Official 2010 Gaston's travel thread

After 3:40 in the air Sue, William Barnhill and I landed at KBPK. NEXRAD had made it look like major precip had been parked over Gaston's for hours. I didn't want to tear the gear off the Mooney. As it turned out the rain had been pretty light. A vanfull of PoAers who'd been at a Mexican restaurant for lunch in a Gaston's van came and picked us up (didn't bring us any food though). After checking in, eating lunch and seeing the field was good, I hitched a ride back over to BPK and brought the Mooney into Gastons. Fun meeting up with the old timers and getting to know some new ones.
 
Waye, You don't know how disappointed I was to hear that you had a very conflicting event that you must attend. I had so looked forward to finally getting to meet you. I have been trying to hold up your end against Spike, but it hasn't been easy. I guess we will have to put it off until next year. You made the right decision and we will be thinking about you.
 
I feel your pain. Cutler would give a woodpecker a headache.

I was looking forward to all of the fun, maybe next year.

Bob Bement said:
Waye, You don't know how disappointed I was to hear that you had a very conflicting event that you must attend. I had so looked forward to finally getting to meet you. I have been trying to hold up your end against Spike, but it hasn't been easy. I guess we will have to put it off until next year. You made the right decision and we will be thinking about you.
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I guess we were the first to leave. We tried to will the airplane a minor mechanical problem or timely low cloud so we'd have an excuse to stay, but we made it to the funeral on time, barely! (I hope to totally miss my own!)

The flight home was high and cool and uneventful. Had a headwind to make up for the tailwind we had going. I made Mark fly most of the way after all the trouble he had flying straight and level over Gastons. :D

We had a great time and enjoyed meeting everyone. I want the recipe for the jambalaya!! That was great! Thanks to Greg for the ride in his 195! (Thanks to Jake for giving up his front seat so we could get a ride to the hotel in town.)

I hope everyone has a nice flight home!
 
Stephanie:

It was a treat to meet you all, and hope to see you again, and soon!

Home safe meself, ready to take on real-life obligations again.
 
Leah, Mari, and I arrived in wichita a little over an hour ago. We had a pretty good flight home. had to punch through buildups along the stationary front about 40 miles east of wichita and did a fair bit of zig zagging to stay out of strong looking clouds on the flight but it was a good one. we had a great time seeing everyone again.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N5087K
 
Greg and I made it to our destination for the day...Harrisonville, MO...with about 20 minutes to spare before the weather moved in.

A little bumpy but not bad overall. Great to see everyone. Will be home Tuesday evening God willing. In the meantime...:cheerswine:
 
We departed at 11am after brunch and picked up an IFR clearance to Lincoln. We were mostly on top or inbetween layers on the flight with some IMC. As we approached Kansas City it became more obvious that some storms were going to be an issue. We worked with Center while utilizing the 396 and worked our way around them.

We touched down at about 2:20PM in the 600OVC weather at Lincoln.

It was a great weekend with a lot of good people. I look forward to next year!
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Dave, Felix (er, Alex) and I are back at Addison. I'm dropping Felix at DFW for his flight to SoCal.
 
William, Sue and I are back on the ground. Did some zigzaging to avoid buildups and went up to 11K to minizmize that. Probably the easiest return from Gaton's that we've ever had.William did a great job driving the Mooney. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N57039

Towards the end of the flight the vacuum pump failed. We were totally VMC, so it was quite interesting to see it happen. I can see how insideous it would be if it happened in IMC. Flying that AI is deeply ingrained. I have a standby electric vacuum pump that fixed the immediate problem (and proved it was the pump and not the AI itself).
We had a great time. Thank you unofficial organizers. I was fun seeing old and new faces and a perfect excuse to do some flying.
 
Leslie and I went VFR at 11.5 to avoid some buildups in the Vandalia area. Picked up an IFR clearance from Roberts on in. We were unloading when the rain started, but it was dissipating around Chicago. Hoping Kent, Bruce, Pete, and Matt and the other Northbound travelers we haven't heard from yet have safe flights. It was good seeing everyone again!
 
OK... all of you are very quick to the computers after getting home! I felt like I should unpack, start the laundry, feed Nikki, and change the desktop background on my computer to the photo Christopher took of me flying back into Gaston's after the poker run on Saturday first! So, guess I'm not the first to post, but we made it home safely also, Bob Bement style... completely VFR. No stress! :thumbsup: Thanks to everyone for making this one of the best fly-in weekends I have ever had. :)

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Woo hooo!! Grass field landing! :thumbsup:
 
Got back in a very timely manner, managed to descend under the edge of a big momma and get the visual approach. Glad we didn't a moment after bruch....

