Our first stop was at Minden ($5.09/gallon). A radio call advised there were deer on the north end of the runway as I started making announcements to enter the pattern. I called that I'd do a low approach but as I was on final an airport truck radioed that the runway was now clear so we landed.
I noticed the Seattle Avionics chart on the Dynon and in FlyQ didn't match the actual taxiways because from the charts, it appeared we'd have to back taxi. The AFD chart was accurate. We got fuel, used the facilities, chatted with an employee for a few minutes and departed.
The clouds were less broken and more layered as we proceeded East. The wind tool on FlyQ indicated we'd have a tail wind above 9K, so ultimately climbed to 11,500 until we got on the other side of Montgomery and descended to KAUO. Radar was showing precip and we passed through some light showers as we descended to 3500. There were a few planes in the pattern and puddles of water near the terminal. Again, the SA chart didn't match the airport or AFD.
We were marshalled to a tie down spot, unloaded bags onto the golf cart, cleaned the bugs off and covered the plane. I noticed a new ding in the prop either from Minden or Auburn. The line guys at KAUO had a lot of interest in the Cozy and were impressed with the numbers.
As we were driving away from the airport, large raindrops began falling so we felt lucky that we managed to get in without getting soaked. We spent several days at our son's and the weather improved.
I'd promised Chelsea a ride so my son took us to the airport on Sunday. We found some of the rain had gotten into the cabin and was puddled up by the rudder pedals so dried it out with some paper towels. We went for a less than one hour ride at about 2500', over their house and nearby towns. Chelsea complained that the pressure changes did bother her ears but she did really well and enjoyed the experience. She's little short to see out very well so I did do some steeper turns so she could see more of the ground. We landed, cleaned the bugs off and covered the plane. There was plenty of fuel for a few hours so I paid the ramp and fuel bill so there was one less thing to do when we left on Monday.
The weather was getting cooler and days shorter. We planned on departing around 0800. Our son took us to the airport. The plane and cover was covered with dew so shook the cover off, wiped the dew off, loaded and departed.
The wind was out of the West and worse higher. I decided on 6500 since that would keep us out of most of the controlled air space and the wind wasn't terrible. Near Jackson, I called to advise the tower we were transitioning their space and she advised me to call Approach. They had me squawk 0141 as I passed through then switched back to VFR.
There were various airports along the way that had 5K' runways and cheaper fuel and we decided as we approached Vicksburg we could use a break. LuAnn asked if we were going to land in the river as I turned downwind. The ASOS indicated calm but the windsock was showing wind out of the West. I taxied and kneeled the plane near the terminal. The lineman brought the truck over and we got 20 gallons. We chatted for a bit and got to peak inside a a hanger that had a Waco, P51 and other beautiful planes. A red tail P51 was setting on the ramp in front of the hangar. They were having a formation clinic that weekend and would be having a batch of planes showing up.
A Bonanza took off before us and was heading the same direction. We were overtaking him, so decided to climb and soon was 2K' above and 1/2 mile behind him then he turned North to shoot an approach at an airport East of Shreveport. We passed by several towered fields but stayed out of their airspace while monitoring their tower. As we got closer to home, I added Eagles Nest in as a waypoint and descended to 2500' to get under the Class B shelf. Soon we threaded the needle between Arlington, Meacham and Alliance to get back to T67. It was pretty bumpy. My landing was pretty good under the circumstances. I told LuAnn that next time, I think we'll stay higher and come in from the West so we wouldn't get bounced around so much.
The main squawks were the ARINC 429 module was still flakey and there was a deeper chip in the prop that needed dressed. I opened a case with Dynon to get an RMA and used some JB Weld to fill the ding in the prop. I also scheduled a flight review with my old CFI to fulfil a promise to give him a ride. I also added some yarn to the wall map and counted about 20 states we've flown over since last year.
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