Up at 6 something a.m. this morning, out at Kokomo before sunrise. There was a huge harvest moon hanging in the sky to the west, and the sunrise coming up to the east made for a really pretty morning. We got a bit of a late start due to an oversleeping pilot (not me!), but finally we were on our way. The flight was severe clear and uneventful, and we arrived in Arkansas by 10:00 a.m. local time, got the Cub ready, wired up for GPSs and intercom and push-to-talk-switch and handheld radio, and then off they went, headed home on a very long journey. I took off shortly after them, promptly blew past them, and gratefully spent my flight home eating cheese crackers, drinking water, listening to music, occasionally reading, and flying IFR in VFR conditions, alone and in peace. The whole flight for me took 5.1 hours. The Cub took 8.5 hours to get all the way back including ground time/stops. It took me 2.6 hours to get back. Yep...
At the airport in Arkansas, KMXA, they had a self-serve pump, so I went to fuel up the Viking. You scan your card in, and it tells you to go ahead and fill up...up to 13 gallons. The pump shut off on me at 12.5 gallons. No option for "fill up" or dollar amount. Are you KIDDING me? And I thought getting shut off at 25 gallons in Nebraska was irritating. Who comes up with that plan, of only allowing 13 gallons at a time, and WHY? Do they only figure on fueling up Cubs and Champs? I had to swipe the card three times and go through the whole start up process three times just to put 33 gallons in! Thank heavens I wasn't in any of the twins, or I'd have 1) not had room (it was a tiny turn around area that barely fit the Viking) and 2) been thoroughly aggravated by having to put in 60-70 gallons of fuel in 12 gallons at a time! Grr.
The Viking did perform just fine. It was the first time I'd flown it in nine months-my last flight in it being the one where the gear leg collapsed after landing leaving me standing in the middle of a runway in the cold for a few hours with a wounded bird. We had a much nicer flight today, it and I. Normally I refer to airplanes as "she" for some reason, but in this case, it's given me enough attitude over the years that I sort of think of it as "he", but since that sounds mean, I'll just call it "it". ;) Anyway, it did just fine, getting me something like 650 miles in 5 hours. Thank you, dear, for not giving me anything more exciting to write about today!
I was expecting to be home by 2 or so, so I thought when I got back I might take up the T-6 and go practice a couple things. But by the time I got home I was all worn out. I didn't help my cause when I went to put the Viking away and realized I'd parked next to the open hangar...that was not my hangar. So after I'd filled up the airplane, I then had to pull it over to the proper hangar. Doh! This was tiring. That's a little airplane, but I'll tell you what, it doesn't go uphill full of fuel very well, and I had my entire and considerable body weight on that project, and barely got it where I needed it to go. At one point I was crooked, and tried to pull the plane back out, and flat out couldn't do it. I had to work with what I had, and when I finally got it done, I had to stand there and let my heart rate get back down to normal. I get home and tell Steve this story, and he laughs at me and tells me there is a tug in there. I did not see a tug. Why didn't anyone mention a tug? That would have been handy information! :)
Oh, yesterday when I mentioned the items that Gwenie retrieved from the bottom of the T-6 after our flight, I forgot one. Tootsie Roll. Gwenie found a toosie roll that flew out too. Chuck gave them to me at the Bash, and they helped during loading/unloading times. No chocolate abuse! ;) One thing I appreciated about the flight yesterday--we did a decent amount of things, and lately when I've been in a plane doing aerobatics, my tolerance has been a lot lower, and I've felt it. I hate that, but there it is regardless. The last two flights in the Yak and the Tucano both had me feeling queasy sooner than I cared to admit. I felt it after just a handful of maneuvers, and just gutted it out (so to speak) for about 45 minutes, enjoying it but feeling it too, until the end was a question mark as to making it or not. So, knowing what we were planning on doing, I tucked a sick sack in my pocket just in case...because having to clean out the Six would be much worse than having to use a bag... ;), but I didn't even have the tiniest hint of motion sickness this time. Not one twinge. I was also a lot more relaxed. I was fairly uptight in the Yak for a couple of valid reasons, and a little uptight in the Tucano because I didn't know the pilot from Adam. Nathan, I trust. So that whole "relax" thing that I never had to worry about before? It actually helps. Unfortunately, telling yourself to relax if you are not in a situation where you can easily feel relaxed does not work all that well, and tends to make you less relaxed than you were before. They should bottle something to help with that...wait, they have, but it's not legal to fly on. ;)
The other day I was driving to the airport when a black muscle car came ripping up right on my tail. Unfortunately for him, he caught up to me right as we were getting ready to hit all the curves on the new road, so he couldn't pass me. So I decided to go through the curvy road pretty fast, because after all, it's a bummer to me when somebody is doing 35-40 mph on that road and I have to drag around it. So I thought I'd do him a favor and at least make it decent for him. And Mr. Muscle Car couldn't keep up. He comes blasting up on me on the straightaways, but as soon as we hit the curves, he was slowing down, hitting the brakes, etc. I got a pretty good lead on him. Then as the road straightened out again, now he came back up on me. Doesn't count, bubba. Anybody can go fast straight and level. You still lose. To some girl in a Ford Explorer. ;)
Kaylee is still all stuffed up, but still seems to be feeling okay otherwise. The main key for her is that her appetite is unaffected, and when she gets sick for real, she quits eating. It doesn't make her less miserable to be allergies over cold, I don't think, but at least it's not contagious, and we'll keep looking for a good medicine to help her out...
Well, on to Monday, I suppose!
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