ntbjounin
Pre-takeoff checklist
Day 1
Well, it started on the 21st. Robert and I flew the 210 up to Vegas stopping in Double Eagle at Albequrque. Grabbed a great bite to eat at the little airport cafe there! I really enjoyed that club sandwich, but not as much as I enjoyed the airplane! That flying truck sure is impressive! And it's so spacious in the back! Me and my grandma-esque bladder know it well hahaha.
So Robert and I parted ways and I went to McCarran to catch a shuttle van to St George Utah. There was a straight tail cessna 172 hanging from the ceiling of the McCarran airport. Naturally I thought of you Gary. So I got on the van, where everyone but the driver was super nice! There was a cactus captain on the shuttle too. He was pretty interested and supportive about my venture to ferry the Colt across the country. One of the ladies from the van made her husband drive me to Hurricane, UT from St George. They were super nice. I couldnt thank them enough and they wouldnt take my money!
Day 2
I woke up pre-dawn around 445am and hoofed it the 3 miles from the Rodeway Inn to the airport (1L8). I found my airplane waiting for me with keys in it just as I had arranged. I gave it a very thorough preflight which included filling it up with fuel as the tanks were BONE DRY! Tons of INOP instruments, but not the crucials. The only electrical on the plane was the starter and the hobbs. I spent probably 20 minutes running it on the ground... just making sure it worked at all different power settings and with different settings or whatever I even did 2 aborted takeoffs just to make sure it could get up to speed and everything was controllable. Everything seemed fine so I planned my first leg. A 14 mile hop to St George. (a longer runway 6600' where I could do my first landing). I just did basic turns and stuff on the first flight since this was my first flight in a Colt or any short wing piper for that matter. I realized on the first landing (which I did power off) that she doesnt like to fly without power. Talk about a brick! It made the Arrow look like a sailplane! I then took off again and did some more maneuvers. I tried a stall, but it didnt really stall as much as sink sink SINK!
I ended up making it work to my advantage. I would fly high until JUST before I needed to enter the pattern and slip down into the 45 at TPA. The slips were amazing b/c the rudder is like a taildragger... VERY RESPONSIVE.
I headed down to Mesqute, NV 67L for fuel. I wanted to monitor my fuel burn so far. Next SOUTHWARD! A09 had no fuel so I went to EED Needles, CA!!! CALIFORNIA!? Who thought I'd be in California headed from UT to NC!!! I saw a sidewinder by a hangar. Then I went to Lake Havasu, AZ to find lunch. I went to Rusty's w/ the crew car. Desert Skies FBO has AMAZING slushies and great customer service! Really nice people there!
I took off into the HOT desert and headed for Casa Grande, AZ. It was super bumpy so I stopped in Gila Bend for a break. It's physically exhausting flying the Colt in moderate turbulence. My hand became a claw and the plane doesnt want to stay upright. I spent the night at Casa Grande landing just at sunset. I hung out with the guys at Omniflight (Native Air) and slept on a mattress that they let me put outside under the wing. It was super nice outside! Really comfortable (until their chopper took off at 430am).
Day 3
So I took off into a softly brightening sky. Smooth air and I headed down to P33 Cochise County AZ. Nice lady heard me land and came out to fuel me 30 min before she opened. Then I headed to LRU Las Cruces, NM. I landed for a quick breakfast and because I could see the building thunderstorms just to the East. I ate bfast with 2 flight crews of Homeland security helos. Then for lunch, with the CBP. Just police everywhere! lol. The line guys had me park the Colt front and center. It got lots of attention everywhere I went. The color helped. I got stuck in Las Cruces due to Tstorms in my way. I had to fit between the Restricted areas to the north and the El Paso class C and then there is only dell city and wink. Well that's too far to go when there are Tstorms over there. So I slept in the recliner at the fbo. It wasn't bad.
Day 4
Another soft sky as I milk a 25 minute climb to 9500' and plow my tailwind across west Texas at a whopping 85 knots! (85 mph indicated). When I got to Wink I felt great due to the tail wind, so I figured I'd keep going on to Big Springs. Wind was 170 at 22g32. Meh, It wont be fun but it's doable on rwy 17 b/c its 8800'long. Well, then I listened to the rest of the awos. Runway 17 closed. Well I'm not landing on 9! So then I headed up to Snyder, TX SNK. OH MY GOSH! They gave me the crew car and I drove down to The Dolphin. A Mexican restaurant, but it was SUPER cheap and SUPER DELICIOUS! I ordered the Breakfast burrito w/ sausage and egg for $3.29 and toast for .69. When I took ONE BITE of that burrito I ordered another one! I HIGHLY recommend it! Also really nice guys at the FBO! We need to have a fly-in there! After Snyder I took off into an airmet for Moderate turbulence below 8000. I was headed to Graham, but only made it to Arledge. I sat around waiting for5 winds to die down in this deserted ghost town airport. There are about 10 hangars only 1 has airplanes (for cropdusters). The rest are farming. The wind was intense and TONS of birds. I was POSITIVE I was going to have a bird strike, but got lucky. I took off after a rest headed for Graham.
