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Packing for Oshkosh 2013 & Where have we been?
By: Beth Hardy Duff
FIRST DAY OF THE BRITISH OPEN… (okay, sooo…) It is Thursday, late afternoon on July 18th. We are sitting in front of the TV watching the recap of the first day of the British Open. The weather there looks to have been pretty good for the first round. Exceptionally good… as opposed to our own weather in Madison which was host to the Sanderson Farms Championship. It treated our entrants and spectators to a spectacular display of Mississippi weather in July at its finest.
EARLIER IN THE DAY… When I finally crawled out of bed this morning and went outside to complete a long put-off chore of cleaning out the gutters on the back of the house, it was as oppressive and humid as Junior Samples’ shorts! I got the ladder up and dug out all sorts of dirt, leaves, shingle dust and the occasional displaced skinks. All finished, I swept off the 50 pounds (or so it appeared) of stuff I had pulled out of the gutter and sacked it up for the “garbage fairies” to haul off. Garbage Fairies are my term for the garbage men who come to my house on Mondays & Thursdays and magically make my garbage disappear…. I LOVE them!
Shortly thereafter, it began to thunder, then it rained, then it poured. I LOVED the fact that the deck was getting a freebie wash-job and that the gutters were operating correctly and getting a great hosing out. As I turned my back, a bolt of lightning plunged into the ground somewhere very close and I ducked and almost ran for cover. This continued on long after the rain ended providing a special viewing of Mississippi lightning in July in the daytime. Those imported spectators visiting our area were now fully versed in the bizarre weather Mississippi can sport and probably headed straight to Wal-Mart to replace their now soiled undies!
So after that, I went back to the TV… I planned to watch the day’s recap of the Sanderson Farm Championship, however, there wasn’t much to show as the rain and lightning scared off everyone including the Golf Gods and forced not just a “rain delay”, but a “rain postponement til the next day”. Better luck tomorrow, guys.
WHERE ‘YA BEEN? You haven’t heard much from us in a long time and it’s not because we have forgotten about you or have abandoned the blog. Frankly, we had no idea that anybody really REAALLLY paid that much attention to us….but we found out differently! Recently, everywhere Paul and I have been, one or both of us have been politely chastised for being so delinquent in our writings. If we didn’t run into you telling us this, we actually got emails from you! What a boon to our egos! You like us! YOU REALLY DO LIKE US!! (Move over, Sallie Field, we’re good too!) So, we will try to do better. We have both endured our fair (and very unfair) share of family sicknesses and woes over the past several months and that does a lot to kill the flow from the writer’s fingers. It just doesn’t flow at all. A couple of weeks ago, Paul mentioned that he intended to sit down & write a few things for the blog and that he sat at his computer, fingers poised and nothing….just nothing happened. Nothing except Miaow hopping into his lap and loving on him as she has learned to do when I’m gone. She has quickly become Paul’s cat as I am no longer her favorite. She’s Daddy’s girl and she knows it and plays it to the hilt. Perhaps she has forgotten who feeds her, changes her litter, bought her the $30 S-Curve upholstered cat recliner and a zillion dollars’ worth of assorted toys. When I do come home, she twines around my ankles until I pick her up and then she bites me in a somewhat playful and somewhat Freddy Kruege-like manner. Somehow, Ialways forgive her.
PACKING FOR OSHKOSH… While I was at my parents’ house, tending to them, I asked Paul if he would start getting out stuff for OSH and just put it on the dining room table. He said he’d be glad to. In fact, it was exciting to think of packing up for our annual fun cross-country trip and would help get his mind off things too. When I finally got home, dead on my feet, I expected to come in to a view of the tent, sleeping bags and other assorted stuff piled high in the middle of the dining room table. Instead, I caught sight of the paperback Notam and a single sheet report from AV Lab of our oil analysis and that was all…except cat hair and dust. I asked what happened and I never got a real precise answer other than, “I wasn’t sure where the tent and sleeping bags were”, “Uh, I never got a good start on it”, “Uh, well, I needed your help.” For all you other married pilots out there, number three is the proper answer. After 31 years of marriage, floundering around until you cough up, “Uh….I needed your help” or something related to this greatly aids your case immensely. All is instantly forgiven and packing immediately gets underway.
More to come as we continue to pack this week.
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Plan B… No, Make it Plan C
Plan A… Yesterday we had signed up for the civilian fly-in at the Columbus Air Force Base. We had our standard government paperwork filed to land at CAFB and we were excited about spending the day around the jets on base and spending some time in the simulators. The weather was looking good until we arrived at the Raymond Airport to depart… heavy fog. We waited as long as we could for it to clear, but no luck and our time ran out. In order to land at CAFB, we had a designated slot time for arrivals and if we were not “wheels up” by 0715 from Raymond, we would not make the slot. At this point we threw up our hands and drove to Starbucks for coffee and a muffin and to come up with Plan B.
