cats. There was a fog bank to the NE and the remains of the storms
to the south but I had good vis and ceiling. However, as I
approached Lake Lawn clouds started forming below me at around 1000
agl mostly to my right. The humid morning air was cooling in the
shadow of that storm complex and I decided to angle off to the NE
toward the open sky and avoid possible "complications". 2.5 hours after leaving
I was back at Syvrud topping off my fuel for the trip home to Ames.
By now the storms were well east so I had an easy cruise home. I
climbed to 4500msl prior to crossing the Mississippi near DBQ and the
quartering NW headwind started to slacken as I crossed into Iowa. It
was a little cooler and smoother up there too and gave me ample
clearance over some tall radio towers near Waterloo. I turned on the
GPS occasionally and was showing a respectable 90mph at 2550rpm.
Additionally, I was enjoying my new pitch trim installed a few days
earlier, copied from a Pietenpol I saw in Wisconsin. It's a simple
spring and turnbuckle going from just below the handgrip angling down
to the floor just in front of the seat. It really helps lessen the
workload and actually would hold altitude while I was looking at the
map.
2.5 hours after leaving Syvrud I was landing at Ames and was suprised
to see a B-17 parked on the ramp. I taxied up behind it to get a
good look before going to the hanger and several people with cameras
started pointing them my way. Later one of them promised to send me
a DVD. The bomber is the CAF Sentimental Journey and I noticed that
the horizontal tail seemed to be as wide as my entire plane! Cool!
Glad to be home to some clean clothes and my pack of dogs, Lucky,
Bella, and Coco. Yea, and my awesome wife Lois too. Hey, at least I
can talk to my wife on the phone!
MM
There was a large decaying thunderstorm complex moving east out of
Iowa and I'd been thinking of going farther east a ways so that I
could claim a 250nm leg back to Ames (for my commercial
requirements). So, I flew over to the shore of lake Michigan and did
a touch and go at Racine about 8AM. There were a few sprinkles on the
canopy as I turned toward the WSW for a short run to Lake Lawn (not
far from Wag Aero) where my pals were supposed to be with their Ag
Cats. There was a fog bank to the NE and the remains of the storms
to the south but I had good vis and ceiling. However, as I
approached Lake Lawn clouds started forming below me at around 1000
agl mostly to my right. The humid morning air was cooling in the
shadow of that storm complex and I decided to angle off to the NE
toward the open sky and avoid possible "complications". 2.5 hours after leaving
I was back at Syvrud topping off my fuel for the trip home to Ames.
By now the storms were well east so I had an easy cruise home. I
climbed to 4500msl prior to crossing the Mississippi near DBQ and the
quartering NW headwind started to slacken as I crossed into Iowa. It
was a little cooler and smoother up there too and gave me ample
clearance over some tall radio towers near Waterloo. I turned on the
GPS occasionally and was showing a respectable 90mph at 2550rpm.
Additionally, I was enjoying my new pitch trim installed a few days
earlier, copied from a Pietenpol I saw in Wisconsin. It's a simple
spring and turnbuckle going from just below the handgrip angling down
to the floor just in front of the seat. It really helps lessen the
workload and actually would hold altitude while I was looking at the
map.
2.5 hours after leaving Syvrud I was landing at Ames and was suprised
to see a B-17 parked on the ramp. I taxied up behind it to get a
good look before going to the hanger and several people with cameras
started pointing them my way. Later one of them promised to send me
a DVD. The bomber is the CAF Sentimental Journey and I noticed that
the horizontal tail seemed to be as wide as my entire plane! Cool!
Glad to be home to some clean clothes and my pack of dogs, Lucky,
Bella, and Coco. Yea, and my awesome wife Lois too. Hey, at least I
can talk to my wife on the phone!
MM
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