Home Safe!

[Rudy]

Didn't see a thread on here about being home safe!
Me and Grandpa just landed, we got here in about perfect timing, had a really good flight and then ran into light rain about 20 miles out of PTS.
Another year of safe returns for everyone.

Best,

 

[SCCutler]

Home Safe, indeed.

No incidents from 3M0 to ADS, heard TeenDoc on frequency (yep, I caught up...), haze for first 40 minutes was crooked, no horizon to my right or ahead, false horizon to my left, glad I had a/p to ease the workload.

Thanks everyone- it was an absolutely fantastic visit, good folks make for good times.

Pics to come.

 

[gibbons]

No problems here. Thanks everyone, I had a great time.
Chip

 

[tautry]

I didnt fly.. but got droped off by mark about an hour and a half ago.. everything to the north was just a few clouds.. didnt see any rain here other then what came threw last night around 9cst local.. glad to meet everyone

 

[ScottM]

Didn't fly home from Gastons but North Carolina yesterday and today. Winds were really bad and I had to stop short of my first planned destination due to the stronger winds and some server turbulance. The stop in Shenadoha was great and a well needed rest. Took off again to head north around the T-storms that had formed before heading west to Fort Wayne, IN. The turbulance was even worse. A few times with full throttle and and the nose up I could not barely keep my alititude. I could only take so much so climbed up to 10,000 MSL where it was smooth but the winds were such that I could only get 52kts of ground speed. My 3.5 hour leg turned into a 4.5 hour leg and when I got the Fort Wayne I decided to spend the night and then flew home this morning.

 

[Dean]

Home safe and sound, haze was bad until about 25nm from home. Only detour was for an active MOA at Ft. Lostinthewoods. Had a great time, sorry Ken had to leave before I got there, hope everything is OK at home. This is one out standing group, more like family than friends.

 

[markb5900]

Home safe here (driving more dangerous than flying).
Had a great time, thanks to everyone and to Diana for another great year.

Mark B.

 

[Greg Bockelman]

Home also. Beutiful ride north bound. Dropped Sharon off at Harrisonville to drive the kids home. Took Kath to Council Grove, and then home. Good weather til 35 miles from home and thousand foot ceiling the last 10 miles. All in all a good day.

 

[tonycondon]

Im home. We filed for 7000 Direct and got on top of a layer after maybe 45 minutes. Were above the haze. Coming in to Green Castle tops were at 6500, bases at 3500. Great vis below and easy 12 kt crosswind landing for Jesse. Took us about 3.5 hrs. He got gas, ceiling at rochester were 5500 and we could see sunlight to the north so he left. Has to ride his bike back to the twin cities from there.

It was COLD when we landed. 55 degrees or something. Had a great weekend with you all and cant wait for next time.

Edit-*Update* - Jesse made it to Rochester fine, clear skies by the time he arrived. Now he just has to survive the Motorcycle ride home and he will be OK

 

[Kaye]

Landed in Topeka about 4:30. Easy ride with no stinkin' wx. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Diana, for putting this together. I had sooooo much fun!!!!!!!

 

[bbchien]

I was wonderful seeing everyone again!
And JoAnn for the first time (Morristown? did I remember right?)

 

[Diana]

We made it back home with only a few diversions for weather. The haze wasn't as bad as when Gil and Sue and I went leisurely flying over the lake earlier this morning. On the way home we traded airplanes and I flew with Barb, and Tom flew with Carol. It's nice to travel as a flight of two.

We had a chance to visit with Greg Bockelman on 122.75 as he was flying with Kath up further north in Kansas.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Im home. We filed for 7000 Direct and got on top of a layer after maybe 45 minutes. Were above the haze. Coming in to Green Castle tops were at 6500, bases at 3500. Great vis below and easy 12 kt crosswind landing for Jesse. Took us about 3.5 hrs.

Yeah, it turned out to be OK for those going north after all. (The radar picture last night was NOT pretty.)

