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Sun N Fun Redux
We had worked at the hotel until noon that Easter Sunday, but -- with the
plane loaded and fueled the night before -- we were actually off the ground by 1 PM, a new world's record. We figured we'd make a leisurely day of it by stopping overnight in Jim Fisher's Muscle Shoals, to see if we could bum Easter dinner off Jim and his lovely wife. It wasn't meant to be. Our first couple of hours in the air were beautiful, but as we pushed farther into Tennessee the visibility was slowly dropping, and the temperature was hovering around the freezing level. The ceiling was still a purported 3100 feet, with visibility 10 miles, according to the closest AWOS -- but that was obviously bogus. Long tendrils of moisture hung down from the low clouds, and it was quickly becoming "Oshkosh VFR" -- 1.5 miles clear in each direction. Time to switch pilots. Mary's tolerance for such conditions is notoriously (and wisely) low, while my higher hours and IFR training (although still no IR) have made me more comfortable with marginal VFR. Thus, we found ourselves landing in Paris, Tennessee for a fuel and potty break, less than an hour short of our expected destination of Muscle Shoals. What we found in Paris on a Sunday afternoon was a friendly airport dog, but not even a bathroom available for Mary and Becca to use. Luckily the self-serve gas pump worked just fine, and we were soon on our way once again, now with your intrepid author at the controls. It soon became apparent that conditions were going downhill, and Muscle Shoals was in doubt. Flight service (thank goodness for cell phones) had told me that we would be able to make it south as far as Lewisburg, but beyond that was "unlikely," as a large low pressure center was moving into the area. We decided to assess things when we got to Lewisburg. For once the briefer's pessimism was valid, and I soon found myself in and out of the bases, with lowering visibility. The AWOS at Lewisburg promised good VFR just ahead, but again this turned out to be mighty optimistic. Although we picked up no ice, the low freezing level had me keeping an eye on the thermometer, and we landed in Lewisburg in a driving, cold rain. The lad at the FBO could not have been more friendly and helpful, helping us to carry our bags, tying us down for the night, and throwing us the keys to the courtesy car -- for the night! He then told us about the two hotels in town, gave us directions to a couple of restaurants, and we were on our way. By the time we left the airport it was pouring icy rain, with a 400 foot ceiling and 1/3 mile visibility. After a pleasant night in Lewisburg, we awakened to more of the same -- absolute clag. The Weather Channel wags were yakking about the "cut-off low" that was settling over Nashville, and the "amazing, rare, winter-like weather" the South was experiencing. We were dumb-founded as we watched the rain turn into big, heavy snowflakes. We had left Iowa -- for THIS? It soon became apparent that -- although it IS the "walking horse capital of the world" (whatever *that* is) -- there was no "there" there in Lewisburg. So, we rented a car and headed 40 miles north, back to Nashville, where we spent the next 48 hours watching the weather and having an absolutely fabulous time! The Grand Ole Opry has attracted an amazing variety of businesses and attractions, and we visited them all -- from the Tennessee War Museum downtown, to the State Historical Museum, to the Opryland Hotel (our entire hotel, grounds and all, would fit easily into just one of their atriums!) with its 85-foot fountains that "perform" to music. Although fun, this wasn't what we had come for, and we were getting fidgety as we went to bed Tuesday night, STILL in a driving rain/snow storm. The snow had actually stuck to the grass for a couple of hours, giving Tennessee an unwelcome "December-in-Iowa" feeling... We awakened Wednesday morning to the most amazingly azure blue sky I have ever seen! Just 40 minutes east of us the rain and snow continued, but the big cut-off low had FINALLY spiraled its way out of there -- and the path to Florida lay open and clear before us! Poor Atlas had been sitting outside in a driving rain for three days -- the first time he'd been really soaked since Oshkosh last year. Luckily, I found no water in any of his four gas tanks, although the inside was a bit on the musty side, with wet carpeting on the passenger side. He fired right up, though, and we were soon climbing strongly into the clear Tennessee sky, despite our immense load. A 235 horsepower engine just can't be beat on a trip like this. Then, an amazing thing started to happen. As we climbed to our cruising altitude of 5500 feet, I noticed our airspeed slowly increasing. We normally climb out at around 100 