What Can a Mooney Do?

[jlunseth]

I planned an ambitious weekend and most of it worked out. My home base is FCM in Minneapolis. On Friday I planned to go to Gary, IN (GYY) to look at a sailboat. Just what I need, another hole in space into which to pour money. Saturday the 4th my youngest son and I planned to go to Bemidji for the day to see family. Then on Sunday I was going to be an all day Angel.

Friday worked out well. I flew to GYY in the morning. I filed for 11,000 and had a little tailwind, not much just a few knots. I cruised at around 178 - 179 and the flight was a little over two hours. The route was the ZUMBRO6.ODI departure to JOT, then GYY. There was a little vectoring around Chicago but not much, pretty seamless. I got a crew car, drove to the lake, saw the boat, and got back to Minneapolis mid-afternoon, in time for supper with some friends.

Saturday did not go as planned. On runup the engine was rough on the right magneto. The next day I had an ambitious schedule of Angel Flights and quite alot of campers I could not let down, so I scrambled to find a mechanic on the 4th. I lucked out and found John at Executive Aviation at Flying Cloud. WIth the instrumentation on the JPI 930 we were able to determine that the right mag was not firing at all on cylinder 2. He traced it to a gunked up connection at the magneto, cleaned it up, and I was back in business in about three hours. It was too late to fly that day, but my son and I had supper together and watched the fireworks.

The big day was Sunday. Angel Flight Central flies patients to a camp at Moose Lake MN for kids with life threatening illness. The kids come from all over, and AFC moves more than 20 campers that day. I voluteered to bring three sisters from Lansing, IL (IGQ), and then because there were still campers in need of getting to MZH I volunteered to fly a second load, going MZH to Stevens Point, WI (STE) and back, again to bring in three campers.

Let me pause a minute in describing this adventure and say something about the Mooney. First, with the turbocharger it was an easy, fast trip in the morning from FCM to IGQ, about two hours. Although we could have gone to the flight levels on the return, because there was practically no wind, I did not want to do that with two very young and flight-inexperienced children on board, so the return was a more sedate 8,000. Even so, cruise speed was a little better than 150 knots. There was another ship behind us with two more kids on the same mission, a Cessna. My passengers were delighted that we were going to beat their brothers to camp. I don't for a minute want to take anything away from my fellow Angel pilot in that Cessna, he was a great guy and I enjoyed meeting him, but to get in two loads in the day, I needed Mooney speed.

MZH is a small, typical northern MN airport. One runway, and it is not long at 3200, self serve fuel only. There was another very generous Angel pilot flying 6 campers in from IN that day in a Citation, but he needed the long runway at DLH, which meant a drive for the camp staff. Yet another wonderful pilot was bringing two kids in his Malibu, but he needed the longer runway at Clocquet, another drive for the camp staff. I don't mean to take anything away from any of those generous pilots, but it is worth noting that I was able to cruise the flight levels at 170, and then put it down on that little strip near the camp, and do it all with time to spare.

The first "crew" from IGQ to MZH were the three sisters, 13, 6 and 7. What a riot! Maybe a little more playing with the headsets than I would have liked. The older girl just took hers off to enjoy the quiet, I have the ISOL button that worked for me. I got alot of the "are we there yet" questions but explained to them what they could see on the moving map and GPS, so that took care of that and made it a little quieter in the cockpit. We made the trip from IGQ to MXH in about 2:45, and were able to cruise with ease above the cloud layer and its associated turbulence.

It turned out they were out of fuel at MZH. I only got 11 gallons on board, but still had a couple of hours of fuel left from the IGQ to MZH trip, so I was good to fly to STE for the second load. I put fuel on there, filed a flight plan with FSS, loaded up my three passengers and we went back to MZH. Since the flight is short there was no time to go high, so we stayed at 8,000 just above the layer and made it back to MZH in about an hour. Having done two loads, I was the last plane of the day.

The last adventure was the return home. It was a short flight, about 50 minutes. To make weight I had only been able to carry about 48 gallons from STE to MZH, and then there was no fuel at MZH so I had about 35 gallons left to get home, plenty of fuel for the short flight. The only exciting part was that some build up had started on my exact route home, so there was quite alot of deviating and about a half hour in turbulent IMC. I was glad I did not have campers with me, it would have been uncomfortable for them. Happily, no instrument approach at the end. It would have been fine, but I was one tired puppy. I did get routed directly over KMSP and got "the view," something that has happened a few times before. Landing on the short strip at KFCM was uneventful.

So that's it. Well over two thousand miles in the air (I didn't count), fast time saving trips in the flight levels, a ton of endurance even with my 75.6 gallon tanks thanks to the low fuel usage, the ability to use the smallest of strips even with a full load. And for those who wonder whether I was in my right, careful mind putting four people and baggage in the plane, twice in one day, there was a careful w & b for each flight. These are, after all, someone's children, no unnecessary risks.

I have pics, sorry I can't share them, we respect the kids privacy. I will say that as far as charitable giving is concerned, it is hard to beat flying for AF. I am sure many of us give to charities, but even with the best of them you know that a significant chunk of your contribution is going to pay the salaries of those who raise the money from you. At AF, your entire gift of your time, aircraft, and money, is going to the person in the seat next to you, and you get to spend time with them, most are delightful people, grateful for the help.

[co2bruce]

Great story. Thank you for your service to those in need. You are a great American, sincerely.

[rbridges]

Great story. Were all three sisters sick? Or do they include siblings with these outings?

[jlunseth]

All three sisters and two brothers who were in the following aircraft have the same issue.  They are all from a large adoptive or foster family, I don't know the details but bravo to the parents.

 

The nature of the illness, identities of the kids, etc. are private.  The pilot is given the information but we do not give it out to others, sorry.  What matters to us, is that they have a need and we have a means to fill it.

[carusoam]

Nicely done, JL.

Best regards,

-a-

[PTK]

I agree that it is most rewarding to know that 100% of our donation goes to those among us in need.

As a member pilot of Angel Flight NE the greatest reward is to see the joy and the smiles on the faces of these folks!

[rbridges]

All three sisters and two brothers who were in the following aircraft have the same issue. They are all from a large adoptive or foster family, I don't know the details but bravo to the parents.

The nature of the illness, identities of the kids, etc. are private. The pilot is given the information but we do not give it out to others, sorry. What matters to us, is that they have a need and we have a means to fill it.

I completely understand and wasn't wanting any details. It's unfortunate for a whole set of siblings to be involved. Great that you could help them have a better day.

[jlunseth]

As a member pilot of Angel flight NE the greatest reward is to see the joy and the smiles on the faces of these folks!

 

Good on you for participating mate.  There were a lot of planes of all types going in to that little rural airstrip on Sunday, it was good to see GA giving back.

 

As for the rewards, well, the father of one family gave me a Starbucks card and I am drinking my coffee this morning, and there were a couple of hugs in there somewhere from a 6 year old.  That too.

 

BTW, if there are any members of Angel Flight Central reading this, they have to move all the kids back home this coming Saturday and I am probably out of it this weekend.  They have a midpoint stop for the Illinois and Indiana kids, but they could sure use a long range Mooney or two.  The loads are not heavy, the campers are kids and they are only allowed 30 lbs. of bags.  Go get em.  Just come with your sense of humor, six year olds on the headsets is not something the FAA teaches about.

[MB65E]

What a great weekend!!! Thanks for sharing. It's nice to see airplanes take off and land with 4 people on board. It's a little depressing to see Barron's, togas, and A36's take off with just a pilot.

What an awesome service you provided!

-Matt