(When we last left our intrepid travelers, before the Independence Day holiday, they had just left on their journey back home via rental car…..leaving the 340 to be repaired…)

So I get back home Monday Morning about 3:30 AM .  Drop MC off at her place and pulled the rental car into the driveway….and fell face down into my pillow. I may have taken off my shoes, IDK.  Long day and lots of driving (some of it in thunderstorms) had worn me out. I don’t do 22 hour days anymore. I must be getting old…..

The sun woke me up about 6:15 AM though. Old habits die hard, and when the sun comes up, I get up. Even now that I no longer have to.

At 7:45 AM I get a text from the mechanic dude…..He pulled the cowling and found the left starter with a Teeny-Tiny issue:

The theory is that the brush holder failed (It appears to be an original Cessna/Continetal starter, and I don’t care enough to go back through 40 years of logbooks to find when (or if) it was ever replaced). And they didn’t wanna open it up as that might mean that we lose the core return value, ($450) so we left it alone…

I told him to find a new or reman unit and let me know.

I then got a call from MC, who had also woken up and was ready to face her day, and she agreed to meet me at the car rental place so I could return the car…As long as I bought her breakfast…

The car, a nearly brand new (2100 miles!) Honda Accord, was a pretty nice car. especially for a rental. Comfortable seats, good (not awesome, not sporty, but decent) handling, adaptive cruise control, Decent sound system…all I needed (Although I would have been satisfied if they’d given me a 2000 Geo Metro with a half million miles and a broken AM radio,  I mean, after hours on a Sunday,,,,I just wanted to get home) Anyway, as I said, a pretty nice car. It got an honest 40 MPG even at the speeds I drove it (Honest, I kept it 5 MPH under the speed limit all 700 miles)…..

Eyewitness reports of speeds over 95 mph for many tens of miles at a time have misidentified the car, I am certain)

We returned the car and got a late breakfast…

More to come as I get time to write.

That July 4th,….Independence Day….is the real “No Kings” protest day.

The liberals can suck it.

I mean, he could live at the poverty level, get rid of all the trappings of Mayor, choose to have a smaller security detail,  cook his own food, spend less on fancy suits, drive himself, etc.

How many millions could the socialist mayor of New York City save that could go to help those he thinks are so terribly disadvantaged?

He obviously thinks that it is OK to complain about successful people accumulating wealth, yet here he is living large when most of those trappings could go to help those he complains are downtrodden.

He could, of course show everyone the way, but that just isn’t what Leftists do, is it?

Think of  most Liberal Politicians and activists:  think Bernie Sanders, think Patrisse Cullors of BLM…and now Mayor Zohran Mamdani….They all live large on the backs of those they claim to represent, and decry the people who have gotten rich with hard work and good choices and intelligence. Yet they don’t set the example….

Hypocrites, each and every one of them

They all hate the country that gave them the wealth and power they decry in others.

Not by me, but by Adaptive Curmudgeon.

He. like me, is proud of his country and is glad that the Doomsayers predictions turned out to so much hot air.

If you don’t follow him, you should.

It started with a bunch of colonists, and some hotheads, and some folks who had had enough of the rule of a king on another continent.

It became the Best Damned Country on this planet.

It became the country that the strongest, the best and the brightest chose to emigrate to, the brave and courageous souls were willing to leave friends and family on a one way trip in order to come here for the opportunity to succeed.

It became a country that fed fully half the world, because it had farmers who worked hard and grew incredible amounts of grain.

It became a country that had the greatest industry…..and the most productive workers…. so much so that in WWII it outproduced all the other allied countries by a factor of 12, so much so that the United States GAVE AWAY war materiel and machines to their allies.

It became the country that was a shining beacon for the people who merely wished for a chance to live and work and to succeed…Many of whom risked their lives to simply arrive at those shores.

It became the country that held back Communism, on two fronts, that kept half or more of Europe free (for a given measure of Free) as well as a significant portion of Asia..

It became the country that did more, helped more people, fed more people, defended more people and saved more lives than all the other countries on earth COMBINED.  That put a Man on the Moon, and demonstrated what real Free People can accomplish.

And today, this day, 250 years ago, is the day those leaders, those rebels, those radicals, those representatives of the colonists… They told the king of England that he was no longer their ruler.

Read that document here, just in case you haven’t.

Read it carefully: it is well written. A portion:

In Congress, July 4th, 1776:  The unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another

AND:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,

Go on, read the rest. I’ll wait.

Just words, written on parchment by hand, But those words changed so much. Created a country that is so much.

Those men, with their signatures, began the birth of the greatest country on earth, one that I am incredibly lucky to be born as a citizen in, one that gave me the rights and advantages that I had over nearly every citizen of any other country. That pledge, by the signers, of their “Lives, Fortunes and Sacred Honor” was the start of a wonderful thing.

That Declaration, that statement, along with the Constitution that would come later, made the United States what it is today. Not perfect, perhaps, but Pretty Damned Good.

And I, for one, am proud and honored to be a citizen of that country.

Go celebrate this day, this Independence Day. This birthday of a country: Remember what the celebration today is meant for, and remember the people who made it happen, and those who have defended that country and that way of life that began 250 years ago….The immigrants  that became citizens, that built this country into what it is, and what it is. Raise a glass, take a moment, and honor those who signed that Declaration and chose to rule themselves….and be thankful that you can do so 250 years later, here in the best Damned Country ever on this planet.

Happy Birthday USA!

The next time someone says “have a nice fourth of July!” I’m gonna lose my shit.

We don’t say “Merry 25th of December!” fer chrissake.

It’s Independence Day, the day that the founders of our country told the King of England to Stuff It and brought about the birth of the greatest country on earth.

That day just happened to be the 4th of July, 1776.

But for the love of all that is Holy, call it Independence Day, name the Holiday for what it is.

To call it the “4th of July” waters it down to just a day off, not something worth remembering.

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.