10/15/2016 –
After what I’m sure has been a grueling 6 weeks of the 2016-2017 school year, this past week was fall break for MN schools. My 11 year old, a budding geologist, has a bit of a fascination with the mountains (apparently she takes after her dad). It seemed an opportunity for Ella to feed her rock addiction, for us to visit with good friends, and for the Cozy to breathe some mountain air again. After an extremely bumpy IFR return from Rough River, I was looking for more enjoyable flying conditions on this vacation. I kept an eye on the weather in the week leading up to Ella’s school break, with most of the country (including our intended route) in the clear.
Of course, on the morning of the 15th, we awoke to 1200′ overcast. It was clear skies only 40 miles down our course line, and the RUC Soundings indicated I would break out on top at about 5000′ so despite having to file to get our vacation started, we were on top by 4400′ and soon clear of the fluffy view impediment below. For the first leg of the trip there wasn’t much to look at though, and after flying for 2 hours, we stopped in Ainsworth, NE for lunch. Fuel was cheap, so we topped off both the plane and our tummies and returned on course for the Denver area. Another 2 hours and we were landing at Rocky Mountain Metro, our planned stop for the evening. We met up with friend (and Cozy builder) Doug Solinger, and his family, Amy and Ella for dinner.
The following day we went to Eldorado Canyon to hike some beautiful trails in the morning. In the afternoon we went to Longmont to visit Rick Hall and his recently minted Cozy. Rick has done beautiful work on his bird. I have no doubts Rick will be enjoying a remarkable airplane when he completes his phase 1 test program. Bill and Robin Kastenholz stopped by the airport, and guided us to a wonderful spot along the river in Vrain canyon where Ella enjoyed studying as many rocks as she could. As dinner time approached we followed Rick up to Millsite Inn for dinner at 9200′. Good food and great company are plentiful in Colorado.
The next day (Monday), we awoke early (about 5:30am) and I did a check of weather for a flight to our next stop Taos, NM. All looked well, albeit a touch more breezy then I’d like with winds out of the south at about 20kts. My planned route to Taos would take us down the front range to about Pueblo, and then east through La Veta pass and south to Taos. I was a little concerned about the winds through the pass, but during my initial weather check a notam for Taos gave me more pause. Taos sits at 7100′, and normally has a 5800′ runway, except that it presently had been shortened by 1000′ for construction. With the CS prop, I’ve had no issue with runway length (including at Leadville, CO on a warm day), but when loaded with precious cargo (like an 11 year old), I get a bit overly cautious. I decided that I’d monitor conditions on the flight down front range and if winds through the pass were over 20Kts or DA at Taos was over 9000′, I’d head south around the bottom of the range and land at Santa Fe instead. So once the rental car was returned and the plane fueled and loaded, I made a last check of weather before departing KBJC. It was now almost 9am, and things were looking considerably worse. Winds over the mountains were in the 50kt range, and a sigmet for severe turbulence had been issued over the entire area. Another day in Denver was not only the best option, but highly desirable by Ella. We met up with another friend, Stevie Ray (who had purchased Doug’s Cozy a few years back), and toured the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, an amazing venue I hope to return to for a concert. Later Doug joined us for yet more good food.
The next day the winds were better, but I still opted for Santa Fe. Upon arrival we got the rental car, checked into the hotel, and went to Tent Rocks National Monument for a hike. Simply gorgeous. Later that evening we went to downtown Santa Fe to check out the plaza, which was certainly interesting, but I’m not much for shopping. Eventually we found a good Mexican restaurant where I had what was likely the best Mexican food I’ve had (north of Mexico). On Wednesday we drove up to Taos to visit the Taos Pueblo, and do some hiking in Carson National Forest. A fascinating and beautiful place.