Made it to RPH around 615, met up with Craig. Craig, you're the man! Thanks for the hangar, dinner, and the headphone thingy even tho... I couldnt transmit on it but that may have been my fault, I'm a noob.
Day 5
This morning was rough. Took off around 8am below 1400ovc. Scudded over to XBP for gas, and hung out for about 2 hrs before scudding up to GLE around 1000agl. Maybe that's not low for some of you, but I don't fly around at 1000agl very often, so I followed the roads the entire way and landed at GLE rwy 17 with 150 at 15g25. I was stuck at GLE just about ALL DAY!!!! It was fun though. I met some nice pilots in larger planes, we went to the Smokehouse for lunch in Lindsay. I've been there once before, and it was just as I remembered. I took off about an hr and half before sunset when the wind died down to something like 17g26. I was headed for Mt Pleasant, but when I got to Commerce and my groundspeed was like 48kts, I could tell I wasnt going to make it before dark so diverted to Paris. With a tail wind pushing me north I made 110kts for PRX and landed just before dark. It's exactly how I remembered it from my first solo xc as a student! Spent the night in the unlocked crewcar. I'm low maintenance. A childrens hospital citation landed at 245am and was met by an ambulance. The pilots were taken in the ambulance for like 30 min, then they came back and took off around 320am. It was all quite suspicious to me. I have no idea.
Day 6
If I didnt take off and scud out of PRX I would still be stuck in the crap hittting dallas right now. That's a mess in the entire central US. It was VFR around TXK where I landed for fuel. Yes I landed at a towered apt with my handheld radio and no xponder! Quick refuel, pee, and I'm off for Indianola, MS where it turns out they're closed on sundays. So onward! to Bryan field in Starkville, MS (home of Mississippi State). The line guy was a really cool college kid. Very nice, and down to earth. Gave me the crew car and recommended a restaurant. It was ok, but I didnt pick a very good sandwich, I didnt realize it had horseradish. I also met a mooney owner who was really nice and we chatted for a while and planned my next flight. Scottsboro, AL was next and very nice facilities! The airport is super close to a Nuclear power plant. I have no idea how that's allowed. Isnt there a 3nm tfr around them up to 3000? The fbo has a door to let pilots in after hours. Nice shower, wifi, tv, kitchen etc... I googled a restaurant, walked to it, and its closed on sundays after 2pm. So, gas station dinner... $4.
Day 7
This morning I woke up predawn, and took off to find gas at DNN. Met a really cool guy flying a citation ultra. He cracked me up and was fascinated w/ my airplane and what I was doing. He and his 1st off gave me a quick tour in the citation and let me play with some switches up front. It was time to get going again, so I headed for the next 3.5 hr flight to Statesville NC SVH. The line guy here reminded me of Michael Clarke Duncan (but not quite as tall). He was very nice and helpful. The guys in the citation next to me were in awe of my Colt. I told them I'd give them a ride if they'd give me one... (of course they were both pretty big guys and I had just been topped off, so theres no way I could fullfill that promise, but it was a pretty safe bet anyway they werent going to let me fly the citation exel. So then I headed off for my last leg! The next 3hrs and 45min were SOOO long. I stayed low to stay fresh, but it took forever!!!
I finally arrived at ONX! I met the new owner (currently in a wheelchair due to falling off a ladder holding a chainsaw). He's a pretty cool guy who works for blackwater. We talked a bit about the flight and the plane etc... He said I should have stopped in at first flight on my way up. I know I will regret not doing that, but I was so exhausted and my back hurt b/c I dont realy fit in the plane, so I fly bent over.
It was a great trip. Long, but great! I'd do it again in a second! But maybe in a slightly larger airplane... my back hurts.
