I've really been missing "Miss Juliet" since we relocated to the middle of Iowa in August.
Last week I taught a class in the Atlanta area (Suwanee) and took the opportunity to drive down to Savannah at the end of the week and fly the girl home.
Scott Williamson picked me up early Saturday morning in Savannah, and drove me out to his hanger in Hinesville. We looked the plane over and he showed me all the things that he had done to make her better than ever. (Thanks Scott, you are great!)
At about 9:00 am EST, with 50 gallons of fuel, and all my bags and boxes of airplane stuff I left Mid-Coastal Regional airport (KLHW) and headed for Ownesboro, KY for my first fuel stop. Wright tower advisory told me that the restricted areas over Ft. Stewart was "cold" so I could proceed on course but that the Bulldog MOA (Military Operations Area) just to the north of Ft. Steward was pretty active and I should consider diverting a little to the west and over fly Dublin, GA (KDBN) then head more northerly. I contacted Savannah Approach, and they gave me a squawk code, and started VFR flight following for me. So, after a little jog to the left, we were on our way. However, the head winds at 4500 feet were killing my progress!
Soon after I left the low country, Savannah handed me off to Jacksonville Center, and just south of Dublin JAX handed me off to Atlanta Center. Just north of the Atlanta Class Bravo airspace I let ATL know that I was going to try 6500 for awhile looking for kinder winds. The extra altitude didn't help, but it didn't hurt either and since I was approaching the high ground between Atlanta and Chattanooga I decided to just cruise up there. There was a pretty solid cloud layer in the higher country, and above is always better than below, at least in my book. It doesn't take a razor sharp brain to figure out that when the ground speed hovers in the high 70's and the low 80's the next fuel stop is going to come sooner than anticipated.After passing just east of Chattanooga, I pushed the NRST button on my trusty Garmin GPS and started looking for suitable places to buy fuel. KRNC (Warren County Airport, at McMinnville, TN) was on my route of flight and only 50 miles ahead so I used the AOPA app on my iPhone to make sure they had 100LL and get a view of the airport layout.
Isn't technology a wonderful thing?
Everything was cool so I landed drained the main vein and took on 39 gallons of fuel. With 48 gallons usable, I don't think I would have come close to Owensboro, KY like I originally intended to. While on the ground, I used another iPhone app, ForeFlight, to plot a course from KRNC to Marshalltown, IA (KMIW). I then picked a point about half way along that route and found a likely place for a fuel stop, better safe than sorry. That place ended up being Litchfield, IL (3LF). I arrived there just at dusk, took on just over 30 gallons, dropped off what seemed like a quart, and was back on my way in about 15 minutes.
The rest of the flight was beautiful. After dark the sky was coverd with stars and the ground was covered with thousands of lights twinkling like diamonds. At about 50 nm out, I could see the lights of Marshalltown and identify the rotating beacon at the airport beyond. It was a nice sight to see after such a long flight. My wife was there to meet me, and show me the way to our new hanger.
We got the girl put away and were on our way home by about 8:30 pm CST. N1537J racked up exatly 12 hours on the tach. Between the two fuel stops my total ground time was no more then 30 minutes, so tach time and actual time are pretty close.
I do want to say a special thanks to all the controllers who keep me company, kept me alert and kept me safe on this long trip. As best I remember they were as follows:
Savannah Approach
Jacksonville Center
Atlanta Center
Chattanooga Approach
Ft. Campbell Approach
Springfield Approach
St. Louis Center
Kansas Center
Chicago Center
