Ken Ibold
Final Approach
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2005
- Messages
- 5,888
- Location
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Display Name
Display name:
Ken Ibold
Just got back from a trip to Philadelphia for a wedding. Got home 2 days late. The airplane is in Tennessee. Almost nothing went right. But it was still a successful trip.
The plan was to leave Friday morning, get there early afternoon, and freshen up before the rehearsal dinner. However, without a hard "the airlines say so" departure time, the pax lollygagged to the point where we took off late and looked to get to the destination just in time for rush hour. Smooth ride until we got to the DC area, and then the bumps started. In a 15 minute span between DC and Wilmington DE, both of my sons started the technicolor yawn. My oldest had no container nearby. What a mess!! Landed with a crosswind gusting to 25 knots, and then had to unload and clean the upholstery. Got to the rehearsal 45 minutes late (yikes!) but fortunately for us the bride's parents were 50 minutes late. Wedding etc Saturday, and Sunday we planned to head to Ocean City MD. Mother Nature had other plans. Something about tornado warnings and hail. And so we stayed in Philly (sorry Ron!).
Around that point, my friend's son screwed up his courage: "uncle Ken," he said shyly, "what would it take for me to get a plane ride?"
"A simple question will do."
"Uncle Ken, can I have a plane ride?"
So now I have another convert to GA. He's 22 and has flown on an airliner once in his life. He loved it!
We had planned to return to Florida on Tuesday afternoon. The slop in the southeast made me sit in the northeast for another day, hoping the stationary boundary would break up or move or something. Nothing like 4 states of level 5's to fly through to really make you want to be on the ground. Now we're at Wednesday, and we REALLY have to get back. I filed a flight plan for Jax, thinking I'd probably have to land short in south Georgia and wait out the weather for a couple of hours if I couldn't pick through it with XM, eyeballs and strikefinder. But then there was this little matter of a tornado watch for all of north Florida that extended well past my intended arrival time. Discretion, being the better part of valor, won out (5 aboard again), and we instead went to Crossville, TN, picked up a car and my dog from my mother in law, and drove home, arriving at 3:30 am today, only about 36 hours later than planned. Now I have to go back and get the airplane. But on a better weather day.
Sometimes you think you've seen it all, and then a 3-day stationary front sits in front of you, challenging what you think you know about the weather, your decision making skills, and re-acquainting you with that nemesis of pilots: get-home-itis.
The plan was to leave Friday morning, get there early afternoon, and freshen up before the rehearsal dinner. However, without a hard "the airlines say so" departure time, the pax lollygagged to the point where we took off late and looked to get to the destination just in time for rush hour. Smooth ride until we got to the DC area, and then the bumps started. In a 15 minute span between DC and Wilmington DE, both of my sons started the technicolor yawn. My oldest had no container nearby. What a mess!! Landed with a crosswind gusting to 25 knots, and then had to unload and clean the upholstery. Got to the rehearsal 45 minutes late (yikes!) but fortunately for us the bride's parents were 50 minutes late. Wedding etc Saturday, and Sunday we planned to head to Ocean City MD. Mother Nature had other plans. Something about tornado warnings and hail. And so we stayed in Philly (sorry Ron!).
Around that point, my friend's son screwed up his courage: "uncle Ken," he said shyly, "what would it take for me to get a plane ride?"
"A simple question will do."
"Uncle Ken, can I have a plane ride?"
So now I have another convert to GA. He's 22 and has flown on an airliner once in his life. He loved it!
We had planned to return to Florida on Tuesday afternoon. The slop in the southeast made me sit in the northeast for another day, hoping the stationary boundary would break up or move or something. Nothing like 4 states of level 5's to fly through to really make you want to be on the ground. Now we're at Wednesday, and we REALLY have to get back. I filed a flight plan for Jax, thinking I'd probably have to land short in south Georgia and wait out the weather for a couple of hours if I couldn't pick through it with XM, eyeballs and strikefinder. But then there was this little matter of a tornado watch for all of north Florida that extended well past my intended arrival time. Discretion, being the better part of valor, won out (5 aboard again), and we instead went to Crossville, TN, picked up a car and my dog from my mother in law, and drove home, arriving at 3:30 am today, only about 36 hours later than planned. Now I have to go back and get the airplane. But on a better weather day.
Sometimes you think you've seen it all, and then a 3-day stationary front sits in front of you, challenging what you think you know about the weather, your decision making skills, and re-acquainting you with that nemesis of pilots: get-home-itis.
