Today was all I could ask for...except the farewells

 Sunday, July 30

Dennis had said that we'd be wheels off between 11 a.m. and noon, but I know him better than that and so I was ready to leave by 10:00 a.m. Saying good-by to all my new friends was wrenching; I never expected to feel so deeply about leaving people whom I've known for only two weeks. (Yes, AirVenture was a week, but I got there a week before that and began volunteering immediately.)

So this morning was lots of hugs, and then pushing (with help!) my plane to the grass ultralight runway. Pushing because you can't start up your engine and taxi through the campground/tie down area.

It was an ignominious beginning. First, my engine took four cranks before it fired up, and when it did the plane leapt forward! Putting on the parking brake is a two-step process: first you set the parking brake and the you pump the parking brake handle several times. I had forgotten to do the second step, so the parking brake didn't hold. Happily, I was able to quickly get it stopped, and then sedately taxi for take-off.

Leaving the 900' grass ultralight airstrip was interesting, since you have to stay 300' AGL (above ground level) for quite a ways before you're free to leave AirVenture's airspace.

It was a gorgeous day for flying. Slight headwind, white puffy clouds, scattered across the blue sky, and gorgeous Wisconsin to overfly.

We flew north, so we could continue our perimeter trip where we had temporarily "ended" it to fly south to Oshkosh. Ninety minutes after take-off, we landed at Merrill Airport (KRRL) to refuel. It was like coming home, since I had spent two nights sleeping in the FBO two weeks ago.

Then off again, heading north-northwest toward International Falls, MN. (KINL) Over 300 miles, with a stronger, more turbulent headwind. Up and down, up and down...it was difficult to stay straight and level. A few times I bounced enough to get sharp tugs on my shoulder harness, yet the plane was very responsive to my wrist actions and I never felt the slightest bit unsafe.

More lakes, rivers, ponds, forests, and farms.

Due to the bumpiness, I didn't take practically any photos. But it you look at the first four photos five times each, you'll see what I saw over and over again - with some variation, of course! I was so happy to be in the air again, flying over such beautiful countryside. 

Dennis and I talked (via radio) about what we wanted to see on the flight home. Neither of us is in a hurry to get there. He wants to see Glacier National Park, and I want to show him Cavanaugh Bay, ID as well the Grand Coulee Dam. And the San Juan Islands in Washington, and land at Copalis State Airport - the only airport in the continental U.S. that is a sand beach airport and you have to check the tide schedule to know when it's safe to land!

We were both pretty worn out when we finally landed at International Falls. (There are no falls, there. The falls were submerged when a reservoir was built.) Four bumpy hours in the air!

My friend Jeff Warner and his son Ryan are driving our route, and met us for dinner. It took them ten hours to drive what took us 5.5 hours to fly.

We're right on the Canadian border, and tomorrow we'll fly west, staying as close to the border as we safely can.

Our track today:

With a little more detail:

Tomorrow the adventure continues

 Saturday, July 29

Another week has sped by and it's hard to believe that Oshkosh will be over tomorrow and Dennis and I will be taking flight again.

There are so many highlights from this past week that I almost don't know where to start.

Probably the most significant aspect of Oshkosh, for me, has been the friends I've made by being a volunteer in the Ultralight/Light Sport Fun Fly area. There are so many cliches about Oshkosh being about the people more than the planes, and I wholeheartedly believe it. One example: I've been camping under my wing, in spite of torrential downpours, and my tent has been leaking more and more.

When the downpours became serious lightning storms, the other volunteers wouldn't hear of me staying in my tent. So they'd check the weather each night, and if the radar showed lightning storms, they insisted that I sleep in the Ultralight barn. (Where registrations and merchandise are sold.)

Other highlights:

1. the incredible variety of planes. Here are a few - and there are thousands!

I had to stop myself from posting all the photos I took.

2. The in-the-air activities

There are so many different things going on. During the day there are air shows. 

