Day 3 of the AirVenture Adventure – and the show doesn’t start for three more days! It’s not often that we get a single-days shot for a trip from the west coast to the Midwest, but the weather gods smiled today, throwing only a touch of mischief into the mix that gave a little concern, but ended up affecting nothing.
Given a non-stop trip length of 8:33 by Foreflight (which takes into account winds), I added in two fuel stops (descent, fuel, time for a stretch, then a climb back to altitude takes about thirty minutes) and oh yeah….you lose two hours going from Pacific to Central. That adds up to pretty close to twelve hours on the clock, and that calls for a departure at the crack of daylight to arrive by dinner time. Off the ground by 0530, and flying into the sun, I put on an audio book and watched the miles click away – and some weather building north of Salt Lake City.
I knew from the forecast and observing the radar that if I could get past the Wyoming state line before it all kicked off, I’d be golden, so I added a little fuel to the mix at 13.5K and pedaled faster. I looked out the left side of the plane as I skirted the precip over Brigham City – and then it was smooth sailing into Rock Springs for fuel. They’ve got a sale on fuel for Oshkosh, but I was to early for the planned burgers and it dogs… maybe I’ll get them on the way back!
3:10 to Rock Springs, then 4:20 into Blue Earth Minnesota – and with zero weather between there and Oshkosh, I’d have been a fool not to fly another 1:30 and end up with the early birds in Homebuilt Camping. Even the Fisk Approach cooperated – I had no one ahead of me for five miles as I motored on in at 1800 and 90 knots, landing on the purple dot of 36L just a little before 1730 local time.
The volunteers are here to help you get set up, so head to Wisconsin and we hope to see you around the show!
