Better to visit St. Louis when it is cold than on a 110
degree summer heat wave. You can dress to stay warm, but
you can't cool off when outside.

As for Lindbergh, you should read his War Diary, as a
civilian working for Henry Ford as a tech rep, he flew
combat in the Pacific and if I remember the details, would
have been an Ace. He also was a war criminal and if the
Japanese had captured him he would have be executed, since
he was not in the military. Like a lot of people before
December 7, 1941, he was against the USA joining the war in
Europe. After Pearl Harbor he tried to re-up and was banned
by FDR. Henry Ford hired him to get the aircraft production
lines going.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"John Doe" wrote in message
nk.net...
| You should have landed at St Louis Downtown. The view is
out of this world.
| The kids would have been able to see the arch from the air
and you get right
| on the freeway/bridge to downtown St Louis and avoid any
bad parts of town.
|
| I spent 4 years there and never had an issue. What a
great place to fly out
| of.
|
|
| "Jay Honeck" wrote in message
| news:bBbKf.779091$x96.337555@attbi_s72...
| Four days off, decent flying weather, and a desire to
escape winter.
| Does this sound like aviation heaven, or what?
|
| Well, two out of three ain't bad. Our plan to fly to
the Hangar Hotel in
| Texas (which was 81 degrees last week) was shot down by
a giant arctic
| cold front that rammed 10 degree temperatures all the
way down to the
| Texas panhandle. That, along with freezing rain and
snow, forced us to
| amend our flight plan to...St. Louis.
|
| Why St Louis? It was either that, or Kansas City, and
the kids had been
| clamoring to see the Gateway Arch for years. So, a 9
AM departure and an
| awesome tailwind allowed us to touch down at Spirit of
St. Louis (SUS) in
| just 1:20, with the whole day still ahead of us. The
flight down had been
| completely uneventful, other than KC Center cutting us
off of VFR flight
| following as we approached St. Louis. (What is going on
with ATC that
| they're not handing people off anymore?) No biggy, we
called up STL and
| were cleared into Class Bravo, and were eventually
handed off to Spirit's
| Class Delta control tower.
|
| With our mid-morning Friday arrival we had the place to
ourselves, and the
| folks at Thunder Aviation were cheerful and friendly.
They were very
| helpful setting up our engine heater electric plug-in
(more on that
| later), a rental car, and the pretty girl behind the
desk even called one
| of the line guys into the office to share his voluminous
knowledge of
| local eateries! When asked for a locally-owned,
non-chain, all-day
| breakfast place, he immediately chimed in with
"MiMi's" -- and all the
| heads in the FBO grunted and bobbed in unison -- so we
were soon off to
| find the Mother of all Breakfasts at MiMi's...
|
| We were NOT disappointed. MiMi's is located just a few
minutes from the
| FBO, and is a MUST EAT AT if you're looking for
breakfast near SUS. (They
| have lunch and dinner, too.) With home-made corned-beef
hash, home-made
| stuffed (and cinnamon-raisin) French toast, and awesome
portions, we
| lingered over our third cup of coffee whilst discussing
our weekend plans.
|
| With the temperatures so cold, outdoor activities were
off the agenda --
| but going up in the Gateway Arch was something the kids
had always wanted
| to do, so -- since checking in at our hotel was still
many hours away --
| we headed downtown, map in lap and 25 cents going to the
first kid who
| could spot the Arch...
|
| KSUS is NOT the closest airport to downtown -- however,
we had flown into
| Creve Coeur before, and felt it was time to visit a new
airport. (KCPS,
| St. Louis downtown, looked like another possible
candidate, but its
| proximity to East St Louis meant that it might be
scary -- is it?)
| Luckily, KSUS is right near I-64, which takes you right
downtown, so we
| were at the Arch lickety split.
|
| As many of you know, I'm afraid of heights in buildings.
This bizarre
| phenomenon manifests itself with quickened breathing,
clammy hands, and a
| feeling of impending doom that makes my time spent in
tall buildings
| extremely uncomfortable. Despite this, I was determined
to go up to the
| top with my kids, and I did my best to put
counter-productive thoughts out
| of my mind.
|
| Then, we were led into a large theater where we watched
the documentary
| movie of "the making of" the Gateway Arch -- and I was
treated to 30
| minutes of iron workers dangling from girders 650 feet
in the air,
| wrestling massive pieces of steel into position. Soon,
I was nearly
| hyperventilating, and desperately trying to find a
face-saving way out of
| going up to the top of that lowest-bidder-built
contraption -- but there
| was no way out. At the end of the movie it was time to
get in line, and
| I marched off to meet my fate...
|
| In the mid-60s, my parents had brought me to the Arch,
and I remember
| staring up in awe at the then-brand-new monument to
Thomas Jefferson and
| the westward expansion of the U.S. We never went up in
it, however (the
| elevator -- half amusement park ride, half elevator --
may not have been
| finished yet), so I had no idea what to expect.
