The long trip home

[jmaynard]

Well, it got to be time to leave beautiful downtown Eastman, Georgia to take N55ZC home. All of the squawks that were going to get fixed got fixed, the planning was done, the paperwork was signed, the keys were handed over.

I launched into a sky with scattered clouds that stayed with me the whole way. I left later than I thought; I'd been planning to leave about 10, but it was actually 10:54 when I broke ground for the last time (at least, that's how it's planned) at EZM. I climbed up to 7500, and then decided to go on up to 9500 to make sure I was above the clouds. Got pointed on course, got trimmed up, got the engine set up, leaned back, and listened to Stevie Ray Vaughn on the XM radio. Bliss.

The direct route from EZM to 14A would have taken me across the corner of the BULLDOG A and BULLDOG D MOAs; flight service told me they were active, so I detoured slightly via the HIT NDB to stay clear. Worked fine, and the GNS 430W and the Digiflight IIVSG worked together to make the course change smoothly and painlessly.

I wound up working with Macon Approach, Augusta Approach, Greer Approach, and Charlotte Approach on the trip. They were all easy to deal with; Charlotte Approach cleared me into the class B "just in case you get close". Had no trouble finding the Lake Norman airport, but got turned around with respect to the pattern - and wound up having to say that I was entering the pattern from the 45 twice, once when I thought I was and once at the correct time. The landing wasn't fantastic, but it failed to suck. I taxied in to the fuel island, then had to apologize to the ground crew guy because I hadn't told him I needed parking when he asked me on the radio. He found me a spot anyway. My boss and the guy who owns the company I work for were there; they helped me push the aircraft into the last parking spot on the field.

2.5 hours, 15.7 gallons, EZM-HIT-14A. Whew. I'm more tired than I remember being after flying cross country. At this rate, I may cut short tomorrow's trip and stop in El Dorado rather than pushing on to Texas; have to see how I feel when I get there.

 

[jmaynard]

I just looked at the first leg of tomorrow's flight, 14A-MDQ. The direct route goes right over Asheville and Chattanooga - and over the Appalachians for well over an hour. I got to playing around with FlightPrep's rubber band routing feature, and discovered that deviating from the direct route by just 17 miles, 14A-TOC-JZP-MDQ, keeps me over much lower and flatter ground. Guess which way I'm going?

 

[flyersfan31]

You're TRON for crying out loud, can't you manipulate electrons or something and just appear at your destination????

Fun trip. What a great way to get to know your new airplane!

 

[AdamZ]

Jay that sounds like an awesome flight enjoy.

 

[jmaynard]

I launched from 14A this morning as planned. The 430 took me along the route I'd planned. I climbed up to 8500 and sat back, listening to XM 49, until I got to JZP - and then I decided I really didn't like what I saw in front of me out the canopy or on the XM display. I diverted to JZP, and I'm glad I did. This is the second time I've entered this message; the first was lost to a thunderstorm-induced power outage.

I'll try again tomorrow. There's heavy weather right now, and more coming; until then, I'll sit here and watch it.

 

[GigG601XL]

Jay stopped off here in El Dorado today and gave me the pleasure of flying with him in his 601XLi we flew across town to the other airport where I'm building mine.

I hope I can return the favor. I am so jealous of this X-C trip of his. I can't wait until I get to do it.

It is a very nice aircraft. The avionics in it are incredible.

Jay, I won't tell anyone about your landing at F43 if you don't tell anyone about mine.

Oh and here's a terrible pic taken with his plane and what will become my plane someday soon.

 

[jmaynard]

Last night, I wound up staying overnight at JZP; the weather didn't quit sucking till later than I could have left and still landed in daylight. A local pilot was incredibly generous: he let me spend the night in his guest house, and fed me a nice steak dinner to boot. I was quite taken aback by this, and hope someday I can return the favor.

