We made it!

We made it into Marseilles airport just a little late this morning. Considering it was a transatlantic flight, it went remarkably smoothly. We're already having a great time. I'm dual tasking as we speak - bouncing my charming niece and typing. Tim's drawing all the different spidermen with Jack.

(Sorry it's sideways - I can't figure out how to rotate it. In the meantime, if you turn your head to the right just so, it should make sense.)
Hopefully I'll write more coherently tomorrow once I've gotten caught up on sleep.

On our way

2:30am traffic on the Bay Bridge. This, along with the nonexistent security line at the airport, is a small redeeming benny for an o'dark thirty flight out of SFO.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Unnamed Rd,San Francisco,United States

list making and packing

So yet again, I'm dusting off the blog for our next adventure. Tomorrow morning at an obscenely early hour, Tim and I are heading out the door to make our way to Aix en Provence, France. My sister, Meg, had a baby girl on 1 September. We had originally planned to go out there in September, but for various reasons, we decided to wait. We can't wait to meet our newest niece, Kate, and have a bunch of fun with Meg, Alex, and Jack.

The trip is mostly about catching up with family, but the great thing about having a sister who lives in a great place like Aix en Provence is that we can do some great exploring and adventuring while we're at it. {The obvious down-side is that she and her family live so dang far away}

When we originally scheduled our flight, I didn't realize that I'd have today off for Veteran's Day. But I am so thankful that I do. I'm not quite sure how we'd manage it, if not. Speaking of which, I'd better get running. I've got a thousand things to do before Tim gets home from work. I never know what kind of internet connections we'll have along the way, but I hope to keep this updated with photos (and possibly videos) as often as possible...

Pictures

Hi Everybody, just wanted to share some more pictures from the second half of the trip. More will be available on the Flickr page soon. Enjoy!

Douglas, WY







The Rockies starting to come in to view now as we head towards Idaho. Cruising at roughly 10,500 ft now.



Logan, UT.



The Great Salt Lake! Gorgeous.



Takin' the reigns... "What's the big deal?"




Winnemucca, NV. Weather starting to build as we work through the decision of what to do next.


Back to Winnemucca on Wednesday to give it another try. Weather looks much, much better now.



Lake Tahoe with Truckee buried under the fog bank.




Sudden transition from the Sierras to the wine country of Norcal.


...almost....




There!




At home at last!


This was a once in a lifetime experience and it was great to share it with all of our friends and family! We've enjoyed keeping this blog so much we've decided to keep it as a journal of our experiences as new aircraft owners. Many thanks to our family and friends, especially Paul, Nikki, and Elizabeth for taking care of the Hogan dog, encouragement, and all the rides to the airport!

Keep checking back and thanks again for all the well wishes!

The end of one chapter

We couldn't have asked for a better ending to our journey. I picked Tim up from work this afternoon, and we headed over to the Lodi airport. The winds had picked up a little since the morning, but it was still relatively calm and the skies were blue.

From Lodi we had a short, twenty minute flight to Davis. Paul, Nikki, Joshua and Emmett were standing on the apron, cheering us on as we came in for the landing. It was wonderful to share the moment with them.

So while this is the end of one chapter, we've got many new adventures to follow.
We're really excited about the trips to come as we explore California by airplane.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning to meet up with the Ballard side of the family in Florida. That's going to be another fantastic trip that I'm really looking forward to.

While I'm gone, Tim's planning to spend some time uploading the rest of the photos from the trip, changing the oil, and washing off the bugs on the windshield.

The next chapter begins!

California!

This morning's mission was a success! The weather was perfect and the Sierras were gorgeous - million dollar views of lake Tahoe (pics to follow very soon)

I'm back at work now but we plan on flying the last 20 miles to Davis tonight to park her in her very own spot.

Keep checking back for some amazing pics!




-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Turner Rd,Lodi,United States

Weather looks good!

On our way out to the airport. Should be in Lodi by 9am and not too late for work if all goes as planned.


-- Post From My iPhone

Heading back East

Through the same Tahoe passes we came through two days ago, going in the other direction.

We decided last night that today is the day to head back and reclaim the plane from Winnemucca. We'll stay the night there and head out again at daybreak. We'll fly into Lodi, where Tim will pause to put in a day's work. Then it's on to Davis, the plane's new home.

ETA: 5:30 PM

The weather's looking as promising as it possibly could.

Let's hope the third time's the charm.

Winnemucca

So here is where this phase of the jouney ends. Towering thunderstorms are between us and California. Thankfully the kind people at Winnemuccas flying service agreed to rent us their courtesy car until we're able to come back for the plane.

It's been a FANTASTIC day though. I can't wait to share some of the pics from crossing the Rockies.

One more leg until this journey is complete!




-- Post From My iPhone

It was only an hour of flying...

But it took us over the Rockies.



What an incredible flight!

We're just filling up real quick - not the longer stop we originally planned.

