Several times a year beginning in the Spring, I commit to helping with maintenance on our family's 3rd generation homestead in Nebraska. At least when we fly, we wait for acceptable weather and can make the trip in around 5 hours with one potty break for my coffee drinking passengers. Traveling solo with no stops, the trip takes about 3.5 hours. Driving takes around 12 hours with three or four stops.
This year, my wife and daughter sauntered off to Cancun for Mother's day. A quick solo trip to Nebraska would be an opportunity for me to shake out any issues that may have been caused by recent Cozy maintenance. New brake shoes and other brake parts, motor mounts, tweaked oil exhaust vent scoop were the main items to check.
One of my sisters planned on picking me up in Sidney NE (KSNY) on Friday. I saw LuAnn off on her Mexican trip with our daughter and then I departed Hicks T67 (Fort Worth) at 0830. I made a quick stop at XBP Bridgeport TX for 35 gallons of cheap gas then headed for F05 (Vernon TX). I hadn't filed a flight plan since I wasn't sure exactly what time I was departing. The winds weren't going to be favorable later, so stopping sooner at XBP was ideal with calmer wind.
After departing Bridgeport TX, ATC was busy near the Class B so I opted to get out towards Wichita Falls before requesting Flight Following. The Avidyne's Nearest frequency was selected for ATC. After monitoring for awhile and nearing Vernon TX (F05), I'd weave by MOAs near Sheppard and Altus. A call to ATC resulted in an immediate hand off to a controller that was having a busy and bad day. "Listen to me everyone...you need to pay attention...there's multiple aircraft with similar call signs..." I was on my best behaviour and continued North at 8500' where there was the least amount of headwind. I punched in different VOR's to see if there were any active. I noticed that Dynon had one VOR that the Avidyne didn't list and it was active. Then I noticed that the nearest ATC frequencies in the Dynon weren't exactly the same as the Avidyne. Switching between the frequencies, could hear some were weaker or stronger. Good to know though. After awhile, ATC handed me off to KC Center and then Denver who advised the Cougar MOA was hot. I punched in Scott City Kansas KTQK and Oakley (OEL) as waypoints to avoid the big grey birds not showing up on ADS-B. The new Lightspeed Delta Zulu's were slightly uncomfortable on top of my ball cap, so I adjusted them a little and took off the cap.
Denver Center advised they might lose me for awhile but should get me back closer to my destination KSNY Sidney Nebraska. There were a lot of contrails near V6 and V80 and as I neared them, started getting tossed around so backed the speed off. About 30 miles from Sidney, began decending and called ATC to advise. They terminated flight following and I mentioned the turbulence near Haxton, Holyoak and Sidney. A PIREP for turbulence was for FL36 about 40 miles NW.
The wind had changed at KSNY while I was en route and Rwy 31 was now favored. A Skylane was West of the field about 5 miles and I was about 6 South. They advised they'ed continue downwind and turn in behind me.
Taxiing to the ramp, what a surprise to see a canard setting in front of the FBO. George and Jake (locals) are looking at a Variez with it's cowls off. George points me to the transient hangar where we unload some items from the Cozy that my sister had me pick up in FTW. There wasn't any room for passengers this trip. George asks how long I'll stay and how much fuel I need. Unsure of the departure date, wind & weather I opt to hold off on fuel until I get ready to head back. If I have a tail wind, I won't need fuel. Ha. Tail wind. That's a unicorn.
The Variez did a precautionary stop on its way from Minnesota after developing an oil leak at the alternator gasket. Not much I could do to help and he was in good hands with George and Jake.
