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Women Fly
Ruth, Judy and Janice below a suitable motto painted on the wall at the Fort Dodge Fixed Base Operation (FBO) For those who can't wait....
Box Scores
Three more states (Iowa to Illinois to Ohio), two flight legs, one lost hour as we are finally back in Eastern Time
266 + 241 miles -- a total of 507 miles was our achievement today.
287 miles to go.
Our sights will be fixed on home tomorrow.
Fort Dodge IA - Morris IL - Marysville OH
The storms we had been trailing for the last few days moved through the Fort Dodge area on Friday night, and left an open path for home, with more clear flying weather than we had seen for some time. When we woke and looked at the weather, we could see that a huge storm system was headed right for the Washington DC area today. So even if our whole group had gotten up and were ready to launch at sunrise, there was no way to predict that both the nasty weather AND sometimes turbulent post-storm conditions (like high winds and dangerous gusts, particularly over the Shenandoah / Blue Ridge Mountains) would have moved off by the end of the day.
Sure, it might have been possible. But we were able to
mostly set aside visions of the perfect. Both the uncertain path of east-coast weather and the certainty that some rise later than others guaranteed that we were NOT going to get that sunup departure and make a run for home. After all this time, with the prospect of one more day of flying after this one AND the knowledge that the weather ahead of us was very likely to be excellent for a final leg, the drive to push on had finally eased a bit. Even those people who really, really needed to get home could now see that they were going to make it in time.
Dick and Ruth once more hunted down the best gas price available close to where it would be time to refuel, and chose Morris IL. We checked the weather, filed our flight plans, and set off across the plains of the midwest on a quest of more than 500 miles. There was a thermal inversion -- which you can observe as a level in the sky where haze and often bunches of puffy cumulus that look like giant popcorn suddenly stops and there is very clear air above -- at around 7000
feet. It was bumpy below that, but smooth flying above, and our route seemed to consistently keep us just south of where the layer of puffy stuff was becoming more closely-packed, so we had good visibility ahead and below us all the way along.
Strong winds pushing us gave us over 30 mph of free power, and at least one of the planes was making as much as 160 mph ground speed for considerable portions of the trip. We crossed the mighty Mississippi River and saw barges and lovely turns and deltas in the muddy flow. Otherwise, the scenery was plain plains and farmland, and the flying was, well, kind of routine. On the other hand, there was that big ol' tailwind to sit back and surf; we were bookin' it! What's not to like? A day of simple flying in the flatlands.
The winds were gusty, and we all got in lots of crosswind landing practice in the 266 mile leg between Fort Dodge and Morris. After we landed in Morris and refuelled, we were greeted by the airport cat as well as one of the FBO staff, the friendly and helpful Bill Button. Free hot
popcorn and an orange and white airport cat made for a very friendly reception and the cat contributed flight planning expertise in the way that cats do ("Excuse me, were you READING something?" while he walks across the map). The weather report suggested that anywhere we wanted to go would have better conditions (less windy, especially) in a couple of hours, so lunch was the best way to pass that time. We were loaned TWO courtesy vehicles and nipped off down the road to the IHOP for lunch.
It was hard for some of us to let go of the idea that IF ONLY this group were really disciplined at getting up and out in the morning, we really woulda-coulda been home tonight. Considerable discussion after lunch focused on how far we could possibly get today in order to ensure a solid return on Sunday. We had had some interest in flying into the nation's most famous pilot supply store, Sporty's Pilot Shop, in Clermont Ohio, just east of Cincinnati, but we were too late in the day to get there on Saturday....and faced with a choice between spending three hours landing and shopping, or three hours' sooner return
to our loved ones, you will all be pleased to know that the prospect of the ones we miss so much easily won out.
We picked Marysville Ohio, just northwest of Columbus, as a place sufficiently south of storm cells that might develop into dangerous weather. Better yet, the choice was locked in because it had good fuel prices and decently priced convenient accommodation (again, Ruth and Dick are a superb team at ferreting out these perfect choices; their dedication is endless and we as flyers as well as the flying club's members who aim to provide decently-priced flying, are in their debt). The weather was forecast to be a bit gusty, but with scattered clouds that were not going to create storms, so off we went. Air traffic controllers at nearly every turn asked us why three airplanes were traveling together, and they often envied our trip...or were incredulous, anyway. "You've been together for four weeks?" marvelled one controller. "I don't think I could stand that for four HOURS!"
Gusty crosswinds really challenged us all, and we were up for it. Enjoy the attached video of Dick Strock making an elegant landing after grappling with constantly changing
winds on his descent. Way to show us how it's done, Dick!
Once we landed at Marysville, the kindly Lee Ensminger helped us with transportation and restaurant recommendations. "Where are we?" again queried Bob, making his safe arrival call.
"You're in KMart," replied Lee.
"Oh, we usually stay in places near a WAL*MART," one of us replied.
"Well, yes, that's down the road," he explained, "but the airport identifier for Marysville Ohio is K-M-R-T, so you're in KMART. Instead of a big red sign, we have a flashing blue light," he joked.
The Super 8 was close, the takeout BBQ from Benny's , topped off by chocolate ice cream, couldn't get here soon enough, and so our final dinner was in the breakfast room of the Super 8, entertained by our favorite TV program....the Weather Channel, of course.
Then to blog and to bed, with a proposed convene time of 8 AM.
We are almost home.
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