From
the bedtime weather check on Saturday night, today (Sunday) promised to be more
productive from a mileage standpoint than yesterday. And, low and behold, it
was. After we struggled with an upset baby all night, we pealed ourselves up at
six. The kids and I went to Daylight Donuts for some carry out breakfast while
Liz finished getting Declan and our bags together. Loading the plane only took
a couple minutes after the time we spent reorganizing last night, and off we
went. Farewell Fort Leavenworth.
Fort
Leavenworth's weather was less than ideal with a cloud layer that started at
1,700 feet. I called for an IFR clearance and we climbed up through the solid
overcast. We climbed out of the top of the clouds at 5,000 feet to a beautiful,
clear blue sky above. I've always enjoyed cruising above that first layer of
clouds. The ride "on top" is typically super smooth and I've always
liked the visual of the pillowy-white floor underneath. I selected 9,000 feet
as our cruising altitude for most of the day because of a strong tailwind out
of the northwest.
This
leg gave me time to play with my new second-generation stratus receiver. This is a device that receives free weather
and traffic provided by the FAA and transmits it via Wi-Fi to an app on the
iPad. Up to this point, all our flights had been on gorgeous days, so I had yet
to see a radar picture with actual activity. There is a void in coverage between
Kansas City and Memphis, so I never did get the radar picture on that first
leg. This prompted a call to Flight Watch on 122.00. Flight Watch is air
traffic control that provides weather over the radio. This is the first time
I've talked to them in a couple years, so I'm surprised I even remembered the
frequency. They confirmed that the front was well beyond our destination of
Ripley, MS.
The
kids did very well on the first leg. Who wouldn't with a belly full of donuts?
Declan slept for over half of the leg and some Graham Crackers ensured he woke
up into a good mood. The only noteworthy thing about flying into Ripley was
some difficulty working with Memphis Center. The ceiling at Ripley was low
enough that I had to do an instrument approach to get down into the airfield.
That is, I would have to follow a specific procedure that allowed me to descend
below the clouds and down to the runway. It's probably my fault for not requesting an
approach sooner, but Memphis Center left us at 5,000 feet and direct to the
airport…all the way to the airport. A
couple miles from the airport it became apparent that we weren’t going to get
our approach instruction and be able to descend to the airport. By the time we received our instructions, we
were so close to the airport that we had to fly the opposite direction for
about five miles before turning back in.
For the pilot types reading, I’m used to having the conversation of, "What approach do you request at Ripley?"
"I request the ..." No worries. I prompted him with a request for the
RNAV (GPS) runway 21 approach. We broke out of the clouds at 1,800 feet and I
greased it on a little ways down the runway. I really get the feeling that this
airplane-flying thing is becoming routine.
Now,
let's discuss Ripley. I chose Ripley based off the fuel price. $4.75 was a good
selling point. I should have done a little more digging, because I didn't
realize that the low fuel price equated to low overhead on facility and staff
expenses. There wasn't a soul there and the small terminal building was a
little rundown. We expected to work out something for lunch, but that was obviously
not going to happen. As a result, we
executed a bathroom break / refuel / reload, quick-turn…aka, a Chinese
fire-drill. A check of the weather showed
that the front that caused so much damage in Oklahoma and Kansas had split in
two leaving us a wide alley to get across the Florida Panhandle. So, off we went.
We
climbed into the clouds again and, again, we broke out at 5,000. This leg of
the flight took us right by Birmingham, Montgomery, Dothan, and Tallahassee.
Dothan, in particular, is noteworthy because we kept the plane there while we
lived at Fort Rucker, Alabama. The afternoon "popcorn" cloud build-ups
forced us to climb up to 11,000 feet and maneuver just a bit. It seems to be a
regular routine in the southeast U.S. to work your way around the building
cloud tops at between 9,000 and 12,000 feet. Traveling near clouds like this in
a small airplane provides an interesting sight, because the clouds seem to boil
out the top as they build. Make no mistake,
your passengers might appreciate the sight, but they won’t appreciate the bumpy
ride if you fly though them.
Brayden,
Carly, and Declan took turns napping limiting Mommy’s nap to about 10 minutes. Revisiting the issue of no lunch at Ripley,
Liz divvied up our remaining snack food as a lunch substitute. Brayden, Carly, and Liz shared pretzels,
graham crackers, Doritos, a bottle of milk, and gum. I got the best deal with the remaining donut,
a granola bar, and graham crackers. Note
to self, we need to have some non-emergency rations in the airplane to hold us
over on days like this.
The
Stratus radar picture thankfully kicked in at the start of this leg, providing
us the location of developing storms along the Florida gulf coast. Storms were lined up from Cross City down to
Clearwater. Jacksonville Center was very
helpful suggesting a vector that kept us slightly out over the gulf, thus
missing all the activity. It was amazing
that the visibility allowed us to see a developing storm over Sarasota from
more than 140 miles away.
The
lack of food contributed to Carly overcoming a dose of Dramamine to get
sick. Also, the last 30 minutes of the
trip became difficult for one passenger as the 4-hour flight nearly exceeded
bladder capacity. Luckily, we were vectored
directly to Albert Whitted in St. Pete. I feel fortunate that we were given a right
downwind to land on from over Tampa Bay on runway 25. This gave us an opportunity to fly past the
Pier one last time before they tear it down.
The St. Petersburg Pier has defined the city’s coastline since 1973 and
landmarks many of my childhood memories.
Some of my fondest memories involve following my older brother, Scott on
bike rides through downtown and either to or by the Pier. I feel bad now that I didn’t visit more in
the last couple trips back home.
Except
for making a last second jink to miss a rude bird, the landing was
uneventful. Long cross-country flights
almost always provide you with a feeling of accomplishment. In this case, we were able to manage the
flight, weather, and family to travel 1,077 miles, reaching our destination in
time for all the week’s activities. Flight time totaled 6 hours and 52 minutes. Of course, our ultimate destination is Fort
Wainwright, AK, now 1,021 miles farther away.
The 3,777-mile trip from St. Petersburg to Fort Wainwright is set to
start on June 16.
Thank
you to Dad and Bev for treating us to dinner at The Hangar Restaurant
overlooking Albert Whitted, and hosting us for the rest of the week. There’s no better way to end a long day of
travelling for the kids than to frolic in Grandma and Grandpa’s pool. The one-day delay postponed our Disney trip
until Tuesday. In the morning, I’ll have
to fly the airplane over to Tampa Executive to get some small maintenance
done. Beverly will go with me and Dad
will come over in the camper to pick us up.
All in all, the trek is materializing well. For the next two weeks, we will be busy
enjoying vacation with Family in Florida.
Please tune in as we resume documenting our travels on June 16 with the
girls (plus Declan) driving and the guys flying. Until next time…
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