knots, to maintain visibility over the nose -- but our ground speed was at 130, and climbing! By the time I leveled out at 5500, our ground speed was an amazing 190 knots -- a 48 knot tailwind! Plans to stop for lunch were soon abandoned, as it became apparent that a direct flight to Lakeland would take less than 3 hours! The weather gods were finally smiling upon us, and we happily engaged the autopilot and began to review the Sun N Fun NOTAM. Arrival procedures into SNF are simple and straight-forward: Fly west between the smoke stacks of the powerplant on the shores of Lake Parker. Continue west over the strobes, and hang a left. Continue South while monitoring ATC, who will identify you. As with the OSH arrivals, keep your mouth shut and answer with a vigorous wing rock when called upon. Turn East onto a right downwind if landing on Rwy 27, or West onto a left downwind if landing on Rwy 9. ATIS was reporting that they were using Rwy 27. We soon found that our glorious tailwind was also a wicked 35 knot, gusty crosswind at ground level. As we descended through 3000 feet on approach to LAL, the turbulence began in earnest, and we were soon being tossed around pretty good. Luckily, the temperatures were cool, and the kids have become steeled to such conditions over the years -- their breakfast remained internalized. Falling in line and parting the smoke stacks, we turned left at the strobes, following the Cessnoid ahead. The controller identified first him, then us, and we responded with an enthusiastic wing rock made all the more violent by the turbulent air. The controller then said the magic words: "We will call your downwind, base, and turn to final..." Somewhat surprised, I figured he was doing this to keep the pattern in tight. Last year we had noticed that the landing pattern had occasionally grown to absurd lengths, with downwind stretching almost beyond visual range at times. So, I simply did as asked, following the Cessna 140 ahead. Separation was good, as I awaited his call... When he finally called my downwind, I was practically above the runway -- this was REALLY going to be a close pattern! The only way we were going to make this work was if he stretched our downwind leg out a bit -- NOT. When he called my turn to base, we weren't even abeam the numbers yet. In fact, we were only about 2/3s of the way down the runway. Racking a heavily-laden Atlas into an impossibly tight, descending right turn, the 35 knot quartering crosswind started to push me even farther toward the runway -- this was not good! Sun N Fun takes Lakeland's Rwy 27 and splits it into two parallel runways, left and right -- with 27R normally being the taxiway for 27L. As I was landing on 27R they were also using 27L, meaning that I had traffic off my left side landing on the parallel runway. This was the direction the wind was pushing me -- right into the traffic pattern for 27L! The only solution? Tighten the turn. Soon I was turning tighter than I had EVER turned in the pattern before, with a wicked, turbulent crosswind making our lives more interesting by the second, pushing us farther to the south. Despite my best efforts, I overshot my turn to final, and racked it around just a smidge tighter, trying to feel for that ragged edge where the stall-spin-crash scenario would make itself apparent. My 13 year old son, normally so stoic in the back seat, let out an astonished "whoa!" as we finally pulled the runway back into view in front of us... Just as I rolled wings level, I spotted the Cherokee out of the corner of my eye, landing on Rwy 27L, just off my port side. Had I not performed my "knife-edge" turn to final, we surely would have traded paint. Fighting the gusty crosswind all the way down, I wondered aloud if the controller was a pilot, knowing the answer... Rattled, but none the worse for wear, we were directed to our campsite, off the departure end of Rwy 27L. This turned out to be a wonderful spot, as the winds favored runway 9 for the rest of the show, giving us a ringside seat for all the fun arrivals to follow! As it turned out, a lot of pilots were delayed by the weather, and many chose not to fly in on Wednesday with the winds so unfavorable. But the pattern was full from Thursday morning on, often exceeding what we have seen even at Oshkosh, as hundreds of bottle-up pilots finally made it into Lakeland. The resulting "air show" was worth the price of admission alone! Setting up the tent in a 40 mph wind was an adventure in itself. We finally assigned the kids corners to sit on, while we assembled poles. We discovered that the saw-grass of Florida is actually tough (and sharp) enough to cut right through the bottom of a tent, even with a ground cloth! We will be patching several holes before OSH this year. Once set up we ventured off to find the exhibit buildings