Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

[RCFC]

Left Monday from Reedley Ca with my 10 year old grandson. Climbing to 10,000 feet flying over Columbia then n/e to hwy 50 and Lake Tahoe. Smooth clear flight. No snow on top which is sad. Landed Minden Nv for fuel and breakfast. Then climbing out to 9,000 headed for Elko Nv. Interesting restricted area cause us to hug the mtn top for awhile which was fun then passing Fallon NAS keeping our eyes pealed for military aircraft. Air beat us to death I was so glad to get on the ground and rest. First day 5.4 hrs 470 miles 21.1 Gallons.

[RCFC]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

Forgot the pictures

[RCFC]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

Day 2 up early with clear skies. Climbed out to 10,400 ground speed for the first 2 hours was only 73 mph. More mtn and high desert. Pretty but everything looks the same until Salt Lake which we flew over 26 miles to cross. Crazy colors in the salt. Flew the north side of the class B which was my most nervous time of the trip so far. If you look close on the Garman map it shows the flight paths of the airliners. I was flying right through it. The airlines would be at 7500 so I felt it would safe enough with us at 10,400 and as it turned out we didn't see even one plane. Once past Salt Lake City we cross back into some ver pretty mtn with lakes in the valleys. Speed also increased. Stopped in Evanston Wyoming bought gas then asked the office if there was any food close by. He tossed me a set of keys and said to take the airport car. New Saburban. Nice. Density altitude 9,500. Wondered if the Tcraft would fly or just taxi down the runway. Longer than normal roll buy wants in the air 200 fpm I'm happy with that. Flew over closer to the mtn hit some up draft 800 fpm back to 10,000 ft in no time. Ground speed for the rest of the day ran btw 103-118 mph. Thunder storms now to the south with lighting then more to the north with lighting. We turn north to get around the first then once we got around it turned back south then all hell broke lose. Raining pretty hard and at the same time Zachary and I both announced that our legs were getting wet. Lol must have a leak somewhere. Landed in Rawlins Wy where we bought gas tied her down and found shelter from the rain. Bob the airport guy let us stay in the pilot lounge for the night. Bob is an awesome guy and if you are in that area be sure and stop. Gave us a break on the gas because we're Oshkosh bound. 5.6 hrs flying time 21.4 gallon 350 miles

[M Towsley]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

Nice, thanks for sharing. Have a safe trip!

[lfries]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

thanks for the reports.

[Stumpy]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

Ken,

Great pics! Great trip! Can't think of a better way to firmly set a love of aviation into a youngster....your grandson's gonna have the best show-and-tell story in school come fall.

[labe0202]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

Looking forward to the rest! Fly safe and have fun!

[TimHicks]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

What a great adventure! Thanks for sharing the fantastic pics. I'll be looking for y'all at OSH.

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

Thanks very much for posting about your adventure. Great Stuff!

[Robert Lees]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

Stunning!

Thanks for the report & photos (I suffered a nosebleed just looking at some of those pictures!).

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Zachary and I both announced that our legs were getting wet".

Did you get to Osh?

Rob

[3Dreaming]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

He was there most of the week. He got up and spoke about the trip out at the Taylorcraft forum.

[RCFC]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

Day 3 Still in Rawlins Wy this morning with both gas tank drains leaking fuel. So much for leaving real early. We had a good night sleep in the pilot lounge so now we were off to The Ford dealer who had the right o-rings so once those were replaced all was good again. T-craft was a little slow this morning but once she caught her breath we climbed out to 8500' Over cast this morning with light rain but the air was smooth and going east with cloud cover no sun in the eyes. Couple more mtn ranges before the flat land start but the last mtn range was unbelievably pretty. Stopped in Guerney Wy for fuel and lunch. Tower asked if we were going to Osh then we had a whole conversation about the trip so far, how cool was that!! Still light rain but smooth air, great flying day. The farms are starting to show up with farm house 1-2 miles apart. Rolling hills with small rivers. We had to use the heater this morning. Landed at Valentine Ne. The gas guy came right out and helped fuel then threw me the keys to the airport car. How awesome is that. We got a hotel for the night sat in the hot tube had dinner and went to bed. Great day!!! 350 miles 4 hrs flying time 16 gallon

[RCFC]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

Day 4 Valentine Ne. Up early had breakfast and headed for the airport. Blue sky and no clouds. Thunder storms to the east but moving away so "Lets Go" T-craft was all wet so wiped the windshield off and added our first qt of oil (15 hours) Flew east about 10 miles then ran in to ground fog. I looked it over from 5000' feet and said "No I'm Not Flying over that" so returned to Valentine and told the hotel office that had locked ourselves out of the room. Back in the room watching TV for a couple of hours. Took off at 10:00 found it clear and smooth. Later we were flying under a cloud layer at 3,000' when I looked up and saw tw0 3,300' radio towers. Couldn't believe it!! Got to stay alert. Landed in Hartington Ne for fuel and lunch. Another airport car then to town for pizza. More farms with corn everywhere. Everything is so green here. Landed in Waverly Ia. Fuel, dinner and slept in the pilot lounge. So many fire flies some even the the office. Zachary loved it.

[RCFC]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

Day 5 Waverly Ia. Found the T-Craft sitting in fog this morning so no early departure. Went to town for breakfast where the waitress was telling us about how cold it can it here. She said it got to 50 below a couple of years ago and that the water pipes froze under the houses. Some people left and went south for a month or so. Doesn't look like that now as it is so green here. Back to the airport and departed into clear skies with a few clouds. Country side here is very flat with lots of farms. Mostly hay and corn. Very pretty and we love flying about 2500' looking down at the farms and laughing at some because they have so much junk hidden behind the house. Only way to travel and enjoy the day is to fly low and slow. Speaking of speed ever since Salt Lake City we have been cruising at about 95 mph. I normally cruise at about 88-90 mph. Once we crossed the river into Wisconsin we found mountains, more clouds and the advisability dropped to 1.1 miles at Bocobel Wi. Couldn't see much as it was so hazy. When we landed Zach says Grampa I heard metal crashing. I didn't hear anything but once at the gas pump I notice that the spinner was got from the prop. Zach and the gas guy took a golf cart down the taxi way and found the spinner with just a small scratch. Zach and the gas guy made repairs. Just a note in that that morning I notice a funny vibration and once the spinner was replaced she was smooth again. Went to town and had lunch and a milk shake. So humid today you can't breath you just swallow. After lunch checked weather to Osh and found it clear all the way. As we approached Ripon I was so nervous but as it turned out a couple of planes followed us in and we had no one in front of us, piece of cake. Once in down wind the tower ask where we were from I told him that after 5 days with 21 hours of flight time we were from Fresno California. He thought our T-craft looked great and thanked us for coming. Cleared us to land on the green dot and once off the runway the ground crew took us to our camping spot. So easy! In a very short time I had lots of guys checking out the T-craft. Everyone loves the chrome. 217 miles 2.4 hours

[Pearson]

Re: Three weeks in a Taylorcraft. Oshkosh here we come

How did you flight plan this trip? Did you use an online type of flight planning website? I have a very long trip coming up in my Taylorcraft and haven't used any flight planning software in a long time. I was hoping to find some sort of basic online type of site where I didn't have to shell out any dough. I have friends that use their Ipads, but I have a Surface instead. Is there flight planning software for those like there is for the IPad? I was going to use Skyvector and their flight planning program, but it leaves a little to be desired. Still, for the free price, it isn't bad.