tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
Weather in Iowa is beautiful, except that the temps are waaaaay low. i showed up at the airport about 8:30 this morning to head southeast to do some deer counting with the DNR. Temp when I got here this morning was around -8 degF. Brrr! 2 or 3 layers of pretty much every garment helped keep the cold out. the 182RG started nicely thanks to be plugged in since its last hop. Picked up 3 DNR guys in Chariton (CNC) about 10 or so and off we went. Passes were made at about 1/4 mile widths across state parks/wildlife reserves etc. and the two guys in the back counted all the deer they could while the guy in front tried to keep me in line. We worked south to the Missouri border then back north to Blakesburg (home of the Antique Airplane Association) and then back west to Chariton. Dumped them off and flew home. flying at 80 knots with gear and 10 flaps out was nice on the fuel consumption but didnt do too much for heat in the cabin. I was happy for the normal cruise periods between targets. Departing from Chariton after flying 5 hours was a nice lesson in the effect of weight and density altitude on performace. Takeoff roll was about 500 feet with a 10 knot wind. I was alone with only about 20 or 25 gallons of fuel on board. 88 gallons is full. Climb was stabilized at 1500 feet per minute. In a mere 3 miles I was leveled off and set up for cruise at 4500 MSL and in radar contact with DSM approach. not too shabby!
Oh and apparently Chris's melee hasn't had much of an effect on the deer population. Numbers are as high as ever.
Oh and apparently Chris's melee hasn't had much of an effect on the deer population. Numbers are as high as ever.