Day 2 - We made it to Denver!

Left St Louis this morning after breakfast, filing IFR to Salina Kansas. The St Louis airport is enormous, and full of SouthWest airplanes, but about 15 taxiways and one runway were closed for work, so it took ages to get cleared to taxi to the active runway. Mary took off around 9am and we headed West once more. We flew at 8000 ft to avoid turbulence lower down, but once again headwinds slowed us down. But the choices we made yesterday really paid off - by flying a more Southerly route to St Louis, we avoided a whole bunch of weather to the North today. As the flight progressed the clouds thickened, and the GPS showed active cells fairly close to our route. Since it was such a clear day under the clouds, we got a nice view of one cell that had built fast and was raining heavily a few miles away. We flew this leg at full throttle all the way to simulate race conditions, and were pleasantly surprised that at 8000 ft the engine could be leaned out to only 11 gallons per hour even at this high setting. Approaching Salina, a cold front started to move in across the route, so we landed a few miles short at Manhattan Kansas, known to the locals as "the little apple"!.

Mary's legs, and the instrument panel showing the GPS496.

PS Thanks to Kenny for fixing the autopilot - we really appreciate it!

In Manhattan we borrowed a crew car and drove out for lunch. The lady at the desk told us "its a small red compact with a lot of hail damage". Bizarrely, when we started to look around the parking lot we saw at least four cars meeting that description, so we had to go back inside and get more specific directions! We had a good lunch, and by the time we arrived back at the airport the frontal weather had passed over.

I departed on a clearance for Akron Colorado, into blue skies with little puffy white clouds to play in. Again we flew this leg at full throttle to simulate race conditions, leaned out to 11 GPH. The plane did great, except that (annoyingly) the gear in transit light came on again, again with a definite drop in airspeed indicating we were probably getting some drag once the gear had shifted. This time we recycled the gear and the problem went away.

Meantime, the weather just kept getting better. We were flying across the vast open planes of central Kansas, with a reported visibility of 70 miles although I'm pretty sure it was more like 150 miles. You can practically see the curvature of the earth under these conditions, and the land just stretches away in a patchwork of farms and fields for as far as the eye can see in all directions. Mary had fun flirting with the Kansas City Center controllers, and we talked to another collegiate race team on their way to Denver. Once we crossed the frontal barrier and into Colorado, the winds shifted and we picked up a 15-25 knot tailwind, with ground speeds up to 150 kt! We were making such good time that we amended our destination to go all the way to Denver Centennial, our ultimate destination. All in all, Pottstown PA to Denver CO in about 13 hours.

Approach to landing, 17R at Denver Centennial!

Touched down in Denver around 4pm local time, and taxied to our assigned FBO, the Denver JetCenter. Frank, the husband of a local 99, kindly drove us to the Sheraton where we were staying. We took a shower and just missed the closing of registration, which we will take care of tomorrow. We met a couple of other racers that we remembered from last year, including Camellia Smith, her husband Bill, and her copilot Laura Berry (racer 15), as well as Cindy Kerr and her new partner Mary Unger (racer 25), and we all crammed into Bill's rental car and went off for a really nice dinner.

Day 1 - 6.5 hours flying to St Louis Missouri!

Our adventure began early this morning, when we met at Perkiomen Valley airport in the pouring rain, with the goal of flying to the Air Race Classic start in Denver Colorado in time for the start deadline of 11am on Saturday. It was cold, grey and miserable as we loaded our gear into the plane, and Arnie topped off the tanks for us. The weather services showed a heavy weather system over most of the East coast, with thunderstorms embedded throughout. But it was moving away to the East, and we could see a way through to clearer weather out West. We filed IFR to Columbus Ohio, with Mary flying the first leg. It was raining hard when we took off, and almost immediately went into the cloud. Mary climbed to 6000 feet as we contacted Philadelphia Approach. It was turbulent and a complete white out, and at one point Philly had to relay communications to us via another pilot because although we could hear them, they couldn't hear us. Mary said "this SUCKS!". We were in the soup all the way to Pittsburgh, but then we started to break out of the cloud tops and see blue sky above. Near Altoona we crossed a convergence of two fronts and the weather went down again, but although the cloud cover remained the bases were coming up at the airports further West. We took the ILS 28 approach into Columbus, but were able to approach and land visually. It was a tough 3 hour leg, and Mary did great.

We went to Odyssey Aviation at Columbus and managed to scrounge some fruit while the plane was refuelled. We picked up our voice messages, and I found that I may have bought a new house!! as the sellers have accepted my offer. Cool.

I originally intended the next leg to end in Peoria Illinois, but the weather showed a large convective system bearing down on Peoria from the NW at 35 kts, and there were severe weather watches and convective sigmets for the whole area. So we figured out that if we went further South we could avoid it, and filed to St Louis Missouri instead. I took off into nice clear weather. Around Terre Haute we heard some other female voices on the frequency headed West (call sign ...701...), so Mary asked if they were on their way to the Air Race Classic too, and they said yes! We think you guys might be one of the collegiate teams. We picked up headwinds over 30 kt at 6000 feet which were really slowing us down, so we descended to 4000 feet. The winds were better there, but there was a thick cloud layer so I also logged a chunk of instrument time. I was worried that at our slower ground speed we didn't have enough fuel to get to St Louis, but we did, and were given a visual approach to 28L following a regional jet. We left N29SP at Signature Aviation and checked into the Drury hotel for the night. We have no less than three free drinks coupons (each!), so are about to go down to the bar and restaurant for some real food.

Disgusting picture - when you're flying in cloud and have finished with your gum, there's no time to dispose of it nicely! Sorry Adelle.



Proof that we made it to St Louis - and that its almost 100 degrees here, which is why we look hot.