The only downside to the airshows is the ear-splitting sound of the military jets as they do amazing routines.

In the evenings, at the Utralight runway, (we have a900' grass strip,) there are STOL (Short Take-Off & Landing) demonstrations. This is Steve Henry, a STOL Champion many times over.

There are also Powered Paraglider and Powered Paramotor demonstrations. One feisty woman PPG instructor nearly convinced me that I too could carry a 50 lb. motor and prop on my back and learn to foot launch! One evening ended with five PPGs, all lit up, doing some formation routines. Here is one of them getting ready to take off.

Here's a PPG flying near a balloon.

3. The learning opportunities

There were over 1500 forums, workshops, and other learning activities. I gave one on our flight to get here...and other long distance flights I've made.

4. And there were just so many other fun things to see and do.

The folks who manufacture M&Ms are big supporters of AirVenture and their signature is all over.

There are trams, shuttles, golf carts, and charming VW bugs providing transportation, although most people walk, and walk, and walk, and walk.

The evening airshow on Wednesday ended with a huge fireworks display that lasted almost 30 minutes, and began with a PPG and a flag.

Now it's time to begin doing our route planning for our flight home. We leave tomorrow morning and I'm excited about the route, since we'll be flying the northern border and planning on stopping in Glacier National Park for a day or so.

I'll resume blogging almost daily - so I hope you stay tuned.

I can't believe I've been here a week!!!

 Sunday, July 23

Wow - what a week this has been. I've been kept busy volunteering every day, sometimes for 8-9 hours. It's so much fun that it's hard to pull myself away...and I'm not kidding. I get to drive golf carts and gators, staple papers, put together packets of information, set out merchandise for sale in the Ultralight Red Barn, stock the refrigerators with water and soda...basically anything that needs to be done.

Yesterday I "went orange". When people ask me why my shoes, arms, fingers and shorts have orange paint, I tell them I want to match my plane. Actually, it's because I spent much of yesterday spray painting "NO PARKING" and "NO STANDING" on about 1/2 mile of roadway.

(For those of you who have never seen my socks-of-choice: these ARE "matched" socks, from LittleMissMatched.com.)

Two days ago we (the Ultralight/Light Sport Fun Zone volunteers) got a real thrill: watching a 14 year old girl land her ultralight on the main runway. She had flown it - by herself - from South Carolina, with her dad as ground crew.

We've had almost daily thunderstorms. The first was five days ago, and it was a real eye-opener. I was fast asleep in my tent when it started, and for almost 30 minutes the lightning strikes were so brilliant that I could have read a small-print book inside my tent. The rain pounded down, but my tent remained dry, except for one small puddle where the zipper pulls come together.

The second one, a day or so later, was also a non-event as far as my tent (and plane!) were concerned.

Then, yesterday, it was a different story. Pounding rain - over 2" in less than 90 minutes - and hail as well as thunder and lightning. This time there was lots of water in my tent.

Happily, I was able to dry everything off before it was time to go to bed. And everything in the plane stayed dry; no leaks.

Today a group of Aeroprakt pilots got together for a dinner hosted by Deb and Don Shuman, who own an A-32. One couple is from Bremerton (in Washington,) and two pilots are from New Zealand. No, they didn't fly their planes here. Deb's brother and his wife joined us. 

The campgrounds are almost full and planes are flying in full force today. Hard to believe that only three days ago I was the ONLY plane and tent in this entire area!!! 

I spent much of today registering pilots in the Ultralight/Light Sport Fun Zone. And seeing good friends from Oregon as well. What fun!

On Wednesday I'm giving a Forum presentation about my flight here. So I've also been putting together my PowerPoint presentation for that.

Tomorrow I'll do my volunteer work in the morning and spend the afternoon and evening wandering the show. I can hardly wait!

