It's the Journey and the Destination---Oshkosh AirVenture 2021

[donkaye]

As Steve Jobs once said, "It's not just the destination, but the journey that is important."

I love the challenges and decision making of a true cross the country cross country, and this year so far has presented a number of them.  What makes it comfortable, though, is the technology that we didn't have even 15 years ago.  From not knowing what you didn't know to knowing is a giant leap.

Except for this day, the maxim of flying in the early morning and being done by noon has proven to be correct.  Our first leg from San Jose, California to Ogden, Utah started out that way.  We were over the Sierras just after 8:00 am.  The trip across Nevada and into Utah was smooth but the smoke from all the fires made the visibility poor.  Midway there the beginnings of afternoon convection began to show its ugly head.  We made it through none too soon.  I would predict that had the flight been done one hour later there would have been uncomfortable issues to decide.  Later in the day Salt Lake was deluged with rain and thunderstorms and looking North showed many supercells.  It all dissapated by the next morning when we started the next leg of our journey.

I had planned for Ogden to Lusk, Wyoming at 15,000 feet.  I hadn't been there before, but the runway was long enough and the fuel prices were the cheapest around.  As usual, after getting over the Wasatch Mountains, we were getting constant light chop.  My solution, go higher.  I asked for and got a block altitude of 15-17,000.  In “flyover” country that is usually not a problem, and ATC gave it to me.  By 16,500 the turbulence subsided.

Watching the animated Nexrad, it was apparent that Lusk was not to be in the cards.  A quick check of airports to the South of the burgeoning storms showed Laramie, Wyoming to be the best bet.  I called ATC and asked for a destination change, then headed direct there.  We hadn’t ever been there, so it was a new experience.

Laramie is at about 7,300 feet and the DA was reported at 9,000.  Once again, turbocharging to the rescue.  Fuel prices were actually not bad there, and the FBO was great.  After fueling up we were off again to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

If you check out Flightaware  (N9148W) you’ll see we stayed to the South of the storms we avoided by not going to Lusk.  Again having current weather on board made for a comfortable flight.  This time I got a block altitude for a different reason.  Instead of going higher, I wanted the option of going lower to stay out of the clouds if necessary.  With convection around you never want to go IMC due to possible imbedded storms.  I kept the block 13-15,000 all the way to the descent into Sioux Falls.

We use Maveric FBO.  They have always given great service.  I had the plane put in a hangar, rented a car and then the fun began.  It’s just not possible to make a reservation ahead of time when you don’t know if you will get there because of weather.  I thought we might have to sleep in the car.  All places I checked were full.   I was told this summer has been that way with everyone want to go traveling, after have been confined to home for the past year.  Finally, the Sheraton came through with a room.  Whew!

The best part of the day for Shirley occurred while I was getting the car.  Two big black YukonXL SUVs pulled up to Maveric.  They looked like the FBI caravans seen in the movies. Shirley thought she recognized one of the people getting into one of them.  I said I didn’t think that was possible.  Maveric is the smaller of the two FBOs in Sioux Falls.  However, when I checked with the front desk later, I was told that sure enough it was the Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem.

The next morning we were delayed because there was a cold front blocking the way to our final destination of Madison, Wisconsin.  We waited a few hours to let it pass, and the hour and a half flight there was uneventful.

Once again the Mooney “magic carpet”, brought us to AirVenture.  We’re looking forward to an interesting week.

 

[thinwing]

nice report...definitely feeling left out from OSH this year..

[thinwing]

just noticed you have been flying relatively short hops ..ie ogden to laramie is only 300 miles or so....i would think you would want to keep going (once at alitude)to get out of the rockies into nebraska or south dakota lower terrain....not being critical just enquiring mind.....enjoy OSH

 

[Skates97]

We flew Palm Springs to Des Moines on Saturday. We got an early start and stopped in Grants NM ahead of the morning build ups. A few hours later and we wouldn't have gotten through AZ.

There were thunderstorms that we went south of passing Albuquerque which was easy with ADS-B weather on board and stopped in Garden City KS for fuel and food. Where the on board weather really came in handy was the next leg. I had planned to go east towards Topeka before turning north because of storms I saw to the north while briefing the flight. ATC asked me if I was planning Topeka to get past the storms which I confirmed. 