Thanks are due to Steve and Catherine See for arranging a Sat PM dietary alternative. I viewed that as a great success.

It was great visiting with the old and with the new hands. And, to Mike Andrews, welcome back.

I see Dr. Dave either tried to southern endrun that yellow box runing across his path, or had a mechanical. If you have to be stuck in West Tx, Marfa is a pretty good place. Best wishes, Dave. Have not heard from Bob Bement, who was gong to do the I-40 route. No "9054N" in flightaware for today.
 

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TangoWhiskey said:
Dave, Felix (er, Alex) and I are back at Addison. I'm dropping Felix at DFW for his flight to SoCal.
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I'm at DFW now (thanks Troy!), and of course I missed my flight to NorCal. I made the mistake of flying out of Oakland, and of course I missed the very last UA flight of the day to Oakland.

But, no problem, United put me on another flight to San Francisco that will get me there sometime tonight...

-Felix
 
Well I made it home. The entire flight was almost anticlimactic after seeing the storms on the radar. We flew VMC to Warrensburg for Cheap gas, and heard Greg and Sharon coming into Harrisonville, when we departed for St Joseph.

After Dropping off Hillary, and Javier I set off VFR. It looked pretty good so I climbed above the scattered layer, and went onwards to KMSN. I decided to get a pop up IFR clearance in case MSN was socked in by the time I got there. The entire flight was pretty much VFR between layers, and I had to punch through a small layer on the ILS into Madison.

Here are some pics from today

Some random guy flying a Skylane
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Getting good mileage at 11k leaned out with a 40 kt tailwind :D
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Home Sweet COOL Home ...
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Amy and I made it home by about 3PM.

True to my screen name, we took the "low road" under broken and ovc layers for a good portion of the route. A cold front paralleled the Iowa/Missouri border. South of the front, we experienced a mix of great thermal boosts provided by well-developed cumulus clouds, and isolated storms dumping out of other overdeveloped cu's. Bases were about 3000, and we had about 10kts on the tail at 2500. Visibility was never lower than 10 miles, except through the occasional rain shafts, which were sparse and easily avoided.

North of the front, a cloud layer started to form at 800 ft and we lost the tailwind. I initially decided to climb in search of more favorable winds, but in usual fashion, it didn't take long for the layer to form a near-solid undercast, so it was back down to the treetops for the last 120NM.

Remarkably, visibility under the low ceiling was over 50 statute miles. The only low-vis flying was in the last 15 miles of the trip, where a general area of mist reduced vis to about 4 miles. A quick chat with ATC for SVFR in to Ames, and we were safely on the ground.

It's interesting to note that, except for minor course deviations (less than 2 miles from our course line), we were able to make the entire trip without delay. The radar was peppered with activity through a good portion of our trip, but at every point along the way, the best option was always to proceed on course. I love XM! I think it adds more capability to low and slow aircraft than to the fast IFR birds, but I regard it as essential XC equipment in either.

Thanks to all of you for the great conversation as always. I second the remarks made by others on Steve See's successful effort to create an enjoyable Saturday evening event.

See you all next year! We'll plan to make the trip in speed and style in the RV4.

Matthew (and Amy)
 
I would never have guessed it but Olney, Tx (a very remote place on my direct route home that I use as a gas stop) is a good place to be aog.
See pics.

I ran over something sharp and punctured the tire apparently - made it, quite inconveniently, just past the hold short line for one of their runways. Thankfully they have multiple rwys and other taxiways.

The a/c veered right, the wing dropped - I thought the gear had collapsed. Shut down and walked back to the seemingly deserted ramp with cell phone. So much for a q.t. then back into the cool air.

I recalled a sign on one hangar, Stark Aviation.
I walked to it and dialed a ph # on the side of a van, "Robert Stark, Locksmith". In moments, Mr. Stark emerged from the hangar, eager to help a stranded traveler!

We used his nifty electric cart to go back and forth to the crippled airplane, several trials with jacks and stands to find a way to get the airplane up, pull the wheel, take to his shop to repair (he provided a fine, used 6.00x6 tube and tire) and then back to reinstall.

2hrs later I was underway. The only remaining obstacle was a monster buildup in the Fort Stockton area - once past that all the clouds were behind me and the soul-soothing, dry, clear west Tx skies beckoned.

So I guess the Gaston's Landing Gear Curse strikes again, albeit in a weakened state.

Many Thanks to all who helped make it a wonderful G-VII
and also to everyone who attended, I had a terrific time!
 

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sba55 said:
I'm at DFW now (thanks Troy!), and of course I missed my flight to NorCal. I made the mistake of flying out of Oakland, and of course I missed the very last UA flight of the day to Oakland.