Plan B… One of the things you learn as a pilot is to always have an alternate plan. Our Plan B, was to go to the fly-in and camp out down at Pineville, LA (2L0) and check out the planes and eat lunch. We have been to Pineville for their monthly breakfast several times, but not to the fall fly-in. I started looking at the weather south of here only to see that it was still socked in near Pineville. 1/2 mile visability and 200 foot ceilings still plagued south Louisiana, so we decided to rub on the plane for a while until the weather broke at our destination. 2 hours later and a call to the automated weather system at Alexandria confirmed the poor computer reports… It’s still low IFR. Now we are getting stir crazy and ready to go somewhere.
Plan C… We had been invited to fly to Starkville with some friends to watch Mississippi State play Tennessee, but had decided that flying home after an 8:00 game was not for me. But, this is the south and 90% of the fun of college football is the pre-game campus environment. So, Plan C turned out to be flying to Starkville, MS (KSTF), eat lunch at our old favorite place, Oby’s, and walk campus before the game. This was perfect, after a great lunch, we spent some time shopping in the book store, visiting the Student Union, watching other college games on various TV’s and tailgating with friends. After walking miles and covering the beautiful MSU campus we flew home to just in time to catch our Bulldogs on ESPN.
#HAILSTATE… After waking up at 0500, this had been a long day… We were tired, but wide awake in front of the TV until 2330 when our beloved MSU Bulldogs defeated The Tennessee Volunteers 41 to 31. Our now 15th ranked Bulldogs are 6 & 0 for the first time in many years and should be 7 & 0 when they roll into Tuscaloosa on the 27th of October to play the #1 ranked Crimson Tide of Alabama – GO DAWGS!
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Washington DC, not what I thought!
Slow to Post… Since returning from Oshkosh, things have been a little hectic and not allowed time for much writing. It has been fun to run into friends and family that have asked what we were going to write about next. It is cool to know that folks DO read this stuff – THANKS!
Washington DC… Our most recent trip was one for work and unfortunately did not involve our airplane, but was very interesting anyway. The company I work for, Delta Industries, is active in the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) and I was able to make a national meeting this past week in Washington, DC. Beth nor I had never been to DC, so we decided to go up a day early and try to see some sites. Little did we know that one extra day was not going to allow us to see much more of this VERY interesting city.
You Can Feel the History… Final approach into Reagan National Airport put us right over the Pentagon and my immediate thoughts went to the tragedy of 9/11. Then, I saw the Arlington National Cemetery just beyond the Pentagon and my thoughts turned to those who have died for my freedom. At that point, I knew this was going to be a special, thought provoking, trip. I don’t think there is anywhere else in this country that you can go stand in one place and be surrounded by so much history and walk the paths of some of the most brilliant (and not so) makers of that history.
Need a Plan… After settling in at our hotel just south of town, I purchased a three day pass for the shuttle to downtown. Most of my meetings for the first two days were in the afternoon and at night so we could get up early and shuttle in for some sightseeing. This afternoon was open though, so we decided to get to it and head in for as long as we could and at least look around and come up with a plan for the next two mornings. The shuttle dropped us off north of the Capitol building at Union Station. We started our walk to the south to see the Capitol and then to the west along the National Mall area. The first thing we noticed was how spread out this place is! It is a long way from the Capitol to the White House and there is a lot of stuff to see in between. We continued our walk to the Washington monument and then north to the White House. This brought us close to the Old Post Office which was the last place we could catch the shuttle back to the hotel at 8:30pm. Wow, what a walk! We did get an idea of where things were and what we wanted to see the next morning.
The Best Stuff is FREE… Early the next morning we were back on the shuttle, headed into town – first stop – the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. We figured we could cover it in a half day and see something else later that day – WRONG, this place was huge and we ended up spending the entire day there! Besides being an aviation nut, I have always been a space program nut, it was all here and we could have spent two days going through it in detail. Most all of the displays were the real thing when possible, not just models or mock-ups. The highlight of the day was seeing the ORIGINAL Wright Flyer that Orville and Wilbur managed to get in the air over a hundred years ago. The really great thing about the Smithsonian Museums and the government buildings was that there was no charge for admission.
