Day 15 - Saturday, September 13

As hoped for, Ginger and I were able to take off from Mena, Arkansas at 8:09 am. Last night, the flight briefer was correct in his forecast. He said an early take off might get us out before the rain starts at 9:00 am all the way to Little Rock. Boy, was he correct. The rain had already started just northwest of Mena as we left. We bumped around at about 1400 feet, just below the clouds, at full throttle toward Hot Springs.



As we approached Hot Springs, the mountains appeared about our same level. We diverted slightly to miss the peaks and towers and flew pretty much over downtown Hot Springs toward Little Rock. All this time, Ginger was keeping track of our whereabouts on a map, knowing where the nearest airports were in front and in behind us so that we could always have an escape route in case of rain showers. Luckily, we experienced no rain! Visibility was adequate, but rain would have diminished it greatly causing a quick chase to the nearest airport. Trucking on to Little Rock area, I could see improvement, but still at 1500 feet. Ginger was on the lookout for tall towers. We flew just between the outer Little Rock airspace circle and a group of tall towers. The Arkansas delta flatlands were a welcome sight. The flight briefer had told me that once I made it to the Mississippi River, it would be smooth sailing. And, he was correct. We were able to finally get on top of the lower broken clouds and pickup welcomed smooth air. Incidentally, we had strong headwind until we reached Alabama. So glad to land at Decatur and get in my easy chair. We had a great once in a lifetime experience that we will never forget. Thanks for tuning in. BTW, Ginger, my sweet wife, proved to be a real trooper on this trip. I suppose she is a keeper!!!!

Day 14 - Friday, September 12

We left Nebraska at noon, taking a route to the South to make an end run around a weather front. We encountered rain and some wind enroute to Oklahoma City before turning more Easterly to Ft. Smith, Ark, and then on to Mena, Ark. That was a 3 and 1/2 hour flight!!!! After parking at Mena, I noticed a flat on my left main tire. Thanks to Brian Pyatt who brought a jack in his plane. I was fortunate to find an individual on the field to give me the needed help. Doug, Ed, Tim and Brian continued on to Birmingham. Ginger and I stayed to fix the flat. The generous man, Rick Yahn, took me into town to have the the tube patched and offered us his van for the night. He also allowed me to store the plane in his maintenance hangar. I really don't know what we would have done without him. I checked the weather tonight and it looks promising for an early flight to Decatur, Alabama. If we don't leave in the morning, the hurricane remnants will not clear out for several days. So, stay tuned. Hopefully, we won't write but one more time!

Sept. 11 - Thursday, Day 13

We arose this morning in Jackson Hole with frost on the cars and 31 degrees F. After a good breakfast at Bubba's Family Restaurant, we drove the rental van back toward the airport (10 miles) to get some good photos of the Gran Tetons.



Doug and Ed looked at weather and plotted a course Eastward to hopefully avoid the bad weather.



It was decided to continue after takeoff Northward and make a 90 degree turn Eastward down a valley at 10,500 feet. Our path took us over several VORs and airports in order to dodge the low clouds and rain showers. The planned destination was Casper, WY. The weather report at Casper was iffy, so Ed Banks, our navigator, had several options in case of inclement weather. Doug Preston was in the lead, with me 2nd, and Brian Pyatt in 3rd position.

Doug's plane


Now, I am the slow climber with the 160 hp engine, while ole Brian's RV-7A is equipped with a constant speed prop and 180 hp engine. Boy, does the 20 more horses make a difference. Well, upon reaching Casper (over 200 nm), the bunch decided to take a left turn and fly to view Rushmore and buy cheaper fuel at Custer Airport. The airport manager gave us much needed instructions regarding the Monument fly-over. After a circle, we proceeded Eastward to see if the weather would let us get to York, NE (2 and 1/2 hours flight), knowing that it had rained there all morning. As we proceeded, the ground was creeping up in elevation, and the clouds getting lower. With lots of luck and good navigation by Ed, we had a smooth ride and just a few drops of rain. The rain had just reduced at York to a slight drizzle. The landing was without wind and non-eventful. We are spending the night at the New Victorian Inn. Tomorrow's weather toward Alabama doesn't look good. So far, Doug reported after Custer that we had flown 3,992 nautical miles and 28 hours. We are 630 nautical miles from Decatur, AL.

Wednesday, September 10 - Day 12

This morning our destination was Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Since gas is near $7 per gallon at Jackson Hole, we diverted to an airpark in Alpine, Wyoming for cheaper fuel. We encountered cloud buildups as we approached Alpine, and could see rain showers in the direction of Jackson Hole that is only about 30 miles from Alpine.



We quickly took off for Jackson Hole and had to circle a few times over the Alpine valley until we could reach 9,500 feet. The flight took less than 10 minutes. As we let down for the landing on the 6,400 feet altitude runway, a heavy rain shower was moving across the approach end of the runway. I was number 2 following Doug Preston. On the down wind leg, I lost sight of Doug, but had anticipated this situation and put sufficient distance between us. As I turned on final, I still could not see Doug, and had some difficulty in my depth perception due to rain on my windshield. Doug knew to land long and allow me a lot of runway. As it turns out, it was probably my best landing on this trip. We rented a van and checked into a Jackson Hole motel.
The four corners of the downtown square have arches made out of elk antlers. Hundreds of elk come to Jackson Hole in the winter and they shed their antlers in the spring. There are all sorts of things throughtout the town made of antlers.