Incredibly, the elevator
| takes you to the top of the arch inside a tiny, 5-seat
egg-shaped car, so
| small that I couldn't sit up straight! It goes up,
then over, then up,
| then over, and gives one plenty of time to contemplate
how high we were
| going.
|
| Luckily, it's so uncomfortable that getting out -- even
650 feet up --
| sounded pretty good. They let you out on a fairly
steep stairway, and
| you climb the last twenty or so steps to the observation
deck. I
| unsteadily approached the deck, which is lined with
small windows that are
| more appropriately viewed while kneeling down. (At
least at my height.)
| Strangely, I found this position to be utterly
comfortable, both
| physically and mentally, and I was able to stay up at
the top until my
| kids became bored with the view, and wanted to ride back
down. I think
| the combination of the smaller windows, and the
"on-all-fours" stability
| made the difference, so -- for those who have avoided
the Arch due to
| acrophobia -- fear not! It's a lovely view.
|
| Then, it was off to the hotel. Mary had spent HOURS
finding a place sort
| of like ours, with enough room for a family to stay in
comfort. The
| Residence Inn Downtown was brand-spanking new, and -- at
$135 per night --
| was attractively priced. A 2-room suite, with 2-queen
beds and a pullout
| couch meant that the four of us could sleep in comfort,
and we were the
| very first guests to EVER stay in that suite. They
were having some
| growing pains (HBO wasn't working too well, sinks
weren't draining quite
| right, and they ran out of everything at breakfast) --
but, all in all, it
| was VERY comfortable, and just minutes from everything
in downtown.
|
| Again, on recommendation from the locals, we headed off
to dinner at "The
| Tap Room" ( http://www.schlafly.com/brewpubs.shtml),
which turned out to
| be a wonderful brew pub with great food. They had a
doppelbock seasonal
| brew that was worth the flight to St. Louis, and a
beer-cheese soup that
| was as delicious as it was unhealthy! One of their
employees turned
| out to be a wealth of knowledge about things to do
locally, and told us
| that we absolutely, positively HAD to take the kids to a
place called
| "City Museum" -- which elicited groans from BOTH kids.
(They've been
| "museumed" nearly to death, I'm afraid...)
|
| We'd never heard of it, but he was so adamant that we
jumped it to the
| head of our list for the next day, ahead of the
Anheuser-Busch brewery
| tour...
|
| Then, it was back to the hotel for a long soak in the
hot tub, and off to
| bed. What a great day!
|
| Saturday dawned the coldest EVER for that date in St.
Louis. Yeesh --
| some winter escape! Still, we ate at the hotel's free
breakfast, which
| was adequate. (They actually ran out of coffee, which
is a wonderful way
| to start a riot on a Saturday morning, trust me!) Then,
it was off to the
| "Museum."
|
| City Museum (http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp) is
built in and old (and
| gigantic) shoe factory, and is anything (and everything)
BUT a traditional
| museum. In fact, we were there for seven hours, and my
kids can honestly
| (and ecstatically) boast that they didn't learn ANYTHING
in that entire
| time -- at least not in the traditional sense. The
museum is a rich
| benefactor's LSD acid trip rendition of too-much-money
meets
| amazing-old-industrial-setting. The old roller
conveyors, once used to
| move shoes throughout the factory, have been converted
to people slides.
| That's right, you can slide down a multi-story roller
conveyor, just,
| well, because!
|
| Several floors have been converted to authentic-looking
caves, with many
| nearly inaccessible places that the kids love to
explore. We lost my son
| in there for over an hour. There are hundred-foot-tall
coils of welded
| re-bar, that the kids can crawl around inside of, and
you can climb inside
| one of these wire-mesh tubes all the way up to...a Lear
Jet. Not, one,
| but TWO business jets are mounted on top of welded wire
mesh-accessible
| towers, along with a school bus, a trolley, and a host
of other stuff.
