Arty's Ultimate Ultralight Adventure

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

If you read about the beginning of my flight, you know that I did one leg on Thursday, Mar. 25 because of incoming weather, and began the "full flight" on Sunday, Mar. 28. Looks like a repeat for my final leg home. I'm now in Bend, Oregon - just a couple of hours from home, and will probably be leaving my Drifter here for the next two days due to a cold front that's upon us even as I write. Norm will pick me up, take me home, and bring me back to "finish the flight" on Saturday, which is supposed to be beautiful for flying.

Randy made it home check out his SPOT track. I know Gayle is absolutely delighted.

Randy and I planned to leave EARLY this morning from Nampa, ID. Rob Allen (where we stayed last night) agreed to get us to the airport so early that we could leave at sunrise. (I hear you all gasping with surprise. Well, we were READY to be home.)

Last night we had a great time at the Allens, with Russ Sperry and Jim & Chris Howard joining us for more hangar flying. As they were leaving, I heard someone say to Jeannie "Be sure and cover your plants tonight. It's supposed to freeze." I didn't think anything more about it. But I dreamed that it was snowing, and when I woke up at 0-dark-thirty I called for a weather briefing - asking specifically about temps at 6000'and 9000' feet. The briefer said that the temp at 6000' was -2° C (that's 28.4° F) and would climb to about +2° C by 8:00 a.m. When I calculated the wind chill factor for wind speed of 60 mph - it would be 7.9° F! And to get over the Owyhees (mountains, that is) I'd need to go to 8000' for much of the first leg from Nampa/Caldwell to Burns, OR. I forget what the temps were at 9000' - I spaced out a little, and immediately told Rob and Randy that I just wouldn't be able to leave as early as originally planned. It needed to warm up a little for me to be able to fly.

By 9:30 a.m. Randy and I were both impatient to leave, and it WAS sunny out. We were actually wheels off at 10:40 a.m. I only remember one other flight, years ago, when I've been so cold. Even if you read my previous whinings about being cold - like on the leg from Blythe, CA - well, it was nothing compared to this. I flew at 8000' - and Randy later told me that it was 31° at 8000' - which is the altitude at which he was also flying. Tonight I did the conversion, and that's 11.7° F wind chill factor! No wonder I was rummy during the latter part of the 2 hr., 20 minute flight. My right thumb "stopped working" and I couldn't press the push-to-talk button to announce entering the pattern. Luckily, Burns isn't a busy airport and there was only one other plane - who came in quite a while after I landed.

Enough about the cold. This leg took us over the Owyhee Mountains - which aren't exceedingly high, (between 6000' and 7000',) but are fairly wide. The highway was a good place for landing, which is fortunate because the hills - excuse me, mountains - are rough and unfit for landing. Each time I saw a high ridge I'd be sure that the Burns valley was on the other side - only to find in front of me another ridge, then another, then another. FINALLY the Ohyhees were behind me and I staggered into Burns.

Randy had been there a while, and we discussed our plans. We both were going to follow Hwy. 20 to Bend, but there we'd part ways, as he's go west-southwest and I'd go northwest. He could make it home in one leg from Burns, (wouldn't even have to stop in Bend,) due to 1) his greater speed; 2) his greater gas tank; 3) his greater tolerance of rain. I had at least one leg, and probably two after Bend - since I live further north than he does. So we said our good-byes in Burns.

The Burns to Bend flight wasn't a happy one. The sky was overcast and the ceiling was fairly low - probably only 1500 - 2000' AGL. A slight tailwind helped, but the intermittent stinging rain and cold, (although not as cold as the leg to Burns) didn't. I landed in Bend about 3:30 p.m. local time. I had considered continuing on to Madras, about another 35 min. flight, but the sky was ominous and I decided to pick up my winnings.

At the Bend Airport I looked at the weather report - and the cold front coming in is supposed to make flying impossible for the next two days. So Norm is coming to pick me up tomorrow morning. We'll drive home together, and then drive back to Bend early Saturday so I can FINISH THE FLIGHT!!!