I started out nice and early today. Woke up at 4:00, an hour before my alarm went off. I’d arranged a taxi back to the airport (no pun intended), and got there around 6:15. Watched the sun come up over the mountains around Page while I was getting the plane ready. I made the voyage over to the Glen Canyon Dam, about 2 miles, and flew a few circuits around it before making the brief but quite stunning and fun flight down (direction
and altitude) to Marble Canyon to get some breakfast at the Marble Canyon Trading Post.
While eating, I watched a few Caravans land and bring some tourists in for whatever tourists do in Marble Canyon. Another crew was getting a Twin Otter ready. That’s one sweet ride. My departure was uneventful and I spent the next 5 hours climbing from 3,603 feet up to 10,500. Remember, I’m flying on only 3 cylinders, so my rate of climb is reduced. Flying over the Grand Canyon was awesome, and I mean in the true sense of the word, not as in totally rad. I started by flying south through the Zuni Corridor, then climbed up to 11,500 and flew north up the Dragon Corridor, then descended back down to 10,500 over lots of bumps over the trees above the north rim and flew back down along the Fossil Canyon Corridor. I decided that was enough (the flight was going to be a bit long, anyway, and I think I had gotten the gist of it by that point) and headed south out of the special flight rules area.
During some detailed planning the night before, I had decided I would land at Clark Memorial (KCMR) and fill up, as their price is good for 100LL. However, while still many miles out, the AWOS had me a little concerned about landing there, verified by the ebbing and flowing winds bouncing me all over the place, and yet further verified as I flew over the field. Crosswind was at about 80 degrees and 12 gusting 17. I had already decided I would bypass that airport and go straight to Sedona, and my decision, while a few thousand feet directly over the field, was confirmed as the right one. The winds continued to batter me. Just when I thought I was getting used to turbulence, I got beat up for a half hour solid and quickly went back to disliking it. I couldn’t wait to get on the ground in Sedona.
So, I tuned in Sedona’s AWOS. Winds didn’t sound too bad. Sweet. Wait. What was that? There was something tacked on at the end. I listened to whole thing again. Yup. The runway was closed. Crap. Well, I guess I asked for an adventure. My first diversion. Thankfully, there was another airport fairly close by. Cottonwood (P52). I tuned in the AWOS, hoping winds would be better than they’d been at Clark, but dreading they wouldn’t. The AWOS was silent. Thankfully, there were some other pilots in the pattern. I inquired as to the wind and got a report after one of them landed. Light and mostly down the runway. Phew! I felt much relief. I just wanted to get on the ground without breaking the plane. That would make me happy.
Bonus: fuel was even cheaper at Cottonwood! $3.19 a gallon! So, I filled up.
I parked my plane right out in front of the pilot’s lounge (pretty sure I’m not supposed to park there, but it was a Sunday and no one was around) and went inside for some rest and to take advantage of electricity, Internet, and my laptop. At about 1:30, we (there were some other people waiting to go into Sedona, too) learned that the runway was open. The other pilot, who was flying a Cirrus, had flown in there many times and he headed over. He would text me his recommendation after landing. Should I go right away or wait for calmer winds? Winds were 180@7 (AWOS over the Internet), so about 30 degrees off of 21. Doesn’t sound too bad to me, but I wanted to hear what an experienced pilot thought. Why not? I was sitting in a leather chair in an air-conditioned lounge. It was still relatively early in the afternoon (about 2) and I wasn’t in a rush. Waiting until evening wasn’t ideal, but not a big deal, either.
Not long after leaving, he texted me:
“150 at 8 kts, gusts 17 kts”
“Winds variable from 110 to 100”
Then, almost immediately after that, he sent another text:
“Winds have just died down.”
“Strange but true.”
I leapt up, got my things together, stuffed them in the plane, hopped in, and left. On the short flight over, it was quite turbulent. I entered the left downwind for 24 on a 45. My approach was terrible. Speed, altitude, all off. I overshot final. It’s a big runway, though, and I saved it. I came in fast, but that worked out fine, as I did a wheel landing. There were a few gusts, but not bad.
Unfortunately, filling up at Cottonwood might have ended up costing me more. Not fueling up at Sedona cost me $20 for the tie down.
I’m feeling pretty tired. Tomorrow, I have another long day (to me, anyway). If I can’t get across the restricted areas between Truth or Consequences and Alamogordo, I’m in for a slog.
) and explore places and meet people you might never otherwise.
Only 3 of your 4 cylinders were working and you continued the flight