I also filed for 7,000, though I went direct Quincy (UIN) direct Madison. Don Brown would be proud. I got about 0.3 of actual enroute, most of it when the layer that had been below me sloped up and ended up well above me.

The plane got a free wash or three (not enough to clean the bugs off though ) but I lucked out on a couple of things: One, I ended up in Quad Cities Approach airspace before I got into the soup, so when it started raining fairly hard I got an update from them. I was in TRACON space (Quad Cities, Rockford, Madison) the rest of the trip so I made use of them to help keep me aware of what lurked in the clouds ahead. Lots of precip but nothing convective. Second, I ended up breaking out underneath the layer before I got near any of the heavy stuff.

So, it was a much easier flight home than it appeared it was going to be last night and this morning. I'm curious to see what Grant and Leslie ran into. (Did you make it yet?)

 

[flybill7]

I decided to try for St. Louis. Gaston haze continued for awhile, then the sun came out and the visibility magically improved. I thought I had it made but then the cumulous clouds began to fill in. I made it to within 20 miles of Creve Coeur in St. Louis but then the overcast went below 1000 feet agl. I gave up on St. Louis and turned west, following the Missouri river. Weather turned good again and I had a nice flight to Kansas City. All systems are go for the Oregon Trail tomorrow.

It was great meeting everybody at Gastons; great fly-in!

Bill Cloughley

 

[Diana]

I gave up on St. Louis and turned west, following the Missouri river. Weather turned good again and I had a nice flight to Kansas City. All systems are go for the Oregon Trail tomorrow.

Hey Bill! I wondered how your weather turned out. Where in KC did you end up?

It was great meeting everybody at Gastons; great fly-in!

Bill Cloughley

It was a pleasure finally meeting you. Thanks for taking me (and Tom, and Carol) flying!

 

[Princess Pilot]

Landed in Topeka about 4:30. Easy ride with no stinkin' wx.

Yeahhh, glad you made it Kaye. Hope the rest of your trip goes well.

We made it back just fine as well. Landed in Smoketown by 5:30 followed by a 2+ hour drive home.

It's much cooler here.

 

[Princess Pilot]

It was great meeting everyone at Gastons. Thank you Diana!

 

[Princess Pilot]

I was wonderful seeing everyone again!
And JoAnn for the first time (Morristown? did I remember right?)

Wonderful meeting you for the first time as well Bruce.
Yes you remembered correctly - I'm from Morristown.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

We had a chance to visit with Greg Bockelman on 122.75 as he was flying with Kath up further north in Kansas.

Oooh! I don't know if anyone else here was around to hear it, but Brent Bradford checked in on Gaston's CTAF just after I took off. He was overflying the field at 43,000 feet!

I didn't know what the heck to make of it. Before I'd even climbed over the ridge:

Voice: "Gaston's traffic, Omni 45." (I was thinking Huh? What's an Omni? Is he entering downwind on the 45?)
I concentrated on deciding whether I could make a turn on course without going to the right around the ridge first. (Yes, I could... Dr B, you're right: There is no substitute for horsepower. And being 450 pounds/15% undergross.)
Voice: "Gaston's traffic, Omni 45."
Rude person: "Aircraft calling Gaston's, Nxxxxx."
Voice: "Hey, this is Brent Bradford, just wanted to say hi and sorry I can't make it, I'm flying over at 43,000 feet."
Rude person: "Yeah right."

At that point I was no longer worried about terrain so I jumped in and said thanks for checking in. Brent, hope you were still on freq. to hear that. If not, well... Thanks for checking in! Hope you can make it next year. (How long is the takeoff roll of a Lear 35 on grass? )

 

[TeenDoc]

My son, daughter-in-law, Spike, Sue and I got to San Antonio International (SAT) in one piece. Well... in two pieces. We were a flight of two for 5 1/2 hours with a pit stop in Mineola, TX, 3 hours from Gaston. Fuel $2.90. Very hazy until we reached Texas.

