hankrausch
Pre-takeoff checklist
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2008
- Messages
- 332
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GoodbyePOA
Just finished a trip from the East Coast to Oklahoma, 10 hours flying out and back each way, thought the group would be interested in a few observations/notes:
1. Landed at Highland Country Ohio (HOC) for fuel and to dodge a thunderstorm, met a very interesting fellow who flew P51s during the Korean War as well as 20+ other airplanes in a flying career of 7000 hours. He was fascinating to talk to and I appreciated that in not so many years these vets won't be around to share their experience & we will be the lesser for it. If anyone is near the area I highly recommend stopping in to talk to him. But, soon.
2. Had just installed the Flightbox ADS-B "in" and that was very useful for giving advance warning of weather up ahead, flying VFR. Doesn't display radar but you can tell where the bad weather is by the METARS. It stopped working once (due to heat I think) but a reboot fixed it. Best $200 I ever spent for that plane.
3. Missouri's small airports have very gracious FBO staff, overnighted in MO on the way out and back and both times they handed me the crew car keys--had planned the stops using airnav so I could walk to the hotel each time (LBO and UUV) but didn't need to.
4. It turns out leaving your plane on the ramp in Ponca City OK is something that is just not really done in the summertime, I did and luckily the plane was fine but apparently very bad weather sweeps through in the summer and paying for a hanger is a better idea--if I make the trip out again in the summer I think I will break down and pay for a hangar.
5. Ended up stopping at Mount Vernon IL both out and back and that is a very nice stop, fantastic cafe/military museum. Landed in the face of a thunderstorm and the fbo put me in a hangar immediately! The western t-storms do seem more vicious than our eastern ones.
6.The rest of the flying was the usual summertime routine--smooth in the morning, bumpy in the afternoon, smooth in the evening, finding holes through lines of t-storms.
7. Here is one weird thing & take it for what it is worth: did not land at Alva OK (AVK) but ended up driving through it, the airfield is situated on he site of the former WW2 POW camp where they kept the hardest of the Nazis. Stopped in the county museum which is in an old hospital and according to the docent is, well, haunted. Did not think much of it until I was up on the second floor (alone) and the phone at the old nurses station rang, once. It wasn't connected to anything. Could have been a prank but it was run by a bunch of 80-somethings and I can't imagine them getting their kicks on frightening a 50-something man. Not that I was frightened...
All in all as has been said before, the death of GA has been exaggerated, its a great big country and lots of fun to rock about in the skies over it!
1. Landed at Highland Country Ohio (HOC) for fuel and to dodge a thunderstorm, met a very interesting fellow who flew P51s during the Korean War as well as 20+ other airplanes in a flying career of 7000 hours. He was fascinating to talk to and I appreciated that in not so many years these vets won't be around to share their experience & we will be the lesser for it. If anyone is near the area I highly recommend stopping in to talk to him. But, soon.
2. Had just installed the Flightbox ADS-B "in" and that was very useful for giving advance warning of weather up ahead, flying VFR. Doesn't display radar but you can tell where the bad weather is by the METARS. It stopped working once (due to heat I think) but a reboot fixed it. Best $200 I ever spent for that plane.
3. Missouri's small airports have very gracious FBO staff, overnighted in MO on the way out and back and both times they handed me the crew car keys--had planned the stops using airnav so I could walk to the hotel each time (LBO and UUV) but didn't need to.
4. It turns out leaving your plane on the ramp in Ponca City OK is something that is just not really done in the summertime, I did and luckily the plane was fine but apparently very bad weather sweeps through in the summer and paying for a hanger is a better idea--if I make the trip out again in the summer I think I will break down and pay for a hangar.
5. Ended up stopping at Mount Vernon IL both out and back and that is a very nice stop, fantastic cafe/military museum. Landed in the face of a thunderstorm and the fbo put me in a hangar immediately! The western t-storms do seem more vicious than our eastern ones.
6.The rest of the flying was the usual summertime routine--smooth in the morning, bumpy in the afternoon, smooth in the evening, finding holes through lines of t-storms.
7. Here is one weird thing & take it for what it is worth: did not land at Alva OK (AVK) but ended up driving through it, the airfield is situated on he site of the former WW2 POW camp where they kept the hardest of the Nazis. Stopped in the county museum which is in an old hospital and according to the docent is, well, haunted. Did not think much of it until I was up on the second floor (alone) and the phone at the old nurses station rang, once. It wasn't connected to anything. Could have been a prank but it was run by a bunch of 80-somethings and I can't imagine them getting their kicks on frightening a 50-something man. Not that I was frightened...
All in all as has been said before, the death of GA has been exaggerated, its a great big country and lots of fun to rock about in the skies over it!
Great story. I love reading about flying around and having adventures.