and tents, and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our day. Nightfall came, and we were astonished at how quickly the heat of the day simply evaporated. With virtually no humidity in the air, the sun's heat instantly dissipated, and we found ourselves in Florida wearing long pants, sweaters, and winter coats. Than night the temperature dipped to 28 degrees, and we awakened to FROST the next morning! Welcome to Florida! Temperatures gradually moderated throughout our stay, but I never wore shorts the entire time we were in Lakeland. Camping conditions were more akin to the high desert, with warm days and cool nights -- VERY un-Florida-like. But at least the bugs were eliminated. We spent much of our time working the booth at Gary Elshoff's "Flying Colors Glass" display. Gary is the artist who created our stained glass windows, and we always try to help him so that he can get some time away from the booth. His windows have really become a centerpiece of the inn, and our enthusiasm helps sell his windows to others. His glass has taken on something of a cult following, and it's fun meeting the "movers and shakers" behind the scenes who come to see his stuff. One high point of our time at the booth was meeting this newsgroup's very own Bob Moore. Bob is a former Pan Am pilot who is quite active on these groups, and he kindly gave us a CD-Rom with some Pan Am posters and photos on it. We chewed the fat for close to an hour, and it was good to put a face with a name. Thanks again, Bob -- and don't forget to send me those Rogue's Gallery pix! High Points of SNF ******************************* To follow are some random high points of Sun N Fun, in no particular order: - The first 1000 pilots received a cool "I flew into Sun N Fun 2004" hat. It even fits my fat head! - The food at Sun N Fun is terrific. Margaritaville -- a tent/restaurant set up to mimic Jimmy Buffet's Caribbean lifestyle -- is the best place to hang out. They make a wonderful "Rum Slushy" that makes sleeping on the ground MUCH nicer! :-) - The Jimmy Buffet imitators were VERY good. The music was great! - The strawberry malts at SNF are to die for... - The new Adamjet is VERY cool...although I'll never fly one. - The new Extra 500 is slick... - Piper's new Avidyne glass panels, combined with the Garmin center stack, is too cool. I like it better than the G1000, simply because everything isn't combined into a single point of failure. - The FAA was demonstrating their new uploaded live radar pictures. This service is now available up and down the entire Eastern seaboard of the US, and simply uploads whatever radar image is being depicted on ATC's radar, in real-time, to your airplane. On the Apollo MFD they were using, it clearly showed every airplane flying into SNF, and could overlay weather, etc. When this thing goes nationwide it will render on-board radar obsolete, and will really bring GA into the 21st century. - The corn roast in the camping area is the best deal on the grounds. For three bucks you get two ears, and it's like tasting August in April. - The Goodyear blimp's nightly performance was fun. Every time I see that thing, they've added another thousand lights! - There is a SNF vendor serving fresh-baked cinnamon rolls every bit as good as Cinnabon. Breakfast -- usually so bleak at OSH -- is a real treat at SNF. - Cell phone weather! I can't believe I had to go all the way to Florida to find out that I can get pilot's weather on my Verizon cellphone for just $9.95 per month! It has live, animated weather radar, METARs, TAFs, weather maps -- everything you need, and all on your cell phone! I signed up for it immediately, and am already using it all the time. - We finally met Bob & Linda Morgan! They were at their booth, selling Memphis Belle paraphernalia, when we stumbled upon them. We have emailed back and forth dozens of times since opening our "Memphis Belle Suite" -- but we've never had the chance to meet them in person. When they found out who we were, it was like "old home week", and we took a bunch of pictures and Bob signed the kids hats. When we were leaving, Linda handed us a bunch more stuff for the suite, all gratis. Wonderful folks! - I found the Davtron digital clock I've been looking for at Sarasota Avionics -- for under list price! Woo-hoo! - The cool temperatures made walking all day much easier. - SNF has set up a small Nature Trail board walk, with displays of Florida fauna and flora. It's a real nice change of pace from the roar and spectacle of the air show. - There is a playground at SNF for the kids to play on! This turned out to be a great break from the action for the kids. - This was our first long trip on our new seats, and, wow -- what a difference! Last year we just about died of "sore-butt," while this year we were absolutely comfortable after