June is busting out all over!

Light winds, sunny skies, warm temperatures, the smell of freshly mown grass
and moist earth. God almighty, there is no better place on earth than Iowa
in spring!

Today Mary and I made our first pilgrimage of the year to Amana's little
grass strip, located a whopping 18 miles (or so) from Iowa City.

Chuckle if you must, but flying into Amana (the biggest of the "Amana
Colonies") is a wonderful way to spend a day. The strip is located within
easy walking distance of outstanding restaurants, a microbrewery, a woolen
mill that's been in continuous operation since 1859, a clock shop, a real,
working blacksmith, and a zillion other old world shops that make the place
unique.

Mary took the outbound leg, which meant she was first to deal with that
little grass strip. Her pattern was large and patient -- always a good
approach to a really short field, IMHO -- but her final approach was a bit
steep and fast. To compensate she blew the third notch of flaps, ended up a
tad slow, and we "arrived" in a picture-perfect (if firm) short-short field
approach. If she had buried the brakes, we could've been stopped in less
than 500 feet.

Lunch at the "Ox Yoke Inn" was outstanding, followed by a leisurely stroll
around town. Being mid-day on a Thursday, the crowds were small, and the
shops were much more accessible than on a weekend. We bought a few items
(hand-made chocolates for the kids) and watched in wonder as the giant
Sulzer looms clanked and shuttled in the woolen mill, weaving beautiful
patterns into gigantic blankets before our very eyes.

Then, it was my turn to fly. We meandered our way back to the airport, fat
and sleepy from the big meal and warm sun. The smell of the grass runway,
the routine of the pre-flight, and that wonderful "airplane smell" that
Atlas always has when baking in the sun brought me back to my senses, and we
trundled back down the runway, preparing for takeoff.

Short field. Soft field. Oh, yeah -- I remember how to do this! (Just had
my biennial yesterday, so it's fresh, again...) Facing away from our
direction of flight, I bring Atlas up to about 2000 RPM, rolling the wrong
way before kicking him around to face down the runway. By then, I'm already
rolling at 25 mph, and have effectively lengthened my available runway by a
few hundred feet -- always a good thing when there are big trees and a pond
at the other end!

Rumbling down the runway, yoke back in my lap, the nosewheel comes up almost
instantly, cutting the noise by a third, and we're doing a wheelie toward
that pond, with ever-increasing speed. Suddenly, Bernoulli takes over, and
we levitate into ground effect, where I level out and let the speed build.
Flashing over the end of the runway, I pull up into a zooming climb at over
1000 fpm, rising like an out-of-control elevator -- and immediately start a
standard-rate left bank. The pond flashes by harmlessly below, the sun
twinkling around the lilly pads near the shore...

Damn my eyes, if I *EVER* get bored with that feeling, just kill me -- cuz
I'll already be half-dead. What an amazing, astounding, wonderful
experience it is to fly!

I decide it's way too nice to go home, and I just head West in a long, hard
climb, aiming toward some widely scattered puffies that are floating up
around 6500 feet. As soon as we reach their level, the temperature drops,
the bumps are gone, and Atlas is on rails. I smoothly arc and carve up the
sky, in ever-increasing banks, feeling the air currents and loads on my
controls, master of all I see.

THIS is what being a "pilot" is all about, and to experience it is worth
everything I've had, or ever will have. To gaze down upon clouds -- or up
at their towering countenance as we pass by -- is a view that few people in
human history have ever seen, or appreciate. To see literally hundreds of
miles, in all directions -- and to be utterly in command of all three
dimensions...well, it's beyond words.

Today was a good day. I wish everyone on this troubled planet could have
one just like it, at least once.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:%YMfg.1001283$xm3.531996@attbi_s21...

"June is busting out all over!"

Hmm.... Hey, Mary... have you heard about June? Jay says she's rather
busty, and is sounds like she's having a hard time keeping her clothes on.
Better keep an eye on that boy!

Jim

In article ,
"Jim Burns" wrote:

"June is busting out all over!"

Hmm.... Hey, Mary... have you heard about June? Jay says she's rather
busty, and is sounds like she's having a hard time keeping her clothes on.
Better keep an eye on that boy!

