Shortly after moving to Savannah, Georgia from Arkansas, I started looking for an airplane. I wanted something economical to operate, could carry more than two people, and that I could potentially use to get my Instrument rating.
I did all the normal, airport visiting, subscribing to Trade a Plane, tire kicking, and talking to folks, but I couldn't find what I was looking for.
Then one evening while surfing the internet, (more like scouring...) I came across an the following ad.
It seemed like the plane I was looking for...It would carry more than two people, some of the time. It was instrument capable, or at least it had been at one time. It had pretty good radios. And if the owner really meant "all offers considered" then I thought I should give this one some consideration myself.
It was in Maine.
I contracted the owner, via email, and later by phone, and we talked about the airplane. He sent me some pictures, and I was hooked.
This little blue over white 1968 Piper Cherokee PA28-140 was just what I wanted.
Hey, the instrument panel looked presentable. Not like so many that I had seen that were all cut up and jumbled and antique looking.
And blue, after all, is my favorite color!!!
I wasn't the Grumman Tiger that I lusted after, but, it wasn't chopped liver either.
It's a long way from Georgia to Maine.
The owner and I talked on the phone and exchanged more emails and finally settled on a price and who was going to pay for what. (I was buying it with a fresh annual inspection).
It's cold in Maine in the winter.
So, late in December, 2006, Beth and I jumped on a Friday evening USAir flight to Portland, Maine.
Did I mention that the plane was in Sanford, Maine, and that is a long way from Savannah, and it is cold "as a well diggers a$$" there in the winter time?
We almost didn't make it to Portland that night. In fact, we didn't FLY to Portland, we flew to Boston, and had to be bussed to Portland, due to fog over the field. We arrived after 2:00 am and collapsed in bed by 2:05 am...
Marcel, the owner was at the hotel to pick us up bright and early Saturday morning. We drove out to the airport to see what was about to become OUR new baby.
We looked it over, went over the log books with the mechanic, and headed for the bank.
We got the financials taken care of, then headed back to the airport to wait for the last minute button up part of the annual inspection.
I had to fly for an hour with a CFI to satisfy the insurance company that I was safe enough to get the plane home, so we spent the hour flying around the area sightseeing. We flew over former President George Bush, Sr. s place on the coast, Kennebunkport.
Before Beth and could head home we had a little head phone issue to clear up... It seems that the intercom or the plugs to it, couldn't handle stereo headsets very well. So, we discovered that if you didn't plug the speaker plug all the way in they worked fine. If you did push them all the way in, SILENCE!!!
We finally got that all sorted out and Beth and I headed home...
We spent Saturday night in Bedford, MA, then finished up the rest of the trip on Sunday. Here are some pics from the trip.
Headed home early Sunday morning. When we took off from Bedford, MA our transponder wouldn't work... I remember thinking at about this time,"Boy, this is gonna be an adventure getting from here to Savannah without a transponder..."
And it was...
Somewhere over Pennsylvania we saw this river meandering between two ridge lines and thought it was pretty neat. In the Arkansas delta I was used to meandering streams but, this was so symmetrical...
Camp David, the Presidents Retreat is right over there somewhere, and here I am buzzing along sans transponder... Not good!
This picture was taken as the sun was setting over the mountians west of Lynchburg, Virgina. Breath taking.