Ruby Slippers, First Lady Dresses & the Constitution… The next morning we were back at it again, this time at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. If only we could have learned about history in school by visiting these places (I guess the smart kids did). Beth wanted to see the Ruby Slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz along with the dresses worn by the First Ladies collection. Not the most interesting things to me, BUT, there were tons of cars, electrical motors, steam engines, guns, trains and other cool stuff invented by Americans on display. I think the highlight of this museum was seeing the original US flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star-Spangled Banner during the war of 1812. After spending the morning soaking up history at the museum, we walked over to the National Archives building which houses The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights. I was amazed that you could put your eyes 6 inches away from these historic documents – this was a goose bump moment! The room was darkly lit to preserve the documents and no cameras were allowed, but this experience will live with us forever.
007 & Spies Like Us… When we were done at the archives building, we had a few more hours before we had to catch the shuttle so we decided to stay in the area and visit the International Spy Museum. This museum did charge 20 bucks each to visit, but it was also well worth it. We only had 2.5 hours to spend and needed 3 times that! Their massive collection of spy devices, memorabilia and video presentations was impressive and interesting to a kid that grew up during the “cold war era”, and like most museums, you finish the tour at the gift shop. This was not your average gift shop though, they had all kinds of knock-off spy devices and more T-shirts than Disney World.
Slide Show – Photos were taken with Samsung S3 Phone…
More Time Here… While, the rest of the trip for me was spent in meetings, Beth was able to take a tour of President Lincoln’s cottage with the ladies one day and then it was time to fly home. While some BAD weather got in the way of us getting home on time, we did make it home safely and longing to return to DC. I would love to spend 5 or 6 days just visiting the museums downtown along with the monuments and the Arlington National Cemetery. Looks like I need to familiarize myself with the Washington area ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone) and fly Caddie up to Manassas, VA… I guess we’ll have to put that on the list!
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Rapid City to Oshkosh, Just the Beginning…
Density Altitude… It was Monday morning and the forecast was still looking a little nasty for the next few days. So, we decided to break camp a day early and try to get as close to Oshkosh as we could. It was only a five hour flight, but we would would lose a time zone hour traveling east. This would make it hard to get into Oshkosh before the airshow closed the field, so we decided to get as close as we could, find a hotel, take good shower and spend the night in an air conditioned room. By the time we packed everything up and loaded the airplane at KRAP it was 10:00 and the temps were already in the 90’s. The automated weather at the airport was indicating a density altitude of over 7,000 feet… with a field elevation of 3,200 feet, thats a lot of DA! To the non-pilots out there, density altitude is a calculation that tells you basically where the plane “feels” like it is. The higher a plane climbs the harder it is to continue that climb. So, on this day, at this location and temperature, with the wheels on the ground our plane would climb like it is already at 7,000 feet… not too good, but well within her performance limits.
Long Roll… After “holding short” for a few planes on final, we were finally give clearance to takeoff and get out of this sweltering heat. As expected with the high density altitude, we rolled a lot further down the runway before lifting off, but soon we were climbing out and heading east. As we were departing, the controller even asked if we were going to Oshkosh… he sees a lot of RV’s stopping there during Airventure week.
Weather Ahead… We knew when we were planning the route that morning that we were going to have to get around a cold front that was slowly falling south from Canada. As we approached the looming clouds we could see several openings to the north and since its always better to be behind the weather than in front we took advantage of these openings. This did turn out to be a good decision since the front consolidated to our south and the temps fell into the 50’s at 9,500 feet – a welcome relief from the 90’s we just left!
Two Hops to Wisconsin… We were not able to land at our intended first stop due to weather but made it a little farther northeast to Mankato, MN. Mankato Regional Airport (KMKT) is located just south of Minneapolis and has two nice long runways. The staff was friendly and had free hot dogs and drinks for Oshkosh travelers along with a fuel discount. While resting there, we met two folks from California that were headed to Oshkosh. A young lady that had just taken her PPL check ride at 16 years of age and her grandfather. It was inspiring to see the two of them sharing a passion like flying and to hear her
dreams of becoming a Naval aviator. They were going to try to get into Oshkosh after the airshow that day, but we had decided to fly close to Oshkosh and spend the night in a hotel so we could wake up clean and fresh for the demanding OSH arrival. I had chosen Alexander Field (KISW) at Wisconsin Rapids, WI and gave them a call to see how far we would be from a hotel. The lady that I talked to, called a local hotel with a reasonable rate for us and offered to give us a ride in when we arrived – What a deal! The weather appeared to be moving in on us again, so we said our goodbyes to our new friends and continued east to KISW.
Great Place to Stop… We arrived at Wisconsin Rapids without any issues and were able to put Caddie in a hangar for the night for 20 bucks (good insurance, considering the weather we had been through). Howard, the owner of HJ Aviation, drove to the hangar, picked us up and carried us in to the hotel in his personal vehicle and said he would be back to pick us up at 7:30 the next morning. Our hotel was nice and within walking distance of an Arby’s (dinner) and a CVS (wine)… two showers and a good nights sleep in air conditioning AND Howard was picking us up and taking us back to the plane early Wednesday morning. You always hear of southern hospitality, but we were treated like royalty at every airport we stopped at on this trip, especially at HJ Aviation!
