Well Guys,
I thought I would set the stage some on my Grandson's Great Adventure.
As most of you know my Son was transferred from VA. to Bremerton WA two years ago to become the Air Boss of the Nimitz. So two years ago Grandson and I flew a low and slow trip from VA. to TX in Our Champion which I wrote about in the RF.
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89491
Well now the family is moving to Corpus Christi TX. Well guess what lots of stuff to move including two airplanes. Hard to put them in the 'U Haul"
Anyway Since Dad is out riding around on the big Grey boat it is up to Wifie, Daughter and Son to move some stuff along with having household items packed and shipped. Hay Navy familys CAN DO.So after the big moving truck leaves they start driving from WA to TX. with a stop in Helena MT. to visit my Daughter. Then head South with stops in Yellowstone, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Sedona,and Tucson to see the Air museum and bone yard. A long trip and Chad did all the driving pulling a small U Haul trailer. Now the next week he started on his 20 hours of flying with many fuel stop 4 day Air Adventure. The first week of Sept. he will be making the same trip with his Dad when they bring the Beechcraft Baron to Texas from WA.
Enjoy,
Jim
PS Give him time and he will be as good of a Story Teller/BSer as his Gramps'
Dillon,who went with Chad, is a Navy T-45 instructor and was a C-2 pilot in Son's Squadron. He is also heavy into general aviation.
So Gramps is staring me down right now to make me type this story of "My Experiences Flying Coast to Coast, Gulf Coast that is, at age 15".
This adventure began July 21 when I had to drive to a glider port where my friend Dillion instructs before we drove to Houston. When I drove up, Dillion was in the air with a student at the time so I began talking to some of the club members and telling them what we were about to do, but they kept asking how old I was and the amount of flight hours I have at this age which are over 100 loged. Once Dillion landed he was like "good thing I won't be seeing this boring scenery for a while". After briefing the trip and telling random stories we made it to Nana and Gramps' house for the night where Gramps kept teasing us that he was only gonna give us 1 hot dog each and we were gonna have to split a single bun. That wasn't the case, but anytime someone new comes to Covey Trails they are required to take a tour of the airpark to see the lifestyle of these pilots, so I brought Dillion around and as usual for anyone touring the subdivision, he was amazed and jealous. The next morning we all loaded up in the car to go to Houston International. Of course we were hours early so we went and hung out in the USO which was on the FAR opposite side of the airport...Once we boarded the airliner I just began thinking how I'm just back tracking this trip but only flying 5-6x slower and lower...being a pilot I just can't sleep on an airplane so I just spent my time staring out the window and thinking the trip through. As we were descending into Seattle we began looking at the cloud layer to think about leaving that night around 6-7 instead of waiting a day to leave in the morning. If you know Seattle you want to take any opportunity when the getting is good because it changes very rapidly. As we were getting off the airplane we stopped the captain and asked what altitude the cloud layer was at, then told him what we were gonna do. He told us we must be crazy and he had no awareness there were clouds, good thing we were already on the ground we chuckled...... My friend Doug was picking us up in his Bonanza to go back to Bremerton where the Pacer was located. So we got back to Bremerton and told Mr Doug our new plan, which was kinda disappointing but proved to be the better choice. So we checked the weather one last time and raced over to the Pacer and loaded it with our bags. I did a last minute call to family friends in Eastern Washington which were in the Lake Chelan area on the Columbia River to stay with, then we quickly got going. Taking off from Bremerton we noticed some high engine temperatures but everything else was fine, we climbed right to 10000 feet to fly over Seattle's class B airspace and continue over the mountains without seeing any of them. I began checking winds in the valley we would be landing at, which is definitely a difficult area with winds gusting over 20 kts. We had the airport in sight and began to do the final descent. By then we really could feel the winds but we managed to get it on the ground safely. We were picked up soon by my friends and we got driven to their homes and were introduced to everyone. That night everyone was sharing stories and we stayed up a little late to be getting up so early the next morning for the long travels ahead. We woke up around 6 and said our goodbyes, then quickly got in route to the airport. Once we did a preflight I fired the engine up and got on a roll. We didn't want to get beat by the wind so we went into a quick climb. The Pacer was cruising at about 130 MPH and burning about 10 gph so we didn't fly over 2.5 hours without a fuel stop. The first day of flying we flew around 900 miles and went all the way to 15000ft where we began to go a little crazy, but we made it into the little town of Rawlins,Wyoming where Dillion's friend lived. Landing at this airport was one of the scary experiences that happened along this trip. So we came into this airport with a strong crosswind and it was a