Although it was a little on the short side (selby field to glider port, about 30 minutes) I made my first cross country trip last night along with airbike ace! What an expirience it was!

We met up at the hanger around 5pm, I fueled my plane (good choice) and we discussed our planned rout (another good choice) I recomended a cruise speed of 50mph which is about right for my plane (according to my asi).
We departed the local strip around 5:30pm and headed off around the south side of derby then turned north. As we neared the town of andover it was verry appearant that ace was quickly leaving me behind despite my best efforts to keep up! after several more minutes he was gone from my line of sight. There I was flying over unfamilliar terrain and the squadron leader had left me! After a fleeting moment of intense pucker factor   I considered my 2 options turn around and go back or press on into unfamilliar terrain. I decided that I had plenty of daylight left as well as plenty of fuel (having refueled earlier ) that it was worth a shot. I remembered the flight plan the we had discussed earlier and even though I had limited knowlege of the landmarks we discussed earlier I set out to find them.
First K 96 came into sight followed by the 2 cell towers I knew that the field was north west of the towers but not exactly where so I began a east and west search south of the benton airport hoping to find the glider port. after around 10 minutes of this I made a turn to the north east and entered tha pattern for benton following a stearman biplane.

Once on the ground I contacted paul who was happy to learn that I was alive and well! I then asked for directions from the benton airport to the glider port and took to the air again headed that way. After landing I was greeted by well wishers who were happy I made it ( why couldn't it have been some of those red headed french nurses that give ace so much attention )
We hung around at the glider port till about 6:45pm then headed home. The ensuing flight gave me some good sunset photo oppertunities. Ace flew formation with me on the way back and after landing advised me that my cruise setting of 3000rpm yielded me an airspeed of around 40mph! Given that my asi is that far off I doubt that I have even achieved the 50mph cruise speed I recomended with full power .

all things considered it was a good flight and a good lesson in pilotage!
I love this flying stuff!!

Chris

Ready for takeoff


An ultralight heli (at glider port)


The road to home


Me in flight


ace at sunset


My favorite sunset pic

beautiful pictures thanks guys.

It does seem like the asi of most gauges seems to be off by some amounts.  When I bought my minimax the guy told me that a 1/4 off from straight ahead could be off by 10 mph or more.  Then he explained that if the equalizer hose wasn't hooked up opening the little circle vents could cause it to change as well.  I think you convinced me to buy aviation gps as well.  I really hate being lost and asking directions at a couple thousand feet can't be that easy.

Avenger,

I landed at an alternate airport before I asked for directions. Even with the headset I cant hear myself think over the sound of that generac.

Chris

Ouch that is loud.

Quoted Text

I really hate being lost

A pilot is never lost, there are just moments when he is unsure of his location

Chris

CPD
Good story and pics..... keep on.
Knut A

Ok then I really hate being unsure of my location.  But as long as you have a full tank you can always find a place to land.  Speaking of landing I talked to a guy from west virginia that said they practice flat stall because there is no place to land because of the trees.  The fact he knew to land in pines because they were softer worried me a bit.  He was envious of me living in Kansas where you could land anywhere.  I let him keep thinking that.  He said you came down to tree top and then stalled to kill all forward speed and just land in the top of a tree like a bird.   Getting the plane back out usually wasn't all that good on the plane.

Course these landing were made possible by an engine flame out and not being very close to you runway.

Nice decision-making Chris.  After losing sight of you (in spite of multiple 360 degree turns along the route intended to allow you to catch up) I figured you would have done option #1.  Glad you did option #2.  Note my Halls ASI in the above photo of Chris, the indicator disk is pegged at 35 mph.

After he landed at Benton Chris called me on the cell and asked for directions.  I told him to take off and fly into the sun, he would then eventually cross the glider port airfield.  A few minutes later he showed up and made a very nice landing in front of the crowd that cheered him as he taxied in.

Chris, you don't get the red-headed nurses swooning over you until you return from doing an air battle,  bombing or strafing run and there is evidence on your plane of having been at war.  You have to EARN their admiration---and kisses (and that other stuff).

I like your concept of getting lost, that is a good one.  As Chris followed me back to the Selby aerodrome I cleared my guns frequently leaving clouds of gun smoke to mark my location.  In the sunset photo through his struts you can see me doing just that.  After I landed Chris made several low level passes and finally put her down at 7:30 (sunset).  He said "I wasn't ready to stop flying for the day".  I like his attitude.

Nice photos Chris, thanks for posting mine too.  Here are a couple more:

AirBike Ace

And one more of Chris.  We flew 700' AGL as that put us at 2000' MSL which is the floor of McConnell AFB and we didn't want to mix it up with the tankers.  Who knows, those guys might have gotten fllipped over when crossing our wake turbulence!  (or is it the other way around?)

Thanks for posting the pics paul, I plan on getting some more cross country time in tomorrow by flying down to Belle Plaine and Udall.

Happy flying
Chris

Thank you guys for sharing your flight. Great pics, really enjoyed it.

Sounds like a fun adventure...and probably more on the way..!

Nice pics

regards Arthur

Quoted from Avenger

  I really hate being lost and asking directions at a couple thousand feet can't be that easy.

Once I got so lost on the return trip from an airport an hour away I had to find a water tower with the town's name on it. I looked and hunted and studied the chart and couldn't find the town on it. In desperation I turned the chart over, and there it was! (How the heck did I end up here?  )  Well, there was a high solid overcast and the sun was not visible , I overcompensated the slight right rudder the C-150 required,  ignored the compass, didn't use the VOR receiver, followed the wrong highway for a while, probably busted some restricted airspace near a military base, and that's all I'm admiting to......

Yup, some pilots are born with an infallible internal compass....ummm....right.

Anyway, I found my course home, landed and put a surprising amount of fuel in the tanks to refill ( still had plenty of reserve, though). I got to hear everyone else's "getting lost" stories and was a little embarrassed for a few weeks until another club member outdid me!

My internal compass has never been to good and when we are sitting around sometime I will explain how you can leave OKC for Wichita and end up in Arkansas and swear all the way that the landmarks are right.  GPS is sounding better all the time.

I just wish I could have began that much fun at 19. Keep up the pic Ace and Criss. They get better all the time. Charlie

Try wearing the foam style earplugs along with the headset.  I have a 503, but for me it cuts out some of the engine noise and I can hear my radio better.

Jack

Quoted from BlueMax

Even with the headset I cant hear myself think over the sound of that generac.

Chris