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.