Weathered in
We were planning on flying to Granbury, TX, Saturday to visit daughter #2 but that fell apart. So we decided to go to OKC to visit daughter #1. We made it 3/4 of the way before lowering ceilings, (much lower than even the 1600' ceiling forecast temporarily for later in the day), and poor visibility suggested a 180 was in order. We back tracked to KJWG where we spent two hours in a warm FBO, listening to 3 then 4 older gentlemen tell us about the wings falling off the 601's. I don't think they were intentionally trying to scare my wife, (who has been flying with me for 30 years), but I would have been annoyed if a less experienced passenger would have been with me because these guys inferred that all homebuilts had similar issues. And some of the comments seemed to be directed towards her. I certainly didn't mind them talking about it and I even joined in, to defend the non 601's but two hours worth got old.
The ceiling finally lifted a few hundred feet and we continued on our way and had a successful trip. That was a strange weather forecast with CAVU at both departure and destination and temporary conditions with 1600' ceilings moving in around 9 a.m. through 1 p.m. It is only a 30 - 40 minute trip. The front must have moved through quicker than predicted, as we left in plenty of time to beat the forecast. We may have been able to get through but I didn't feel scud running was worth the risk, even with voice over terrain and obstacle alerts. My personal minimums were about to be violated and I get uncomfortable if I don't have a couple of "OUTS" left up my sleeve. There were no reporting points for the XM weather to brief us on in between our position and destination. The ceiling was 1600' at KPWA when we landed, according to ATIS. We had a great visit and the flight home that evening was with CAVU conditions.
I did find out from the guys at KJWG that the RV-8 kit that was on Partain's trailer along with my 7 is languishing in a state of perpetual incompleteness. It supposedly is quite far along in its assembly. I had often wondered if it was flying yet.