It has rained lightly off and on this afternoon, and it is COLD here. The weather outlook is not good for tomorrow, so we might drive up to Yellowstone. Stay tuned.

Day 11, Tuesday, Sept 9, 2008

After a nice breakfast with several of the Independence airpark residents, we took off for the Spruce Goose and Space Museums at McMinnville, OR. You have to see the vastness of the beast to understand its size, and that it is made of wood! The Space museum opened just 3 months ago and is worthy of a visit. I was able to identify with several displays about the Apollo Program, Skylab, the Shuttle Program, and the new NASA Program, Ares 1 and Ares 5. In one of the enclosed photos you can see me standing near one of the actual Saturn 5 instrument units(IU) that I think was one of the test articles that was my project at MSFC in the 60's. It is 33 feet in diameter, while the new Ares 1 IU that is currently under development is 18 feet in diameter.

For those fellow Ares guys at MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center, at Huntsville, AL), the museum has a scale model of the Ares 1 and 5 that you will see me standing near.

From there, we took off eastward toward Portland and followed the Columbia river at a low attitude over the large river to enjoy the gorge view.

Well, the winds got so bad that we had to climb to 5,500 feet to find smoother air, and finally to 7,500 feet. You have to experience these winds to appreciate the effects. Our destination was a grass strip nestled in a narrow mountain valley. I decided that I would have no part of landing in such that would require special maneuvers to get in, and then to get out. So I opted to land at a small airport at Council, Idaho and wait for the other 2 planes to come back. They flew about 40 miles to the strip and decided that the wind was too bad, and with the loaded RV-10, Doug Preston decided that it was too risky to go down to the strip. After their circling the strip, they returned to Council for gas. Council is literally in the middle of no-where! We pumped gas knowing the gallons, but no idea of the price per gallon. Ginger's and my Verizon cell would not work. Ed Banks' AT&T worked for making a call to the local motel, The Starlight Motel. A quick call revealed that they had no vacancies. So, as it was getting late, Ed made a call to Boise, Idaho and found some rooms. We made a quick departure for the 36 minute flight and landed at the large main airport. Tonight, we are staying in a very nice Suite (Cambria). Tomorrow, we plan to fly to Jackson Hole to tour the area for the day and spend the night. Our next hopeful area to tour from the air is Mount Rushmore and surrounding sites. From there, no plans other than heading South. The weather forecast ain't looking good......Stay tuned.

Day 10, Monday Sept 8, 2008

We had a good breakfast this morning where we ate with 2 guys from Jackson, Miss. They had just purchased an RV plane from one of the airpark residents and left this morning with their first stopover at Page, AZ. Bob Brown took me to an alternator rebuilder in a nearby town, Salem, OR. The rebuilder tested both the alternator and voltage regulator and assured me that both are in working condition! So, back to the plane. When we removed the regulator earlier, I recalled the wire connector was unusually loose. We focused on that component first while the alternator was being reinstalled. We cleaned the connector and made some mechanical adjustments to have more insertion friction.

We pulled the plane out of the hangar and cranked the engine. Lo and behold the alternator worked. After lunch, we made a short flight from Independence to Van's factory in Aurora, OR. After a short tour, we returned to Independence to spend another night at this fantastic airpark.

Tomorrow, we will take a short flight to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum that houses the Spruce Goose. From there, Doug Preston, our trip leader, says we will fly up to visit some Idaho mountain grass strips. Stay tuned.

Day 9, Sept 7

After a good nights sleep, we drove back to the Coos Bay airport and had to wait for the heavy fog to lift. As I pulled my plane from the hangar, to my surprise, I was barely able to start the engine, dead battery! Well, the battery was ok, but the alternator had gone south! Since we were going to an airpark where there are over 53 RV's housed, I decided to make the flight without battery power (no radio, no instrumentation, no gas gages, only the standby airspeed indicator).

We three planes flew up the Oregon coast line for several miles before turning inland toward the Independence, OR airpark.

We were met by one of the RV residents, Bob Brown, who had made prior arrangements for lodging with RV owners. They also had a covered dish (plus ribs) supper for us where we met several residents. This place is paradise for flying people. The taxi ways and road are laid out to accommodate airplanes. RV construction is going on everywhere. I wish we had such back home. Well, back to the bad alternator. I was able to pull the plane into Bill Boyle's hangar where we removed the alternator. Bob Brown took me to several auto parts stores, but none had one in stock. In the morning, he will take me to a electrical rebuilder close by. Assuming I get the alternator working in the morning, we plan to go see the Spruce Goose at a museum not far from here. Then on to Van's factory for a tour. Beyond that, our schedule is flexible. The remaining desirable stops are an Idaho grass strip, Mount Rushmore, and Jackson Hole. After that, we will likely head home. Again, you have to see this airpark to appreciate it. The houses and hangars are built as one, and are they nice!!