July 19, 2010 - First Day Transit to Nebraska City | ||||||
The RV has proven itself, with just over 200 hours on the Hobbs meter. Prior to the flight, I did sort of a mini-annual, changing the oil, greasing the tailwheel post, and making sure the tires were fully inflated. Something was wrong with the oil temperature sensor -- it had been reading about 30 degrees low -- so I replaced that. Everything else was working 4.0. The plan was to take off at dawn, arrive at Creve Coeur, Missouri by 1:30 PM, spend a few hours visiting their antique airplane museum, then continue on to the Nebraska-Missouri border. I realized the night before there was no point in getting up early, because there would be an overcast that wouldn't burn off until 10AM or so. So I got to sleep in and eat one of Lynnette's big breakfasts. I ended up taking off from Essex around 11AM. I had an appointment for a museum tour at Creve Coeur airport -- just west of St. Louis -- at 1:30PM. I called and moved it to 3PM (4 PM East Coast time). I thought I could still make that despite the late start. Today was a travel day -- no real sightseeing involved until I got to the St. Louis area. My plan was to get high and go fast. But not surprisingly on a westerly journey, there were headwinds. I climbed to 8,500 feet but could only make about 170 mph groundspeed. (Note: How quick they forget. The max groundspeed I enjoyed in the Citabria on the 2006 Oregon Trail flight was 125 -- and that was on the last day with a healthy tailwind!) | ||||||
The Ohio River is visible beneath the broken
layer. | ||||||
Using AirNav.com, I had printed off a list of airports along my route with the most inexpensive AvGas. Cynthiana Airport (0I8) was right on my path so I decided to stop there. It turned out to be an excellent choice. The AvGas was relatively cheap, the manager was friendly, and I was able to get fueled and on my way quickly. | ||||||
The FBO building. | ||||||
Turning over the Ohio River to get a picture of a big barge. | ||||||
A picture of my recently polished left wing. I spent about 20 hours polishing the RV to make it look shiny for this trip and AirVenture 2010. | ||||||
I still had a chance to make Creve Coeur on schedule when I started noticing weather on my newly hooked-up XM weather displayed on the GPS. A long cell was between me and my destination, so I altered course by 15 degrees to the south. After awhile I didn't need the GPS to see the nasty weather. I was paralleling the storm. Off my right wing about 25 miles away I could see dark clouds and lightning bolts. | ||||||
Thanks to the GPS/XM Weather, I could see where the storm
cells ended so I just continued parallel until I was finally able to
change course to the northwest.
Unfortunately, there was no way I could make it to Creve
Coeur in time to see the museum, so I just decided to bypass St. Louis and
continue on to the west. In 2006, I also had to skip St. Louis
because of weather. Someday I'll make it there. | ||||||
Crossing the mighty Mississippi south of St. Louis. | ||||||
After getting around the storm, I had been flying for
awhile and wanted to take a break, so I stopped in at Sullivan
Regional Airport (UUV), Missouri. | ||||||
I relaxed in the air-conditioned FBO building for awhile, listening to one of the regulars talk about flying in the Baja Peninsula which was interesting. I got gas, then proceeded on my way. | ||||||
Looking back to the Southeast I could see the weather I had just avoided. | ||||||
My old friend, the Missouri River, between St. Louis and Kansas City. I recognized this area from flying it at low level four years ago in the Citabria. | ||||||
Since I was now flying northwest, I left the river and
headed cross-country. | ||||||
At first I thought this area was undeveloped, but then I realized the dark areas were corn. | ||||||
The Missouri River again. The Missouri runs from St.
Louis to Kansas City then turns sharply north. I had cut across,
skipping Kansas City.
It was getting late in the day -- 7 or 8 PM local -- and I
had had enough flying for one day. I decided to stop at Nebraska
City, which was on the west side of the Missouri River. | ||||||
The airport is south of town. It looked deserted, but I was tired, and decided to land sincerely hoping they had a courtesy car I could use. | ||||||
Yes! There was a courtesy car with keys inside. The airport was deserted -- not surprising at a small airport at 8PM. It took me awhile to unload the airplane and get it secured for the night. There was a good chance of bad weather tonight so it was important to get the RV tied down securely. I was a long way from home and the RV is my ride home! | ||||||
The FBO Building. The town was only a few miles to the north. As I entered the town, I saw a little strip motel where I got a room for $50. I had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and drank lots of lemonade. | ||||||