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I’m
new to the group here at 182 and want to thank all of you for the great
welcome. The web
pages put in place by Rhea Palmer were not difficult to redesign and
basically are still the same with the exception of some changes I made
to the banner on each page and the addition of some art and “space”.
I’m open to any suggestions and welcome any content you may
want to contribute. As
Dwight said last month, I was not far from Lynchburg, VA at a strip in
New London picking up my ’62 Colt.
It’s not only the first Piper I’ve ever owned but the oldest
plane I’ve ever had. In
the past I’ve been part owner in a Cessna 172 and in a partnership on
a 150. I arrived at New London on a Saturday and was able to get a checkout in the Colt that afternoon. Of note is the D-Day memorial we flew over honoring the men from New Bedford that were lost during the invasion. That town lost more men, as a percentage to their population than any other town in the country. I would learn more over the course of the next couple days about a group from New London in that they had a role in setting up an Aeronca L-3 on that site. The
Colt was everything I expected. Roomy with a really good climb
rate. The trim took some getting used to as well as the hand
brake. My Dad spent some time in Tri-Pacers while he was working for Charlie Link on simulators back in the late 50's. The Colt is similar to a Tri-Pacer but with less power and no flaps. The talking we did over the phone, despite the years that have past since he's flown, proved helpful.
My intent was to leave the next day and make my way
back to Memphis crossing over the ridge near Tri-Cities.
But with the ceiling
at 6-800 feet the weather won out and I wound up spending the day at New
London and then another and yet another.
These days quickly became a step back in time with a flyer named Rucker Tibbs and a special group of guys at New London. Every day around four or so the “New Londoners” start to gather in the hanger. And the rhetoric takes you back to a time when flying was seemingly simple and nothing but a “helpful” spirit filled the air. The place as a boy I would have relished. This is the “tree fort” of flying. The hanger flying/lying runs the gambit from the mundane to the twin that crashed into a train years back near Lynchburg. Or was it the train that crashed into the twin?
New London The field there is home to about 75 or so planes….most of
them are “vintage” Pipers. In April 1992, at the age of 68. Rucker flew
7,777 miles in 112 hours in his 1939 Piper J-4. His journey took him along the edges of the US and lasted
several weeks. His office has copies of newspaper articles
covering the event.
Low ceiling Rucker
also flew a number of missions for the CAP in that part of VA and found
several downed aircraft.
When I asked him about Steve Fossett he chuckled and said,
“He’s probably up there somewhere flying some spaceship for that
Branson guy. “ As day two passed by, I realized the low ceiling was “parked”. Near 4 o’clock, after he knew I wasn’t going anywhere, Rucker looked over at one of the New Londoners and told him…”get that Yank a New London Special” It was an orange concoction (Sunkist Soda) with a shot or three of Wild Turkey. Two of those and I was down for the night. The
third day: There I was
still with a 600 foot ceiling.
There was a “measuring” stick, a radio tower, south of New
London that Rucker pointed out.
When I could see that tower the ceiling was 3000 high enough to
get to Danville. But
not so sure about going west. Decision time…yea….a few extra vacation days…and …I had to change my route from west to Memphis to South to field near Charleston where I would spend a couple days with family and then fly west to Hawkins Field, Jackson where I would visit my kids a day or so and then fly home to Memphis. |
PA22-108 From
my hotel, I had phoned my sister near Charleston, SC shortly after the
weather set in to let her know I might “drop “ in.
No obstacles much higher than 2600 or so feet between Danville
and Mt. Pleasant, my new destination.
And there was a slight tail wind to boot.
But the local ceiling was still too low and it was approaching 3
pm. So I was running out of
daylight. I wasn’t
going to fly the plane at night I only had an hour or so in it.
I needed to be out of there by 3 to give me what I call enough
“lost” time en route. I
called FSS. Danville was
3-4000 scattered and 10+ miles.
Charleston was even better.
And finally it was lifting at New London.
Rucker walked out on the ramp looked south and said…”get outa
here Yank you can make Danville I’m tired of lookin at ya. “
I
taxied up to the runway and pulled the knob to lock the brake so I could
do my run up. It came out
in my hand. The crimp had
failed. It was about 2:30. Taxied
back, the hand brake still worked, shut it down….and then the New
London Group went to work. They
replaced the brake cable and knob within 30 minutes, we tested it, and I
was off by 3:15. The
trip to Mt. Pleasant was quicker than anticipated.
My ground speed was about 100 knots or so.
Thanks to the tail wind I touched down at about 6:30
It
was clear, warm and I was in time for most of my nephew’s soccer game.
They won by the way 5-3. He
managed to score two goals. Getting
to watch him play made the trip to Mt. Pleasant worth- while.
The next few days I spent some time on Sullivan’s Island took some pictures and went to a couple of my nephew’s soccer practices.
Charleston Bridge from Sullivans' Island The
next leg of my trip to Hawkins Field in Jackson, MS. would be somewhat
different. My
journey to Charleston turned out to be good decision.
A front was making its way across the Southeast and actually
spawned a few tornados here and there.
By the time it reached Charleston, the night before I left, it
had dissipated. By
the way the FSS briefers were very good.
I called for a brief at around 9:30 am on Sunday. Everything
was VFR but there was “moderate” turbulence along the route and a
10-20 knot headwind until I got close to Alabama.
My body was soon going to experience the term “moderate” in a
light plane over an extended amount of time.
Unlike
my flight to Mt. Pleasant, the flight to Hawkins would require two fuel
stops. My
sister packed me a lunch and my brother-in-law took me to the field.
I was off Sunday by 10:30 Eastern…time zone change gave me an
extra hour of daylight. It
would be taxed. My
route took me west to Allendale and then to Louisville and then a fuel
stop at Baldwin. Things
were a little bumpy before the first fuel stop but not too bad.
I ate lunch grabbed a coke and departed west. Then a few miles out of Baldwin life became a roller
coaster. It was difficult
to hold wings level, altitude fluctuations were between 100 and 200
feet, and my heading was all over the place.
I dropped RPMS, held or got just below maneuvering speed, pointed
the nose at something west and hoped like hell the lunch bag my sister
gave me was still in the plane in case I turned green.
I had been in stuff like this before but only for a brief time. It went on for a couple hours. It
eased up some as I got closer to my next fuel stop after which it would
occur intermittently until I was almost to Mississippi. This
leg took me between
NAS Meridian and Key Field. From
then on the air was relatively smooth.
But by now it was nearly 5:30 Central Time.
Landed at Hawkins at close to 6:30. The headwind and moderate
turbulence took its toll on my timeline.
The trip to Memphis on the
following Tuesday morning was the best VFR I’ve seen in several
months. The Colt did
well over the course of the whole trip.
I look forward to cleaning it up and doing some updating to the
panel. The round about route took me about 15 hours. The journey lasted 11 days and was highlighted with a “Special” group in New London I hope to see again.
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