Champaign

Yesterday 

Looks like my Monday trip isn't going to be much fun. The only plane I have available is the C-340. I'm going to the Pittsburgh area again, and then on up to Buffalo, NY. The thing is, I have a terrible relationship with Buffalo.

First time I landed there, it was cold and windy in January, I had had food poisoning the day before and my system was still nuked, and our left engine starter/generator broke. The plane was stranded on the ramp, and with a winter storm moving in, nobody could come get us in another airplane, so we took a rental car and drove all evening until 1 am to get back to Frankfort Airport where my car was. At this point it was sleet/snowing at home as well, and it took me over an hour to get home in my own car from there, on the back roads in ice. It was great.

Second time I went to Buffalo, the next week, they had fixed the plane. Another massive winter storm was hitting. One runway and most taxiways were closed and they had snowplows all over, like 6 or 7 of them. It was min visibility to get in thanks to the blowing snow and high winds. I flew in and had someone else fly home while I went to get my plane. Walking around, I wiped out, and that's when I hurt my wrist and tore the tendon in my shoulder, which left me with limited mobility for half a year or more. Also dropped my iPad and shattered it.

Third time I go into Buffalo, I'm not trying to go into Buffalo. It's 5 months later and I'm on the Air Power History Tour with the C-45, and I'm bringing it from Syracuse, NY to home. My fuel stop, I ended up racing weather, and the weather won. So I had to stop early. Winds were forecast to be 25, which isn't insignificant in the taildragger. I go to stop somewhere else, and it's a small runway with gusting winds upwards of 30 knots as a crosswind. I look around and the winds are kicking up EVERYwhere. So I aim for Buffalo, which has runways only like 30 degrees off the winds, and they're long and wide. I'm coming in, and now two jets on final report wind shear. When it's my turn on final, tower warns me that the winds are now gusting to 42 knots, with 15 knot wind shear reported on final. I am absolutely nervous. I've never landed a taildragger with 42 knot gusting winds like that before. I was totally  But everywhere else the winds were kicked up too, so...I sent it. Made one of the best landings of my life, because a little bit of terror will really focus your ass.  I kept thinking "Oh don't groundloop this thing, do not groundloop this thing, do NOT wreck this thing". Tower talks to me before my tail is even down and I don't hear a word they say. Finally I get it whoa'd and turn off and my adrenaline had spiked so hard. I've landed in 40+ knot winds quite a few times over the years, just never in a tailwheel. Haven't done it since, either.

And that's why Buffalo and I have a thing. And now I have to go back on Monday, and guess what the weather looks like?

Anyway. Today Morgan and I took the 340 at 7:30 am with a guy named Stephen and ran him over to Champaign, IL. It was windy, dark and cold, but otherwise not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Morgan and I stayed there most of the day, went out to eat, and then hopped in the plane and went over to Rantoul, the place where we were going to be picking Stephen up. It's an old military base, only one decent runway, all taxiways shut down, overgrown with weeds, ancient buildings from WWII to the 60s, probably lead, asbestos and mold everywhere. So we were only there long enough to pick up Stephen. lol Headed home, was back close to 5 pm. Easy day.