Winter ferry flights... gotta love 'em!

Two weeks ago I had an opportunity to shuttle my son back to his home base after an Aeronca Super Chief ferry mission. The snow had mostly melted off my runway a few days earlier. Grass strips can be hit or miss in late January in northern Illinois. WX check showed a good window of flying weather to complete the mission.

About noon, Andrew landed at my airport, we exchanged Christmas gifts (hadn’t seen him since November) without stopping his engine (no starter), then he left for the buyer’s farm strip, 40 miles south. I gave him a good head start, then fired up the RV. Landing on the farm strip was a growth opportunity. The strip has a big camelback hump ridge in the middle, ooooh, interesting. Saw it coming, added power so that I wouldn’t touch before the crest. Floated across the crest a foot off the turf, and was suddenly ten feet in the air as the ground dropped away abruptly! Interesting sensation. The rest of the strip was plenty flat and long enough for a guy like me. Andrew was debriefing the buyer as I pulled up. Kids that are earning their own living, ya gotta love ‘em!



After requisite hangar chat, we boarded the RV and headed northwest. RV power-to-weight and the dense air had us flying well before we got to the launching ramp. Crossed the Big Muddy three times, most of it was frozen. Diverted to Buffalo, MN for 100LL at $3.41 per gallon. Filled up. Thought about buying some jugs. Gotta love low gas prices…
Observed multiple frozen lakes littered with pickup trucks and ice fishing houses. Made investigatory low pass to assess landing conditions. Ridges of blown snow convinced me not to land (sorry, Vlad, maybe next time). Gotta love flying adventures!







Landed at Wilmar, MN where Andrew’s pickup was hangared, grabbed a burger, checked WX and launched on the southwest flight. Found a 62 kt tailwind at 9500 feet and turned that into a 215 kt groundspeed as the sun set in the west. Gotta love a tailwind.





Dynah (the SkyView woman) called “TRAFFIC”. (She always talks in caps). Sure enough, there was a heavy heading into Rochester, passed overhead at +1500 feet, a nice view but a lousy photo. She’s not much on conversation, but I prefer her to flying alone. Gotta love TCAS…


The solo leg was a bit under 400 NM IIRC, but I made it home in 01:50. Wrestled the RV back into the hanger (gotta get a tug) and had the door closed by 19:30. One afternoon, 800 Nm, quality ear time with a kid that makes me terribly proud, some nutrition and hangar socialism thrown in, a sunset, cheap gas, and home for dinner. Gotta love an RV!

Excellent! Nothing like an RV mission.

Great! Nice landing spot right here.





Couldn't find hanger socialism in the dictionary

Hangar socialism:

Hangar socialism: standing around in hangars socializing with other pilots, usually to the degree that critical tasks on the honey-do list never get completed. Tends to become a way of life.
(My definition, maybe others have better ones).

I thought it was sharing the beer collective.

Nice trip!

BTW,
Hangers are for clothes.
Hangars are for planes.



.

Hangar spelling...

Yeah, I really did know that. Probably corrected others over the years when they got it wrong (but not as gracefully as you, Arlen). First sign of old age or such??

I recall reading that the Wright brothers called them "hand cars" after hearing french speakers talking about the buildings. Unsure what the french word might have been.

Thanks for reminding me, Arlen! Aviation is a field where correct terminology is critical.

Here we go. Having English as a third language it's difficult to fully comprehend things sometimes.

ya dolzhen izvinetzia...

Vlad said:

Here we go. Having English as a third language it's difficult to fully comprehend things sometimes.

Click to expand...

Good morning, Vlad!

(This will be so obvious to the VAF regulars that I almost didn't say it....)

Vlad, your enthusiasm, humor, and journalistic skill are legendary in these parts. Vlad posts are always the first ones I read. After struggling to learn "pa ruskii", I admire anyone who can master a second language. And a third. The hundred rubles wouldn't get you very far these days, but you clearly have earned well over a hundred friends, myself included. Please don't be offended by my last post. Please keep up the great stories.

Sincerely, Roger

I've monitored that Buffalo fuel price for months now and it is consistently the lowest around. At the moment it's almost $.80 cheaper than my home base at KSGS, not far away. Wish I knew how they do it.

Gotta love a good write-up!

Thanks Roger...I always enjoy a good father-son story. Throw that in with an interesting landing and some great pictures and you just provided a fun read.