We had a wonderful time this weekend and already began the coundown for next year.

 

[Earthroamer]

Oooh! I don't know if anyone else here was around to hear it, but Brent Bradford checked in on Gaston's CTAF just after I took off. He was overflying the field at 43,000 feet!
]

Yeah "screw scheduling" got me. I had it all planned off this weekend. I even told them no and then the boss gave me "the call". So I had to work. However, he wanted to be nice and tell me that he was going to give me overtime pay, of which I wasnt interested in compaired to going to Gastons. I had it all planned out. I was going to spend the nights at Mountain View with the in-laws. Life was going to be good.

Yeah, I thought I would see if anyone was still there. I had actually been at FL490 and was on the downhill run to Tulsa. I was at FL430 crossing Gastons. The ride was horrible coming from KHPN from FL240 up to FL450 which is why I was so high. The airline guys keep yelling about the ride. I just asked center if I could just keep climbing to see if it stopped. They said yes. I was empty. Plus get out of the winds. I dont normally run that high.

Yeah I doubt I could get the Lear 45 out of Gastons. I would have to be pretty light. Can you imagine the noise in that valley at throttle up? Thanks for yelling back Kent.... At least that part of the trip put a smile on my face! Didn't mean to startle ya on your critical phase of flight!

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Yeah, I thought I would see if anyone was still there.

Yep, there were a few folks still around. Steve and his family, Dave and Adam Z, Mike A and Jann, Diana, and Tom. Maybe one or two others as well.

Yeah I doubt I could get the Lear 45 out of Gastons. I would have to be pretty light. Can you imagine the noise in that valley at throttle up?

Heh... I must admit, I really liked the echoes left behind by the Beech 18 and some of the other birds. That might get a little noisy with a jet!

Thanks for yelling back Kent.... At least that part of the trip put a smile on my face!

Excellent! Hopefully you'll have many more smiles next year when you actually get to be there at 0 AGL.

Didn't mean to startle ya on your critical phase of flight!

I wasn't startled, just kind of confused... Who is this guy, and what does he want? I wonder who that other guy was. Must have thought that 122.8 doesn't work at FL430.

 

[gprellwitz]

Yeah, it turned out to be OK for those going north after all. (The radar picture last night was NOT pretty.)

Yeah, we certainly had some concerns, but are glad we decided to attempt it.

I also filed for 7,000, though I went direct Quincy (UIN) direct Madison. Don Brown would be proud. I got about 0.3 of actual enroute, most of it when the layer that had been below me sloped up and ended up well above me.

So, it was a much easier flight home than it appeared it was going to be last night and this morning. I'm curious to see what Grant and Leslie ran into. (Did you make it yet?)

Leslie and I flew through a little of the haze on the way north, then climbed to get over it at Lebanon. We decided before we left to make a stop in Jefferson City to re-evaluate the weather bofore continuing on. We said Hi to the line guy there from Mark B. Glad we stopped there, because we were then flying between 2000' and 2500' most of the way to Peoria, before we could start climbing out from under the 2500' overcast.

We decided that, while we definitely don't like scud running, it can work when done carefully. Mark was right, the controller at Missoula Ctr was very helpful. We're also glad that we were landing at JEF because it prompted us to drop down through the hole after the cloud ridge along the front. Had we not done that, we would have had a real problem getting through that rising deck you spoke about without instrument tickets.

Finally touched down at Clow around 8:00, and went to get a burger and beer at Red Robin. We didn't get any rain along the way, though coming past Morris (C09) we saw some lightning to the north toward RFD/JVL that we were afraid you might run into.

 

[jesse]

...And I am now home. Pretty uneventful flight on the way home. I was damn tempted to turn back to Gastons when I found myself pulling the cabin heat over Iowa. I am sure Tony can confirm my level of bitching regarding Iowa.