7 Days
36 Flight hours
11 States
2300 Nautical Miles
23 Airports
1 Happy, Sore backed, Exhausted pilot.
Well, it started on the 21st. Robert and I flew the 210 up to Vegas stopping in Double Eagle at Albequrque. Grabbed a great bite to eat at the little airport cafe there! I really enjoyed that club sandwich, but not as much as I enjoyed the airplane! That flying truck sure is impressive! And it's so spacious in the back! Me and my grandma-esque bladder know it well hahaha.
So Robert and I parted ways and I went to McCarran to catch a shuttle van to St George Utah. There was a straight tail cessna 172 hanging from the ceiling of the McCarran airport. Naturally I thought of you Gary. So I got on the van, where everyone but the driver was super nice! There was a cactus captain on the shuttle too. He was pretty interested and supportive about my venture to ferry the Colt across the country. One of the ladies from the van made her husband drive me to Hurricane, UT from St George. They were super nice. I couldnt thank them enough and they wouldnt take my money!
Day 2
I woke up pre-dawn around 445am and hoofed it the 3 miles from the Rodeway Inn to the airport (1L8). I found my airplane waiting for me with keys in it just as I had arranged. I gave it a very thorough preflight which included filling it up with fuel as the tanks were BONE DRY! Tons of INOP instruments, but not the crucials. The only electrical on the plane was the starter and the hobbs. I spent probably 20 minutes running it on the ground... just making sure it worked at all different power settings and with different settings or whatever I even did 2 aborted takeoffs just to make sure it could get up to speed and everything was controllable. Everything seemed fine so I planned my first leg. A 14 mile hop to St George. (a longer runway 6600' where I could do my first landing). I just did basic turns and stuff on the first flight since this was my first flight in a Colt or any short wing piper for that matter. I realized on the first landing (which I did power off) that she doesnt like to fly without power. Talk about a brick! It made the Arrow look like a sailplane! I then took off again and did some more maneuvers. I tried a stall, but it didnt really stall as much as sink sink SINK!
I ended up making it work to my advantage. I would fly high until JUST before I needed to enter the pattern and slip down into the 45 at TPA. The slips were amazing b/c the rudder is like a taildragger... VERY RESPONSIVE.
I headed down to Mesqute, NV 67L for fuel. I wanted to monitor my fuel burn so far. Next SOUTHWARD! A09 had no fuel so I went to EED Needles, CA!!! CALIFORNIA!? Who thought I'd be in California headed from UT to NC!!! I saw a sidewinder by a hangar. Then I went to Lake Havasu, AZ to find lunch. I went to Rusty's w/ the crew car. Desert Skies FBO has AMAZING slushies and great customer service! Really nice people there!
I took off into the HOT desert and headed for Casa Grande, AZ. It was super bumpy so I stopped in Gila Bend for a break. It's physically exhausting flying the Colt in moderate turbulence. My hand became a claw and the plane doesnt want to stay upright. I spent the night at Casa Grande landing just at sunset. I hung out with the guys at Omniflight (Native Air) and slept on a mattress that they let me put outside under the wing. It was super nice outside! Really comfortable (until their chopper took off at 430am).
Day 3
So I took off into a softly brightening sky. Smooth air and I headed down to P33 Cochise County AZ. Nice lady heard me land and came out to fuel me 30 min before she opened. Then I headed to LRU Las Cruces, NM. I landed for a quick breakfast and because I could see the building thunderstorms just to the East. I ate bfast with 2 flight crews of Homeland security helos. Then for lunch, with the CBP. Just police everywhere! lol. The line guys had me park the Colt front and center. It got lots of attention everywhere I went. The color helped. I got stuck in Las Cruces due to Tstorms in my way. I had to fit between the Restricted areas to the north and the El Paso class C and then there is only dell city and wink. Well that's too far to go when there are Tstorms over there. So I slept in the recliner at the fbo. It wasn't bad.
Day 4
Another soft sky as I milk a 25 minute climb to 9500' and plow my tailwind across west Texas at a whopping 85 knots! (85 mph indicated). When I got to Wink I felt great due to the tail wind, so I figured I'd keep going on to Big Springs. Wind was 170 at 22g32. Meh, It wont be fun but it's doable on rwy 17 b/c its 8800'long. Well, then I listened to the rest of the awos. Runway 17 closed. Well I'm not landing on 9! So then I headed up to Snyder, TX SNK. OH MY GOSH! They gave me the crew car and I drove down to The Dolphin. A Mexican restaurant, but it was SUPER cheap and SUPER DELICIOUS! I ordered the Breakfast burrito w/ sausage and egg for $3.29 and toast for .69. When I took ONE BITE of that burrito I ordered another one! I HIGHLY recommend it! Also really nice guys at the FBO! We need to have a fly-in there! After Snyder I took off into an airmet for Moderate turbulence below 8000. I was headed to Graham, but only made it to Arledge. I sat around waiting for5 winds to die down in this deserted ghost town airport. There are about 10 hangars only 1 has airplanes (for cropdusters). The rest are farming. The wind was intense and TONS of birds. I was POSITIVE I was going to have a bird strike, but got lucky. I took off after a rest headed for Graham.