This morning, the weather was considerably better, so I went ahead and launched for F43 (El Dorado Downtown) to meet Gig. A fuel and lunch stop at GTR (Golden Triangle Regional, Starkville/Columbus, MS) represented the first time I'd set foot in Mississippi in 45 years or so. 4.7 hours or so for the two legs, plus another .5 to go see Gig's project. I wish either of us had remembered to grab Gig's camera before we went over to ELD...

I'm staying in the Hampton Inn in El Dorado, taking care of mundane details like laundry. Tomorrow, I head down to see an old friend at CLL.

 

[jmaynard]

The trip from El Dorado to CLL wasn't too long, and completely uneventful. I didn't have to dodge weather, didn't have to duck under clouds until I got close to CLL, and flight following was available almost the entire trip. I even found CLL without much trouble (picking out airports has never been one of my strengths).

I'm in College Station visiting an old friend. We went flying for a while yesterday evening, after things had cooled down a bit, and then I took his 10-year-old son up for a half hour or so. The Zodiac is a bit hard to see out of unless you're 5 foot 5 or so at minimum, but he managed to have fun anyway.

One minor weirdness: The Texas A&M University campus is within the CLL class D. The TSA has requested a minimum altitude of 2500 feet over the campus - but a left base for 16 at CLL takes you right over the campus, at 800 or so. I guess the TSA can't say you can't get lower for landing, but it seems an obvious hole.

Today's trip is a short 53-mile segment from CLL to TME. Houston Executive is a new airport that I've never seen before, and the comments on Airnav are quite positive. I'm looking forward to finding out.

 

[jmaynard]

This morning was a short (53 miles) flight from CLL to TME. Houston Executive is a very nice airport in what, until recently, was the middle of freaking nowhere west of Houston. They're building a good facility, and have already built a good reputation on top-notch service. They treated me and my Zodiac like big iron.

I took my father and his SO flying this evening, and managed to scare myself in the process. The first flight, with the friend, went smoothly, and just as I had planned. Next, I loaded up my dad. Another of the Houston PoA members was out to look at the airplane; he got some good pictures as we took off. There was a thunderstorm off in the distance when we lifted off. We decided to be up for just a couple of trips around the pattern. The thunderstorm had other ideas. We took off and immediately were advised of a wind shift. I tried landing on 18, but that completely failed to work (as you might expect with winds reported as 050 at 24). I aborted the landing, then made a left crosswind - and wound up under the edge of a dark cumulonimbus cloud. It had come up a lot faster than I had expected. We were having some pretty dramatic bumps and uncommanded 30-40 degree banks. I got away from that as quickly as I could, and decided to get the hell on the ground right now. A tight pattern (and a deliberate decision to ignore the wide pattern normally requested for noise abatement), turning final about 800 feet and a mile and half or so out, and I managed to put it on the numbers anyway. The Zodiac has lots of rudder authority, and I used all of it. Even so, I dropped the left main gear off the side of the runway briefly. It taxied in okkay, and the tire appeared undamaged when we brought it in. The folks at the FBO put it in the hangar for me.

Tomorrow, I'm going to do a high-speed taxi test, and a couple of touch and goes , and then depart for 3R9 (Austin Lakeway) if all goes well.

 

[SCCutler]

Cool stuff.

If you have not been to Lakeway, couple of notes.

1. Never even think of operating at night; people will drive golf carts onto the runway to stop you. Really.

2. "Deer on runway"- believe it!

3. If you buy gas, two nights free tiedown, so I suggest you go ahead and buy the gas and leave the receipt showing in the window near your door, so they don't put you on their "didn't pay the tiedown fee" list;

4. Don't expect to go tee-tee at the terminal buildoing- it's rarely open, an dthe bathrooms are locked.

 

[Steve]

If you happen to stop in MS on the way back to GA the cheapest avgas in the state is at 17M, but you have to pay with a check. GTR is a great airport, and the director is a good friend of mine. STF just west has self-serve avgas and is a bit less expensive. I'm based at M11 and could probably see to it that you got fed.