This is pure happiness.

More later...

Fort Bridger, WY

Just a quick update after our first leg of the morning. We took off just as the sun was rising. Once we get some time, we'll have some good photos to share - it was a stunningly beautiful morning.

The original idea was to fly all day and get into Davis shortly before sunset, but we weren't sure how the weather would treat us. So far, everything's looking good for a smooth day, but we'll know more after we sit down and look at the weather again after our next leg.

We haven't had a chance to call our Moms yet, but to all the incredible mothers we know, happy Mother's Day!

What's Douglas, Wyoming known for?

Your trivia question of the day!



Douglas, Wyoming is known as the Jackolope Capitol of the World. Who knew?

But let me back up and explain how we got here.

After our very quick stop at Chamberlain, SD, we continued west through South Dakota and into Wyoming. We passed south of both the Badlands and the Black Hills. Although we could see them in the distance, we didn't get close enough to do any up close gawking. Nonetheless, the landscape we passed over was gorgeous.



The weather all day long today was pretty bumpy, so I decided to take some motion sickness medicine to try to pre-empt any problems. Unfortunately, even though I only took one quarter of one of those teeny pills, the medicine caused me to be excessively sleepy. I didn't exactly expand my navigation skills today.

At any rate, we came to Douglas after another two and half hours in the plane from Chamberlain. Although the weather broadcast said that there was little to no wind, by the time we landed, it was really whipping. Tim made a beautiful landing in the challenging conditions. We got out to stretch our legs and eat some lunch. Tim took a minute to re-evaluate our flight planning before getting back in the plane, only to find out that the airport we were planning to fly into is closed.

While that might not have been a problem a couple states farther east, out here there aren't that many other airports to choose from. So we evaluated a couple different options, chose the best, and started back out to the plane. At which point we found that the wind had picked up even further. As we were standing there deciding what to do, Tim's hat flew off. It was pretty clear that we wouldn't be flying any further today.

Which brings us back to Douglas, Wyoming. We borrowed a courtesy car from the airfield, booked a room with Priceline, and looked for a likely adventure to fill our suddenly free afternoon. We drove a few miles down the road to Ayres Natural Bridge Park, took the camera out, and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon.

This is the courtesy car that we borrowed. A fine automobile.



This is the Natural Bridge.


And these are the red cliffs that surround the park.


You can see more of the pictures from the day here.

Unfortunately, we didn't make it nearly as far as we would have liked today, and we have at least nine more hours of flying left before we get home. So we'll plan to be back in the air at sunrise tomorrow and make it as far as we can get. We'll let you know where we end up.



Surely it's not actually dangerous if it's in quotes.

The first leg of the day

Landed us in Chamberlain, SD.



We didn't meet any people, but we were greeted by an unusual fuel attendent.




The next stop will be another 2 1/2 hours in the air.

Outlook VFR

First look at the weather this morning looks promising. The low ceilings are sticking around a little longer than originally forecasted but they should lift later this morning enough to get to our planned cruising altitude for the first 2 legs - 4,500ft (roughly 3,500ft above the ground). Given the fact that we are a Visual Flight Rules only airplane we'll need to see outside the windows to truly and legally "know" where we're going (our GPS doesn't count here because it's not certified)

So we'll delay our start time by a bit which wouldn't set us back too much and gives us time for Coffee and oatmeal on our way to the airport.

the first stop

We made it without incident back to Minneapolis. Tim's busy taking care of some flight planning details, and then we'll head to bed for an early (early, early) wake up in the morning. The goal is to get off the ground shortly after sunrise to see how far we can make it. But then the one thing we've learned so far is that plans are good to have, but not to rely on.

I'm really looking forward to the flying we have ahead of us. On the first half of the trip, I was really starting to get the hang of navigating. I generally knew within a finger's width where we were. I could identify all the towns we were flying over, and figure out from the angles of the road where we were and what our heading was. The landscape we were flying over was filled with farmland, forests, and towns. But as we head out farther west, the countryside will get steadily less and less populated. Instead of flying in straight lines, we'll be zig-zagging to find the best terrain. I can't wait to see the landscape, and to see how my navigation skills hold up.

I feel like photos never quite do justice to the way it feels, partly because of the limitations of taking pictures through the plexiglass windows, and partly because there's just no way to encapsulate the experience. But I'll do my best, and see how it turns out.

I'm also really excited at the possibility of flying through Mountain Home. I loved Idaho when I lived there, and I hope to be able to share a little of that with Tim, even if it's an abbreviated visit.

We'll see what unfolds in the next 24 hours...

Don't stop... believin'

We've elevated these last couple weeks from trip status to "Journey" status now. Last week I created a window of opportunity in my calendar at work for us to fly out and bring the plane home but with questions about the airplane being ready, weather, airline ticket prices, and a myriad of other stars needing alignment, things were looking pretty grim.