| Why? I have no idea -- but it is WAY cool.
|
| There is also an aquarium with big, plexiglass tubes
that allow you to
| climb around inside the tank with sharks and giant
turtles, and a circus
| (with real acrobats performing), and a skateboard park,
and...it went on,
| and on, and on. At first we thought $72 admission for
the four of us was
| absurdly high, but by the time we left, we realized that
this "museum" was
| truly one of the most amazing places we had ever seen.
|
| If you have kids, and you ever get to St. Louis, you
HAVE to take them
| there. It's that cool.
|
| By the time we got out of there, it was too late to hit
the Budweiser
| tour, so we headed off to the marvelously restored Union
Station for
| dinner. This massive, beautiful, 100+ year old train
station -- once
| destined for the wrecking ball -- had been restored to
its splendor and
| converted to a shopping mall and top-dollar hotel.
Mary and I had
| visited, back when it was first re-opened, but that was
"B.K." (before
| kids), when we had sat in the Hyatt drinking fire-warmed
benedictine and
| brandies with old college friends....
|
| Now, we were drinking diet Cokes and hunting for dinner,
and were beckoned
| into a barbecue joint by a huge black man wearing a
greasy old apron, with
| a cigarette dangling on his lips, shouting "Come and get
it!" as we walked
| by...
|
| We opted for the "Family Dinner" for $30, which included
a rack of ribs,
| half a chicken, mashed potatoes and beans. The ribs
were AWESOME, the
| chicken and sides were okay, and the service was
hilariously bad. But,
| still, the price was right, and the old train station
was a real trip.
| Then, it was back to the hotel for a long hot tub and
sleeping late...
|
| Today, we slept in, almost missed breakfast, and then
headed off to the
| Missouri History Museum, located in Forest Park -- the
site of the 1904
| World's Fair. This museum (a "real", traditional
museum) houses a
| terrific Charles Lindbergh exhibit, and sells a wide
variety of unique,
| one-of-a-kind Lindbergh posters and knick-knacks, made
exclusively for
| them. Our Charles Lindbergh Suite has several
sparsely-decorated walls
| that need some "in-fill", so this museum was a must-see
for us on this
| trip, and the kids suffered through it with gritted
teeth...
|
| As always, I found myself fascinated with Lindbergh.
They have scaled the
| exhibit back a bit since we were last here (back in
'02-'03, when we first
| bought the hotel), but it still fills the better part of
a wing, and
| includes many items that you simply won't ever see
anywhere else. On
| display you can see the original Nazi medal that was
awarded to Lindbergh
| by Herman Goebbels and Adolph Hitler, right before the
outbreak of World
| War II. You can almost *feel* the evil emanating from
it, as it lays
| innocently in a display case next to the "America First"
display that
| outlines Lindbergh's pacifism in the face of the looming
World War.
|
| Then, later in life, there is a picture of Lindbergh
literally hugging a
| tree, as he playfully shows off his ecological activism.
The ironies and
| seeming contradictions in this one man's life are quite
remarkable, but
| they always reflect back to that one moment of glory,
when he crossed the
| Atlantic and almost single-handedly made air travel
acceptable and
| accessible.
|
| Alas, I had to drag myself from the museum, after we had
loaded up on
| posters, prints, key chains and Christmas ornaments.
There were some snow
| showers predicted to move in, and Mary wanted to get off
the ground
| soon...so we high tailed it back to Thunder Aviation.
|
| Atlas was still sitting right where we left him, plugged
in and ready to
| go. As Mary started her preflight, I reached under the
nose blanket to
| unplug the engine -- and felt no heat whatsoever. I
traced the cord back
| to the Thunder Aviation outlet, only to discover the
ground-fault breaker
| popped. The engine was entirely cold-soaked, and the
temperatures had
| dropped to near zero for our entire stay...
|
| I pushed the breaker in, and we headed back inside,
knowing that we
| weren't going anywhere for at least an hour. So, the
lady at the desk
| made some fresh chocolate chip cookies, the kids turned
on "Dallas SWAT",
| and we settled back to wait while the engine heater
struggled to bring
| that big ol' O-540 out of the deep freeze.
|
| 1:15 later, Mary started the engine, with the JPI engine
analyzer showing
| 41 degree oil -- just *barely* warm enough to start.
As always, though,
| Atlas ran like a champ, and we were soon winging our way
home, after
| spending a fantastic 48 hours in one of America's truly
great cities!
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|
|
|