Day 2 to Day 6

Day 2 was a waiting game in Youngstown, OH. Youngstown had lake effect weather and was the only airport in the area that remained IFR most of the day. My time was spent checking updated weather reports, calling Bill and Sheryl for moral support, chatting with the various commercial pilots that came and went and realizing that I really need to get an IFR rating to be able to fly in these situations. Late afternoon the sun came out but there were numerous severe thunderstorms in the area, one of which passed directly overhead. Youngstown was forecasted to be IRF for the next two days and I really needed to get out so made the decision to track the storms using in-flight weather and by just keeping an eye out and either flying around them or landing ahead of them. This was not the safest decision to make and not one that I recommend, but luckily it worked out okay. It was unnerving when tower asked if I was aware of the weather I would be flying into before I left. I said yes and hoped that I would not regret that decision.

After dodging weather, getting caught in a downpour that caused me to to backtrack and fly 360s until it passed, the conditions changed to marginal VFR. Through the setting sun and haze I was able to make it to Indiana. As I made my 10 mile call to Sheridan airfield the radioed response was to repeat my call sign. This was Bill Griffith and Sheryl verifying it was really me! I could hear Sheryl cheering in the background which caused me to tear up. Luckily the cloth I use to check oil was still clean and close by for some eye wipes. Sheryl and Bill Griffith gave me a wonderful, warm welcome and it really felt good to finally be there after two longs days of travel. Sheryl was all teared up, too, so we were quite the pair. Bill filled the fuel tanks of 701 as a contribution to the race for Sheryl and I which was a wonderfully generous gesture. Thank you, Bill!

We had a late night diner at Charlstons where we met the manager, Darren Rice who is a friend of Sheryl's. One of the staff that work with Darren is also flying in the air race - what a coincidence!. Darren bought our dinner (Thank you, Darren!). Afterward we did some flight planning for the next day it was lights out at 12:30 AM!

Day 3 began with yet another severe thunderstorm and lots of rain, but the promise of good weather in the afternoon. With the car packed and plans on running some last minute errands, the car would not start. A neighbor offered a jump start but the battery was not the problem. So, the mechanic was called to tow the car and Sheryl enlisted her daughter Heather to drive us to the airport to wait out the weather.

Sheridan airfield has a courtesy car which we borrowed to get a bite to eat. We packed up the plane and set off uneventfully westward. The plan was to drop down into MO to remove ourselves from the areas forecasting thunderstorms. We flew as far as we could and found ourselves in Hannibal, MO for the night. Fuel in Hannibal as $2.90 which is amazingly cheap. The FBO gave us a car for the night and we found a lovely hotel and restaurant. The restaurant had barbecue on the menu so we each ordered BBQ. Our eyes popped when the plates arrived just heaped with BBQ pork.

Day 4 we awoke to clear skies and high density altitude. We chose Hannibal in part because it had a long runway to allow for poor takeoff performance with the density altitude. As we continued our travels we decided to head for Saline, KS. Strong headwinds resulted in slower speeds than expected so we chose Manhattan, KS as an alternate. With the help of Kansas City air traffic control we were vectored around some heavy rain and ended up landing in Forbes, KS for fuel and to allow time for a front to pass along with its high winds and rain (no thunderstorms this time, at least).

Forbes is a huge airfield so we figured we could wait out the weather and have some lunch. A transport plane carrying 80+ young men and women in dress whites landed so we waited until they departed with hopes that the restaurant would still have food left. They did, but interestingly, only serves one thing - you guessed it, BBQ! So, we had MORE BBQ.

As we were set to depart Forbes I called ground for permission to taxi and my response was "airplane calling, we can't read what you are saying". Oh no, radio issues again. We sat and tried to unsuccessfully troubleshoot the problem. The FBO lineman came out to find out what the problem was and called the FBO manager who is also a pilot. Between the four of us we determined that my intercom box shorted and that a workaround would be for me to use the handheld mike to transmit and receive over the overhead speaker and luckily through my headset. This left Sheryl without an ability to communicate outside the airplane and to have to shout back and forth with me above the din of the airplane engine. Not ideal, but it worked. The hardest part was for me to remember to use the hand mike instead of the push to talk button.

We took off and continued westward. The weather was finally on our side and we flew through clear and sunny skies. We still had a headwind, but less now that the front had passed. Denver was still one fuel stop away but due to the delay in getting out of Forbes it was a challenge to find an airfield with a long enough runway and with fuel services available after normal working hours. Radio calls to upcoming airfields resulted in no response except for Colby - Shalz, KS, which is close to the CO line. The lineman responded saying he would wait for us. We fueled up and started out on our final leg to Centennial, CO.

Skies were clear but density altitude was working against us. Climbing out on the last leg was painfully slow. We were concerned that there may be some airplane performance issues but everything we checked, including magnetos, mixture, RPM, engine gauges, etc were reading fine. We finally achieved a flight level of 8,500 ft which would allow for safe entry into the Denver area. As we arrived into Denver airspace we became very busy in the cockpit. We had to remain below Class B airspace and enter Class D airspace very carefully. We did fine except for the early evening haze and sun slanting down from the west which prevented visual contact with the airfield. We were a mere three miles from the airport when a cloud serendipitously passed over blocking the sun so that we could see the runway. We landed, got ourselves tied down and made our way to the hotel. Due to the late hour, the restaurant at the hotel was closed so we ate at the bar. As we sat there many of the other teams arrived so there were many stories to share.

Day 5

Saturday was busy with air race activities. We applied our numbers and sponsor adverts and we had the airplane inspected. We visited two pilot shops looking for a new communication box and none were to be had. One pilot shop expects to receive on on Monday, so we sit here with our fingers crossed. There was a lovely reception for the racers sponsored by the Colorado 99s. We managed to burn through the day with no down time.

Day 6

Today there were more air race activities including a briefing and air racer banquet. Now that we are on the ground and preparing for the actual race activities we are having fewer adventures, but still having fun. It is great to see so many of last year's racers and so many of the first time racers.

More to follow...