Made it to RPH around 615, met up with Craig. Craig, you're the man! Thanks for the hangar, dinner, and the headphone thingy even tho... I couldnt transmit on it but that may have been my fault, I'm a noob.
Day 5
This morning was rough. Took off around 8am below 1400ovc. Scudded over to XBP for gas, and hung out for about 2 hrs before scudding up to GLE around 1000agl. Maybe that's not low for some of you, but I don't fly around at 1000agl very often, so I followed the roads the entire way and landed at GLE rwy 17 with 150 at 15g25. I was stuck at GLE just about ALL DAY!!!! It was fun though. I met some nice pilots in larger planes, we went to the Smokehouse for lunch in Lindsay. I've been there once before, and it was just as I remembered. I took off about an hr and half before sunset when the wind died down to something like 17g26. I was headed for Mt Pleasant, but when I got to Commerce and my groundspeed was like 48kts, I could tell I wasnt going to make it before dark so diverted to Paris. With a tail wind pushing me north I made 110kts for PRX and landed just before dark. It's exactly how I remembered it from my first solo xc as a student! Spent the night in the unlocked crewcar. I'm low maintenance. A childrens hospital citation landed at 245am and was met by an ambulance. The pilots were taken in the ambulance for like 30 min, then they came back and took off around 320am. It was all quite suspicious to me. I have no idea.
Day 6
If I didnt take off and scud out of PRX I would still be stuck in the crap hittting dallas right now. That's a mess in the entire central US. It was VFR around TXK where I landed for fuel. Yes I landed at a towered apt with my handheld radio and no xponder! Quick refuel, pee, and I'm off for Indianola, MS where it turns out they're closed on sundays. So onward! to Bryan field in Starkville, MS (home of Mississippi State). The line guy was a really cool college kid. Very nice, and down to earth. Gave me the crew car and recommended a restaurant. It was ok, but I didnt pick a very good sandwich, I didnt realize it had horseradish. I also met a mooney owner who was really nice and we chatted for a while and planned my next flight. Scottsboro, AL was next and very nice facilities! The airport is super close to a Nuclear power plant. I have no idea how that's allowed. Isnt there a 3nm tfr around them up to 3000? The fbo has a door to let pilots in after hours. Nice shower, wifi, tv, kitchen etc... I googled a restaurant, walked to it, and its closed on sundays after 2pm. So, gas station dinner... $4.
Day 7
This morning I woke up predawn, and took off to find gas at DNN. Met a really cool guy flying a citation ultra. He cracked me up and was fascinated w/ my airplane and what I was doing. He and his 1st off gave me a quick tour in the citation and let me play with some switches up front. It was time to get going again, so I headed for the next 3.5 hr flight to Statesville NC SVH. The line guy here reminded me of Michael Clarke Duncan (but not quite as tall). He was very nice and helpful. The guys in the citation next to me were in awe of my Colt. I told them I'd give them a ride if they'd give me one... (of course they were both pretty big guys and I had just been topped off, so theres no way I could fullfill that promise, but it was a pretty safe bet anyway they werent going to let me fly the citation exel. So then I headed off for my last leg! The next 3hrs and 45min were SOOO long. I stayed low to stay fresh, but it took forever!!!
I finally arrived at ONX! I met the new owner (currently in a wheelchair due to falling off a ladder holding a chainsaw). He's a pretty cool guy who works for blackwater. We talked a bit about the flight and the plane etc... He said I should have stopped in at first flight on my way up. I know I will regret not doing that, but I was so exhausted and my back hurt b/c I dont realy fit in the plane, so I fly bent over.
It was a great trip. Long, but great! I'd do it again in a second! But maybe in a slightly larger airplane... my back hurts.
7 Days
36 Flight hours
11 States
2300 Nautical Miles
23 Airports
1 Happy, Sore backed, Exhausted pilot.
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Really makes me want to fly a trip like that, even in a Colt.
