So we get to the refueling stop….now, I prefer to pay a few cents more at FBO’s rather than buy self service fuel, only because at small airports you really never know what you are going to find when you get there….: Is the Self Service fuel good?, Is it contaminated? Full of water? Is the credit card terminal online? IS THE GODAMMED PUMP WORKING THIS WEEK?  Did Bubba (Or Billie or Brenda) the airport manager forget to NOTAM that the self serve fuel is out of service or otherwise unavailable? (Yes, I have had all those happen, (several times more than one) and it wastes time and fuel hopping from airport to airport to find fuel….So when I am in a hurry, I prefer FBO fuel for a few cents more….Except that it was late, on a Sunday,. and most small airport FBO’s were closed, so I landed at a bigger airport along the way and paid big dollars for enough fuel to get back home.

Did the necessary, paid the fuel bill, walked back out, pulled the chocks, did a quick (but thorough) preflight….boarded, turned on the battery and started the right engine. (Right engine always starts easier so I can be sure not to tun down the battery….)

Let the right alternator charge the battery for a few minutes, then tried starting the Left engine.

And that’s where things went sideways.

For a hot start/short turnaround, the procedure is:  One blade, two blades, three blades four blades, five blades, 6 blades 7,8, 9 10,11,12 blades with the fuel off and the mixture pulled to cutoff with the throttle wide open, turn on the fuel, set the mixture to 2/3 full rich, prime for 1  second and turn on the magnetos. Usually the left engine will hit once at the 6th blade or maybe 8th  blade and the backfire once then run on the 8th or 10th blade….

This time it went one  blade, two blades, three, four , five and then….nothing. The entire battery bus driven instrument set went dark for a moment then reset. The engine stopped turning and nothing happened. I set the parking brake and shut off the mags on the Left engine  and went out to hand prop it while MC stayed inside and it turned over easily, so there wasn’t a hydrolocked or flooded condition. …

NOPE.

Got back inside, shut down the right engine, replaced the chocks, and went back inside. Of course, at 7 pm local on a Sunday there wasn’t a mechanic available without a (very costly)  after-hours callout, but they did contact one for me.

He said that he wouldn’t have a starter in stock, so why not wait til Monday morning and save some money?

I agreed.

We asked about a rental car, and, again, after hours and they had (of course) just closed, but the FBO desk lady called and they were still in the office. She emailed them a copy of my drivers license and my credit card and they showed up 15 minutes later and handed me a set of keys to a nearly new Honda Accord.

And off we went for home:

So Sunday morning, I ate breakfast (Thank God!) for the first time in a few days as I had a long day of flying ahead of me. Arrived at the airport at 10:30 to preflight and pay the fuel bill, got the plane pulled out and parked on the tarmac …preflighted and and ready for departure. . Niece and party arrived on time (surprisingly!) and loaded their stuff on board. The folks at the FBO gave the groom the nickel tour of the planes parked there, (a G6, I think, 2 different Citations, 3 Vision Jets, a couple of other higher end mid sized planes, and  then we all loaded onboard the 340 for a trip to the first fuel stop.

My niece got to see me do pilot stuff in a pilot-y setting and hear me say pilot-stuff back and forth to ATC, Soon enough we were cleared for takeoff and departed the airspace in a more or less northerly direction. We went north towards Cleveland and then turned northeast. One fuel stop and then we were at the drop off point: 3 and a half hours of flying . Mostly clear-ish with scattered layers.

Then we arrived at the destination:

Now I am a flatlander. Mountain flying isn’t my gig. I can do it, (and, I think, do it reasonably well) but I am honestly afraid of those big granite covered clouds.

This approach was challenging for me. High density altitude, steep and short approach, not fully aligned with the runway due to terrain, and a sharp turn at the terminal end. Not hard to do, but hard enough for the first time with a planeload of people and a fairly high total weight . Unfamiliar with the terrain, it was a challenge. Flying through the passes BELOW the peaks on either side (and not all that far away) is disconcerting for me. Energy management on final to a short runway also adds to the stress. Plus the short runway at a high density altitude for even more fun…. And a 15 knot crosswind to add to the mix…..

I did it, and the plane is still flyable and everyone walked away… Fly the needles and trust your instruments….and it was a smooth and straight touchdown on the centerline just past the numbers.

And, to be truthful really, while difficult and intimidating, it wasn’t all that bad, but pilots will understand what I am talking about…. Plus, of course, if I screwed up it is my family that loses….Performance demand is also an issue there. (gotta look good for the niece’s first time, right?)