good landing but then, the Pacer having a mind of it's own, began skipping sideways down the runway. While we were trying to go around, the Pacer straightened out and acted like nothing happen....what a ridiculous plane....on top of being one of the more unpredictable and difficult planes to fly. Once we taxied to the ramp it was 9 or so. After we parked all the fire aircraft crew were checking over their aircraft for the next day and the pilot of this skycrane helicopter asked if we would move because the rotor wash would probably blow the Pacer away, but we were really just thinking how it's a good thing this skycrane isn't towing us back to Texas after the last landing!!!...The next day we didn't fly too far because we stopped in Laramie,Wyoming, and stayed with Dillion's first flight instructor when he was in college. We went on his land on the border of Wyoming and Colorado, then went exploring and shooting, where of course they all got out shot by a 15 year old due to Gramps teaching me how to REALLY shoot. The next day was probably the most Interesting day. So we flew from Wyoming to central Texas while dodging thunderstorms and getting blown in the face with 20 kt headwinds so it was very long and tiring. We were flying into airports with the cheapest gas so quality of airport was not a concern, and at one the lounge was filled with Christmas decorations and dust about an inch thick. At the next airport I opened the gas shed and a swarm of Wasp flew after me, and I ran away faster than I know what. So I was pretty much safer flying a plane coast to coast than filling the plane with gas. Coming into Granbury airport outside of Dallas, it was already dark and we were exhausted after flying from Wyoming, and only eating apples, and then throwing the apple cores out the window. After we landed I began to try to open every door looking for a way into the building. After we realized we had no place to stay or way of getting into town we began setting up a tent on the asphalt under the plane wing, having a one plane Oshkosh (this being the week of Oshkosh). We then put a rope around our tent to keep away the rattlesnakes since we were in their country.. Gramps said it would work After we were set up we began eating cold chili out of the can we had and any other food we had. That night was the worst, most uncomfortable, hottest night of sleep both of us have had in our lives, after sleeping in puddles of our sweat which probably scared the rattlesnakes off itself.. In the morning when we decided we would get up, a group of people were all looking at us and asking if we were okay. After telling them our situation they understood...kinda and said we could shower inside. It was the best shower of my life after the night before, even if there were mounds of dead grasshoppers in the shower room. We were ready to get home so we hopped in the plane and made our last leg to Covey Trails along with running one of the gas tanks out of fuel which put the engine in a sputter before I switched tanks. We came in for landing at Covey and were just glad to be on the ground after this spectacular trip. So we began telling the trip's stories and soon after Gramps made me start typing this where I am now because if not I'll forget, and my brain will go mush....psfffffff I'm a kid I think I'm fine it's just because he's had those experiences ;-)
>> So overall Dillion taught me a lot and we just had a great time. Not many 15 year olds can fly let alone fly coast to coast so it was just a great experience, and this is after driving from Seattle to Texas. Even though my Mom and sister were with me, I did all of the driving in 4 days, so I definitely have had my fair share of traveling this summer and it's most likely not finished....so to be continued....
Hope my story almost compares to that old guy Wyandot.....
---Wyandot 3--- Chad---
This is a 1952 Piper Pacer.
I thought I would set the stage some on my Grandson's Great Adventure.
As most of you know my Son was transferred from VA. to Bremerton WA two years ago to become the Air Boss of the Nimitz. So two years ago Grandson and I flew a low and slow trip from VA. to TX in Our Champion which I wrote about in the RF.
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89491
Well now the family is moving to Corpus Christi TX. Well guess what lots of stuff to move including two airplanes. Hard to put them in the 'U Haul"
Anyway Since Dad is out riding around on the big Grey boat it is up to Wifie, Daughter and Son to move some stuff along with having household items packed and shipped. Hay Navy familys CAN DO.So after the big moving truck leaves they start driving from WA to TX. with a stop in Helena MT. to visit my Daughter. Then head South with stops in Yellowstone, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Sedona,and Tucson to see the Air museum and bone yard. A long trip and Chad did all the driving pulling a small U Haul trailer. Now the next week he started on his 20 hours of flying with many fuel stop 4 day Air Adventure. The first week of Sept. he will be making the same trip with his Dad when they bring the Beechcraft Baron to Texas from WA.
Enjoy,
Jim
PS Give him time and he will be as good of a Story Teller/BSer as his Gramps'
Dillon,who went with Chad, is a Navy T-45 instructor and was a C-2 pilot in Son's Squadron. He is also heavy into general aviation.
So Gramps is staring me down right now to make me type this story of "My Experiences Flying Coast to Coast, Gulf Coast that is, at age 15".
