Two Pilots & an LSW: Highs and Lows

Tuesday, September 03, 2024

Highs and Lows

Gorgeous Fall day. Clear skies, a little wind, rich colors, you can feel the shift to Fall in one big swoop. It's not hot and muggy, the skies are white and muted with heat and moisture. It's crisp and cool, 50 degrees in the morning, and BOOM, Summer takes a hit and here we go. It's beautiful, my favorite time of year, if it would only stay. *sigh*

Kaylee was happy today because one of the four cats she is pet sitting this week cuddled with her for 45 minutes. She has decided that she's not up for a puppy after all, and she hopes some day to have an adult Golden Retriever, but that'll be hard to find. That's why pet sitting is a good thing to try before getting your own. Why babysitting overnight a few times is a good thing to try before having one of your own of those, too. ;)

So BOB the Beech, as you know, has been on tour all season. It started having some minor maintenance issues. Primer needs worked on, another oil leak has sprung up and started getting messier again, etc. Nothing major, but we just started saying "Hey, BOB, just get back home and we'll get you some TLC". Yesterday JP flew it from Colorado to Terre Haute where it spent the night, and then brought it back to Kokomo this morning.

He called on the cellphone and said he was on Runway 14 and needed towed off. His right engine was feathered, he couldn't get it unfeathered, and he couldn't taxi off the runway. So I called the FBO and told them Runway 14 was obstructed and closed with a temporarily disabled aircraft, and Jon went out and towed it back to the hangar. BOB went all over the country. Tennessee, Alabama, Connecticut, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Wyoming, Colorado, home, and it had a feathering system problem on the last leg of the last flight, pooping out on its own home runway. Instead of making us go to Colorado to work on it. Thank you BOB. Welcome home--we'll take good care of you.

Of course that meant the three people I had contacted and scheduled time to fly it and finish their checkouts now had to be contacted and un-scheduled until further notice. *Another sigh*

Morgan didn't feel like she was having a very good day either, no real good reason why, other than she hates winter and today was cold, and she was just grumpy. She was even able to first solo someone, for the first time for her. So we then took up Chuck's Citabria in the evening to make the day end on a better note. It didn't seem to help her much, though, even though it was a beautiful evening. She couldn't get great 3-point landings in at Sheridan on the grass and it was pissing her off. But I think it was because the corn was up, she was landing from the back seat, and the corn is higher, so she'd level off high each time. But she did beautiful wheel landings on the 50' concrete runway, and a great landing back at Glenndale. We then went up and I did some spins, 3 or 4 of them, just for the fun of it. I thought it would break the bad mood, but I don't think anything did after all. Sometimes you're just gonna be in a bad mood even if nothing is really that bad. That's okay too now and then. *I* had a nice day, minus the whole BOB thing, and even that's a lot better than it could've been.

Tomorrow is a trip to Palm Beach, FL. In the afternoon, the peak time for storms and EDCT and ground stops down there. Crossing my fingers for an uneventful and successful trip in.

Steve is working on taxes, and feeling rather accomplished because he's getting it done tonight. Kaylee is enjoying her second to last night with 4 cats, 4 dogs, and 12 chickens. And I'm content after some aviation therapy.