Bluerooster
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- Joined
- Nov 29, 2015
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Took Dads pickup back to him, and swapped it for a Cherokee 140.
The plan was to arrive on friday the 21st and fly home on the following Tuesday.
Well, I hadda get my 3 bounces in for currency. So, Monday, after a weekend of dove hunting, we went to the airport, to get that job done. Pulled it out, and did the preflight. (I hadda get on to him about parking it with so little gas in the tanks) Fired it up, and the alternator didn't come on line. I cycled the switch a few times, and got the same result. Shut down, and started the process of diagnostics. I determined that the regulator was bad. Now, Vernon TX is a geographical oddity, in that it's at least 3 days from anywhere.
I ordered a used one from TAS, because I figured it would get there the quickest. It finally arrived at the post office on Wednesday. Dad doesn't get his mail before 3:00 PM. So, I went to the post office to intercept it at 7am. They told me they would set it aside and I could pick it up when they open at 9. Went to pick it up, and had it in hand by 9:30. After fooling around for a couple hours waiting on Dad to run some errands, we headed to the airport and I got it installed. Harlan Screws was standing by giving moral support, and signed the installation in the log. I then took it for a test flight. All was well.
Topped the tanks, and made ready for an early AM departure.
Called for a wx briefing, and was told that everything east of Wichita Falls was IFR all the way to the east coast. great. We launch into severe clear, and head east to St. Simons Island GA. (Dad wanted to visit my sister)
At 7500' we leveled off, and just about Wichita Falls we found ourselves on top of overcast. Well, we ain't stopping untill MS. I had planned a fuel stop at Yazoo MS. Well the briefer told me that Yazoo was no fuel untill next year. So we planned for a stop about 50 miles east. No worries right?
Continued on toward our fuel stop, checking ATIS, and AWOS along the way. Ceiling was consistently being reported as 600-1000 OVC, well the tops were well below us, at around 2000'. We continued on. As we got closer to the fuel stop we could pick up the nearest AWOS (fuel stop had none) and ceiling was pretty low, (below my VFR comfort level). But, Vicksburg, (Tallula) was reporting about 1500'. Well, I saw a hole, and it was just the perfect size for a Cherokee to fit through with room to spare. So, we went through the hole, and leveled off at 1100' right over the river. Made an uneventful landing, Got gas, checked wx, and found that conditions were improving. So we launched and headed east. I climbed through a hole that was big enough for a 747 to fit through, and got to my altitude of 7500' and "hit the go button".
Flying along all dumb and happy, the floor started to open up. By the time we got into AL, it was BKN below us, and looked to be getting better, except for the towers about 50 or more miles ahead. I kept a sharp eye on those towers, and headed for them. Checking various AWOS, and ATIS. we found that this TS was not very big, but there was more than one of them. And in a line. About 3 miles wide, but 50 miles long. Running south west to northeast. being in the middle, I picked a direction and ran with it. We went north, and around the system. Got in a little sprinkle, but was VFR all the way.
With the storm behind us, it was CAVU the rest of the way to BQK, and had a little TS to go around, then beeline to SSI. All in all a pretty good trip, and didn't get bounced around at all. Logged 9.4 and Dad is now fishing off the pier.
I wanted to stay for a day or two, but I gotta get home. So, I konked out for the night. This morning, My sister gave me a ride back to the airport for an 8am launch. (I wanted to get off earlier) Remember, there's this stationary front running from New Orleans to Augusta GA. and I wanted to get off before it went to work. I made it halfway between Vidalia, and Dublin. and the TS activity reared it's ugly head. I was 40nm south east of Dublin in CAVU, Dublin was reporting 4500' and 10sm. I saw what appeared to be an opening between cells, to the east, and headed for it, when I turned the corner, I saw a dead end. So, I back track, and head west. It didn't look to be any better, but a couple miles away is this airport, not much, but a runway, and apron. I landed there. No building, no cover, no nuttin'. Called wxbrief, and was told to stay put until next week. (that aint gonna happen) Called a buddy of mine, who got on his 'puter, and gave me the rundown from a pilots perspective.
End result, I sat there for about 30 min. then with the storm having moved east of me, I launched, and turned west. As I was climbing, I saw that I could resume my intended course, if I stayed low for a while. So I stayed low by climbing at about 200fpm. ran through a light shower, then everything cleared out. I am now on the north side of the front, and in clear sky, (for the south east) Nothing major from that point on, just decided to get below the broken layer when passed LZU, and head home at 3500'.
