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Published: August 6th 2011
two days flying
only the first part was low levelAfter the high flight over the Rockies there was no point in going high over the rest of the US - so I stayed as low as I dared over Colorado and Kansas to see more of the small hills and meadows of that region. Everything West of the Mississippi is still a little hilly and looks very nice from low down, and since there are mostly no people (and the cows don't count), its even legal to fly tree-top level and below.
Refueling near Kansas City in a small airport of Cameron County (cheapest fuel), and at on at higher altitude (above 500 ft) to Ohio - I wanted to refuel in Fremont, OH and get the oil of DDN finally changed - I had started the oil change in Oshkosh, but couldn't remove the oil filter without the special tool - and I didn't find it in either the emergency repair shop, nor in any of the 800 shops on the field. So Fremont was my hope - but when I arrived it was well after 7 pm (I traveled through two time zones), and the airfield was deserted. So I checked for an airport with open FBO
who could organize a hotel for the night and maybe even an oil change in the morning. Next one I found in FliteStar was 40 nm away in Lorain County - Elyria is the city (its all quite close to Cleveland). They promised hotel, fuel and oil change. So 20 min later I was there, and an hour later the car from the hotel picked me up (a long wait - the hotel had forgotten me).
Next morning came a call from the FBO - oil change would be possible only in the afternoon. No way, want to be in Boston in the afternoon to meet Ira & Linda. Try to find the mechanic in Minute Man airport (my next destination near Boston) to organize oil change for Saturday - no reply. But then somebody in Lorain asks about the strange registration of DDN - start to talk, me frustrated about the vanishing oil change that DDN really needs - he says 'I have tools and oil in my hangar - just don't tell anybody on the field...' halleuljah (says DDN). And thank you, Thomas, for the help.
So two hours and 7 l oil later (and a
repair of a loose cowl flap and oil lines fixation) and very black fingers, DDN is happy again and we fly some 3:30 hrs over the beautifully hilly landscape of Pennsylvania, upstate New York and Massachusetts towards Boston - the destination is actually 20 mi West of Boston, a small private airstrip in Stow, called Minute Man Airfield. It is the closest airport to Ira & Linda, and has cheapest fuel in the area - $3 less per Gallon than in the fancy FBOs in Hanscomb airport where we stayed a few weeks ago, I should have checked the fuel prices then already, but I didn't know that then.
Very friendly welcome at the airport (apparently DDN is the first airplane from Europe, and several people here contemplate to cross the Atlantic towards Europe).
Ira picks me up after some search for the airport - its really very small, and we drive directly to Lowell to go to one of the summer concerts there. Linda got the tickets already and has reserved seats. So I'm curious about the music - its the Punch Boys playing, some Blue Grass? But they are fantastic, very creative and virtuous music, five
excellent musicians that made the evening highly enjoyable.
Thanks, Linda & Ira!
Today is my last vacation day, tomorrow I'll try to reach Goose Bay in Newfoundland, and then cross the Atlantic to Reykjavik on Monday (with a brief refueling stop in Greenland, weather and ATC permitting) - will be a very long day. All working well, I'll be back in Rotterdam on Tuesday evening.
Lets see what will really happen.
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Marga and Steve Bott
non-member comment
heading back
Hi Martin, while you are once again over icy territory we are baking under the sun in Florida. DDN now knows the way. Smooth flying, Marga and Steve