At OSHKOSH!!! (Also known as EAA AirVenture)

Tuesday, July 18

As I wrote in my last post, I was fogged in at Merrill Airport, only 88 miles north of Oshkosh, so Saturday I caught a ride (automobile) to Oshkosh and spent the day doing a myriad of volunteer activities, then caught a ride back to Merrill where I spent a 2nd night in the FBO.

To my delight, when I woke up Sunday the skies were blue and looked that way all the way to Oshkosh. (Thanks to the WINDY app.) So I packed up and took off. It was very bumpy, but there was unlimited visibility and no haze! More lakes, rivers, farms, forest. Delightful @ 1500-2000'.

Steve Krueger had given me very specific information about contacting ATIS 20 miles out to get their current weather information, and protocols for speaking to the tower. I was flying in before the AirVenture NOTICE was in effect. (From July 22 through July 30.) The NOTICE is 31 pages !! of protocols of how to arrive and depart from AirVenture. Planes are stacked 3 high as they arrive, and each has to land at a specific dot on the runway. By coming in early, I could land without worrying about anything but following the tower directions, just as I'd normally do flying into a Delta airport. It was easy!

So by Sunday late morning I was tied down and had my tent set up.

At Oshkosh at last!

I'm camping and volunteering in the Ultralight/Light Sport Fun Fly Zone.

Now, a few statistics about EAA AirVenture - usually referred to as "Are you going to Oshkosh?":

For the week of July 24-30, it will be the busiest airport in the world!

But for now, the fields are almost empty of planes. 

I'm having a relaxing time volunteering and enjoying the camaraderie with the other volunteers. And really enjoying NOT flying for a while! 

The rest of this week will be helping out at the Fun Fly Zone, and next week will be spent volunteering, as well as attending Forums, workshops, and buying t-shirts and other memorabilia.  I'll post every couple of days, sharing highlights. Dennis' friend who will be flying his (Dennis') plane here from Arkansas is planning on flying it in late next week. I'm not sure what Dennis is planning to do with his 40' coach while we finish the flight back to Oregon. He'll figure it out.

My track from Merrill to Oshkosh:

Flying into Oshkosh today

 Sunday, July 16

I haven't posted in a few days, so I'll catch up now.

On Thursday (July 13) after a blissful day of rest and relaxation at Barry and Donah's, I left Minocqua and flew to Merrill, WI. (KRRL) It was an easy 35 minute flight over farmland and forest...and lakes and rivers, of course. 

Steve Krueger was there when I landed. Steve is Co-Chairman of the Ultralight/Light Sport Fun Fly Zone at EAA AirVenture and I'll be volunteering in that area once I actually fly there. Steve and his wife Karen invited me to a genuine Friday Fish Fry - which is a state tradition. We met their friends Mary and Lyle at the Eagles Aerie in Merrill, and I had a number of firsts: my first Old Fashioned made Wisconsin-style (which is apparently quite different from other Old Fashioneds,) my first taste of fried cheese curds, (which were delicious,) and my first dinner of walleye, which was also great.

I spent Thursday night at the Merrill Airport FBO and it was one of the most comfortable FBOs I've ever been in. I woke up about 6:00 a.m. Friday morning and saw that it was completely fogged in. Before I had a chance to get a weather briefing, Steve called. The weather forecast was not good for the day. However, he was going to drive to Oshkosh as volunteers would be working there all day. Would I like to go? Of course!

So I spent yesterday working at the Fly Fun Zone Red Barn. Met lots of wonderful people and enjoyed myself thoroughly. I got a ride back to Merrill with Steve's son Brian, who is a pilot for American Airlines and who also has a Christian Eagle which is hangared at Merrill, along with three of his dad's planes.

Now it's Sunday morning, and the smoke is heavy with only 2-3 miles visibility. (I legally have to have three miles visibility to fly.) It's supposed to "clear" to 5-6 miles visibility by 10 or 11:00 a.m. That's still not great, but I'll finally be able to fly into Wittman Airport, tie down my plane, set up my tent, and settle into Oshkosh!!!

My track on Friday: