Charlie
New member
Albuquerque, NM
- Aircraft Year
- 1973
- Aircraft Type
- 112 Hot Shot
- Reg Number
- Former Owner N1094J
Got to take a great cross country this past weekend, from home base in Albuquerque to New Jersey & back. It was an incredible adventure & I was blessed with superb weather (nearly) all the way. The purpose was to pick up six antique wooden chairs my wife found on eBay, to match an antique oak dining table we picked up last Fall. After 20+ years of the same set, it was time for an upgrade. And any excuse to go flying!!!
Left KAEG at sunrise Friday morning - clear skies, cool and smooth. Fuel stop was in Marshall, MO at 5 hours, then on to Indiana, PA - another five hours with some weaving in and out of clouds at 11.5. Got a very sombering view of the massive flooding in the Midwest. The FBO at KIDI was great. Rick set me up with an overnight courtesy car and knew the best Italian restaurant in town. He met me early to fuel up on Saturday & then on to Sussex, NJ, about 1.5 hours eastbound into nearly IFR haze in the early morning sun. I'd almost forgotten how hazy it can be on the East Coast. (Reminded me of my student days in Norfolk, VA where 10 miles was an incredible visibility day!) Sussex is the closest airport to the seller, who is in Milford, PA. He met me at the airport, but was about 1/2 hour late. That was ok, as it gave me time to watch the nearly non-stop flow of parachute jumpers coming down at the field. It was an interesting approach, as a hill was just about smack in the middle of base. Going around the hill on base you almost lose sight of the airport but can see into the large windows of the house on top of the hill! After loading up and fueling up, headed to Bedford, IN for a fuel stop - this is where things got interesting. Beford has no taxiways; two runways that form an X. I landed & was taxing back, always calling out on Unicom. As I was about 100 yards from the intersection a Vans came screaming down the other runway - he had never made a call. Unfortunately for him he groundlooped, so I decided it wasn't worth discussing the "right" way to communicate. Headed to Springfield, MO for overnight; up to 12k to get above the haze with sun in my eyes. It was very scenic up there, and having weather on Foreflight let me be more alert of the huge storm system heading towards my path that I could clearly see. No hangar space overnight, but fortunately for 94J the storm never hit the airport. Sunday headed home early with a sunrise departure & fuel stop in Ponca City. On the way home ending up with a beautiful VFR on top at 12.5k with the clouds ending right at the Sandia Mountains by home. Total of 26 hours.
Oh yes, the six chairs were packed into the back (with lots of bubble wrap) without taking the rear seat out, just folded down.... Don't know of any other plane that they could have fit in. Yes, the picture is of the chairs.... Forgot to get a good pic with them in 94J. And yes, my wife is happy....too!
Left KAEG at sunrise Friday morning - clear skies, cool and smooth. Fuel stop was in Marshall, MO at 5 hours, then on to Indiana, PA - another five hours with some weaving in and out of clouds at 11.5. Got a very sombering view of the massive flooding in the Midwest. The FBO at KIDI was great. Rick set me up with an overnight courtesy car and knew the best Italian restaurant in town. He met me early to fuel up on Saturday & then on to Sussex, NJ, about 1.5 hours eastbound into nearly IFR haze in the early morning sun. I'd almost forgotten how hazy it can be on the East Coast. (Reminded me of my student days in Norfolk, VA where 10 miles was an incredible visibility day!) Sussex is the closest airport to the seller, who is in Milford, PA. He met me at the airport, but was about 1/2 hour late. That was ok, as it gave me time to watch the nearly non-stop flow of parachute jumpers coming down at the field. It was an interesting approach, as a hill was just about smack in the middle of base. Going around the hill on base you almost lose sight of the airport but can see into the large windows of the house on top of the hill! After loading up and fueling up, headed to Bedford, IN for a fuel stop - this is where things got interesting. Beford has no taxiways; two runways that form an X. I landed & was taxing back, always calling out on Unicom. As I was about 100 yards from the intersection a Vans came screaming down the other runway - he had never made a call. Unfortunately for him he groundlooped, so I decided it wasn't worth discussing the "right" way to communicate. Headed to Springfield, MO for overnight; up to 12k to get above the haze with sun in my eyes. It was very scenic up there, and having weather on Foreflight let me be more alert of the huge storm system heading towards my path that I could clearly see. No hangar space overnight, but fortunately for 94J the storm never hit the airport. Sunday headed home early with a sunrise departure & fuel stop in Ponca City. On the way home ending up with a beautiful VFR on top at 12.5k with the clouds ending right at the Sandia Mountains by home. Total of 26 hours.
Oh yes, the six chairs were packed into the back (with lots of bubble wrap) without taking the rear seat out, just folded down.... Don't know of any other plane that they could have fit in. Yes, the picture is of the chairs.... Forgot to get a good pic with them in 94J. And yes, my wife is happy....too!
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