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Old March 28th 05, 03:16 AM
Robert A. Barker
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Great story Jay I was relegated to a ground pounder today. :-(

Bob Barker N8749S

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:zEJ1e.112246$Ze3.15858@attbi_s51...
We wrapped up a quiet weekend at the hotel (holidays are usually slow in a
college town, since no one is actually *from* here), and the weather
couldn't have been better. Sunny skies, light winds, temps in the upper
50s, and expected to hit the 70s tomorrow.

But where to go? We wanted to do an Easter Brunch somewhere, but our
usual haunts were closed, and the greasy spoon diner in Lone Rock --
normally a favorite -- just didn't seem up to the stature of the day.

Mary struck upon the idea of visiting the Black Angus, located in Prairie
du Chien, WI (PDC - http://www.airnav.com/airport/KPDC ) . This grand old
restaurant, located right across the street from the airport, never
disappoints, with its old-fashioned soup and salad bar, excellent service,
and great steaks. And landing in PDC is beautiful in any season, with the
airport located at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers.

We figured that the Angus would surely be having an Easter brunch of some
sort, but it seemed that a phone call was in order, just to make sure that
food would be waiting at the other end of the flight. Digging out our
spanking-new copy of the AOPA Directory, we were surprised to find that
the Angus is no longer listed in "the Bible" (as we irreverently call this
indispensable book.). I suppose someone forgot to fill out the
paperwork, or maybe the owner got in a snit with the airport manager? Who
knows?

Second surprise: No answer at the FBO. Amazingly, this municipal airport
was closed on a Christian religious holiday -- welcome to small-town
America!

So, we launched "blind", but with the assurance that we could always call
the nearby casino and get a ride over to their excellent buffet. (A
casino never misses a trick, Easter or not!)

The flight was surprisingly bumpy, given the sunny skies and calm winds --
until we broke out on top of the haze layer at 5000 feet. Once above it
all, the air was as still as a wading pool, and the kids and I sat back to
enjoy the flight while Mary did all the work.

The landscape unfurled beneath us, and it was interesting to see the mix
of winter and spring on the ground. From our lofty perch one could still
see a hint of snow and ice in the darkest forests and ravines, while in
exposed sunny areas the first blush of green grass was apparent. It's
easy to see how it will only take a couple of warm days to make life
spring from the earth anew -- and, boy, are we ready for it!

The pattern for Rwy 14 always takes you perilously close to the bluffs
that loom over the city, which makes for great sight-seeing and a
relatively high workload landing. (For sure don't EVER get low landing
there at night!) Mary pulled off a nice greaser with her usual aplomb, and
we taxied in to park next to a gorgeous 1949 Bonanza.

We knew it was a '49, because the owners cousin was right there, and had
to tell us all about it. The owner himself was no where to be found, but
the cousin had felt compelled to come out to the airport on this sunny
spring day, just to hang out near this beautiful machine, fresh as it was
from the restoration shop.

I understood completely.

The Angus was open, the meal was excellent, and reasonably priced. After
a long, leisurely repast, we ambled happily back to the plane, to find
that our neighboring Bo had been replaced by a 2000 Commander 115. This
perfectly stunning machine was owned by a strangely unfriendly couple, who
sullenly said "thanks" to our compliments about their beautiful steed. We
shrugged it off to bad luck at the gaming tables, and got on with our
preflight.

My 14-year old son was "pretend PIC" for this flight home, so I handed him
the fuel tester and let him have at it. Following him around silently, he
absent-mindedly overlooked giving the wheel pant a wiggle, so I pointed
this out to him. He gave it a gently tug, and we were both surprised to
find the top two screws quite loose!

Both looking accusingly at Mary, who immediately 'fessed up to having
forgot to check it earlier, we dug out a screwdriver and tightened the
offending screws down. Knowing that I was the last guy to have installed
those screws, I inwardly cursed myself -- but wisely kept quiet....
;-)

The rest of the preflight went well, and we hopped into the plane. Joey
ran through the pre-start checklist, and did everything "by the book"
including startup and taxi. He announced our intentions to taxi to the
runway on the radio, and stopped at the hold-short line, where he
conducted a picture-perfect run-up.

Rolling out onto the runway, he smoothly applied full power, and we
trundled down the runway and into the air. With the river bluffs looming
in the distance, we racked it around fairly tightly and proceeded
downriver, admiring the usually invisible campground where the kids and I
usually motorcycle camp each summer.

The bumps were still there, but Joey did an excellent job of ignoring
them, keeping us on course and climbing. He's been flying all of his
life, and is just a natural. I had to chastise him a bit for arguing with
his little sister on the intercom -- an absolute no-no while flying -- but
otherwise he was a smooth stick all the way home.

Cutting loose from Cedar Rapids Approach ten miles out, Joey did the
announcing again as we approached the pattern for an overhead entry to
Runway 30. He spotted traffic off the arrival end of the runway (that
never responded to my radio calls, and eventually disappeared), and
expertly brought us into the downwind leg before I took over, mostly due
to the bumps that were making a stabilized approach impossible.

After landing, he taxied us to our hangar, and completed another .9 hours
of "flight training" that will hopefully make getting his ticket a breeze.

The weather was so nice that we decided to pull the Mustang convertible
out of the back of the hangar, and clean the plane up a bit. (It sat
outside for a week in Florida, and was really a mess.) While polishing
the prop, a new neighbor pulled up on his motorcycle, and we happily
chewed the fat with him about his 5-year-and-counting RV-9 project...
The sun was warm, the winds were light, the music was playing... It just
doesn't get any better than this.

I don't know about you guys, but I simply can't imagine a better way to
spend Easter Sunday. Can you?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"