But, at the very last possible moment this morning, I got the text message that the plane was flown and everything checks out for the trip back west! Miraculously, airline tickets were not only available, but hadn't risen in price.

Even though every step of the way becomes a new evaluation point to turn back, the plan right now is to fly out at noon tomorrow, grab the charts and gps from the plane on our way to the hotel, pre-dawn patrol wakeup on Saturday, and be wheels off the ground by 6am. The idea is to get to Mountain Home, ID (Caroline's first duty station actually) and overnight there. That should give us a fairly light day on Sunday or travel buffer if need be. Total flight time will be around 14 hours given our zig-zag path through the Rockies.

Packing list:
- Underwear for 2 nights
- Warm clothes
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Work computer (to VPN in if need be... otherwise it's junk weight)
- Flight planning papers
- Tuna kits for lunch with almonds and trail mix as a snack
- Plenty of water
- Fancy new Osprey rolling luggage carry on case. (Lightest cu. in. per pound at REI)

Like I said before, we re-evaluate every step for a go-no go decision but so far, things are go!

History of 55C: Part 1

Here is the first installment of hopefully many more that highlights some of the cool history of this classic airplane. Taken around 1940, the photo is of the previous owner, Hal S. (on the right in the flight helmet and goggles) in front of what I'm told is a Fleet 7 biplane. When I opened this at work for the first time I found myself completely lost in thought for about half an hour thinking about what was going on that day and piecing together what little I know about him. Here, he's at the airport with some buddies maybe just chocking the airplane after a discovery flight with the guy on the left.

Maintenance update

I just got word from the maintenance shop that the shoulder harnesses and tail pull handles were installed without any issues. What this also means is nothing new was found in the process of pulling back the headliner or crawling down the belly of the fuselage. All good things!

I also got word that the magneto is done and should be arriving in the mail today. If things continue to go smoothly, the plane will be buttoned up and ready for an acceptance flight and hopefully the trip to her new home.



-- Post From My iPhone

For now.

So Tim and I decided to leave the plane here to get the maintenance it needs, while we head back to California this afternoon.  I can't say that there's not a little bit of disappointment that we won't be able to fly ourselves home and arrive in style.  While both of us know that we really couldn't have wished things to turn out any better, I can't help but feel a like a kid who dropped my ice cream cone.  "But I really waanted to fly back home through South Dakota and over the Rockies!"

For a while we tried to convince ourselves that it would make good sense to find a way to come back and finish the trip we started.  If nothing else, we've had a heckuva time sharing our adventures so far on this blog and with everyone commenting.  It's definitely anti-climatic to end it by boarding a commercial flight.  But ultimately our adult selves won out, and we realized that as much as we wanted to, we just couldn't justify the time and costs to come back here ourselves.   So we'll head back home, and Tim's coordinating with a flight instructor to fly our plane back sometime in the next week or two.

In the meantime, we'll continue our adventures (on the ground and in the air) back in California.  I'll see if I can do better about posting them here.  We've got a list of places we want to go that grows longer every time we think about it.

So....  That's all folks.  For now.

We'll be back!

Slight change of plan

For the last few days 55C has been at the maintenance shop receiving a few minor fixes and having things looked over by an aircraft mechanic I've known for a while. Nothing major was found but the mechanic did find an issue with one of the airplane's magnetos, no not an evil super-villain flying around inside the engine, but a device made of copper wiring and magnets that spins and generates an electrical pulse to the spark plugs. The mechanic tells me that having the magneto refurbished is very straightforward but unfortunately it won't be available until Monday - not in time for our planned Friday departure.

The magneto's job is to deliver electricity to the spark plug just as the piston is near the top of its travel in the cylinder. The spark ignites the fuel and air mixture pushing the cylinder back down and providing the engine power.

When this spark isn't timed correctly the engine doesn't produce the optimum amount of power. In this case the tachometer read a 150 drop in RPM during runup and the magneto was found to be 20 degrees off of the proper timing. This is problematic because we will be needing all the power and ignition redundancy we can get for the trip through the higher elevations going west.

This is about where my technical knowledge of the issue ends. But, while this may seem like a "big deal," magneto issues are not uncommon. In fact, I've returned at least 4 rental aircraft back to the tie down over the course of my training because of a faulty magneto during the engine run-up.

However, plan B is in effect now and we will be shoe horning ourselves into the back of an A320 for the rest of the trip back to California while the plane gets the attention it needs. In the meantime, the folks here have been extremely gracious in letting our bird bed-down in a comfortable hangar for the duration.

Now the question is... how to get it back to California? Will we decide to:

a) Fly back in the next week or two to finish up the adventure?

b) Hire a local pilot to ferry it the rest of the way home? or

c) Say "to heck with the world" stay here, upgrade the panel with a GNS 430 GPS, slap in a few Aspen Avionics PFD/MFDs, Wipline amphibious floats, and have my fly fishing rod meet us in Alaska?

To be continued...