OK, I am going to try to resurrect thi forum and report on a flight my wife and I took last Saturday. After scrubbing a trip to Texas (17 hours of flying in 2 days...) because I couldn't trust the weather to get back, my wife and I decided to make a shorter trip to Kentucky for lunch, a trip of about 160 nm.
Two friends of mine went down, one in a Mooney Super 21 and another in a Cherokee 180. Needless to say, I left first! We departed Sullivan, Missouri, at about 10:30 am. We had a nice little tailwind and made it to Gilbertsville, Kentucky (M34) about noon. We actually beat the other planes, but of course, they left much later. My new alternator conversion worked fine, and the plane flew well in the cold (and I mean COLD) weather. With the heat on full blast in the plane it still took the sun to warm up our heads! I highly recommend this trip for folks in the midwest - we went to Patti's 1880s Settlement. They will send a van to pick you up and take you to the restaurant. They are famous for their 2 inch thick pork chop, but all of their food is great. They also have mile high pies - the meringue is about a foot high on top of the pie! I brought most of my pork chop home, but it was sure good. After shopping at their little gift shop, we got a ride back to the airport. Unfortunately, they no longer sell fuel at M34, so I had to make a short hope over to Metropolis, Illinois, for fuel. They have a self service pump, and have a large mural of Superman on the side of their terminal building. What a hoot. T The flight home was a little longer, but not bad. Once the sun went down, it got a little chilly. Our feet were warm but we could see our breath a little. the OAT indicated -10 degrees celsius. We arrived about 5 minutes before official "night" and really enjoyed seeing all the Christmas lights around the area as we flew home. So lunch took pretty much all day, but it was a lot of fun! Where have you all been flying lately? Larry in Missouri