spending 13 hours in the plane. New seats are worth every penny they cost. - This was our first long trip with the Lightspeed Twenty 3Gs, and they were marvelous. Comfortable, quiet, with bass and treble boost for the CD player. A real treat to wear, even after so many hours. - On the way home we were in the middle of no where, talking to Huntsville approach, when they called out "traffic, 9 o'clock, your altitude, converging..." Looking around we saw nothing, but ATC went on to say that "the computer shows your targets merging in 2.5 minutes" (which I thought was pretty neat!) -- so we kept looking. At last I spotted a small dot on the horizon, ever so slowly moving our way. Through the binoculars I could see that it was an older Mooney, and that we were just a smidge faster than he was. It was cool to be in a fixed-gear Cherokee 235, and be told by ATC that the Mooney was "no factor -- you're pulling away from him..." (Of course, he's burning 10 gph to my 15, but still... :-) Low Points of SNF ******************************* - The Number One low-point of SNF was the seaplane base -- or rather, our inability to see it. After searching for some time we finally found the bus loading area to take us to the seaplane base. The OSH "splash-in" is always a favorite place for the kids, so we were determined to find it this year at SNF -- even though they seemingly did their best to make it hard to find. After waiting 35 minutes for a bus that runs without a schedule, the driver finally pulled up and off-loaded -- only to haughtily announce that she had "worked five hours straight and was *required* to take a break" She then slammed the door in our faces, and drove away. Shaking our heads in disbelief, we (and dozens of others) walked away -- and never did get to the seaplane base. - Arrival rules at LAL are very lax, by comparison to OSH. At OSH, if you're not on downwind at 8 PM, you are NOT allowed to land -- period. And no one can leave or arrive until 7 AM the next morning. This rule makes for a wonderful camping experience. At SNF, on the other hand, airplanes were arriving until well after dark, and were allowed to leave as early as 5:30 AM. Being camped in a tent off the end of the runway, this is not a good thing. - Car campers at LAL are actually given preferential position over fly-in campers. This is perhaps unavoidable, due to the design of the airport, but it's very odd indeed to have drive-in campers closer to the flight-line than pilots are. - Expensive food! Although the food selection is great, the prices are absurd. - Camp store rip off. Last year the camp store was run by some non-profit organization, was well-stocked and fairly priced. This year it was run by "Cheech and Chong" (even my kids were joking at how stoned they were!), and the shelves were virtually bare. Worse, the only beer they sold was Budweiser -- for FIFTEEN DOLLARS a 6-pack! - Golf card mayhem. Last year we coined the term "IIGICs" (Idiots In Golf Carts) to describe the hundreds of golf carts that tried to run us over every day. This year they have added some "golf cart only" trails that helped some -- but not enough. - 28 degrees in Florida? Snow in Nashville? 'Nuff said. - Gas lines. At OSH, you put a card on your prop, and the gas truck comes to fill you up. In Lakeland, the gas trucks don't come to you -- you must come to THEM. This, of course, makes for a terrible traffic jam, and is totally illogical and inefficient. The driver told me it was because "campers had open fires out there" which made fueling unsafe -- but last year they told me it was because the ground was too soft. - When it comes to vendors, it ain't OSH. I was not able to find any seat belts for my plane at SNF. I was also not able to find anyone selling or displaying the Boom Beam. And we found very little artwork for the hotel while we were there. The selection just isn't what you get at "the Big One." All in all, it was a wonderful, grand adventure. Sun N Fun is a terrific way to end the monotony of winter, and we all had a great time. The trick with a journey of this length is to be flexible and roll with the punches, cuz Spam Can travel in early spring just ain't all that reliable. Ironically, we came home to temperatures in the 80s, with high humidity -- must like Florida! -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
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Jay Honeck ) wrote:
snip All in all, it was a wonderful, grand adventure. Sun N Fun is a terrific way to end the monotony of winter, and we all had a great time. I enjoyed your narrative. Thanks for taking the time to post it. Someday I hope to get the courage to attend one of these large fly-ins. -- Peter |
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I enjoyed your narrative. Thanks for taking the time to post it.
