Cross-Country in my Homebuilt
Article and
Pictures by Mick Paknke
It had been my dream and goal for years, to fly a plane that I had built on a
real cross-country flight. The first step was completed, I had the plane and was
now familiar enough with the handling and avionics to take it on a long trip.
The autopilot was upgraded to include an altitude hold and the wings leveler had
recently been upgraded with new software and a replacement servo for a failed
unit. No more excuses, it was time to belly up to the plate. I had been telling
my parents that I would fly down to Tampa as soon as all was well with the plane
and the weather looked conducive to a VFR flight and Saturday September 22 was
going to be the day!
After much planning on various websites, we decided on two stops with the first
being in central Tennessee, just west of Nashville, and the second in south
Georgia. With the plane packed, full fuel and a fresh brief in hand, Jude and I
lifted off from runway 18 from Clow at 6:00 a.m. with beautiful clear skies. In
the air we started monitoring Chicago Center to start flight following. We heard
them telling Southwest of a plane heading southbound at 3500’ and then later
another Southwest flight of a plane southbound at 4500’ – hey, that’s us! We
called Chicago Center and told them that 899RV was requesting VFR flight
following, passing through 5000’ and our heading to Nashville. ATC told us to
push ‘Ident’, ‘radar confirmed, squawk 1054’. So far, so good. Well, those of
you that have flown through the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee know that as the
day progresses during the warm weather, chances are good that the clouds will be
building. Soon 5500’ became 4000’ then 3000’ with sprinkles and 35 miles to the
first stop.
A call to Flight Services confirmed that Florida was not on the agenda for
today. A man stepped out of a Cessna, heard our predicament and offered to take
Jude and I with him to the county fair. Seems he flew in from Nashville about 30
miles away and his wife was coming to pick him up in the car – makes sense to
me! But Jude and I were working on finding Sam, the guy who invited us to stop
in if we were in these parts. I reached Sam on his cell with airplane sounds in
the background. ‘Mick, I’m at an air show so the field is closed and I can’t get
out for another 4 hours. I’ll call and see if I can find someone at the home
field and set you up in my house.’ A little while later we were in the air
looking for his grass strip, ‘keep the highway on your left and the strip is
even with the Speedway’. I’m thinking it must be a damn big Speedway to see it
from the air, when Jude says ‘there’s a big racetrack’, ahh a racetrack not a
gas station! My first time landing on top of a hill cut through the trees. On
half mile final, that opening looked pretty tight. But what a nice flying
community, and there was Morton to show us the way. Morton (who is a character)
and his wife Judy, hosted us while Sam and Pat were at the air show.
Morton learned to fly in Vietnam and was a commercial pilot
who was one of the first Americans to fly for Nippon Airways. He had a lot of
stories to tell and later took us around to the various hangers to show us
projects and planes. He and another at the field had rebuilt 2 Stearman aircraft
and Morton was in the process of building a third.
Airplane sounds; here comes Mike and Mary in their Swift
buzzing the field. I commented that this didn’t look or sound like any Swift I
was familiar with. Well it wasn’t, Mike was an air show performer and his Swift
was very modified and well – swift. Right behind him on the taxiway was Sam,
Pat, son and girlfriend in their very cherry 180. What great hosts with a
beautiful home nestled in the woods!
The Sunday morning call to Flight Services told me to stay on the ground with
little hope of getting out that day. What the heck, this was fun, but a call at
noon to FS said I was cleared to Florida. With regrets, Jude and I hoped in the
RV and took off for a small field in south Georgia with a course designed to
keep me out the numerous MOAs, Atlanta’s class B and a few no fly areas. A call
to Nashville Approach started us on flight following and we were on our way. It
wasn’t long before 5500’ became 4500’ and then 3000’ because of low ceilings and
mist.
Makes those tree covered hills around Atlanta look pretty unfriendly especially
when I hit turbulence while making one of the frequent frequency changes and
turned off the fuel pump. That’ll give your adrenal glands a kick! Turning the
pump back on restarted the noisy fan in the front. That is when you really
appreciate that ATC flight following; but are they really watching? A little
while later we hear ‘899RV, what are you doing?!’ Oops, answered that question.
I had been warned by Atlanta ATC not to enter the no fly zone east of Columbus
Georgia which I now found I was heading straight for. I had turned down the
range on my GPS for better detail so didn’t have a lot of time to realize I was
not heading around this air space as I had planned. I made a 140 degree turn to
the west to go around it. ATC was unimpressed with my flying skills and asked if
I wanted vectoring through this area. Good idea!
We made it down to Dawson Muni in south Georgia to the sight of huge cumulous
clouds and the now familiar words ‘VFR not recommended’. ‘Sure, take the county
car, and bring it back tomorrow morning. I’m not worried I’d much rather have
that pretty RV.’ Dawson claims to be the birthplace of Jimmy Carter, has two
peanut factories, a decent Mexican restaurant but no BEER on Sunday (no
Margaritas either). At 9:00 a.m., the following morning, I was being told should
be clear by 10:00. 10:00 we are up with a promise that it would be clear by the
time we reach our first stop in northern Florida, an hour away. Landing at Foley
Field, elevation 45’, we get the go ahead to Brooksville, which is about another
hour south. The base of the puffy clouds is about 1000’ and we are on top at 3
but they are building south. So 3 turns into 4 and 4.5 and 6 staying on top with
a 110 mph cruise climb.
At 11,200’ I told Jude this is ridiculous and we are going
back under which was now 3000’ over the swamps east of the gulf. We made it to
BKV about 1:00 and spent the rest of the week with my folks.
The trip back was uneventful. Went up to 6500’, turned on the autopilot, dialed
in an airport with auto gas just west of Chattanooga and watched the scenery go
by.
Made it back to Clow about 2:00. Overall, it was a very
educational and enjoyable experience. You meet the very best people in this
sport.
Statistics:
Clow to Tampa was 2.5 days and roughly 1000 miles. 8 hours engine on time, with
six stops, 41 gallons of fuel burned with an average speed of 125 mph at 25 mpg.
Tampa to Clow was 8 hours and 18 ATC hand-offs. With 6.7 hours engine on time,
two stops, burning 39 gallons of fuel (est), and an average speed of 149 mph at
25 mpg.
Where To Now?
Mick Flies Cross-Country All the Way to Florida!
Ken Flies Almost All the Way to the North Pole!
Evan Only Makes it as Far as Cedar Falls, Iowa
Instead of a Lousy T-Shirt, Evan Buys the Bomber Jacket
First-Ever Chanute AFB Air Festival
Annual Fly-ins at Grandpa's Farm and Galt
Annual Chicago Air and Water Show
Annual Flight to Tommy George's at Lake Sangchris
Annual Picnic at Clow Hosted by FVFC-E
An Excellent Sunset Flight puts it All in Perspective