Thursday we departed Santa Fe early for Grand Canyon. 10 Years ago I flew over the Grand Canyon in a rented Mooney M20. I had wanted to repeat that flight in the Cozy for quite some time. Our arrival from the east wouldn’t really take us over the canyon but it was in the plan for the departure the next day. The winds at 10,500 didn’t seem too bad on the flight over, about 15knots from south, switching to north along the flight. I knew the switch in winds to north would make the approach at KGCN a little bumpy, but wow did we get a roller coaster of a ride down. Upon contact with tower, surface winds were out of the west at 8kts. The first wind check as I turned final had it 120 at 7, but as I was about 1/4 mile out I got 170 @ 4 gusting 28. With a 9000′ runway I opted to keep speed up at 100Kts, and if it looked ok at 5′ up I’d cut the power and bleed it off. It was rocking and rolling until probably 10′ but then got smooth, so I pulled the power and made a not soft, but not too abrupt landing. It was Ella’s first visit to the Grand Canyon, so we quickly parked the plane, and headed into the park. The free shuttle bus had stopped running for the season, but a cheap taxi service exists to get you in and out of the park. Unfortunately this stop did not include good food, or good company (save for what I brought with). It offered only the majesty of the Canyon, some extremely mediocre pizza, and about half a billion tourist with selfy sticks…ugh. The only saving grace with the selfy stick crowd was that they apparently lacked motivation, so they only walked about 1/4 mile down the south rim path. The further from the visitor center we got, the less selfy sticks we encountered. There were none at the west end of the south rim trail, I suggest starting there instead.
Our original plan for Friday was to head to Boulder City and tour Hoover Dam, but arranging a rental car was an extreme PITA, and eventually decided to head for Vernal, Utah to check out Dinosaur National Monument, which Ella thought would be more interesting. The departure on Friday would still allow me to take the Cozy over the Grand Canyon, just to the north instead of west. It was very special for me to conduct that flight in the plane I built. We arrived in Vernal just before lunch and was greeted by the FBO owner. The night before we found plenty of lodging and a couple rental car options, so I asked the owner if he had suggestions for a hotel and rental car. He told us of a very nice and reasonable priced hotel, and tossed us the keys to one of the courtesy cars. We drove out to Dinosaur National Monument, including the quarry with an incredible deposit of bones, then did a short (4-5mile) trail hike nearby. Ella was in heaven. It is definitely on the must come back list.
Saturday we started back east towards home. A stop in Alliance, NE for lunch, then on to Sioux Falls, SD to visit friends for the evening. On Sunday morning we went out for brunch and then to the airport so I could give my friend and his dad rides in the Cozy. It’s only a 45min flight from Sioux Falls to home, so I figured as long as we got going by 4pm, we’d be home long before sunset. I stay night current, but try to avoid flying at night with pax if possible. My buddy’s dad was like a kid at one of our Young Eagle’s rallies. He loves airplanes, and I don’t think the smile on his face after our flight was coming off any time soon. Of course things always take longer than planned, and after the rides, and repacking the airplane it was past 4pm. I got a bit rushed to get going, and forgot a rather important step. My usual last check of weather. When I had looked that morning, weather along the route was going to be clear below 25,000 for most of the day. Lower clouds weren’t expected until after sunset, but that check was at about 7am. A lot can change, as I had so smugly patted myself on the back for catching earlier in the week. About 20min into the flight I could see what appeared to be an almost broken layer a few thousand feet below and ahead (I was at 7500). A 6min old Willmar, MN observation (about in line with what I was seeing) was reporting 3400 scattered. OK no big deal, I might have to find a hole to drop through, but I’ll keep my eye on it. A few minutes later it started to look thicker. The ADSB was reporting a 45min old observation at home (KSTC) of 2400 broken. Ugh.
I asked Ella if she could reach my tablet in my flight bag (yup, I was totally unprepared for IFR flight). Luckily she was able to reach it for me. Every leg of this journey was conduct with flight following (save for the initial IFR leg), and this was no exception. I contacted center and told them I was seeing worse conditions ahead than I was expecting, and asked if I could get an IFR clearance to KSTC. “4TF..You’re rated, and plane is qualified?” came the response. “Minneapolis center, affirmative, we are slant gulf, and instrument current, 4TF.” In the past I’ve not gotten much help in the way of pop up IFR clearances, but this time I got lucky. “4TF, Minneapolis center, OK, No problem, descend maintain 7000,
expect vectors for the ILS 31 in St. Cloud”. What a relief. Strangely, the vectors took me to a huge hole for the descent, and I came nowhere near a cloud at any point. So I don’t even get to log the approach, which is fitting considering how ill-prepared I was for that flight at its departure.
9 days, over 2200nm, some of the most impressive and beautiful parts of our country, and 4TF performed flawlessly. It was an incredible trip, made possible by a wonderfully designed airplane. To all of you who went down this path before me: THANK YOU for all your help in helping me get here. To all of you still on the build path: Keep on building, with vigor. Words cannot describe how rewarding the effort truly is.
