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St Paul Minnesota is not the prettiest of places in late winter and the chocolate coloured Mississippi does nothing to enhance its beauty but it sure is a fun river to brush up on one's float flying skills. After the company test pilot had flown the appropriate testing flights and a few adjustments were made I got him to give me a checkout.
He gave me forty five minutes of his time and told me to "learn" on my cross continent flight back to British Columbia. So armed with the maps, a compass and a credit card I headed West across the plains states and got to know my steed.
Bathed in sunshine I flew. Free of any airway or tower. If the airport had a tower , I never went there. Navigating was a breeze as railroads snaked their way from town to town and large watercourses fattened out into lakes and I did alight thereupon. Into South Dakota now ... and flatter ... and not so adorned with features to the mighty Oahe Resovoir. There too, I did alight, and floated around while having a lunch but more importantly, to take pictures of myself. AAAhhhh! The solitude. I lay on the comfortable flat topped float and bagged a few rays while I re-evaluated the haste with which I was expected to carry out this mission. ZZZZZzzz
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I awoke ... the silence was deafening.
I have a plan , thinks I and I decided to make the next leg up into the mountains while the weather was good and worry about the rest of the trip tomorrow. I chose a small town called Hot Springs which was south of the busstling Rapid City SD.Nestled by a large resovior it was about 3200 feet above sea level so I landed at the airport on wheels which was very easy.
However , on downwind , some words of advice were recalled. Always ask yourself , "Where am I landing , where are my wheels?". Cat Driver told me that.
It sounds simple , but you have to think about it. Checklists aren't enough.
Next day I skirted around the Edgemont MOA and flew towards the rising ground across the state line into Wyoming. I wanted to find a spot on the North Platte River where I could land ... just to say I'd done it and so I did ... at Glendo. Wow! The old dash twenty sure was sucking wind on take off at 5000 feet above sea level.
And westward .. even higher yet. Casper Wyoming is 5300 feet ASL.
I cruised above the high , rolling hills amazed at the private strips on cattle ranches and the spectacular surroundings. Always something to see.
By the time I got to the menacing 13,000 foot mountains west of Riverton they were draped in a crown of thorns , big black bags of thunder and lightning.... and its late winter. I had to waste my westing and fly straight north to Billings when I really wanted to go to Jackson Hole but couldn't find a way up through the ten thousand pass.
More to follow