It's not often that you get tailwinds in both directions on a round trip, even stranger when you get them on the same day - but how about tailwind components on all three legs of a triangle trip in the same morning?!
I set out from Houston for Stephensville (KSEP) this morning to have breakfast with the gang from Hicks, and Weathermeister had picked 8.5K as the best altitude for both speed and fuel. It was a nice morning, with some patchy fog in the low areas just after sunrise, but no significant clouds or weather looked to interfere with the predicted 1:29 trip time. After scooting out from under the Class B, I climbed right up to 8.5, and sure enough - winds out of th south gave me about 10 knots on the tail with about the same from the left. The trip clocked in at 1:31, so I guess Sharpie's program doesn't account for taxi time...
It was nice to catch up with folks I hadn't seen for awhile at breakfast. It was a small crowd - I expect people are saving their fuel money for Oshkosh later this month. I showed off the new 2" HID landing and taxi lights from Duckworks that I had installed, and Andy remarked on the radio that they looked bright from half an airport away on the ground - nice to know they show up (the old halogens were pretty dim). I climbed out of KSEP for Kestrel (1T7) to visit my runway lot and buy some fuel (usually the cheapest in the Hill Country), and noted the winds on the EFIS as I climbed. They started of out of the west, but as I climbed through 5,000 they swung to the northwest, and at 6.5K I had 9 knots on the tail - good enough for the short flight, so I stopped there and leaned out to get 22.5 mpg on the computer. This held all the way until the descent.
After fuel and a relaxed chat with some future neighbors at Kestrel, I mounted up for Houston - surely, I wouldn't get lucky and see yet another tailwind....but I was wrong! Now out of the southwest at 7.5K, I had another 8 knots on the tail, with a bit more than that from the right. The scattered clouds were below me at that point, so it was a smooth ride back to the home base at Polly Ranch - hot once I descended to stay under the "B:, but that's OK now - once I land, I am literally seconds from the cold drinks in the house!
It felt good to get out on a cross-country after a month of local flights, moving, and unpacking. I also got to do some RFI testing with the new landing lights, but that is a topic for another thread! Suffice to say that I love 'em, and the Val is still a great cross-country machine, now with 750 hours total time on the airframe and engine.
Paul
Three-way Tailwinds!
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