It was somewhat of a chilly ride from Rochester to the Twin Cities. I was able to see my breath....It was about 45 degrees....

I had a great time and will be there next year! Infact I didn't want to leave...Time to catch up on work

Random Stats:

Distance flown: 950 NM
Time: 10.7 hours tach
Fuel Burned: 95 gallons
Distance Drove: 220 miles
Average Sleep per night: 3.75 hours
Buildings Struck: 0
Ounces consumed of Ed's aged "soda/pop": 1

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Mark was right, the controller at Missoula Ctr was very helpful.

Missoula? Man, you did have to deviate a long way for weather, huh?

That threw me for a loop too... I was much higher on the way down so I was talking to Chicago Center, Kansas City Center, and briefly Memphis Center on the way down. I was a lot lower on the return trip so they handed me off to "Mizzou Approach." Huh? (Yes, I looked at the chart ) I thought they'd be called "St. Louis Approach."

We're also glad that we were landing at JEF because it prompted us to drop down through the hole after the cloud ridge along the front. Had we not done that, we would have had a real problem getting through that rising deck you spoke about without instrument tickets.

Yeah, it started as a scattered layer way below, then got progressively higher and thicker. There was a solid undercast for quite a ways, but there were several big breaks in it before it continued the climb up to my altitude.

That instrument ticket really gives you options!

Finally touched down at Clow around 8:00, and went to get a burger and beer at Red Robin. We didn't get any rain along the way, though coming past Morris (C09) we saw some lightning to the north toward RFD/JVL that we were afraid you might run into.

Stop it, you're making me hungry! (Mmm, free fries... )

I must have passed you when you stopped. I thought you'd left a lot earlier? I fired up at 2:50 PM and went direct. There was a good-sized line of fairly heavy rain, but no apparent convective activity and I didn't see any lightning. I got a good bath from near Quad Cities to about Monroe, then it cleared up ahead and I spotted the field 30 miles out, which I think is a new record for me.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I was damn tempted to turn back to Gastons when I found myself pulling the cabin heat over Iowa.

Glad I'm not the only one! I went from sweating like a pig with all the vents and cabin air open on takeoff, to fairly comfy at 7,000 feet (14 C), to "Wow, I probably don't need all these vents wide open, my legs are kinda cold" to "Oh my, I can't believe I'm pulling the cabin heat!"

Average Sleep per night: 3.75 hours

Dang. I probably got 6, but I haven't gotten a full night's sleep in I don't know how long. Damn wal-mart.

 

[SkyHog]

I just got in myself. I decided not to stop overnight somewhere like I originally planned. I pushed it on into New Mexico and did a few of the 57 airports, then headed west to get about 2 hours of night cross country in. Excellent!!

I tell you, the heat in the Texas panhandle felt so great after spending so much time in the heat in Arkansas. Whew.

Oh - the haze stuck with me until I crossed into New Mexico. Granted, it got a lot better, but jeez, it was still there into the panhandle!

I haven't calculated the averages like Jesse did, but I know that I logged about 7 or 8 today, about 1 total at Gastons, and about 9 or 10 going out to Gastons.

This might be the most flyingest weekend for me ever.

 

[tonycondon]

glad to hear you made it nick.

and yes, jesse wouldnt shut up about Iowa. And it was cold, cabin heat was on once we got under the clouds.

 

[Ken Ibold]

Sorry for the early departure, guys. A load of crap here I don't even want to think about.

The trip back was slightly more comfortable than the trip up, due to rearranging cushions, headsets etc. Pitts is OK for about 3 hours. The last 2.5 was, uh, challenging.

 

[mikea]

We'll launch at a leisurely time into the big booteeful high for a leisuirely flight home. I'm checking now into Kilroy's at KSET for lunch.

We hooked up with my old "relatives" outside Flippin. Guess how much they pay annually in state taxes. I have no idea how they pay for the roads. With the trip up the ridge I guess it's obvious they don't. You know that scene in "Clear ande Present Danger " in Columbia where the bronco is going up to the don's estate? "Why doesn't he fix this road?!!!"

