Committed Aviation Today

Mary and I committed aviation today, for the first time in two weeks. We
flew to Grinnell, IA (home of Grinnell College, an upscale private college)
to schmooze the FBO and get a bite to eat. (Their courtesy car today: A new
Lincoln Continental. The Caddy was being used, so we had to "settle" for
the lesser car -- harrumph... :-)

It was windy, with winds 110 at 12, gusts to 22, but the temps were in the
mid-70s, so it was beautiful. Luckily both KIOW and KGGI have runways
aligned with that wind direction, so it wasn't too bad. Mary climbed to
6500 on the way there, and I flew at 7500 on the way home, to get above the
haze layer and bumps.

After a nice afternoon in Grinnell, it was time to head home. We had an
interesting approach into KIOW. Coming from the West (and hearing no one in
the quiet, mid-week traffic pattern) I set up for a long straight-in
approach to Rwy 12. I called when I was ten miles out, only to have a
Mitsubishi MU-2 call from 20 miles out, directly behind me.

Knowing his speed, I called him up and told him I would expedite as best I
could, which basically meant just below the yellow arc all the way down
final. With the big 30+ knot headwind that still only meant about 119 knots
ground speed, but I figured the MU-2 was bucking that wind, too.

Damned if he didn't overtake me in that last ten miles! I came over the
numbers going like a bat outta hell, chopped the power, and floated,
floated, floated, ballooned, floated some more, and landed, light as a
feather. He touched down behind me, as I turned off the runway. DAMN,
those things are fast!

As we were supping a cold one in the hangar, as far from the ramp as you can
get (and still be on the airport), all we could hear was a high-pitched
whine-shriek as he taxied out again. Loudest damned plane you've ever
heard....
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"