Continued....
Lets talk about the small town life. Many of you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Others won't but should definitely try to experience it. South Dakota, like most of the Plains States is the heartland of America. Salt of the earth folks who have worked hard all of their lives. They know no other way to work. A place where everyone knows everyone. Where people wave with all five fingers. Where many houses don't even have locks that work. Where you never lose your car keys because they never leave the car. Where you can drive for miles and not see another car. Where every old abandon house and barn has a notable history and most everyone can tell you about it. A place where visitors are treated like family. Where the sunrise and sunset is not obstructed by buildings and pollution. Where the farmers take everything in stride and don't seem stressed about every little thing. A place were breakfast is breakfast, lunch is called dinner and dinner is called supper. They eat 3 meals, at home with home cooking. Ah, a relaxing time with family. It doesn't get any better than that.
This old one room school house dates back to 1920's with the last students in the early 40's. My dad and one of my uncles went to school there. There are lots of buildings like this one dotting the country. All with a rich history.
The next day we arose to light snow falling. Great, my first time pheasant hunting and I'm going to do it in the snow. It was beautiful. My uncle is a guide for out of State hunters. Joining us on for the next few days were 3 guys from Kansas, Michigan and Ohio. All had hunted there in the past. My uncle's land is rich with pheasant. He said this was one of the best years they have seen in a long time. It didn't take long to get some pheasant. I got one on my very first shot. By early afternoon all of us had our daily limit. Back to the farm for Miller time.
The out of State guys were renting a house in Turton. We all went there for "supper." They had a designated cook who cooked up a great meal of several types of fish, potatoes and vegetables. My aunt Charlene had baked a pecan pie for the occasion. Wow!!
The next few days found improving weather, cold in the mornings and beautiful in the afternoon. I was shocked at how many pheasants there were. Every field was full of birds. It did not take long to get our daily limits. Although there are plenty of birds, hunting them is an art form with the shots even tougher. We didn't lose any birds that were shot because of well trained hunting dogs.
This was our limit out of a couple of the fields. My uncle Rolland is on the right side of the photo sitting down. I'm standing.
My aunt Charlene has a business making jams, jelly's and syrups, called Char's Kitchen. Everything is hand made from fresh picked seasonal fruits. Incredible stuff. Many weekends are spent at Arts and Crafts Festivals selling the product. They had an event this past weekend. See the attached link for some great gift ideas.
http://www.madeinsouthdakota.com/Cat...ndor.cfm?ID=19
While they were gone I spent the weekend at another aunt and uncles place in Groton. While there I attended the annual Turkey Raffle at the American Legion Hall. The Turkey Raffle is the annual fund raiser for a variety of worthy causes. The Turkey Raffle is the name but many things are raffled off including turkeys, hams, bacon and rifles and shotguns. I won a 10 pound slab of smoked bacon. I also had a sloppy joe, cole slaw, brownie and Coke for $3. A typical event in "farming town" USA.
On Monday I returned to the airport to meet the local crop duster owner to purchase some fuel. There is no fuel vendor. As I approached the plane, I could tell the canopy cover askew. I unstrapped the rear strap and discovered to my horror that the rear glass (tip up) had a 4" crack about the 4 screw hole from bottom. Also the bottom left corner of the Targa strip was bent under. I then discovered the latch was undone. Nothing was taken or otherwise disturbed. I surmise that someone wanted to look inside and for some unexplicable reason thought it would be acceptable to open the canopy. It appears that the while attempting to close the canopy they didn't let it down easily and it slammed shut while not being lined up. The AG guy, Doug Hansen, was really upset that it happened. He was going to try to ask around to see if anyone had any knowledge. I was able to stop drill the crack and wick some thin plastic safe CA glue in the crack. It traveled fine. I'll be contacting those guys in the other thread who broke their canopies to see if I can buy the carcas.
The next day I awoke to 20 mph winds. Weathermeister showed I would be fighting headwinds all the way home. We drove to the airport and loaded up. I had a cooler with 15 pheasants, a slab of bacon, a case of a variety of jams and jelly's and 20 lbs of apples and rhurbarb to pack. Everything fit nicely and I was off.
This was taken just before departing. My aunt and uncle are on the right. This is a nice country airport. No services but very quaint.
As predicted, I fought winds all the way south. The best I could do was 139kts of ground speed. I checked Metars for DHT and discovered 30 kt gusting to 37. I elected to go to Goodland, KS for fuel. No wind there but $4.59 fuel, ouch
While there I heard a familiar tail number checking in for touch and goes. Sure enough, Tom Prokops old ride was in the pattern with new owner and instructor. I forgot his name, but he was all smiles after making his first landing.
The last 600 miles were in tough headwinds. At times I had only a 110kt ground speed. This messed up my fuel consumption and forced me to make a third fuel stop in Springerville, AZ for a few gallons of go juice. The last 140 miles gave me a more normal 170kt speed.
Finally home after, 20 frequency changes and 7:30 flight time. An hour and a half later I was sitting in my favorite Mexican food place with a cold Dos Equis and a food fix.
What a great trip, sans the canopy deal. The RV is an incredible airplane that has opened doors and added a new dimension to my life. I now have another "annual" event to attend. I can't wait until next year.
You know the drill. Keep pounding the rivets so you can begin flying one of the best planes in the World.
South Dakota trip report
The OAT was showing 22 degrees. The heater wasn't keeping up. I wasn't miserable but much more than an hour at that temp and I would have been. Yeah, I'm a cold weather wussy.
South Dakota Trip
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