Frasca pick up

Posted at 10:23pm central time on the 16th, not on the 17th as the stamp says…

I got a quick trip in today in the Comanche. This was one of those from my boss where he says…”Are you doing anything?:” Nope. “I need to run that Aztec over to Frasca.” (Yes, as in Frasca Simulators) “Can you run over to pick me up?” Yep. Today was one of those days that no one need to ask twice about flying. Hazy, but perfect in every other way. Friday, 72 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and light winds. My boss, Ken, has been friends with the Frasca family for a long time. I’ve known them for a few years, and I jump at each chance to go visit their airport because you never know what you’re going to see over there. They have a real Spitfire, a P-40, a Yak something or other under reconstruction, and the list goes on. The collection is very impressive, and today, I got a first hand look at their newest addition. I’ll get to that in a moment.

First, the flying…Ken walked out first and had the engines running when I got out to the Comanche. When I got started, they had made it down to the runway, and I was pulling out on to the taxiway when they departed. As I said, the winds were light, 240 at 6, and runway 20 was in use. Flying solo in the Comanche is quite nice. They have a bunch of room in them, and with all those ponies up front, it climbs very well, even on a warm day. I only went to 3500′ since Frasca is only about 40nm away. Got a good shot of the windmill farm…

When I was 7 miles out, Ken called 5 miles out, so I almost caught him! They actually run about the same speed at that altitude. I turned a bit to the north because I didn’t have him in sight, and didn’t want to run him over in my decent. His next call was downwind, and I made a two mile call at that point. I made right downwind entry for runway 27, winds were calm over there. Ken had back-taxied the runway, and was off as I turned final. I made a pretty good landing, but definitely not one of my best.

As I taxied in, I noticed something very small sitting over near the Frasca maintenance hanger. You never know what you’ll at this place. Their newest acquisition, is a 1936 Aeronca C3 “Bathtub”.

The only place I have ever seen one of these, was hanging from a ceiling in the EAA Museum, and in a restaurant at Lunkin Airport in Cincinnati. This one had FLOWN in to the airport, and was about to be run while we were there!

Anyway, what a site to see this little antique taxi around the airport. It really looks like a bathtub with wings! Parked next to the Aeronca was a Stearman being fueled…

We needed to get going back home, however, so after chatting with Rudy and Tom Frasca for a few minutes, we hoped in the Comanche for the 25 minute ride home. I flew, Ken rode shotgun. Runway 27 for departure, and on up to 4500′ back to Bloomington…windmills on the right this time…

I made a short approach to runway 20, winds were now 240 at 12, and made a very nice touchdown with Ken saying “Nice job!” Good to hear.

0.8 hours logged

Flying to ‘Papa’s’

Yesterday (Sunday, the 4th), was my Grandpa’s (Papa) birthday party down in Litchfield, IL, about 86nm southwest of us.  He will be 76 this year…his birthday is the 7th…and my mom puts together a yearly get together for his birthday.  To make the drive down there is 2 hours.  I HATE driving, even riding in the back as we would’ve done going with my parents.  The day was perfect, and with an airplane available, I made the call to fly down there, and if they wanted to, my parents could ride with us.  It took about 2.2 seconds for them to decide they would ride along.  See, it’s 35 minutes of flying vs. 2 hours of driving.  Of course, there is the drive to the airport, getting the airplane ready, taxi…blah, blah, blah.  It was still no more than just over an hour of total time either way from home to Papa’s and back.

We arrived at the airport just after 11am, and were taxiing out at 11:30.  Dad was up front with me, mom and Brit took the back seats.  We departed off of runway 20 in to calm winds, climbed on up to 6500′ to cruise down to 3LF with a 150 knot ground speed.

Here’s the fam at 6500′ in the ‘ol Comanche…

Smooth flying in the cool morning air was very welcoming to Brit and my mom.  Arriving in to the Litchfield area, I flew just to the west of the airport to get a look at the windsock and wind “T”.  They both favored runway 27, guessing the wind was about 250 at 8 or so (half filled wind sock).  I try really hard to make smooth landings all the time, but with mom and Brit on board, my senses are elevated even further.  I got a “great landing” from both of them.  That was nice to hear.

We spent the afternoon at Papa’s house, had a great big lunch, enjoyed the time visiting with everyone.  At about 4:15 in the afternoon, we made our way back out to the airport.  My aunt, her boyfriend, and my cousins helped us get everything back in to the Comanche, and we hopped in, fired up, and taxied out to runway 27.  Winds were calm, and three arrivals were using 27.  We departed, and made a left turn to the southeast to fly over Papa’s house to give him a wing wave.  He was outside waiting for us.  Two passes over the property with a big wave from him, and we were climbing out to head home at 5500′ northeast bound.  It was a little choppy going home from the afternoon heating, but not bad.  Mom hates the bumps, but she said it was tolerable.  Cruising with a slight tailwind gave us 154 knots ground speed (I cruise the Comanche at 65% power for about 150kt true airspeed…and it STILL burns 14gph!!!!)

Arriving back in the Bloomington area at 5:15, my mom got to see a regional jet depart as we were on a downwind for runway 20.  She loves to see other airplanes in the air…I think we all do.  Winds were 220 at 6, and I made another nice touchdown.  They said it was a good landing…I have to say it wasn’t as good as the one in Litchfield, but good enough for them.

This was one of those days that will be remembered for a long time.  Flying with my family, seeing Papa for his birthday, most of the rest of the family, and some old friends, plus some of the best weather available to the Midwest made it a great one!

1.6 hours logged