My sister and brother-in-law stopped in Sidney at an old style restaraunt for lunch. We remembered the last time we flew in and stopped for lunch, tornado sirens were going off and one touched down just North of town. After lunch, we drive 30 miles to the farm/ranch. The land is between flat table land and the North Platte River valley with pine tree covered hills that our city cousins used to call mountains. None of the fields on the place are farmed anymore and were planted back with grass when my dad retired. A brother-in-law of one my sisters now rents the pastures. Mending barbed wire fences and well maintainance are annual tasks. Last year, we replaced the rod, pipe and cylinders in one of the 180' deep wells using the same tools my 100 year old had dad used as long as I can remember. Another well needed multiple sections of pipe and cylinder replaced. We had a small disaster when the pipe slipped through a dog and dropped down the well. We managed to get a pipe threaded into the pipe that dropped and pulled it back up. The pipe and cylinders can last 7 or more years but at minimum, the cylinders usually need new leathers and often the pump rod wears thin spots in the pipe. This year, the windmills we had worked on are in good shape, but the Dempster windmill at the house has a broken brace on the wheel and the yaw bearing seems to be shot. Despite that, it still pumps. As a back up, another well with a pump jack can be used to fill tanks. We're planning on drilling a new well to replace the old windmill this summer and will use solar and commercial power for pumping. It's not far to water here and a submersible pump will be much easier to maintain.
I'd gotten texts that the girls had arrived and my daughter posted some beach and resort photos.
On the list of tasks, we keep most of the vehicles running and use them periodically. We charged batteries on several of the ones that had sat most of the winter. One of my least favorite to start (by hand) is an old John Deer Model A farm hand tractor. Surprisingly, it only took a couple of pulls on the flywheel and quick manipulation of the choke and throttle. It's first task was to haul off the piles of tree branches that my relatives had gathered that had fallen off the trees around the farm houses. Lack of power steering on the tractor resulted in sore shoulder muscles the next day. We got Starlink last year but the WiFi didn't reach the other house so I installed a repeater to extend coverage to the other house.
One of the solar pumps needed attention so we took dad's 48 Willys Jeep up in the hills and pulled the pump. The pump had an aluminum case and electrolosis was starting to erode it. We replaced the sock type filter, cleaned the stainless steel screen and solar panels.
Friday evening, we decided to go to Bridgeport NE for dinner but my brother-in-law decided a steak place in Scottsbluff sounded better. We picked up a friend in town to go along with us. After dinner, we stopped at Harbor Freight to buy some wrenches. I bought a set of metric stubby ratchets.
My brother-in-law had a commitment on Sunday morning so Dot & I were on our own. She mowed and I worked on vehicles. We went up in the hills to check the head on decomissioned windmill and found it was pretty similar to the one at the house that needs repairs. The renter offered to bring a bucket truck over after they were done getting cow calf pairs sorted and herded to different pastures. It was too windy to work on the mill and since it was still pumping and there was some redundancy with the other well, we opted to pursue other options in the mean time. I scavenged some parts off a retired windmill wheel and assessed another windmill head as a possible spare. A company still makes and sells most parts on eBay for quite a few different brands of windmills.
The next task was to retrieve the 37 Chevy pick up from the "junk pile".
My grandfather had given me a highly used rusty, bent, parts missing 1937 Chevy truck in 1981. In 2014, one of my nephews asked for the truck. I said okay, but I want it back if you haven't done anything with it by the time I finish my plane, he agreed (but hadn't touched it since). One of my cousins (another grandson) had sent me a photo of a much newer truck that he'd restored. I felt compelled to save this truck from turning into a pile of rust and asked him if he'd like to restore it. He was excited to get Grandpa's old truck and was able to come from Wyoming on Monday with his son to load it up.
My sister & I had taken my dad's pick up to town on Monday with empty gas cans and got them filled. Most of it will be used for mowing, some for the old Willy's Jeep and other vehicles. We also got groceries, including some awesome fried chicken and other food from the local grocery store. I ran into a high school classmate.
We initially had some fun getting the 37 Chevy title straightened out. The county courthouse actually still had the title in their system so we were able to get a new title and sign it over to my cousin with a notorized bill of sale.