 

[t0r0nad0]

Well, I wasn't going to "out" Jay on his dropping the wheel off the runway in my other thread, but since he mentioned it here, I feel safe posting these two pics:

Needless to say, I was a bit nervous standing less than 50 ft. off the side of the runway, so I can only imagine how it was for Jay in that cockpit. He did a good job of pulling it back onto the runway, putting in the x-wind correction (I could see the ailerons completely deflected into the wind) and coming out of it with no damage to skin or tin. The line guy and I followed him back in and saw him with that x-wind correction the entire way back to the ramp. That CB cloud came in REALLY fast... much faster than any of us expected, and the wind shifts that came with it were incredible! As Jay said, the wind went from light out of the south to 050 at 24 in no time flat.

My lesson in observing this is to never take "VCTS" in the TAF lightly, and to give these CB clouds a WIDE berth... those gust fronts are fierce!

 

[jmaynard]

3. If you buy gas, two nights free tiedown, so I suggest you go ahead and buy the gas and leave the receipt showing in the window near your door, so they don't put you on their "didn't pay the tiedown fee" list

I did. Only gotcha: the receipt printer was out of paper. I called the number on the pump and left a voicemail. I'll be here for a couple of nights, and will probably buy fuel at least once more, but still...

 

[jmaynard]

Yesterday's flight to Austin was only an hour, but it was uneventful - just what I needed after the adventures of the previous evening. I got up to 6500, the scattered clouds went away, and Houston Center and Austin Approach were very easy to deal with. My route took me just north of AUS, and Approach asked me to report before descending, so I decided to make their lives easy and stay up at 6500 till I got past the runways. Sure enough, right as I was crossing the centerline of the long runway there, Approach told me I could descend any time.

Finding Lakeway was not quite as difficult as I thought it would be, thanks to the 430. I'd been cautioned about the house on the centerline, but it wasn't an issue: I pointed the airplane at the displaced threshold, and it was just like any other landing. I paid for fuel, but couldn't put the receipt in the window: the printer was out of paper.

I took a couple of friends up for short flights yesterday afternoon. Both times, after being up for just a little while, the oil temperature started climbing well into the yellow arc: yellow line is 200 F, and it got up to 211 at one point. One of my friends who's a pilot and I looked it over, and we couldn't see anything wrong. We speculated it was just because I was down low on a 100 F day, but I'm going to talk to the manufacturer before I fly much more.

 

[jmaynard]

I took a couple of friends up for short flights yesterday afternoon. Both times, after being up for just a little while, the oil temperature started climbing well into the yellow arc: yellow line is 200 F, and it got up to 211 at one point. One of my friends who's a pilot and I looked it over, and we couldn't see anything wrong. We speculated it was just because I was down low on a 100 F day, but I'm going to talk to the manufacturer before I fly much more.

I spoke to the manufacturer earlier. They said that that's to be expected down low on a 100 degree day, and as long as it doesn't get above the 225 F red line, it'll be fine. I should just keep a close eye on it, and keep the power down and the speed up if the temperature starts climbing much more above that.

 

[GigG601XL]

Jay,

Please give us a final tally on hours flown on your oddessy once you make it back to MN.

 

[jmaynard]

Please give us a final tally on hours flown on your oddessy once you make it back to MN.

Absolutely. I'm expecting it to be about 30 hours or so.

 

[jmaynard]

Yesterday was just another couple of short flights with friends. It would have been three, but I didn't think I could be down and stopped by Lakeway's curfew, so I had to disappoint one late-arriving friend.

Today's plan is 3R9-RBD-OUN, but the weather is looking iffy at the moment. I think it'll clear, but I won't launch unless it actually does.

 

[jmaynard]

The weather cleared. I actually took off in light rain from 3R9, which didn't preclude visibility, but did help get some of the bug splut off of it.

I decided to route around both the weather and the HOOD MOAs, so I went direct LZZ, then direct RBD (after a few more miles). Got into RBD with no problems, had a good barbecue lunch with a friend who unfairly maligned my landing, went back, got briefed, left one of the computers at the FBO showing the Wired page on my aircraft, and departed.

