Usually winter is my favorite time of year to fly. The air is cold and
crisp, the visibility is CAVU, and the landscape has its own stark beauty.

Not this year. Mary and I have not flown in weeks -- not even the pattern --
a new record for us. The weather has simply been appalling, with freezing
fog, snow and freezing rain. I've never seen anything quite like it for
such an extended period.

Friends (who bought our old plane) have had their Warrior stuck in Missouri
for a few weeks. They've tried retrieving it several times -- a 4 hour
drive each way -- to no avail. Every predicted window of good flying
weather has been elusive or non-existent, and the weather forecasters seem
to have gone from terrible to laughable.

And an IFR ticket doesn't help get a Spam Can off the ground in weather this
cruddy. Heck, even the King Airs and Citations are grounded. Our FBO
manager told me yesterday that he's only been able to fly a couple of
charters this month, due to conditions, and Unicom (which we play in the
hotel lobby) has been strangely, ominously silent since Christmas.

Even Cedar Rapids Approach is only talking to scheduled air carriers... And
now, after last night's ice storm, schools, roads -- and runways -- are all
closed.

One thing's for su Ain't no one flying in to see us at the inn. I'm
about ready to hibernate till April. This sucks!

Anyone else got the winter blues?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"