We left town with renewed registration on the truck we were driving so I was less inclined to maintain the speed limit with the aroma of fresh hand breaded fried chicken to eat. We'd already said hi to the Sherriff at the courthouse. The Nebr. State Patrol are notorious for pulling people over for speeding just a few miles an hour over the limit, but the highway out of town just has a few big hills to be careful on as you go over them.
We got to the farm and my cousin Tom and his son Tyler were drooling on the old rusty truck. We tried to winch the truck onto their trailer. The front end went on straight but the back tires were crusty and flat and not following the front. I got the farmhand fired up, hooked a chain onto the rear of the truck and lifted it while they winched, then lowered it in place.
The chicken, macaroni salad and watermelon for lunch couldn't have been better. About like what my mom would have fixed.
Tom said Google gave them notoriously bad directions and as a result drove 18 miles on dirt roads.
After lunch, Tom wanted the grand tour of the vehicles, most still run but have deficiencies like brakes don't work on the 63 Chevy, the hoist on the grain truck isn't working (again), the Dodge Dynasty needs a fuel pump, the 55 Ford hasn't been started for over 10 years. My dad's (original owner) 1948 Willys CJ2A Jeep fired right up. It has over 80,000 miles on it, most of them checking cattle, fixing fences and windmills. There's my mom's 1959 FC150 Jeep that runs but smokes pretty bad. A couple other vehicles are licensed and dependable despite having plastic on them.
We put the trailer in the shade and tied the truck down. A few wild turkeys going after grasshoppers nearby entertained us for awhile. We've had other wild game (deer, elk, bobcats), but the most concerning is we've had recently are mountain lions walking around one of the houses at night. Recently a pack of 7 or 8 coyotes were in the same area. My sister carries a pistol loaded with .410 snake loads and buckshot for protection. They have a small dog that needs to go outside at night so it is escorted. We have to keep noxious weeds under control and have to walk canyons to get to some of them, so need to look in the trees before you walk under them. I can remember one time when I was maybe 7 years old, climbing through a barbed wire fence on my way to the neighbors a mile away through the hills and saw a coyote about as big as me setting not far away just looking at me. I hollered at it and threw some rocks that fell far short. It stood up and walked away unconcerned.
My sister's husband got back to the ranch in time to help tie the truck down. We worked on other miscellaneous items and had left overs for supper. I emailed George that I'd like 10 gallons of fuel and would depart Tuesday morning. I thought I'd have adequate fuel to make it non-stop.
Our cousin's departed before it got dark and we gave them directions to the nearest paved road 3 miles away. I touched base with the renter about our plans to either repair the mill or replace it with a solar pump and said we'd be back in a few weeks.
Tuesday morning I was dropped off at the airport and paid for 4 nights of transient hangar rent ($25/night) and 10 gallons of fuel. I only had two bags to load and did a preflight. The Variez was waiting on a gasket. Previous weather checks was showing a bit of a guantlet regarding the wind. Further East would be worse. My ideal path was through the Cougar MOA (East of Denver), but I planned on a reverse path since it was likely to be hot again.
After taking off, I quickly texted LuAnn that I'd departed before I lost service. Denver ATC was busy and intermittently weak. Soon they were calling for radio checks with some clear and some weak. I climbed to 9500 which seemed to be most favorable (least bad) then called ATC for flight following.
Initially, it looks like I should be able to land with the requisite VFR reserve. Periodically check the sight gauges, electronic gauges, headwind and ground speed. Should be okay. Then I remembered I'd forgotten to stretch my feet and leg muscles before departing. I've had some pretty bad cramps on longer flights in the past. I'd had a banana for breakfast and I pack 6 .oz bottles of pickle juice, but the best remedy for me so far has been to stretch. I put one foot on the bulkhead between the rudder pedals and stretch my thigh muscles and alternate legs. Preferably, I do stretches before boarding.
