I was up late doing the night flight in the 172, and then back up at o-dark-30 accidentally, got up at 6:45 or so, and was out at the airport by 8:20 am. Spencer and I pulled out the Champ, and talked for a few minutes about spins, spin entries, spin training, spin recoveries, practical applications of it, etc. He was a little unsure about the whole thing, but he cowboy'd up and we got it done, and I had fun anyway. He's not quite at the "having fun" part of it, but I was. lol
Next up we pulled out the Cheyenne and topped it off, and I signed off Isabel for her last solo cross country, went over her stuff, went out to the plane and talked about the radios and avionics (she had trouble last time with that), and got her on her way, before I got in the Cheyenne and flew to Frankfort to pick up Amber and Jim, two people going out to Pueblo, Colorado with me. We were picking up her daughter Amity, who was in an ATV accident, a bad one, and she could hardly move, or walk, and a long hard flight or a long hard drive home would be painful and problematic for her.
I got to Pueblo about 3 hours later, and we met up with the dad, Ethan (I fly his 340 with him), and got gas, and he went and got his son and daughter, and we loaded up slowly in the plane, and flew to a place with the identifier "KFLY", which was in Colorado Springs, to pick up the other young man who was on the ATV and in the accident too.
He was in the hospital, and the hospital didn't want to release him yet. But he'd have a 20 hour drive otherwise, to get home, so his parents insisted on them letting him out. He had a stint put in his kidney, and his Oxygen levels weren't great, and he'd spiked a fever, so the hospital was unhappy about it. They insisted that an oxygen bottle go with him, and that the pilot agree that it was okay. I said the pilot says it's okay. But the plane at FL290 was pressurized to 5000' cabin altitude, and his hospital room was at over 6000' field elevation. So...yeah, he was fine to go. ;)
There were 7 of us on board the Cheyenne, and full fuel, on a hot high density altitude day, at an airport with 7000' field elevation, on a shorter for out there runway of 6000'. The Cheyenne is a beast. You could feel a difference from Kokomo, it labored a bit more, but it still had no problem. Like, at all. Beast.
It was only about 2 hours and 40 minutes home. Not shabby. I found mostly smooth air, the kids did okay, the parents did okay. I took them back to Frankfort, got all their baggage out, they hugged me, thanked me, thanked Nathan, and went on their way to go get some sleep and be home. I flew back to Kokomo and put away the Cheyenne, stopped by Steak n Shake for dinner, and came home to enjoy a little time outside with AE, Kenny, Steve and Lon for a few minutes.
Next up I planned my next flight, to Centennial, Colorado, tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. I need gas though, so we won't be able to leave right at 8 since they don't open until 8 to give me gas. Anyway, I need to go pack for the overnight in Colorado.
One funny side note. As I was climbing out of Frankfort, headed to Pueblo, I was talking to Chicago Center, and they were calling out traffic to me. Traffic, 11 o-clock, 1000' below, North American. I looked down and saw a B-25 go by right under me, and then right then they came on the radio and said "Hi Laura". I didn't recognize the voice, but I thought it was really cool that B-25 folks recognized my voice on Chicago Center and called out. Later I posted about it on FB and found out who it was. Love that. It was fun. :)
Okay. Off to pack.
Cheyenne on the ramp on Pueblo at "Flowers" FBO, which was very unique inside.
Skimming the tops of a rain/storm cell at FL290
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