But, no problem, United put me on another flight to San Francisco that will get me there sometime tonight...

-Felix
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Well, maybe I spoke too soon. Our gate agent just collapsed. First, she said she was very hot. Then she sat down on the floor for a minute and got back up to help some passengers. Eventually, she sort of stumbled to the ground.

Never seen anything like it...
 
Shoot, sorry to hear that, Dave. Glad you got it back in the air and made your way home.
 
Jesse and I made it back a little after 2pm today. For as bad as it looked before we left it was really a pretty uneventful trip back. Even had a nice little tailwind. So glad Jesse has his IR. We wouldn't have made it back without it.
 
I'm back. I stopped several times to feed the Citabria some oil (7 quarts in 11 hours on this trip!) - KTBN, KMYJ, KEOK, and a beautiful end to the flight at IA24 about an hour ago. Man, low and slow VFR can be a hoot! :)
 
About two hours after we got down at Covington, I got back home. Very glad I made it out, and huge thanks to Lance and Sue for letting me waste some useful load! The vacuum failure was definitely an interesting twist to the flight home, and I agree... losing that in IMC would suck (unfortunately not enough to save the AI).

Thanks also to Grant and Leslie, Jason, and Dave for the rides. I've already been talking to another Dave (I think we're going to need to number you all..) about making the flight out next year.

Will be posting pictures within the next day or two! Here are a couple from the iPhone.

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I am safe and sound in Farmington, NM. I have about 6 hours to go tomorrow. Guess what? head winds all day. I had a great time and enjoyed taking a few of you for a thrill ride!
 
I made it home too.
Made it through Missouri with out any real problems. Then I went low through all of Iowa and Minnesota.
 
ron22 said:
I made it home too.
Made it through Missouri with out any real problems. Then I went low through all of Iowa and Minnesota.
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It was great to meet you, Ron. Glad you made it home safely.
 
Bob Bement said:
I am safe and sound in Farmington, NM. I have about 6 hours to go tomorrow. Guess what? head winds all day. I had a great time and enjoyed taking a few of you for a thrill ride!
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755nm with 120 over ground is nothing to sneer at...
 
foka4 said:
It's interesting to note that, except for minor course deviations (less than 2 miles from our course line), we were able to make the entire trip without delay. The radar was peppered with activity through a good portion of our trip, but at every point along the way, the best option was always to proceed on course. I love XM! I think it adds more capability to low and slow aircraft than to the fast IFR birds, but I regard it as essential XC equipment in either.
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Bingo! Okay, I don't have XM, but here's the point I was trying to make poorly in the other thread. There was crap all over the radar and satellite, it was IFR at my destination for most of the day, but I made it safely in a VFR airplane using nothing more than my Mark I eyeballs. :yes: I checked the radar on the iPad at my extra "feed-the-plane-oil-and-rest-my-butt" stops to keep up to date with changing conditions. Matt, Greg, Bob, myself, and others demonstrated that there is great utility in VFR flying, even in VFR-only airplanes. Bob especially... Wow!

Now, some pics:

There is no better place to be on a sunny Sunday than dancing with the clouds in a yellow airplane:
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This was only orange on the radar, but you sure don't want to fly through it:
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A Glory-ous sight - I was lucky enough 2 see several Glories this weekend, this is best shot I got:
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My wings for the weekend, back at the aviation heaven we call Green Castle and gleaming in the late afternoon sun:
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tonycondon said:
Leah, Mari, and I arrived in wichita a little over an hour ago. We had a pretty good flight home. had to punch through buildups along the stationary front about 40 miles east of wichita and did a fair bit of zig zagging to stay out of strong looking clouds on the flight but it was a good one. we had a great time seeing everyone again.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N5087K
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Thanks for the lift, Tony! The second leg of my trip was uneventful but long. It got cooler and cooler as I went west. When I pulled into my driveway the temperature was...

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And I was still in my Gaston's clothes. I turned the heat on when I got inside.

I had a great time. Thanks to everyone for making it a wonderful event!
 

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Made it ALL the way home. Decided to do the whole thing and have a whole day of nothing to do!
 
wbarnhill said:
How long were you sitting around the airport?
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My plane landed around midnight and then I had to wait on Super Shuttle to pick me up and drop some other people off. I think next time I will spend a little extra and take the park and ride.
 
Monday at 2:07 landed back at S49 all safe and sound. Well safe anyways. Had a good flight home from the Farmington, NM. area with a stop for fuel in Delta, UT. I think I might of just got my flying fix for a few days. Pictures and video to follow in a while.
 
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