Arty's Ultimate Ultralight Adventure

Friday, May 1, 2009

It was grey when we got up this morning – not flyable. So we dawdled and by noon the ceiling had lifted, so we took off. We had a steady headwind of 15-20 mph – but since it was so steady, the flying was smooth. It was very hazy, with grey clouds @ 4000’. It was so hazy that it was difficult to distinguish small rain cells, so I got caught a couple of times. It was an inconvenience rather than a problem. I’ve never flown in conditions like this – able to see the clouds above, yet with haze below. Visibility for about 5 miles even with the haze; that’s legal for flying, yet not much when you’re used to seeing for 10-20 miles.

I had lost my brakes (and couldn’t find them)…sorry, that was irresistible. Anyway, my brakes weren’t functioning when I landed at Harrell Airport. Randy said it was because the combination of heat and use softened the brake line so much that it couldn’t grip the ferule tightly enough, and so leaked brake fluid. He had already made a fix to his own brake lines, using about a foot of steel brake lining, which he put between the brake ferule and the tube brake line. The steel lining isn’t affected by the heat/use combination and dissipates the heat by the time it gets to the tubing brake line. He did the same for my brakes, refilled the brake line with brake fluid, and now I have brakes again.

The next leg was very strange flying. I’m not sure what word to use to describe it – annoying comes closest, which isn’t a word I usually associate with flying. We planned to fly from Harrell to Cox Airport in Paris, TX – about a 150 mile leg. Again, it was very hazy – perhaps even more than before. I had about 10 miles of visibility to the left and the right, but only about 3-4 straight ahead. I couldn’t see far enough ahead to fly IFF (I Follow Fields) so started looking for a road to follow, even though with the headwind and a non-direct route, it meant I probably wouldn’t make Cox with the fuel I had on board.

I was also getting into quite a bit of rain. Most was fairly light and quickly done, but I went through a sudden pocket of rain that was so quick and strong that the force actually turned off my Anywhere Map!

Meanwhile I also noticed that my EGTs were running quite low – and just when I had decided to land at Hope Airport – which originally was a waypoint, not a stopping point - and check my jetting, Randy radio’d saying that his EGTs were low and he was going to stop at Hope Airport and check his jetting!

As I came toward the Hope Airport I became a little confused because there was something where the airport should be that I couldn’t figure out. I squinted, but it wasn’t until I was within a mile or so that the strange objects became identifable. More FEMA trailers!

Twenty thousand of them, according to one of the mechanics at the airport, who came out to see our planes when we landed. FEMA is using runway 4-22 to store the trailers and keeps expanding its use of the airport acreage for that purpose.

He also told us that Hope Airport was the 3rd largest in the world during World War II, and was used to test ordnance. There still is a lot of unexploded, unfound ordnance adjacent to the airport.

While we were talking there was a cloudburst and the three of us huddled under my wings. I was glad I wasn’t in the air when that happened – it was a hard and sustained downpour.

I checked my jets, and saw that they were 150’s – I definitely don’t want to go any leaner. Yet my EGTs were low, indicating an overly rich mixture. Randy diagnosed the problem – we’ve been flying through rain and last night there were thunderstorms. The air filters are gumming up. We both removed our air filters and took off – sure enough, the EGTs went up to where they should be.

It was 5:30 p.m. when we took off from Hope, heading for Cox Airport. The headwind had tapered off to a mere 8-10 mph and the haze was receding. At one point the sun broke through the clouds and it looked as though I was flying toward a teepee of sun rays.

As usual, Randy was ahead of me. I was 6 miles out from Clarkesville, TX and 28 miles from Cox when he radio’d. “There’s a black wall in front of me. We’re not going to make it to Cox – let’s land at Clarkesville.” By the time we landed, the squall front had dissipated and we decided to try and make Cox after all. Why not stay at Clarkesville for the night? A deserted strip, no food, no fuel. Cox is a large airport near a large city.

By now it was getting on toward dusk and I don’t like to fly near sunset, even though it’s legal. I “put the pedal to the metal” and FLEW! I was showing almost 70 mph air speed indicated, and about the same over the ground. We made it into Cox without difficulty. After this strange and difficult day, I decided I wanted to treat myself to a motel room and a real dinner, instead of camping out at the closed-up airport and munching on my raisins, cheetos and water. We caught a cab into town and spent the night.

Now it’s Saturday morning @ 10:00 a.m. and the grey sky – as well as the t.v. weather station – tells us that if we get anywhere today, it won’t be far.