bryanflood
Well Known Member
This is less a trip report and more a story of the goodwill of that still exists in the aviation community.
A week or two ago I saw a post on these forums about a museum in a town in Kansas that I had never heard of; the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS. I thought it might be worth a weekend trip as Minnesota was still below freezing and anyplace south had to be better. When I checked the weather, Hutchinson Kansas was predicting 70 degrees plus for the weekend. I was going for sure.
The flight from Minneapolis to Hutchinson was fairly easy. Took off dressed like a Eskimo, landed at Hutchinson in a T-Shirt with the vents wide open with the OAT in the high sixties. On roll-out, after holding the nose off as long as possible, I noticed that the runway seemed really bumpy and the crafts handling didn?t seem correct. I rolled to a stop on the runway straight ahead without incident. However, when I attempted to taxi my fears were confirmed, I had a flat tire, ****. On a side note this is the third nose wheel flat that I have had. The first two flats where in the first hundred hours. I increased the tire pressure as suggested by others and then had no problems for 100 plus hours.
The airport was not too busy, the tower was very helpful and we were able to pull the plane onto the ramp. Over time my in-plane tool kit has dwindled in an effort to reduce weight; so I needed help to change the tire. Luckily, I had a spare tube with me and met Don Rogers who I later found out was the owner/president of Wells aircraft. Wells aircraft is probably one of the most helpful FBOs I have had the opportunity to Visit.
Don went straight to work on the tire. Don found a sidewall tear in the tube, installed the new tube and bolted the wheel back on. Don even offered us use of a car to go to the Museum and lunch while he fixed our airplane. Within an hour Don not only had the tire fixed but the plane fueled. I was so glad we could go home later that day and amazed by Don Rogers service that I was willing to pay about any rate for his services. Here is where the story gets good, after I paid for the gas on my credit card I noticed Don had not charged us anything for his services.
Don would not accept any money for his help with the tire and the use of his shop! I even tried to give him the twenty I had in my pocket, but Don wouldn?t accept any money. Don just said ?Welcome to Kansas?, I think I considered moving to Kansas at that point.
Finally Don drove us the Museum (which was really nice) and picked us up later. Another side note: Hutchinson also is the home of large salt mines, which you can tour, and sound very interesting; in fact I think there is even a show on the history channel about these mines being used for government storage of documents. The flight home was as easy as the flight down. I am definitely glad to have met Don Rogers from Wells aircraft. He really saved our weekend.
Bryan
A week or two ago I saw a post on these forums about a museum in a town in Kansas that I had never heard of; the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS. I thought it might be worth a weekend trip as Minnesota was still below freezing and anyplace south had to be better. When I checked the weather, Hutchinson Kansas was predicting 70 degrees plus for the weekend. I was going for sure.
The flight from Minneapolis to Hutchinson was fairly easy. Took off dressed like a Eskimo, landed at Hutchinson in a T-Shirt with the vents wide open with the OAT in the high sixties. On roll-out, after holding the nose off as long as possible, I noticed that the runway seemed really bumpy and the crafts handling didn?t seem correct. I rolled to a stop on the runway straight ahead without incident. However, when I attempted to taxi my fears were confirmed, I had a flat tire, ****. On a side note this is the third nose wheel flat that I have had. The first two flats where in the first hundred hours. I increased the tire pressure as suggested by others and then had no problems for 100 plus hours.
The airport was not too busy, the tower was very helpful and we were able to pull the plane onto the ramp. Over time my in-plane tool kit has dwindled in an effort to reduce weight; so I needed help to change the tire. Luckily, I had a spare tube with me and met Don Rogers who I later found out was the owner/president of Wells aircraft. Wells aircraft is probably one of the most helpful FBOs I have had the opportunity to Visit.
Don went straight to work on the tire. Don found a sidewall tear in the tube, installed the new tube and bolted the wheel back on. Don even offered us use of a car to go to the Museum and lunch while he fixed our airplane. Within an hour Don not only had the tire fixed but the plane fueled. I was so glad we could go home later that day and amazed by Don Rogers service that I was willing to pay about any rate for his services. Here is where the story gets good, after I paid for the gas on my credit card I noticed Don had not charged us anything for his services.
Don would not accept any money for his help with the tire and the use of his shop! I even tried to give him the twenty I had in my pocket, but Don wouldn?t accept any money. Don just said ?Welcome to Kansas?, I think I considered moving to Kansas at that point.
Finally Don drove us the Museum (which was really nice) and picked us up later. Another side note: Hutchinson also is the home of large salt mines, which you can tour, and sound very interesting; in fact I think there is even a show on the history channel about these mines being used for government storage of documents. The flight home was as easy as the flight down. I am definitely glad to have met Don Rogers from Wells aircraft. He really saved our weekend.
Bryan
