WEATHER. I can remember flying in MI during my lessons and for a couple of years after gettnig my license. I just forgot what weather or bad weather was like. Oshkosh has always been wet, I think I can only remember 1 or 2 years with no rain. Arizona on the other hand, well lets just say we are spoiled. Yes it is hot for 3 months and right now we have the monsoons going on. Big clouds and rain at the end of everyday. Some days was have bad winds, direct cross winds. My trip to Oshkosh was a reminder and an eye opener for me. Richard and I went through a couple of good rain cells with lighting. It is amazing how fast I could turn that plane when you see lighting right in front of you. While at Oshkosh the KR pilots best friend is a non-super sticky tape. Sorry about you paint Mark J. and Richard S. I will be looking into having a cover made to not only keep out the sun but WATER. I was stuck in Osh for an extra day due to weather, and on my return flight I ran into a wall of 25 mph wind. McPherson KS 25mph wind down the runway. Dalhart TX 25 mph with gusts over 30. The morning was mush better with only 20mph. I flew with a 172 from Mesa AZ from there, we headed to Double Eagle NM, fighting a 35pmh head wind@ 8500 ft. Just before Las Vegas NM the clouds showed up, the winds were gone but the ceilings were low. We were going to set down in Las Vegas and wait, but the 172 would not be able to T/O with the density alt. I landed and had to repair a hatch on my canopy, they were going to fly low the Double Eagle. I took off andf flew above the broken clouds and went over D/E and header to St Johns AZ. 40 miles from the AZ border CLOUDS low and solid, so I went north to Grants. My fuel pump went out on my transfer pump. 20 mins later after a trip to Checker, Auto Zone and Napa. No pump. So it was going to be shorter trips from here on out. The WEATHER looked ok to the west. A front was heading south and it was clear in Winslow AZ. I went up to 12,500 to clear all of the broken clouds and got to Winslow. Flagstaff looked real bad. I talked to a pilot with a lot of time in the area and he said that I would be bumped around alot but it was open to Payson AZ. I took off and headed to the south for Payson, the clouds were not getting lower but the terrain was getting higher, I got through a pass on the Rim and it opened up around Payson. I still had 3/4 of a tank and I sould see down a canyon that ends up in Mesa. The clouds were about 2000ft agl and visibility was about 10-15 miles. Down the canyon I went. 40 minutes later, I was in Mesa and 10 minutes later my Home Airport. Wow........WEATHER,,,,BAD WEATHER SUCKS.....
Lee Van Dyke from the VALLEY OF THE SUN.... :)
