September 22, 2022 - Utah Flight
Transit to Triple Tree, South Carolina
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The next morning we were back at Belle Plaine airport which has a few hangars but this crop duster is probably the primary user of the airport.
This would be where we parted ways. Mugsy, Gadget and Pyro would be returning to Maryland. I would be heading to Triple Tree Aerodrome in South Carolina for their anual fly-in.
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| Taxiing for takeoff at Belle Plaine. |
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And here we go.
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Downtown Belle Plaine.
Mugsy, Gadget and Pyro headed east towards Maryland and I headed southeast.
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| The Mississippi River comes into view to the east. Muscatine Municipal Airport is visible at center left. |
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| Passing over the Iowa River as it is about merge into the Mississippi. |
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Looking down the mighty Mississippi. I am now in Illinois.
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| I was enjoying a nice tailwind, and making over 200 mph groundspeed. Nice! |
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Approaching the Illinois River which runs northeast to southwest. Here I'm looking northeast.
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| And now southwest. |
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| Looking down at Decatur, Illinois. On the other side of Lake Decatur is Decatur Airport (KDEC). |
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| A massive railroad yard in Decatur. |
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Lake Shelbyville, Illinois.
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| A line of clouds up ahead that will have to be dealt with. |
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On final at Daviess County (DCY), near Washington, Indiana.
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| Filling up at Daviess County. |
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| The terminal building at Daviess County. There is no FBO here but the terminal building was very nice. There is a crew car. This airport would make a great overnight stop. |
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But I had places to go, people to see.
Here I'm passing by Patoka Reservoir, just south of French Lick, Indiana, hometown of the famous basketball player Larry Bird.
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Approaching the Ohio River.
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| A big quarry in the bend of the Ohio River. Interesting. |
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Passing by Godman Army Air Field (KFTK), better known as Fort Knox, Kentucky. I looked hard for the Gold Bullion Repository but could not find it. From Google Maps I learned that it was just south of the runway; all I needed to do was look to the right.
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Green River Lake, Kentucky.
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| The north part of Lake Cumberland, Kentucky. |
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| Massive Lake Cumberland |
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| I began to encounter clouds. I'm high enough that I can just fly over the broken layer. |
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I can see another large lake through the clouds. It's Norris Lake, Tennessee.
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| Looking south. Knoxville is out there behind those clouds. |
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Looking northeast at the Holston River.
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Douglas Lake, Tennessee, just north of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
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| Heading into the Appalachian Mountains. The clouds are rising along with the terrain. I start climbing to get above the clouds. I know the sky is clear on the other side of the mountains. |
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| On top. |
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But the clouds keep getting higher so I have to climb more.
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Looking down through a huge hole. I descended through the hole thinking that I was home free. Big mistake. The edges of the hole descended all the way to the green covered mountains. I had to climb back up.
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| I climbed back up and not five minutes later, I was over the edge, the clouds ended, and clear skies to the east emerged. |
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| Emerging from over the clouds. |
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| Some big lakes to the south. |
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Passing by Greenville as I descend.
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| A large weather cell is right over my destination. I was listening to the Triple Tree Unicom frequency and heard pilot reports of crazy winds and rain. Guys were going around and diverting to other airfields. |
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Passing by Donaldson Airport (KGYH), one of three towered airports in Greenville.
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| I hadn't heard anything on the Triple Tree frequency for awhile. As I got close, I called up and asked for a weather report. The guy said it was nice there now. It had stopped raining and winds were calm! The storm had passed through. Sweet! I headed marked on top Wally World (a big Wal-Mart distribution center) and headed inbound. |
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| Approaching Triple Tree Aerodrome from the east. You cross over midfield then turn right or left depending on which runway is in use. |
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| A good aerial shot of the airplane camping area. In less than five minutes, my plane would be parked down there. |
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Looking at the north end of the Aerodrome.
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| On left downwind for runway 36. That's the south end of the Aerodrome. |
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Turning final. I would be the first plane to land after the storm had passed. Winds were calm, and the runway had drained very well.
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