Mary unpacking the plane at St Louis.

Final preparations

Last night the mechanics did a final oil change; and fixed the issue with the "gear in transit" light, which was on too sensitive a setting. We have a part on order that should get the autopilot working again, that will reduce our workload on long legs somewhat, and we hope it will come in from California tomorrow. Today I flew the plane back to Perkiomen from Pottstown Muni with Mary right seat (1400 overcast), and we washed and waxed the N29SP, with the help of Mary's husband Arnie Wunder. All we have to do now is put on the number "8" decals. The current plan is to depart Thursday morning early - there's no good weather day out East this week, so we'll just file IFR and set off early to avoid the thunderstorms.

Still working out the kinks

Yet another bad weather morning. Set IFR off for Cape May to pick up Barbara and go down to the air circus in Virginia, but the 800 foot overcast over NJ didn't lift so we decided to make one of our (now frequent) diversions and go out to Pittsburgh instead. The clouds dissipated completely round about York, and Mary completed the flight into Alleghany County in bright beautiful weather. About 20 miles out, the "gear in transit" warning light came on and stayed on for 5-10 minutes, but we made a normal approach and landing. Once on the ground we called Andy Landis, instructor and Arrow expert, who explained that this probably was nothing to be concerned about and told us some things to look out for on the way home. Good thing we did ask, because about 5 minutes into the flight home the light came on again and stayed on the whole flight. The gear didn't come down, but the plane developed a distinct yaw to the left so we think the left gear might be drifting out of the well somewhat. Another thing for the mechanic to look at when he works on the plane tomorrow! While all this was going on, I put my hand down the side of the seat to pick something up, and some sharp edge gave me a 9 inch scrape in my forearm which bled all over the trim. But despite this I bravely flew on and successfully completed the flight back to Pottstown Muni. Altogether we have put 16 hours on the engine following its top overhaul, so it is ready for its oil change.

A warm and humid week

The picture is me at Perkiomen standing in between the yellow Cherokee I share with my two partners; and the white Arrow that Mary and I are racing.

Despite humidity and thunderstorms, Mary and I have continued building time on the overhauled engine. Friday dawned with a low overcast and mist, but by the afternoon it had cleared up enough for us to go flying. I had had precisely zero sleep the night before, so Mary flew the whole time and I pretended to do nav/comm duties from the right seat in between naps. In fact I was so tired I actually can't remember where we went! but I think we just flew out West for a while. Today (Saturday) we were promised a better day for weather, but we started out with broken cloud at about 3000 ft with a 7000 ft overcast, and the lower layer pushed up cumulus and thunderstorms as the day warmed up. I felt much better having caught up on my sleep, and I flew left seat out of Pottstown with the intention of going to Akron Ohio to build some hours, first stopping at Lancaster to pick up some charts. But it was not to be. West of Harrisburg we climbed to 4500 ft to clear the mountains, and started to get into the cloud tops. We asked for 5000 ft and climbed again, but now the visibility started to go below minimums. So we asked for a diversion and filed IFR back to Lancaster. On the approach to Lancaster we were descended all the way down to 3000 ft, and still found ourselves in cloud. We also picked up the Pottstown weather and realized it had gone down to 2700 ft overcast. So we diverted again, this time IFR directly to the airplane's home base, Pottstown Municipal. But as we got close to the airport, we saw on the GPS a building cell with Level 2 returns less than half a mile from the airport, and it soon became visible out the window as well. So we diverted yet again! this time back to Perkiomen Valley, where Mary and I are usually based. We started the VOR 9 approach in cloud, but broke out about 2200 ft and landed visually. So in just about 2 hours of flying, we only managed to visit Lancaster and Perkiomen!! But we got yet more IFR and teamwork practice in. I should add that since Mary is a former air traffic controller, the kind of intensive radio work needed for a flight like this is much easier, since she is very quick, and knows exactly how to ask for what we want!

The schedule for the rest of the week is: tomorrow more flying; Monday fix the autopilot and change the oil; Tuesday wash and wax the plane and stick on the number "8" decals; Wednesday pack and check the weather; Thursday or Friday depart.

Cape May for lunch

Mary and I took Arnie down to Cape May NJ today to meet our friend and fellow racer Barbara for lunch. IMC both ways, again, with a lot of afternoon humidity leading to thick haze and cumulus build up. The plane is starting to feel very comfortable and familiar, and we split responsibilities the way we'll probably do it during the race, with the non-flying pilot doing radios and navigation. We have to put another 10-12 hours on the plane between now and Monday to get an oil change in before we leave for Colorado, so will try to fly every day.

Finally - a dual flight just the two of us!

Mary and I met up today to fly out to Frederick MD in N29SP. We went to support the Sugarloaf Chapter of the 99s who were having a yard sale and barbecue to raise funds, because they will host the terminus of the Air Race Classic in 2010! The weather was supposed to improve mid-morning, but the overcast was still around 2000 feet by 11am. We waited around at N47 for a while, then decided to file IFR and go. This is Mary starting up the plane, just before she took off, and flew about 40 minutes of solid IMC before letting down into Frederick. Well done Mary!

Here are some snapshots from Frederick: Mary talking to Carlo in between Young Eagles flights; Seth standing next to her birthday flowers and helping with the barbecue; Lin waiting to taxi in the C172; and Rose, Mary and Alison having a chat. It was great to see you all!

I filed IFR to fly home, and most of the flight was over a beautiful bright white overcast. Here we are approaching N47, and the overcast is breaking up.

Here is Mary talking to Tom, head guy at N47 and instructor extraordinaire; and most excellent line man Joe refuelling the plane at N47. Altogether a very nice flying day.