Red & White RV, Cleared to Land Runway 36L… We threw our overnight bag in Caddie, said goodbye to Howard and departed to the southeast for Oshkosh. Beth flew the first leg to Ripon which allowed me to setup the radios and go over the NOTAM one more time. Our plan to get into OSH early worked out perfect, there was very little traffic due to the bad weather south and 4,000 overcast in the area. I took over flying once established on the arrival. At Fisk, we were asked which runway we wanted & we took 36 since it is what we did last year and it lets us roll out near the taxiway to home-built camping.
See The Short Video Below…
Great Times Ahead… Once we got the plane tied down and the tent set up, we headed to show center with eyes wide open and our thoughts turned to all things aviation – what a great week we have ahead of us… I am turning the keyboard over to Beth for the next post from Airventure 2012 – Stay tuned…
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Road trip to Devils Tower Wyoming
Status of Caddie… So, after two hail storms and torrential downfalls at the campground near Hill City, SD our concerns turned toward the plane which was at the airport in Rapid City (KRAP). The weather map on the iPad had the storm that was on top of us heading straight to the airport. After limited sleep, we popped up early and drove straight to the airport to lay eyes on Caddie. She was fine! The tie downs were secure, the Bruce’s Custom Cover was a little askew, but there was no water inside or hail dings to be found. The folks at the FBO said it had not rained that much there, apparently it is usually much more severe in the hills than down on the plains where the airport is.
Road Trip… So, with our fears of damage to the plane put to rest, we decided today would be a good day for a road trip. We had 200 miles per day allowance on the rental car and had only driven a hundred or so. We decided to head north and then west to Wyoming to see the Devils Tower.
Almost Rally Time… Our first stop, up I-90, was the infamous town of Sturgis, SD, home of the annual bike rally. The rally was still two weeks away, but this little town was preparing for the arrival of thousands of biker dudes and babes! A lot of them come up early and were cruising the hills on “Softails”, “Fatboys” and choppers. We stopped at one of the large T-shirt vendors and ran into a couple of guys from Birmingham that were running the business. We bought a couple of T-shirts just to proclaim we had been to Sturgis and continued west.
Close Encounter… After nearly an hour of driving, we went over a hill and “WOW”, there it was. Just rising up from the plains was this large rock formation unlike anything we have ever seen. As we got closer, I could see how this site held such a spiritual significance to the local tribes. It was one of those “goose bump” moments as we arrived at the monument welcome center. The goose bumps got a little bigger when I realized there were people scaling the sides of this thing at varying elevations. I did not realize that, not only did the Park Service allow climbing on the monument, but promoted it also. While listening to a ranger give a talk about the turkey vultures (we call ’em buzzards) that were circling the monument, I heard someone behind me make a comment about “being caught in a storm in a tent the night before”. I turned around only to see Jason and his family, our new friends from North Dakota that we camped next to. What a small world… we were over
a hundred miles from the camp and they had pulled up stakes that morning to head home by way of Wyoming.
“What an incredible Cinderella story!”… “Licensed to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations.”, Caddyshack’s, Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) would have come unglued at the sight of the area leaving the monument. Hundred of prairie dogs infested the grounds with warning signs not to feed them. The warning didn’t keep us from stopping and “shooting” them with a camera, nor did it stop them from coming right up to you to beg. These little buggers had holes dug everywhere and kept popping up at random as far as the eye could see.
More Beautiful Views… On our trek back to camp, we took the Spearfish Canyon Highway route. Once again we found ourselves looking up to some of the most beautiful bluffs and scenery we have ever seen. At the end of this road was the town of Deadwood. Besides the HBO TV series, Deadwood was best known as a gold rush town that saw the likes of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Now, this clean looking town has lots of saloons and gaming establishments, but would justify further investigation at a later date… we were tired!
There’s Goats in Them There Hills… We didn’t see any gold but we did see the local heard of bighorn sheep just outside of Hill City. Most of the sheep had collars around their necks, which I suspect is what set off the flashing lights on the highway when they get near. This area is such a photo trap for us tourists, that they have paved “pull over” lanes to protect us from crashing into each other. So after several hundred miles on the road, we arrived at the KOA to find that their workers had done an incredible job of rebuilding the roads from the prior storms. With more bad weather forecast for the next afternoon, we decided that we should probably cut a day off of our stay in the Black Hills and head out early the next morning toward Oshkosh. So we had a nice dinner at the camp restaurant, washed up some clothes and packed the car for an early departure…
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