Activate the flight plan? Hahahaha. I had my hands far too full flying around the Dallas Class B and dealing with continuous moderate turbulence clear until I got north of it and was able to climb to 6500. A further climb to 8500 left me above everything, and relaxing enroute till it was time to descend.

The approach into OUN was uneventful, once I figured out what stadium they wanted me to report. I kept looking for something small...

 

[Jay Honeck]

Hey Jay -- when are you planning to come to Iowa City? We're on our own flying vacation right now (heading to Texas tomorrow) and I'd hate to miss ya!

 

[jmaynard]

Hey Jay -- when are you planning to come to Iowa City? We're on our own flying vacation right now (heading to Texas tomorrow) and I'd hate to miss ya!

I decided to come see you another time. After all, FRM-IOW is a nice short flight, and I expect you're still recovering from the flood.

As it happens, I had to divert to FOD due to weather, and will likely fly home first thing tomorrow.

 

[jmaynard]

*whew*

Made it home to FRM, finally. Today was the longest flying day of the whole trip: a total of 6.4 hours, OUN-TOP, TOP-FOD, then FOD-FRM. I fought a 20-knot headwind the entire way. OUN-TOP was completely uneventful: I launched about 8:40 AM, and had a nice, long, boring 2.7 hours to TOP. The friend I was supposed to meet at TOP bailed out on me, so I had lunch at the airport cafe (one of the better ones around) and briefed the flight to FRM. I estimated 3 hours...

I didn't like the weather I saw north of Atlantic, Iowa, and diverted to Fort Dodge instead. I had another exciting landing at FOD's runway 30, with the winds 310-010 at 12 gusting 24, and once again had reason to give thanks for the Zodiac's nice big all-flying rudder. Got the aircraft topped off, stuck it in a hangar, and waited for the weather to blow through. An hour and a half later, you could hardly tell that a storm had come past there. I launched for FRM and got there almost exactly an hour later. I stuck the airplane in the big hangar (mine wasn't quite ready yet), and spent an hour or so showing my roommate all about it. Then I went home, grabbed dinner, and wrote this...and will collapse very shortly. Statistics on the trip tomorrow.

 

[ApacheBob]

Great write up. I bought the mighty Apache at RBD (sigh).

 

[jmaynard]

Statistics:

Total flight time since delivery: 34.2
Cross-country time for trip: 25.0 in 12 flights
Giving people rides: 5.2 in 11 flights
Checkout and familiarization: 4.0 hours, 15 landings

Fuel purchased: 191.3 gallons, $1036.30, average $5.417/gallon, 5.59 GPH
Most expensive: $5.99, JZP (Jasper, GA)
Least expensive: $4.60, F43 (El Dorado Downtown, AR)

Final route of flight: EZM-14A-JZP-GTR-F43-CLL-TME-3R9-RBD-OUN-TOP-FOD-FRM
Total cross-country mileage: 2089.3 nm (2404.3 statute miles)
Average speed: 83.57 knots (96.17 mph)

Sectional charts used: 9 (Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, Wichita, Kansas City, Omaha)
Terminal area charts used: 4 (Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth)

I was routinely seeing true airspeeds of 113-117 knots in cruise at altitude, and cruise fuel burns of 5.7-5.9 gph.

 

[Rob Schaffer]

Jay,.. what a great flight. I enjoyed following your thread,.. but till now, didn't realize how far you actually flew! Copied your list of route, and pasted into RunwayFinder.com,... wow, what a trip!

Congrats on the plane,.. you'll have to show us your hangar too when it's ready!

 

[jmaynard]

but till now, didn't realize how far you actually flew! Copied your list of route, and pasted into RunwayFinder.com,... wow, what a trip!

Yeah. I hadn't mapped it out either...and it's even longer than I'd imagined. No wonder I'm still wasted.

Congrats on the plane,.. you'll have to show us your hangar too when it's ready!

It was ready today, so I put it in there once we finished with the first oil change. I'll have to get a picture.