John J
Line Up and Wait
I was going though my old notes and logs this morning. While reading, I found some notes about a ferry flight that I made from ICT to the DCA area 41 years ago. The flight was not remarkable except it took 7 days to complete the flight.
It all began late on a cold December afternoon a few days before the Christmas Holiday. My boss mentioned that there was a new Beech A23 that needed to be flown back from ICT to arrive on or before the holiday.
I was excited to do the trip. Later that night I was on my way via the airlines. I loved to ferry the planes from the Beech factory to their new homes. It was like going to the candy store.
Early in the moring I got to Beech Field and found my new transportation waiting for me on the ramp. A Beech A23 Musketeer. I went over it very carefully reading both the plane's checklist and the delievery check list to make shure that the new onwers specifications were met. I looked at the tach and saw it just had 7 hours on it. The new plane smell was so nice and I did not want to touch anything for it was so pristine.
A check of the weather revealed that I would have to land in STL, for there was low ceilings covering the eastern half of the US. I filed VFR to Lambert field and was off by 0830. It was a nice smooth leg and the plane flew like a dream. I landed and the first place I visited was the weather station which was next to flight service. With much planing the weather folks and I figured I could get to LOU. I set the route up with bail out points along the way. A quick bite of a soggy tuna sandwich and a gulp of water, I was off and flying againj. This leg was easy to fly just fly up the Ohio River from Evansville,IN. I made LOU with 4k overcast and 8 miles. It was time to stop for the night.
The next morning found me hanging out in the weather station plotting and reading weather maps, sequencies, terminal forecasts and just asking for the lastest. It was Christmas Eve and I knew I would be in trouble if I did not get home soon. Finally by early afternoon I could fly on to CRW a short flight that got me within 275 miles of home. It was a very warm afternoon with a high scattered to broken nice white puffies to make the flight interesting. I got to CRW and parked next to the flight service and weather stations. I went in to see if I could make the rest of the trip and found that I was not going anywhere for a while. I called my boss and mentioned where I was and the weather prognosis looked bad for me to make it in time. He told me not to worry.
I was quickly adopted by the folks who worked at the weather station and flight service for the next 4 days.The weather was low IFR with icing conditions Not having much money I would work for food by cleaning the station at night and helping pull off the weather data from the Teletype Machines. I got to do one of my passions of studying weather charts and the fellows taught me so much while I was there
While waiting for the weather to improve I would spend time walking around the airport and talking to people who worked there. There were so many interesting poeple of all ages working at CRW. It was like a small town. It was great and found the time passed quickly. The line crew let me use their shower,laundry and couch to sleep at night. The coffee was a little tough on the stomach. All the comforts of home.
On my last night I was in the weather station getting the forecast for the next day and one of the guys told me that I would get home the next day. I could not believe it. I looked at the forecast and there was a ray of hope. Tomorrow would be a new day.
Early the next day I was up before the dawn at the weather station. I read the terminals, hourlies and looked at the charts. Yes I might make it. I stuck my nose outside and I could see a glow of a rising sun. The tower was called clear and 2 miles with haze and ground fog. I went out to the plane to check it over as I had been doing so many times before. I looked at the new Beech and it's white paint was now sort of a charcoal grey from all the coal dust. It looked sad sitting on the ramp. I gave a pat and walked back to the weather station with strong anticipation in my heart that the plane and I were going home. The latest weather came in and Yes it was time to fly. It was VFR to home. I quickly called my boss and told him I am on my way.
It was hard to say good by to a group of such nice people who shared their lives with me for those days. Flight service put my VFR flight plan in. i walked back to the Musketeer and announced "We are going home". The weather staff came out to watch me start up. The ground controller said to me, "You finally are going home." The tower gave me a big send off as I roarded down the runway at CRW. Home was 2.5 hours away and it was the nicest leg of the trip. The sun was bright and not a cloud in the sky. I flew to GAI and as I taxied up to the ramp I saw the airport gang waving to me. Even the new owner was there with his family. Tears of joy came to my eyes as I clmbed out of the Musketer. I felt like I had been away for a long time.
