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Clinton was great this year. The weather was
most cooperative if you don't count the downwind landing contest, and the
downwind take off contest. The temperature and humidity were both low, for
July, making the weekend most enjoyable. The attendance was respectable if not
large, about 40 planes I would guess. However, it was nice to renew old
acquaintances, make new friends and put faces with some of the folks on the
forum. There were plenty of activities to keep one amused and still leave
plenty of time for hanger flying and getting acquainted. For my taste the
event was just right; low key, well organized (but not over organized), lots
of planes to gawk at and lots of nice folks to visit.
Royson was much more relaxed this year, Lori
was in there pitching the whole time and Steve worked his tail off marking
parking, running the flying events and just generally being helpful. Steve's
son Tom seemed to be everywhere all the time, just helping out and anyway
possible. Really a good kid. All of the members that attended owe a debt of
gratitude to all of those who worked so hard to put on the event. Those
members that didn't make it missed a good time, but there is always next year.
My trip up to Clinton started early Thursday morning dodging thunderstorms.
The devil was sitting cross-legged across the Llano Estacada (cap rock) just
daring me to get close enough for him to take a swat at me. I had to swing
fairly far to the northwest and fly at 5500 feet to avoid the bumps and
flashes. The sunrise through the thunderstorms was one of the most spectacular
that I have ever witnessed. I tried to take some pictures but nothing can do
justice to the show that God put on that morning, you just had to be there.
After I turned the corner around the northwest end of the squall line and got
headed northeast I picked up nice tail winds all the way to the KC area, where
the winds turned out of the northeast but at only 10 to 15 kts. With a 17
minute fuel stop in Ponca City, OK I made it to Clinton in a bit under eight
hours, with an average flying speed of 131 MPH and 8.2 hours on the tach. Once
I got into KN the temperature at 5500 feet was 53°F (it was 61°F at 3500
feet), I even gave consideration to turning the heater on. For a desert rat it
is a real treat to have such low temperatures at such low altitudes.
During
the summer I normally try to fly at 60°F but have to climb to at least 10,000
feet to find it. My return trip started at Clinton at 8:00 AM with a broad
area of thunderstorm activity moving across Nebraska and Iowa, bearing down on
the Clinton area. By deviating about 40 miles south of my planned route of
flight I was able to miss all of the bad weather but had to contend with some
fairly stiff head winds, 20 to 25 kts. By KC the winds at 10,500 feet slacked
off and I began to see decent ground speed. Again I stopped at Ponca City for
gas but it only took me 15 minutes; I had figured out how to operate their
infernal credit card machine. When I landed at Ponca city, at 12:30 PM, the
surface temperature was already at 100°F and the decent was bumpy. After
leaving Ponca City I climbed back to 10,500 but found that the heating had
made that altitude uncomfortable. So I drug out the oxygen and climbed to
12,500 where the winds were light and variable and the ride was nice.
Somewhere around the Texas-Oklahoma line the tops of the fair weather cumulus
were poking up above 12,500 in a lot a places and I had the choice of going up
or down. Below the clouds would be hot and rough above would be high, smooth
and cool. I chose up, that's why I have the big spinner after all.
It
was a struggle for the SportHawk to make it up to 14,500 and I started wishing
that I had not done that top overhaul; the plane climbed a lot better before
the new cylinders. Once at 14,500 I checked the DA and found that it was
17,600, no wonder the climb was an effort. (I have determined that the
SportHawk has a service ceiling of 17,800 feet.) I arrived at Midland Air Park
at 4:27 PM, 8:27 after leaving Clinton with an average flying speed of 121
miles per hour and 8.2 hours on the tach. For those of you who have been
paying attention the trip to Clinton took about a half hour less than the trip
back to Midland but the tach time for both trips was the same. I flew the
whole trip to Clinton at 5,500 feet turning 2650 RPM. On the return trip I
flew a lot higher turning 2750 to 2850 RPM. I suppose that the most remarkable
thing about my trip was that there was really nothing remarkable; nearly 2000
miles of flying and only some minor deviations to avoid thunderstorms. Those
who don't think that a 150/152 is a capable cross-country plane just don't
appreciate our little birds. The trip from Midland to Clinton is well within
the capabilities of a stock 150. A stock 150 would have made the one-way trip
in about 1.5 hours longer than the SportHawk. The return trip would have been
a little less comfortable because of the afternoon heat but that would be a
small price to pay for attending a supper event. When flying a 150/152 you
just have to leave a little earlier and arrive a little latter than in a
faster plane. Try traveling 1000 miles in one day in your $40,000 SUV. The
trip will take at least twice as long, use the same amount of fuel and you
will be worn to a frazzle when you get there. I have decided that this engine
is never going to stop using oil. It has been 87 hours since the top overhaul
and I used two quarts of oil each way. At a quart every four hours I add 6
quarts of oil every 24 hours, I just will never have to change oil again:-) It
was a great weekend. I hope that more members will be able to take advantage
of this fine event next year.
Wayne Westerman
150WW Midland, TX |