 

[Bill]

We hooked up with my old "relatives" outside Flippin. Guess how much they pay annually in state taxes.

Probably more than I do, TN has no income tax

 

[Bill]

Sorry for the early departure, guys. A load of crap here I don't even want to think about.

Sorry to have missed you. I hope your troubles work out for you.

 

[Bill]

A big public thank you to Lance and Sue for picking me up and sharing their wonderful Mooney for the ride from CHA over to Gastons. Wonderful!

Thanks again Lance!!!

 

[Steve]

On the ground at the home airport. Left Gaston's at 9:05am and touched down at M11 at 11:05am. A 15kt tailwind at 7500' helped. AdamZ, DaveG, and EdFred took off behind me. There was a scattered layer at 1800' and a broken layer at 3400' for about 25 miles to the southeast on my route, but after that it was clear and hot with the top of the haze layer around 5500'. Look forward to seeing pictures others took.

 

[Diana]

Sorry for the early departure, guys.

Ken, we hated to see you have to leave so soon! We were all looking forward to spending time with you.

A load of crap here I don't even want to think about.

I hope everyone is OK back home.

The trip back was slightly more comfortable than the trip up, due to rearranging cushions, headsets etc. Pitts is OK for about 3 hours. The last 2.5 was, uh, challenging.

Hopefully, the trip home wasn't as draining.

Soooooo, you still aren't flying it to OSH?

I didn't take any pictures of your Pitts since I thought it was going to be around for a few days. Gary took a nice shot of you in the air and put it in an article he wrote for his EAA Chapter about Gaston's. It's in a thread here somewhere, but I can't find it now.

 

[Kaye]

Hey, Diana!Dr. Bruce stopped at BPK for fuel before I took off. He can vouch for me that I have a Trinidad (smiley face, sis's computer won't bring one over). Will get your ride next year!Kaye

 

[kath]

Greg already checked in, but I am safe in Council Grove, KS and hangin' with my mom and my sister. The flight was fantastic! Friendly white puffies, clear and smooth above. I am at the Council Grove Public Library which has the only internet connection...

--Kath

 

[gismo]

As noted by Jessie/Tony the wx across MO was far better than it looked on radar in the early morning. The only thing I had to deviate around was a MOA that went hot. It was a bit cooler once I got to IA, but at home the sun was shining. The temps in Mpls were a little cooler than Gaston's at 65F but that didn't stop me from taking in a couple rounds of skiing in the light winds.

All in all, a great trip. Special thanks to Chip and Steve for a chance to fly two fabulous and unique airplanes.

 

[Lance F]

Sue and I got back to hotlanta in haze that was worse than last year at Gastons. We enjoyed flying with Bill who hogged the yoke the whole way to CHA . Seriously I do believe I made another Mooney convert...good flying Bill. We only had to make one minor deviation for a pretty big TS over Jacks Creek VORTAC. We ended up at 11K, and I learned how slowly you have to climb to keep CHTs down with new cylinders in the high temps we had. It was at least 20dC above std temp at that altitude.
Unfortunately as I pushed my plane into the hanger at 6 pm, I picked up a voicemail from my mother in Arlington, TX, and neither she nor my dad were doing very well. I was on an 8:20pm flight from ATL to DFW last night and am sending this from Arlington. I was just too tired to turn the Mooney around fly back to Texas at night, so Delta had to do the job.
We had another great time at GIII. What a great group.
BTW, Ken I have the tie downs you left. If you read this, send me a PM with your address and I UPS them to you as soon as I'm back home.

 

[Ken Ibold]

BTW, Ken I have the tie downs you left. If you read this, send me a PM with your address and I UPS them to you as soon as I'm back home.

Ack! Actually those are Diana and Tom's. In my haste I did not return them.