I’d really hate to do that approach when weather was at bare minimums though. As it was,  it was overcast(ish) to the FAF and then part way down to the numbers,  In a jet it would be near impossible for me to fly that approach. (Sorry, no photos though, OPSEC, and actually I was too buy flying to take pictures anyway…..)

Unloaded the kids and saw them on their way, got back in, started (more on THAT later) and taxiied out to the departure end, called ATC for my clearance (on the cell phone, they have no reception to get a clearance by radio on the ground) and got my CRAFT and then we were off.

One stop for fuel and then home.

That’s where things got interesting ….

“Dreaming doesn’t work to make your dreams come true unless you do…”

“The weakest ones are often cruelest”

“Don’t waste time trying to change things you cannot control”

“Everyone leaves, learn to survive alone”

” He one who lets go finds freedom”

“Facts are stubborn things”

“Regret hurts more than failure”

“Most people want you to fail”

We were invited to attend my niece’s wedding last weekend:

So the forecast for the arrival airport that we needed to go to on FRIDAY was low ceilings and Low IFR with poor visibility. Since the airport is surrounded by hills, we left the afternoon of Thursday, where it was supposed to be clear-ish (less bad than Friday, anyway)

Forecast for Thursday afternoon at our arrival point was Marginal VFR, ceilings 1500 or a bit better and haze, with a visibility of 3 or more miles.

We left my airport and flew to the arrival one in moderate IFR conditions. Scattered clear but mostly cloudy. Departure folks were good and the en-route ATC folks were on their game, with great vectors and even better descents. Later it became mostly clear but layers that made it IFR:

Arrived, parked the plane, got an Uber to where we were staying, and had dinner with other family (more on that later)

Got up the next day, Friday, to clear weather, no low clouds, no poor visibility, pretty much decent flying weather…Oh well, better early than late, amirite? The weather stayed good for flying all day too. Oh well, one can never trust the meteorologists, but they are right about half the time (maybe)

The dinner I chose Thursday evening was rare steak with fried potatoes and vegetables…..and I think it gave me Food Poisoning. I dunno for sure , but it is likely. Either way, that made for an interesting weekend….

I got up Friday not feeling my best, but we did family stuff until it was time to get ready for the Rehearsal dinner….at a taco (Not Mexican mind you, but rather a Taco) restaurant)  and that’s when things got somewhat ……bad. I wasn’t feeling well all day, , and by the time we got home after dinner, I was downright ill.

Friday night was just bad. No sleep, ill in ways I hadn’t been since my drinking days, if you get my drift.

Saturday morning everyone went to breakfast….everyone but me. I stayed near the room all day, and simply lost weight…..and I drank Gatorade brought by MC…By the quart. (I wanted to lose a few pounds, but I don’t recommend this way to do so….Its kinda drastic I mean, better than Meth, but still…)

Saturday was the wedding. I saw my niece get hitched (to a pretty good dude, she got lucky there), and again, I left the festivities early and let them party while I went home to rest…Because the next morning I had to take the bride and others to a super-secret location way north in the Allegheny mountains.

(more on that later).

Stay tuned for more.

The Media is all about it:  Blathering on an on about the “Heat Dome” that is making for “Dangerous Heat” in the Midwest and East.

Imagine that, it is the end of June/Start of July…And, oddly enough, it’s gonna be high heat and humidity.

I cannot believe that it is warmer weather in Summer in North America.

This is really strange.

(yes, that was sarcasm)

I’ve stacked bales of hay as they came out of a baler onto a moving wagon in weather worse than this It’s noting unusual, it’s SUMMER.

Been gone since Thursday, on a multi-state trip that included seeing a niece get married, delivering her to a secret mountain hideout (and one of my most challenging landings), a bout of food poisoning, more than a thousand miles of flying and a wild road trip ride home.

More later as I have the opportunity to recount the adventure.

For the folks in Venezuela.

Their country took a major hit from TWO 7+ magnitude earthquakes.

They are saying thousands dead,

“The people who talk the most generally know the least”

“He who has never failed has never tried”

“You will know the worth of water when the wells run dry”

“If they act like they don’t care, believe them”

“Life is hard enough, don’t help it be harder”

“Understand the difference between being looked at and being seen”

Keir Starmer is leaving as Prime Minister. 

I doubt anyone will be sorry for him to go

Y’know, England could one day be great again….

If they got their shit together and decided to be the people they once were.

Currently they kowtow to foreigners and the EU, and elect losers to govern them. And it is killing their country.