Someday I hope to get the courage to attend one of these large fly-ins. OSH and SNF represent the best part of flying, IMHO. It's truly wonderful to see GA in great numbers, and to camp with people who think, breathe, eat and sleep aviation like we do! :-) -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
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When do we get your story about your flight down and back? Rod "Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:8TQgc.27583$ru4.26599@attbi_s52... I enjoyed your narrative. Thanks for taking the time to post it. Someday I hope to get the courage to attend one of these large fly-ins. OSH and SNF represent the best part of flying, IMHO. It's truly wonderful to see GA in great numbers, and to camp with people who think, breathe, eat and sleep aviation like we do! :-) -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
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When do we get your story about your flight down and back?
Um, the main post in this thread IS that story. Or did your ISP swallow the original post? The flight back was totally uneventful this year. However, the flight down took us three days, as we sat out the snowstorm in Tennessee... -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
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Sorry, I'll have to reel this thread backwards to find it.
Rod "Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:wCRgc.28122$yD1.70478@attbi_s54... When do we get your story about your flight down and back? Um, the main post in this thread IS that story. Or did your ISP swallow the original post? The flight back was totally uneventful this year. However, the flight down took us three days, as we sat out the snowstorm in Tennessee... -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
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Peter R. writes:
I enjoyed your narrative. Thanks for taking the time to post it. I'll second that. Who needs to go when Jay's writing the post-mortem? Someday I hope to get the courage to attend one of these large fly-ins. Peter, I flew in to Oshkosh for the first time this summer in an Aircoupe (I had attended OSH a few years before, driving in). I too wondered if I had the right stuff, but decided I didn't want to end up 65 years old and still wondering. The key is preparation. Read the NOTAMs and other online material, understand it, visualize it. Also, nothing wrong with having a more experienced pilot in the right seat. I flew solo but with a group of Coupes, which made it a lot of fun. I'm not sure I'll fly in again--not being a big fan of airshows--but sure am glad I did it at least once. |
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Bob Fry ) wrote:
Peter, I flew in to Oshkosh for the first time this summer in an Aircoupe (I had attended OSH a few years before, driving in). I too wondered if I had the right stuff, but decided I didn't want to end up 65 years old and still wondering. The key is preparation. Read the NOTAMs and other online material, understand it, visualize it. Also, nothing wrong with having a more experienced pilot in the right seat. I flew solo but with a group of Coupes, which made it a lot of fun. Bob, thank you for your advice. Preparation and having another pilot in the right seat would indeed be the ticket, -- Peter |
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Bob, thank you for your advice. Preparation and having another pilot in
the right seat would indeed be the ticket, I'll "Second" the second pilot recommendation. Having Mary in the right seat, re-reading the NOTAM to me as we approach LAL (or OSH), is standard operating procedure for us. This last-minute review is very helpful, and keeps me on the straight and narrow when my head is on a swivel, and I'm trying to maintain spacing behind a Cessna 120. A second pilot is also good for spotting traffic, tuning radios, and just double-checking whatever you're doing. There's a LOT going on during those last five minutes before landing at a big airshow, and two heads are definitely better than one. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
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In article XJ9hc.23854$hw5.38823@attbi_s53, Jay Honeck
wrote: Bob, thank you for your advice. Preparation and having another pilot in the right seat would indeed be the ticket, I'll "Second" the second pilot recommendation. Having Mary in the right seat, re-reading the NOTAM to me as we approach LAL (or OSH), is standard operating procedure for us. This last-minute review is very helpful, and keeps me on the straight and narrow when my head is on a swivel, and I'm trying to maintain spacing behind a Cessna 120. A second pilot is also good for spotting traffic, tuning radios, and just double-checking whatever you're doing. There's a LOT going on during those last five minutes before landing at a big airshow, and two heads are definitely better than one. And let's not forget the kids in the back with the incentive of 25 cents/plane spotted. My kids may a couple bucks each just on the arrival. |
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