I needed to make another trip to KSNY but this time went solo since my daughter and wife had other plans. There was enough fuel to easily make it to Clinton OK CLK in 1:10 and then to SNY (2:20). The weather was beautiful and the MOAs were cold since it was on a Saturday. I talked with the Tower at Garden City on the Dynon radio and they didn't complain about the audio, so the sensitivity adjustment and mic placement helped. The plane was put into the transient hangar and 10 gallons of gas was added.
Several tasks were completed at the farm, but some weren't because the weather turned crappy intermittently on both the departure and destination ends (KSNY-T67). Initially, I thought maybe I would head back Monday afternoon, but it would have been getting dark at T67 when I arrived and the runway lights aren't as bright as they could be currently. So I waited the weather out and found a window where it looked like I should be able to get back into the DFW area on Friday afternoon despite cumulonimbus clouds and thundershowers predicted.
It was cold Friday morning -14F at the farm, then about 28 by the time we got to SNY close to 0900. I inquired about hangar status as I paid for fuel and storage. I might still be able to get a T-hangar when someone moves into one of the new hangars, but the completion of the new hangars has been taking longer than expected. One of my nephews and sisters saw me off. The heater worked good and when the sun shined into the canopy got even warmer. I flew to Scott City TQK and this time there wasn't anybody at the terminal, probably because the weather had been overcast. The ADS-B weather was showing a lot of IFR airports along and to the East of my usual path back towards WWR so I diverted towards Childress to stay out of the MOAs and stayed South of Altus and Sheppard's airspace. I did monitor traffic and had a couple of Blackhawks in the clouds less than 10 miles from me when I was close to Wichita Falls. I'd also spotted several flocks of migrating birds (cranes, ducks & others).
I used the Dynon Nearest feature and cycled to the WX tab to see the METAR conditions quickly of the airports along my route. Graham RPH, Bridgeport XBP, Bowie and Decatur are usually alternates along that route but Decatur was showing IFR. Bridgeport was showing VFR or MVFR and Graham was VFR. I'd had to drop down to 2500 MSL and pulled the power back but was still cruising about 150 KTAS. The visibility was pretty good despite the lower ceiling. A layer of fog was scattered and was probably around 1500 MSL. I neared Bridgeport and despite it showing VFR, the scattered fog seemed to be at pattern altitude, yet clearer to the West and South. I wasn't hearing any traffic at some of the local airports but not surprising as thunderstorms had been passing through to the East. As I got near Hicks, I could see the airport but also see what was red, yellow and green on the radar. I crossed the lake and could see the runway but also there was a downpour just south of the runway. I turned back to the West and got fuel at MWL. A friend back near T67 confirmed on a phone call that the sun was now shining so 20 minutes later, I landed in sunshine and puddles on the runway. One of the old timers on the 1st taxiway gestured wings rocking with his arms. The weather was nice and warm for now. Three days later, checking Flightaware, I was still the third to last plane to land since the weather got bad again. I definitely felt blessed to have been able to find that window (using windy.com) in the weather otherwise I'd probably be setting in Nebraska with snow on the ground.
One of the main squawks on this trip is the copilot side display rebooted twice. The EFIS data does show the voltage changing .1 and the current changed a tiny bit when the screen rebooted. Not sure if this is a cause or a symptom. I ordered another Dynon back up battery and will install it today to see if that helps. Also my ARINC-429 module is supposed to be on it's way back but the shipping number seems to be invalid. The logged flight time for N724 is now at 150 hours (Hobbs 156 Tach 119.5).
Saturday, a fellow and his family came out to check out the Cozy. He'd like to buy one but was wondering how well he'd fit. He climbed into mine and I forgot to have him put his feet in front of the pedals so he was concerned that his knees would be hitting the panel. We went over to another hangar where he climbed into a LongEZ and found when his feet were in front of the pedals, he was more comfortable.
The formation flying clinic is coming up in Houston so I'll make reservations, read the FFI material and prepare for that next.
I also want to add another column to my electronic logbook to count non-solo/passenger flights.
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