Saturday 9/10/2011 Day 3

In the morning, I returned the airport and asked the airport manager to take my photo by a Brinkley Airport sign, but sadly he said the town council was too cheap to buy one.  So he gave me a souvenir to prove I was actually there; an authentic “HENRY’S AERIAL, Brinkely, AR” hat.  Nice gentleman. 

I took off from Brinkley in clear skies heading west, following I-40 toward Little Rock.  The air was smooth and cool – a delightful morning to fly at 1000 AGL.  About 16 miles east of North Little Rock Airport, I flew directly over some fish farms.  I later learned that I had flown over the world famous I.F. Anderson Fish Farms, the world’s largest producer of shiner minnows. I landed at North Little Rock Airport and my trial lawyer friend, Rick Beard III, treated me to a late breakfast at his country club and later dropped me back at the airport so I could head west.  I departed Little Rock around 11 a.m. or so heading SW toward Arkadelphia Arkansas (M89).  It was bumpy at 2500 but I had to go that high to clear the ridges. In about an hour, I landed in calm winds at M89.  No one was home, so I took the obligatory photo, gassed up and departed.

I then headed straight west for Durant, OK (KDUA).  During this leg, I noticed that Arkansas has a lot of trees with only logging roads.  For safety, I flew higher than normal.  Although the visibility was still great, and it was sunny, some cumulus clouds started to form and pretty soon, The Champ got wet.  Off to my right, I could see the ridges of northern Arkansas that prompted a cautionary note on sectional charts “RAPIDLY RISING TERRAIN, Use Caution during periods of low ceiling and visibility.”  Not to worry, the terrain was north of my flight path.  We passed Lake Hugo off to our right, the rain started to abate but it was still bumpy.  As I approached Durant, OK, winds were reported at 90 degrees to the runway gusting to 14 knots.  Rather than tackle a gusty crosswind on an asphalt pavement, I elected to bypass Durant and continue on to Gainesville Texas where there are two runways so I’d have a better chance of landing with a small crosswind component – that’s one of the reasons I carry 24 gallons of fuel with two wing aux tanks.  We flew over the southern end of Lake Texahoma and after 3 hours and 13 minutes arrived at Gainesville, TX.  Landing turned out to be a piece of cake because the winds died down to 8 knots.  I gassed up, had some help from the airport manager to tie down The Champ, signed up for the Gainesville Airport Courtesy Car, rented a room, ate a slab of ribs and went to bed. 

Day 2 KY TN into Arkansas

I awoke to gentle rain drops in Carbondale, IL.  Scattered light showers, ceilings of 4000 with viz of 6 miles or better with blue skies to the south, convinced me to launch.  I said goodbye to my son, his wife, and my granddaughter, and took off around 8:44 a.m., heading straight south under overcast with scattered showers, but good visibility, to Cairo, IL at the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

I departed Cairo, heading SSE toward Fulton, KY but as I crossed the Mississippi River (the first time); I took a photo of the I-57 bridge.  A few miles down the road, I crossed the Mississippi (the second time) and could not resist taking a photo of a barge pushing cargo northbound.  Next stop was at Fulton KY where I joined the original path of the Buck brothers.  I met two pilots who liked The Champ, one stating that was the first plane he ever flew.  I departed in sunny skies, heading a few miles SW to Union City, TN (where Kern Buck found the gas he needed). At Everett-Stewart Regional Airport at Union City, believe it or not, I met two pilots who liked The Champ and one of them started flying in a Champ.  Then, I was off heading southwest toward Dyersburg TN.   I crossed the Mississippi River (the third time), landing in Blytheville, Arkansas.  Weather was severe clear with a gentle 6 knot breeze out of the west. 

Then we were off turning southwest toward Brinkley, Arkansas.  I phoned an old friend of mine in Little Rock, Arkansas, another trial lawyer and we agreed I’d take some time off from the trip for a visit.  So, I decided to stay overnight in Brinkley (the home of Jennifer Flowers).  As I announced our approach into Federer Municipal, the airport manager warned me that men were bailing hay just off the runway.  After we landed, the manager pulled up in a golf cart, with his 8 year old granddaughter driving, and welcomed me.  We talked about The Champ and my flight.  He spontaneously offered me the airport courtesy car and directed me to the best motel in town.  (He didn’t even ask me for any identification!).  Nice folks, those flying folks.

The remnants of TS Lee wreaked havoc in PA and NY. The Aeronca Fly-In in PA was cancelled and the 10th anniversary of 9/11 caused me to rethink my flight path. I decided to avoid the disaster area and begin the flight by heading south from C77. I will intercept the trail of the Buck brothers in Fulton KY. Today, 9/8, The Champ and I lifted off the sod Runway 35 @ C77 and headed south to Carbondale, IL to spend the night with my son, his wife & my granddaughter. I took The Champ to 4,500 feet and picked up a 20K tailwind, making the trip in CAVU conditions in only 3 hours, clocking GS at 101 knots. Landed on RWY 36R into a stiff headwind. The Champ seemed to hover. The landing was a nonevent. One minute we were flying and the next moment we were on the ground, barely moving! A good day for the first day of our trip.

Follow the flight on Facebook

I will also be posting messages on Facebook under my real name “Richard R Haldeman.”  In fact, when I send a SPOT message, it will automatically show up on my Facebook page like this:

Follow my flights in real time.

I will carry a SPOT CONNECT that will transmit my coordinates to a satellite every 10 minutes and, if you want to follow me in “real time” go to this website and book mark it so you can login and see where I’ve been and where I’m at.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0LlxV0k9v6K781U4D82kKITWMqknACf74.

The Champ is flying!

I completed the Champ renovation and the Champ is now flying so I'm still on target to start my Coast to Coast Adventure in September.