This adventure began July 21 when I had to drive to a glider port where my friend Dillion instructs before we drove to Houston. When I drove up, Dillion was in the air with a student at the time so I began talking to some of the club members and telling them what we were about to do, but they kept asking how old I was and the amount of flight hours I have at this age which are over 100 loged. Once Dillion landed he was like "good thing I won't be seeing this boring scenery for a while". After briefing the trip and telling random stories we made it to Nana and Gramps' house for the night where Gramps kept teasing us that he was only gonna give us 1 hot dog each and we were gonna have to split a single bun. That wasn't the case, but anytime someone new comes to Covey Trails they are required to take a tour of the airpark to see the lifestyle of these pilots, so I brought Dillion around and as usual for anyone touring the subdivision, he was amazed and jealous. The next morning we all loaded up in the car to go to Houston International. Of course we were hours early so we went and hung out in the USO which was on the FAR opposite side of the airport...Once we boarded the airliner I just began thinking how I'm just back tracking this trip but only flying 5-6x slower and lower...being a pilot I just can't sleep on an airplane so I just spent my time staring out the window and thinking the trip through. As we were descending into Seattle we began looking at the cloud layer to think about leaving that night around 6-7 instead of waiting a day to leave in the morning. If you know Seattle you want to take any opportunity when the getting is good because it changes very rapidly. As we were getting off the airplane we stopped the captain and asked what altitude the cloud layer was at, then told him what we were gonna do. He told us we must be crazy and he had no awareness there were clouds, good thing we were already on the ground we chuckled...... My friend Doug was picking us up in his Bonanza to go back to Bremerton where the Pacer was located. So we got back to Bremerton and told Mr Doug our new plan, which was kinda disappointing but proved to be the better choice. So we checked the weather one last time and raced over to the Pacer and loaded it with our bags. I did a last minute call to family friends in Eastern Washington which were in the Lake Chelan area on the Columbia River to stay with, then we quickly got going. Taking off from Bremerton we noticed some high engine temperatures but everything else was fine, we climbed right to 10000 feet to fly over Seattle's class B airspace and continue over the mountains without seeing any of them. I began checking winds in the valley we would be landing at, which is definitely a difficult area with winds gusting over 20 kts. We had the airport in sight and began to do the final descent. By then we really could feel the winds but we managed to get it on the ground safely. We were picked up soon by my friends and we got driven to their homes and were introduced to everyone. That night everyone was sharing stories and we stayed up a little late to be getting up so early the next morning for the long travels ahead. We woke up around 6 and said our goodbyes, then quickly got in route to the airport. Once we did a preflight I fired the engine up and got on a roll. We didn't want to get beat by the wind so we went into a quick climb. The Pacer was cruising at about 130 MPH and burning about 10 gph so we didn't fly over 2.5 hours without a fuel stop. The first day of flying we flew around 900 miles and went all the way to 15000ft where we began to go a little crazy, but we made it into the little town of Rawlins,Wyoming where Dillion's friend lived. Landing at this airport was one of the scary experiences that happened along this trip. So we came into this airport with a strong crosswind and it was a good landing but then, the Pacer having a mind of it's own, began skipping sideways down the runway. While we were trying to go around, the Pacer straightened out and acted like nothing happen....what a ridiculous plane....on top of being one of the more unpredictable and difficult planes to fly. Once we taxied to the ramp it was 9 or so. After we parked all the fire aircraft crew were checking over their aircraft for the next day and the pilot of this skycrane helicopter asked if we would move because the rotor wash would probably blow the Pacer away, but we were really just thinking how it's a good thing this skycrane isn't towing us back to Texas after the last landing!!!...The next day we didn't fly too far because we stopped in Laramie,Wyoming, and stayed with Dillion's first flight instructor when he was in college. We went on his land on the border of Wyoming and Colorado, then went exploring and shooting, where of course they all got out shot by a 15 year old due to Gramps teaching me how to REALLY shoot. The next day was probably the most Interesting day. So we flew from Wyoming to central Texas while dodging thunderstorms and getting blown in the face with 20 kt headwinds so it was very long and tiring. We were flying into airports with the cheapest gas so quality of airport was not a concern, and at one the lounge was filled with Christmas decorations and dust about an inch thick. At the next airport I opened the gas shed and a swarm of Wasp flew after me, and I ran away faster than I know what. So I was pretty much safer flying a plane coast to coast than filling the plane with gas. Coming into Granbury airport outside of Dallas, it was already dark and we were exhausted after flying from Wyoming, and only eating apples, and then throwing the apple cores out the window. After we landed I began to try to open every door looking for a way into the building. After we realized we had no place to stay or way of getting into town we began setting up a tent on the asphalt under the plane wing, having a one plane Oshkosh (this being the week of Oshkosh). We then put a rope around our tent to keep away the rattlesnakes since we were in their country.. Gramps said it would work After we were set up we began eating cold chili out of the can we had and any other food we had. That night was the worst, most uncomfortable, hottest night of sleep both of us have had in our lives, after sleeping in puddles of our sweat which probably scared the rattlesnakes off itself.. In the morning when we decided we would get up, a group of people were all looking at us and asking if we were okay. After telling them our situation they understood...kinda and said we could shower inside. It was the best shower of my life after the night before, even if there were mounds of dead grasshoppers in the shower room. We were ready to get home so we hopped in the plane and made our last leg to Covey Trails along with running one of the gas tanks out of fuel which put the engine in a sputter before I switched tanks. We came in for landing at Covey and were just glad to be on the ground after this spectacular trip. So we began telling the trip's stories and soon after Gramps made me start typing this where I am now because if not I'll forget, and my brain will go mush....psfffffff I'm a kid I think I'm fine it's just because he's had those experiences ;-)
>> So overall Dillion taught me a lot and we just had a great time. Not many 15 year olds can fly let alone fly coast to coast so it was just a great experience, and this is after driving from Seattle to Texas. Even though my Mom and sister were with me, I did all of the driving in 4 days, so I definitely have had my fair share of traveling this summer and it's most likely not finished....so to be continued....
Hope my story almost compares to that old guy Wyandot.....
---Wyandot 3--- Chad---
This is a 1952 Piper Pacer.