Last I heard, Mary doesn't read the newsgroups.

real_name wrote:
In article ,
"Jim Burns" wrote:


"June is busting out all over!"

Hmm.... Hey, Mary... have you heard about June? Jay says she's rather
busty, and is sounds like she's having a hard time keeping her clothes on.
Better keep an eye on that boy!


Last I heard, Mary doesn't read the newsgroups.

Yes, she's too busy keeping watch of Jay! :-)


Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
Yes, she's too busy keeping watch of Jay! :-)
Matt

I'm sure Jay will agree that "somebody" needs to keep watch of him!

Lately I've been spending so much time working on the Aztec that my wife
jokingly accused me of having a girlfriend stashed in the hanger.... I told
her that I had a real kinky one that liked to rub grease and paint all over
me.

Jim

I'm sure Jay will agree that "somebody" needs to keep watch of him!

Mary will tell you that THAT is a full-time job!

Lately I've been spending so much time working on the Aztec that my wife
jokingly accused me of having a girlfriend stashed in the hanger....

In June! June! What were you THINKING, man? You don't rip your
plane apart during the nicest two-week period of the year! You save
that stuff for March, when the trees are dripping with freezing rain
and slush...

;-)

Did the right-sized cam-lock connectors ever arrive?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Short field at 2600 feet? There aren't really any obstructions either.

The small lake on the East side of the airport on approach to rwy 26 gets
your attention, but doesn't really interfere. Just powerlines on the West
side of the field.

I get apprehensive on grass just because it is out of the ordinary but there
aren't too many longer grass runways. It really is a nice place to land and
enjoy dinner.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:%YMfg.1001283$xm3.531996@attbi_s21...
Light winds, sunny skies, warm temperatures, the smell of freshly mown
grass and moist earth. God almighty, there is no better place on earth
than Iowa in spring!

Today Mary and I made our first pilgrimage of the year to Amana's little
grass strip, located a whopping 18 miles (or so) from Iowa City.

Chuckle if you must, but flying into Amana (the biggest of the "Amana
Colonies") is a wonderful way to spend a day. The strip is located within
easy walking distance of outstanding restaurants, a microbrewery, a woolen
mill that's been in continuous operation since 1859, a clock shop, a real,
working blacksmith, and a zillion other old world shops that make the
place unique.

Mary took the outbound leg, which meant she was first to deal with that
little grass strip. Her pattern was large and patient -- always a good
approach to a really short field, IMHO -- but her final approach was a bit
steep and fast. To compensate she blew the third notch of flaps, ended up
a tad slow, and we "arrived" in a picture-perfect (if firm) short-short
field approach. If she had buried the brakes, we could've been stopped in
less than 500 feet.

Ron A. wrote:

Short field at 2600 feet? There aren't really any obstructions either.

Sounds like Jay needs to be recalibrated. :-)

I learned to fly on a 1900' strip that had 60' trees at one end and a
road across the other (the latter only was an obstacle when a semi was
going by). When I first flew to ELM, I wasn't sure if I should land the
150 cross-wise on the runway to feel at home or length-wise. :-)

The only airport that caused me apprehension was Marlboro, MA in my 182.
The runway is less than 1700' in length and has trees at both ends and
they are fairly tall (60+ feet I'd guess). Landing wasn't a problem,
took about half the runway with only light braking. However, departing
was interesting as it was about 90F the day I was there. I cleared the
trees by probably 50-60', but the sight picture as I lined up for
departure was priceless. It sure didn't look like enough runway even
though the book performance said I had plenty of margin.

Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
[...]
I learned to fly on a 1900' strip that had 60' trees at one end and a road
across the other (the latter only was an obstacle when a semi was going
by).

Yeah, those FAA-standard 50' tall semis can be a real bitch.

Short field at 2600 feet? There aren't really any obstructions either.

Sounds like Jay needs to be recalibrated. :-)

I know -- it really *is* pathetic.

We used to fly out of C89 in Wisconsin -- 2300' x 30' -- in an
underpowered Cherokee 140.

Now, after 9 years of having three long, wide runways, we're so spoiled
that a 2600 foot grass strip seems "short" to us...

Oh, well -- we haven't lost it entirely. We only used less than half
of it to land, and maybe 3/5ths of the available runway to depart!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"