After a while, Denver hands me off to KC and then FTW as I get near Altus. Oddly, two different controllers asked type and destination again. The fuel gauges tell me that I have plenty of range in miles but not quite 30 minutes at cruise power. There's some good alternates on the way so decide Graham TX would be a good stop and advise ATC. I begin decending and the fuel goes forward in the tanks which makes it look like there's quite a bit less fuel. In hindsight, I could have leveled off to make sure, but stopping sooner wasn't a big deal. I see Altus on the left and cancel flight following, then do a spiraling turn to get below Altus AFB towered airspace.
There's two aircraft making calls at Altus Quartz Mtn. There's also some big grey tankers crossing in front of me not showing on ADS-B. The GA aircraft at Altus Quartz Mtn. are stepping on each others transmissions. One has landed so I called for the other's position (last I gleaned from his call was ....entering on the 45...). The guy in the Centurion not so helpfully answered he was in front of the hangar when the other guy (not on ADS-B) was answering and stepped on him again. As I crossed over midfield, could see a small biplane was taxiing from the runway to the FBO, apparently he did a short approach. Someone reminded me that 17 was a right pattern as I was doing left base to final for 17. I acknowledged and added that I'd lost sight and communications with the other aircraft. I should have done a left 360 and then entered the right downwind. The disadvantage of that is in the Cozy, sitting on the left, visibility of the runway in a right pattern is not good.
One of the line two line guys walking up, carrying chocks "said I guess you don't need these" as I was lowering the nose. The new line guy said he hadn't fueled a canard before so watched the same guy that fueled several of us recently when we were doing formation flying with Mark Richardson, Jay Van Every and Troy Chaddon. I asked for 20 gallons knowing that 10 was enough to get me home, plus I'd have whatever was left in the tanks.
Departing Altus to the South, I did a slow climb to avoid high temps and busting the airspace. Punched in F05 (Vernon TX/Wilbarger Airport), then T67 on both the Skyview and IFD. I'd noticed previously that the magenta line didn't seem to switch when I added a waypoint on Skyview. Also as I got near Vernon, noticed I was a bit to the East of the course. I tapped the NAV button on the AP panel again and noticed the status changed so possibly when I initially engaged the AP, it wasn't in NAV mode. Sometimes it's still a mystery what it's going to do when forgetting to set IAS, VS, ALT etc. Usually, if you punch enough buttons, it will submit. Dynon has been putting out more videos, but usually operation is intuitive except when it's not.
I'm monitoring ATC but don't have an appetite for getting handed off quickly four times when it's hot, busy and bumpy so stay VFR and out of everyone's airspace. Turning SE, finally my groundspeed is higher than TAS. Looking at current fuel, I would have only had about 15 minutes reserve, so it was a good thing to have more fuel.
My iPad displays temp warning from being in the sun so I position it on top of my flight bag with the vent pointed at it. Another anomoly that I'd noticed is that sometimes traffic would show on my phone running FlyQEFB, but not on the iPad or the Skyview panel. I think the settings are to filter anything more than 15 NM or 3500' above or below out on each handheld device, so not sure what's going on there.
Soon I see an airport by a lake and recognize that it's Jacksboro so that means I'm getting close to Bridgeport. The VSR is indicating close to 500 FPM. I increase the mixture and start the decent. I noticed the aft cylinders run cooler than 2 & 4 at higher airspeeds. The NACA diffuser and ramps seem to be optimized for cruise around 170 KTAS. I'll have to take a microscope to the EFIS data to see if the oil exhaust scoop (on an 18 row top mounted cooler) made much difference.
I've had XBP and T67 unicoms dialed up. Glad I'm not landing at XBP as there's a big wad of students and instrument practice approaches there. I make an advisory call that I'm transiting over Bridgeport and soon dial up Copeland since there's choppers in the pattern there and one on the way from Meacham. It's hot and bumpy at pattern altitude near Hicks T67. When turning final, notice our PAPI's are back on line! They've been OOS since a cub ground looped and took the North one out last year.
LuAnn has the hangar door open for me so I taxi in and shut down ready for a break. Dang it's getting hot. Summer is here. I haven't found any items worthy of grounding the Cozy for, so it's ready for more trips soon.
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