All in all, a good, (albeit long) trip. Did nothing dangerous, illegal, immoral, or fattening. And got a few Doves, BBQd them, and had them for supper on Wed. Had a blast with my Dad, got the illustrious Harlan Screws sig in the airframe log, and logged 12 hour x-country. Now I gotta git on the rest of the interior.
OBTW, The GPS shot shows that I had a slight head wind for a minnit or two in AL.
The plan was to arrive on friday the 21st and fly home on the following Tuesday.
Well, I hadda get my 3 bounces in for currency. So, Monday, after a weekend of dove hunting, we went to the airport, to get that job done. Pulled it out, and did the preflight. (I hadda get on to him about parking it with so little gas in the tanks) Fired it up, and the alternator didn't come on line. I cycled the switch a few times, and got the same result. Shut down, and started the process of diagnostics. I determined that the regulator was bad. Now, Vernon TX is a geographical oddity, in that it's at least 3 days from anywhere.
Topped the tanks, and made ready for an early AM departure.
Called for a wx briefing, and was told that everything east of Wichita Falls was IFR all the way to the east coast. great. We launch into severe clear, and head east to St. Simons Island GA. (Dad wanted to visit my sister)
At 7500' we leveled off, and just about Wichita Falls we found ourselves on top of overcast. Well, we ain't stopping untill MS. I had planned a fuel stop at Yazoo MS. Well the briefer told me that Yazoo was no fuel untill next year. So we planned for a stop about 50 miles east. No worries right?
Continued on toward our fuel stop, checking ATIS, and AWOS along the way. Ceiling was consistently being reported as 600-1000 OVC, well the tops were well below us, at around 2000'. We continued on. As we got closer to the fuel stop we could pick up the nearest AWOS (fuel stop had none) and ceiling was pretty low, (below my VFR comfort level). But, Vicksburg, (Tallula) was reporting about 1500'. Well, I saw a hole, and it was just the perfect size for a Cherokee to fit through with room to spare. So, we went through the hole, and leveled off at 1100' right over the river. Made an uneventful landing, Got gas, checked wx, and found that conditions were improving. So we launched and headed east. I climbed through a hole that was big enough for a 747 to fit through, and got to my altitude of 7500' and "hit the go button".
Flying along all dumb and happy, the floor started to open up. By the time we got into AL, it was BKN below us, and looked to be getting better, except for the towers about 50 or more miles ahead. I kept a sharp eye on those towers, and headed for them. Checking various AWOS, and ATIS. we found that this TS was not very big, but there was more than one of them. And in a line. About 3 miles wide, but 50 miles long. Running south west to northeast. being in the middle, I picked a direction and ran with it. We went north, and around the system. Got in a little sprinkle, but was VFR all the way.
With the storm behind us, it was CAVU the rest of the way to BQK, and had a little TS to go around, then beeline to SSI. All in all a pretty good trip, and didn't get bounced around at all. Logged 9.4 and Dad is now fishing off the pier.
I wanted to stay for a day or two, but I gotta get home. So, I konked out for the night. This morning, My sister gave me a ride back to the airport for an 8am launch. (I wanted to get off earlier) Remember, there's this stationary front running from New Orleans to Augusta GA. and I wanted to get off before it went to work. I made it halfway between Vidalia, and Dublin. and the TS activity reared it's ugly head. I was 40nm south east of Dublin in CAVU, Dublin was reporting 4500' and 10sm. I saw what appeared to be an opening between cells, to the east, and headed for it, when I turned the corner, I saw a dead end. So, I back track, and head west. It didn't look to be any better, but a couple miles away is this airport, not much, but a runway, and apron. I landed there. No building, no cover, no nuttin'. Called wxbrief, and was told to stay put until next week. (that aint gonna happen) Called a buddy of mine, who got on his 'puter, and gave me the rundown from a pilots perspective.
End result, I sat there for about 30 min. then with the storm having moved east of me, I launched, and turned west. As I was climbing, I saw that I could resume my intended course, if I stayed low for a while. So I stayed low by climbing at about 200fpm. ran through a light shower, then everything cleared out. I am now on the north side of the front, and in clear sky, (for the south east) Nothing major from that point on, just decided to get below the broken layer when passed LZU, and head home at 3500'.
All in all, a good, (albeit long) trip. Did nothing dangerous, illegal, immoral, or fattening. And got a few Doves, BBQd them, and had them for supper on Wed. Had a blast with my Dad, got the illustrious Harlan Screws sig in the airframe log, and logged 12 hour x-country. Now I gotta git on the rest of the interior.
OBTW, The GPS shot shows that I had a slight head wind for a minnit or two in AL.
