Flight 19 Meander

Switched over to my favorite WWII German aircraft... the Ta 152C for the flight to Aurora, Oregon (KUAO). I'll say one thing for the WoP 152C, I like it. The flight model is pretty close to the one I came up with years ago and the detail is much better than my old CFS one. This one made the Fw 190 long nose package for me.

The flight was pretty nice but the Aurora airport was covered with about a 200yd visibility fog. I landed on the first patch of pavement I spotted (after narrowly missing a hanger) and ended up in the trees. Don't look like I scratched it up too badly.

Pics are in reverse order...
 
Buffed out the scratches and headed east to Boise. Nice flight with an very good tailwind. Although my take off and landing left a bit to be desired. More scratches to buff out.....
 
Buffed on the Ta 152 so hard the wings grew.

We left Boise for the Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport in SW Wyoming. Fancy name for a dirt airstrip....
 
I used to land in Rawlins WY on a regular basis - my nick name for it was "Moon Base Rawlins"... lunar-looking landscape, no noticeable vegetation, and what looks like an old moon crater nearby.
 
I can't speak for Taco, but I'm not feeling overly smart about tonite's flight. Keep in mind that we fly with Real Weather on so we're getting what's actually happening.

First off before we left Silver West, Colorado, I only took on enough fuel for a small reserve to get me to Mankato, Kansas (KTKO). And we knew that there was a winter storm brewing over the plains. But since when has a little weather ever stopped Flight 19?

The weather was nice and pretty at Colorado when we left, but as soon as we got out of the Rockies, it started getting worse. High winds shifting every which way and all kinds of clouds. But we climbed to FL200 and continued on. I made the mistake of descending too early (if I'd had stopped and thought about it for a second, I'd never have descended when I did, but Capt. Oblivious (me) was in action and couldnt be bothered).

Finally we got to the airport at Mankato. Problem was that there was a blizzard raging around us and we couldn't see anything. Visibility was just a few hundred feet. I'd already long ago lost sight of Taco and it was every pilot for himself. The GPS was telling me that I was circling all around and over the airport but even at just a few hundred feet above it, I couldn't find it.

Finally I spotted something that I thought was either a runway or a taxiway and I set down on it to discover it was a road. No problem, I started braking to stop and went into a small forest of trees. I zigzaged those long wings in between the trees and spotted what I thought was a hanger up ahead. So I taxied up to it and discovered it was some farmer's barn. I sat there for a few minutes debating the wisdom of just taxiing into it and calling it good, but Taco was still out there somewhere. So using the GPS, I went back to the airport and found the end of a runway that I parked next to and found Taco taxiing around on the ground at the edges of visibility.

He spotted me sitting there and taxied over to park. I'm hoping the airport has more than a snow shovel so we can get out of here.

Remember me only taking on just a bit of avgas? I had about 8 minutes of flight time left when I found the road.
 
The weather finally cleared and we headed farther east to St Louis. Nice weather and we flew a bit lower to do some sightseeing.
 
We left St Louis for a small airfield in SE Kentucky that used to be home for the P-38J Glacier Girl. Nice flight although we lost Taco early on.
 
Decent flight up to Walton's Mountain, VA in a couple of tanks. Bit of a wild landing but nothing a little duct tape can't cure.
 
Before we left Middlesboro, Glacier Girl came in for a visit.

Nice flight over the Smokies to Walton's Mountain. I heard the John Boy is the FBO and Jim Bob drives the fuel truck at the airport.
 
We left Virginia headed south to Franklin North Carolina in the Smokies. Had a few Foo Fighters in tow as well. Unfortunately, I forgot to put film in the camera. Maybe one of the others got a shot or two.
 
Nice flight to the South Carolina coast. Looks like we are heading to Florida from here.
 
Good flight to my old stomping grounds in the South Carolina Low Country. I lived there in Goose Creek for a couple of years while a crewmember of a ship homeported at the old Charleston Naval Station. We landed at the East Cooper airport in Mt Pleasant and figure on heading south from here.

Decided that I've had enough Focke Wulfs for now and to go back to a light twin....
 
We left the Charleston area and headed on down the coast to Daytona Beach. As usual, tailgunner Fred was passed out in the back seat. And as expected, the 110 was the last to the airport.
 
Just a few pictures of last nights flight. Some how our conversations turned around to some big snakes and one that is real bad news. Not only does the fair state of Flordia have those crock-a-gators, but they now have big snakes that likes to hug you, and the bad news one that likes to spit into your eyes. All in all a fun flight. I guess there is danger where ever you go.
 
We left Daytona Beach to head down to Fort Lauderdale where it should be warmer. Swung by Cape Canaveral and they were having a time launching space shuttles. Spotted one a little ways out and as we got closer, they shot up two at once. Good thing there was only 3 launch towers there as they might could have got one of us with a fourth.

Anyway, we made it on down to Fort Lauderdale Executive (KFXE). Thinking Key West might look good for tomorrow....
 
We left Fort Lauderdale and followed the coast and then the keys on to Key West. As I flew over the Naval Air Station at Key West, I spotted 5 TBM Avengers parked there. Not sure why but for some reason a flight of those just seems to ring a bell.

Pics are a bit scrambled again.
 
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