As we turned to the north I was asked "Are you aware of the line of storms to the north east?" I told him I was. There was a line about 160 miles long that had developed after we took off. There was about a 60 mile gap that we were headed for and the storms were stationary. With the haze and knowing there were storms ahead I would not have continued had I not been able to watch them develop and see their movement for the previous two hours while we were flying. We went from 5,500' down to 3,500' to keep clear of some lingering clouds. Knowing the weather along our path I knew we would be clear. 

We were rewarded with very smooth air and some amazing views as the sun was going down. 

[1964-M20E]

Cool, I flew into Laramie about 3 years ago on my way to Idaho Falls.  Nice airport and I spent the night in Laramie.  My first experience at an airport above 2500 feet. 

 

I'll be headed to Phoenix next month.

[carusoam]

Great Pirep DK!

Don’s flight aware tracks avoiding the wet stuff…

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N9148W/history/20210723/1500Z/KLSK/KFSD

Best regards,

-a-

[donkaye]

19 hours ago, thinwing said:

just noticed you have been flying relatively short hops ..ie ogden to laramie is only 300 miles or so....i would think you would want to keep going (once at alitude)to get out of the rockies into nebraska or south dakota lower terrain....not being critical just enquiring mind.....enjoy OSH

 

There are generally 3 routes East when coming from California; the Northern Route through Wyoming, the Central Route through Colorado, and the Southern Route through Arizona and New Mexico.  The Northern and Southern Routes avoid the Rockys.  if I take the Central Route I'll make one stop at Milford then on to Pueblo.  If I make a stop flying alone I'll find the highest airport to refuel and go longer than 2½ hours.  With Shirley it's a different issue.  Early in my purchase of the TLS we discovered that she was susceptible to the Bends.  Mitigation involves: 1. Prebreath O2  (we don't do that)  2. Take an aspirin 1 hour before flight  3. Slow ascent  4.  Time aloft  5. Keep Hydrated.  With those mitigations she hasn't experienced any symptoms for the past 20 years.  The aspirin and time aloft are the major influencers, so I keep the legs shorter than 3 hours and usually file 15,000 to 17,000 depending on direction of flight.  3 hours gets you a respectable nominal 500 nm.  A bonus is that there is never any bathroom issues.

 

 

[flyboy0681]

9 hours ago, carusoam said:

Great Pirep DK!

Don’s flight aware tracks avoiding the wet stuff…

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N9148W/history/20210723/1500Z/KLSK/KFSD

Best regards,

-a-

Anybody notice that Flightaware now charges a fee for overlaying aviation charts (ie, VFR, low altitude IFR)?

[thinwing]

3 hours ago, donkaye said:

There are generally 3 routes East when coming from California; the Northern Route through Wyoming, the Central Route through Colorado, and the Southern Route through Arizona and New Mexico.  The Northern and Southern Routes avoid the Rockys.  if I take the Central Route I'll make one stop at Milford then on to Pueblo.  If I make a stop flying alone I'll find the highest airport to refuel and go longer than 2½ hours.  With Shirley it's a different issue.  Early in my purchase of the TLS we discovered that she was susceptible to the Bends.  Mitigation involves: 1. Prebreath O2  (we don't do that)  2. Take an aspirin 1 hour before flight  3. Slow ascent  4.  Time aloft  5. Keep Hydrated.  With those mitigations she hasn't experienced any symptoms for the past 20 years.  The aspirin and time aloft are the major influencers, so I keep the legs shorter than 3 hours and usually file 15,000 to 17,000 depending on direction of flight.  3 hours gets you a respectable nominal 500 nm.  A bonus is that there is never any bathroom issues.

 

 

thanks Don..I forgot about Shirleys experience with alitude bends.....ps my wife Jana hates using the bathroom in our Bravo....she would be happier if our flights were shorter than 3plus 30 hrs that I tend to flight plan for!!!

[MooneyMitch]

I might add, it’s also the people!  That always makes it so incredibly awesome!

All like minded, gathered in one place for such a very special event.  The overall respect for each other, the grounds, and the exhibits,  I always found delightful.

Have a great time everyone!