Thank you for reading
John
It all began late on a cold December afternoon a few days before the Christmas Holiday. My boss mentioned that there was a new Beech A23 that needed to be flown back from ICT to arrive on or before the holiday.
I was excited to do the trip. Later that night I was on my way via the airlines. I loved to ferry the planes from the Beech factory to their new homes. It was like going to the candy store.
Early in the moring I got to Beech Field and found my new transportation waiting for me on the ramp. A Beech A23 Musketeer. I went over it very carefully reading both the plane's checklist and the delievery check list to make shure that the new onwers specifications were met. I looked at the tach and saw it just had 7 hours on it. The new plane smell was so nice and I did not want to touch anything for it was so pristine.
A check of the weather revealed that I would have to land in STL, for there was low ceilings covering the eastern half of the US. I filed VFR to Lambert field and was off by 0830. It was a nice smooth leg and the plane flew like a dream. I landed and the first place I visited was the weather station which was next to flight service. With much planing the weather folks and I figured I could get to LOU. I set the route up with bail out points along the way. A quick bite of a soggy tuna sandwich and a gulp of water, I was off and flying againj. This leg was easy to fly just fly up the Ohio River from Evansville,IN. I made LOU with 4k overcast and 8 miles. It was time to stop for the night.
The next morning found me hanging out in the weather station plotting and reading weather maps, sequencies, terminal forecasts and just asking for the lastest. It was Christmas Eve and I knew I would be in trouble if I did not get home soon. Finally by early afternoon I could fly on to CRW a short flight that got me within 275 miles of home. It was a very warm afternoon with a high scattered to broken nice white puffies to make the flight interesting. I got to CRW and parked next to the flight service and weather stations. I went in to see if I could make the rest of the trip and found that I was not going anywhere for a while. I called my boss and mentioned where I was and the weather prognosis looked bad for me to make it in time. He told me not to worry.
I was quickly adopted by the folks who worked at the weather station and flight service for the next 4 days.The weather was low IFR with icing conditions Not having much money I would work for food by cleaning the station at night and helping pull off the weather data from the Teletype Machines. I got to do one of my passions of studying weather charts and the fellows taught me so much while I was there
While waiting for the weather to improve I would spend time walking around the airport and talking to people who worked there. There were so many interesting poeple of all ages working at CRW. It was like a small town. It was great and found the time passed quickly. The line crew let me use their shower,laundry and couch to sleep at night. The coffee was a little tough on the stomach. All the comforts of home.
On my last night I was in the weather station getting the forecast for the next day and one of the guys told me that I would get home the next day. I could not believe it. I looked at the forecast and there was a ray of hope. Tomorrow would be a new day.
Early the next day I was up before the dawn at the weather station. I read the terminals, hourlies and looked at the charts. Yes I might make it. I stuck my nose outside and I could see a glow of a rising sun. The tower was called clear and 2 miles with haze and ground fog. I went out to the plane to check it over as I had been doing so many times before. I looked at the new Beech and it's white paint was now sort of a charcoal grey from all the coal dust. It looked sad sitting on the ramp. I gave a pat and walked back to the weather station with strong anticipation in my heart that the plane and I were going home. The latest weather came in and Yes it was time to fly. It was VFR to home. I quickly called my boss and told him I am on my way.
It was hard to say good by to a group of such nice people who shared their lives with me for those days. Flight service put my VFR flight plan in. i walked back to the Musketeer and announced "We are going home". The weather staff came out to watch me start up. The ground controller said to me, "You finally are going home." The tower gave me a big send off as I roarded down the runway at CRW. Home was 2.5 hours away and it was the nicest leg of the trip. The sun was bright and not a cloud in the sky. I flew to GAI and as I taxied up to the ramp I saw the airport gang waving to me. Even the new owner was there with his family. Tears of joy came to my eyes as I clmbed out of the Musketer. I felt like I had been away for a long time.
Thank you for reading
John
