Hartenbower: “Can’t Get There from here…”
By Brad Wolf
Club President, Bill (“Muffler”) Mills left Clow
International (1C5) one fine morning on Sunday, May 4th in his Kitfox
Lite, bound for Cushing (0C8) in anticipation of a 7:30 a.m. take-off with the
Cushing “A” team, headed for the Hartenbower Monthly Fly-In/Drive-In
Breakfast. Larry (“Fix-It”) Gehrig and John Matula would be
flying the Quicksilver Trainer, and Brad (“Stealth”) Wolf would round out
the A Team in his Quicksilver GT400. The
temperature was 45 degrees F., the wind was from the SSE at 10 mph, and the
skies were mostly cloudy.
Upon Bill's arrival at Cushing, the team discussed the
windsock and Bill’s flight service weather report. All agreed that the
wind was on the high end of the acceptable range, but was manageable and should
remain in range until mid-afternoon when the air was going to become very
unstable and tornado activity was anticipated. If all went well, everyone
would be home well before the bad weather arrived.
All Team A members were equipped with radios.
Frequency 122.850 was selected for the mission. Runway 180 was used.
The A Team take-off, lead by Bill, was at 8:15 a.m. (late as usual).
The “B” – Ground Support – Team was lead by Bruce Riemenschneider,
ably assisted by Tom Houghton, left at the same time.
Once aloft, Larry's radio transmissions – at best – were not good. Truth be told, Larry’s radio transmissions could only be partially understood immediately after take-off, and not at all later in the flight. Larry ultimately suspected that his batteries were weak.
It was expected that Team A would arrive at Hartenbower first because of the shorter straight-line distance. Team A flew SW with a heading of 232 degrees. The 36.5-mile trip was expected to take about 45 minutes. Bill and Brad took a slight lead over the Gehrig /Matula duo. A manageable wind was periodically providing a free vertical change. As required by Part 103, Bill and Brad made the turn South to fly around the town of Ottawa, IL. This would take them down the East edge of town, over the Illinois River and South along the southern boarder of the town.
The turn South was an eye opener. There was
significant wind at 1,000 feet coming more or less out of the South.
Brad's airspeed indicator read a whopping 17 mph ground speed as he finally
crossed the river. Given his airspeed, Bill calculated a 30 mph head wind!
Bill’s inability to make much headway was partially the result of his not
having his new prop on yet. Similarly,
Larry's plane was plowing away with its two occupants aboard.
As the A Team flew past the Monster Radio tower SW of Ottawa, they picked up “Team Pahnke” on the radio. Team Pahnke had already finished their breakfast at Hartenbower, and were (wisely, as it turns out) already headed back to Clow.
After about one hour the Hartenbower airport was within reach. The flight into the pattern required another segment directly into the wind. Bill was the first to touch down. Brad was surprised to find a nice landing after jockeying the approach with some aerobic yoke control. Larry and John analyzed the airplanes on the runway and the various approaches, and elected to first make a low speed pass over the airport. (They had no choice but make a low speed pass, given the 30+ mph winds!) For Bill and Brad, taxing down the runway was unsettling. The winds were causing the planes to almost fly with zero ground speed. With the assistance of ground support, Bill and Brad used their tie down equipment to anchor their aircraft. When Larry and John landed the A Team scavenged some extra rope and anchors from Bill and Brad to try to tie down the trainer.
It was apparent that the wind had picked up far more than
was expected or reported. Perhaps the front was coming in faster than
anticipated? Perhaps the flat land of the open Illinois plains magnified
the wind? Who knows? There was only one clear logical action to
take: EAT BREAKFAST.
The Hartenbower staff was very courteous and the food was
good. Contrary to what was assumed, Bruce and Tom had already arrived.
Their trip ended up being far quicker than the direct air route.
As the final bites of breakfast were making their controlled descent, Larry's airplane attempted an unscheduled and unmanned take-off. The tent stakes borrowed from Brad had pulled out of the ground and the plane had tilted up on one wing. A response team was quickly dispatched to secure the aircraft. Larry determined, fortunately, that there was no damage.
By this time most of the GA aircraft had either departed or were departing. As one adventuresome GA jockey attempted to impress us w/ his high-speed down-wind departure on runway 360, Team “C” appeared on the horizon. Yes, Brian Gilomen had braved the wind solo and was making a skilled approach to runway 180. There was no close call, but another team was quickly dispatched to anchor his plane to mother earth.
It was time to discuss the trip home. Some were for it. Others were not so sure. Larry took ownership and declared the mission over. There's no need to risk anything just to fly home. The team would have to leave the aircraft. Problem! Severe weather would be coming into the area soon, and our fragile aircraft would not be able to handle it tied down. Larry talked to the Hartenbower folks and they were willing to find hangar space for all 4 aircraft. They had to move a lot of equipment around and we had to do some real tricky parking, but we got all of the aircraft indoors.
Thank goodness (again) for our wise ground support team. The 5 pilots now needed a ride home. Bruce and Tom could take 3 people. Another aviation enthusiast from the Newark area was there and was willing to drive our other 2 pilots back to Cushing. Once there, John Matula was happy to drive Bill and Brian back to Clow. So all ended up back where they started from, safe but without aircraft.
Fast Forward to Tuesday, May 6. The weather is now great and is predicted to get even better.
Larry, Bill and Brian were able to hitch a ride with Bruce (thanks, Bruce!) all
the way back to Hartenbower so that they could pick up their planes and fly
home. Brad, unfortunately, could not play hooky from work and missed a
great day to join the team's flight home. The drive there was fun, as all the pilots gossiped and read
Bruce’s latest copy of Experimenter. The
Hartenbower folks weren’t there when the group first arrived, but someone came
over shortly to see who was snooping in the hangars.
With little difficulty, the three planes were extricated from their tight
confines and parked along the taxiway. We
tried to show the Hartenbower representative some financial gratitude for the
accommodations they had provided, but they weren’t taking any.
Another example of how gracious the flying community can be!
Larry, Bill and Brian took off into a clear blue shy with nothing in the way of wind. Enroute to Cushing Partial Team A plus Team C chatted, buzzed the new growth on the fields, and otherwise enjoyed the heck out of the evening. The group landed at Cushing to drop off Larry and take on some fuel, and then departed for the final leg to Clow. Landing safely, Bill and Brian could only shake their heads in amazement at the wild difference in the weather a few days can make.
Fast Forward to Saturday, May 10. Brad is now well past ready to get his plane home. Larry was tied up until late in the day and other options to get to Hartenbower were not working out. However, luck was on his side. He found Johnny Skoch sleeping in his lawn chair in front of hangar #10. Johnny agreed to drive Brad back to Hartenbower to pick up his plane. The flight back to Hartenbower at 2,000 ft. with a 20 mph tailwind, was quick on gorgeous!
Lessons Learned:
1 - Pay close attention to the weather
2 – Don’t believe everything they forecast. They could be wrong!
2 - If you are outside your safe range of flying conditions - stay on the ground
3 – It’s sometimes tough to make a decision to stay on the ground, but make the tough decision!
4 - You can count on your flying friends to help.
Where To Now?
Bill's Excellent AirVenture, Part 2