CJones
Final Approach
My wife and I had our long awaited weekend away from home this weekend. We had planned on flying the RV-7A down to Petit Jean State Park in Morrilton, Arkansas for a weekend of camping. While doing the pre-trip research online, it was brought to my attention that the "International Cessna 170 Association" was going to be using the on-park airstrip for an annual fly-in get-together. I checked out their website (cessna170.org) and dropped an email to the group leader to see if they were going to use any sort of procedure for parking or arrivals, etc. and to let them know that I would be parking an ugly little low-winger on the strip during their shindig. His reply was basically "come on down and join us. We'll just move your plane so it doesn't mess up our pictures" ha!
We loaded up the plane Friday morning and were off the ground from Boone, Iowa by 8:30. While crossing over DesMoines, approach control wanted to make sure that we realized we were cruising along at 190kts groundspeed. I simply grinned and said "Yeah, we noticed that as well". There was a little weather moving through SE Missouri, so we diverted over towards Kansas for fuel. After a stop at Fort Scott Kansas for $3.42 self-serve fuel that the SUPER friendly attendant comes out and pumps for you, we took back to the air for the short hop over to Petit Jean. About 70 miles out, I hear a voice on Petit Jean's MultiCom looking for someone else on the radio. Once the freq clears, I ask if he is one of the 170's headed to MPJ. He is, so we start chatting about which direction we're both coming from. We're both coming from the north, but I pass him along the way. Once on the ground, I taxi over to transient parking to tie down and call for the park shuttle to take us and our stuff to the campsite. About the time the prop has stopped, a truck pulls up and says "Hey. Are you Chris Jones?" Slowly I answer "Uhh.. Yes." It happened to the C-170 group leader I had emailed earlier so he says "Come on down to the campground and hang out with us for a while!" I look at my wife and she gives me the "We can go now, but when I say so, we LEAVE." I agree and we taxi down and park in line with a group of 10 or so 170's.
Once we crossed the fence into the campground, we were immediately welcomed into the group of high-wing taildragger drivers. We had intended to visit for a bit then head over to our own camp site across the lake, but we were unable to pull ourselves away from the great friendship and fun we so easily found ourselves involved in. The 170 group made us feel like on of the long-timers without any qualms (besides a few rib pokings I got for making some high-speed passes in the RV while doing some aerial photos for the group. Apparently they don't like to be reminded that the 170 isn't a speed demon. ha!)
After two full days of sharing airplane and general lifetime stories with people I felt like I had known forever, everyone began packing up tents around sunrise this morning. The four planes from Minnesota were the first to leave around 6am, followed by others headed in various directions across the country. As much as I love to sit and watch airplanes take-off, I hated to see the planes leave, because only time will tell if we get to meet up with these wonderful folks again.
Around 8:30am, I finally got the RV loaded with all of our camping gear that ended up being mostly useless due to us mooching off of our new friends. We were one of the last planes to leave, but I still had to make one more overhead pass before turning back north to head home. We headed back towards Fort Scott for fuel and the attendant met us at the pump again. He said he was expecting us, but not until afternoon. He didn't seem too worried about his 'schedule' being disrupted. Another 1.5 - 2 hrs back up to Boone and we tie the plane down in a very non-Arknasas 60 degree breeze.
As we're driving home, my wife confesses that she LOVES flying. Not necessarily because she gets to get in the air and soar like a bird, but because it makes it possible to meet new friends like we did this weekend. She admitted she was worried that the weekend would turn out to be another 'kick the tires and talk airplanes' event, but I think she actually enjoyed it every bit as much as I did! What a wonderful thing this aviation community is. Where else can you crash a type-specific event with a VERY non-conforming model, and be welcomed as though they've known you forever?
All-in-all it was a great weekend full of flying, new friends, great food, more friends, and finished off with a little more flying. We're already making plans to crash their event next year, but at least they should expect it next time.
-Chris
We loaded up the plane Friday morning and were off the ground from Boone, Iowa by 8:30. While crossing over DesMoines, approach control wanted to make sure that we realized we were cruising along at 190kts groundspeed. I simply grinned and said "Yeah, we noticed that as well". There was a little weather moving through SE Missouri, so we diverted over towards Kansas for fuel. After a stop at Fort Scott Kansas for $3.42 self-serve fuel that the SUPER friendly attendant comes out and pumps for you, we took back to the air for the short hop over to Petit Jean. About 70 miles out, I hear a voice on Petit Jean's MultiCom looking for someone else on the radio. Once the freq clears, I ask if he is one of the 170's headed to MPJ. He is, so we start chatting about which direction we're both coming from. We're both coming from the north, but I pass him along the way. Once on the ground, I taxi over to transient parking to tie down and call for the park shuttle to take us and our stuff to the campsite. About the time the prop has stopped, a truck pulls up and says "Hey. Are you Chris Jones?" Slowly I answer "Uhh.. Yes." It happened to the C-170 group leader I had emailed earlier so he says "Come on down to the campground and hang out with us for a while!" I look at my wife and she gives me the "We can go now, but when I say so, we LEAVE." I agree and we taxi down and park in line with a group of 10 or so 170's.
Once we crossed the fence into the campground, we were immediately welcomed into the group of high-wing taildragger drivers. We had intended to visit for a bit then head over to our own camp site across the lake, but we were unable to pull ourselves away from the great friendship and fun we so easily found ourselves involved in. The 170 group made us feel like on of the long-timers without any qualms (besides a few rib pokings I got for making some high-speed passes in the RV while doing some aerial photos for the group. Apparently they don't like to be reminded that the 170 isn't a speed demon. ha!)
After two full days of sharing airplane and general lifetime stories with people I felt like I had known forever, everyone began packing up tents around sunrise this morning. The four planes from Minnesota were the first to leave around 6am, followed by others headed in various directions across the country. As much as I love to sit and watch airplanes take-off, I hated to see the planes leave, because only time will tell if we get to meet up with these wonderful folks again.
Around 8:30am, I finally got the RV loaded with all of our camping gear that ended up being mostly useless due to us mooching off of our new friends. We were one of the last planes to leave, but I still had to make one more overhead pass before turning back north to head home. We headed back towards Fort Scott for fuel and the attendant met us at the pump again. He said he was expecting us, but not until afternoon. He didn't seem too worried about his 'schedule' being disrupted. Another 1.5 - 2 hrs back up to Boone and we tie the plane down in a very non-Arknasas 60 degree breeze.
As we're driving home, my wife confesses that she LOVES flying. Not necessarily because she gets to get in the air and soar like a bird, but because it makes it possible to meet new friends like we did this weekend. She admitted she was worried that the weekend would turn out to be another 'kick the tires and talk airplanes' event, but I think she actually enjoyed it every bit as much as I did! What a wonderful thing this aviation community is. Where else can you crash a type-specific event with a VERY non-conforming model, and be welcomed as though they've known you forever?
All-in-all it was a great weekend full of flying, new friends, great food, more friends, and finished off with a little more flying. We're already making plans to crash their event next year, but at least they should expect it next time.
-Chris
