Howdy....
The afternoon of July 17, 2002 was peppered with
forecasts for isolated thunderstorms. The Glendale Flying Club aircraft
were about to embark on an afternoon adventure to Freeman Municipal Airport
in Seymour, IN. My single-pilot skills and instrument ratings were sure to
get a little polish during the journey.
After preflighting the Lance, Jeff Sherwood and I checked
with Flight Service and the latest radar reports from our GFC computer at
Triangle. We "coaxed" our wives into the Lance after we determined that we
had about a 30 minute window to make a dash for the Freeman Airport before
more "popcorn" type thunderstorms would be moving through our short, route
of flight.
With our IFR clearance in hand, I commanded our steed
aloft into the wild unknown........ (sorry...thought I was writing an
aviation novel) The flight was smooth. We got the airplane washed pretty
good twice enroute and only encountered very light turbulence through these
areas.
Louisville Departure handed us off to Indy Center 15
miles from Freeman. The Indy Controller was overloaded with diversions
around weather. I could barely find room on the frequency to check in. The
field was in sight and was surrounded by weather cells to the Northeast,
North and West, I cancelled IFR and proceeded visually to land on Runway
23.
We were greeted with a warm welcome from Pardieck
Aviation and topped off the tanks at $1.90/gal.
......And then RAN for cover!!
The Lonely Lance tied down on the drenched ramp in
Seymour, IN.
Jeff & Betty Sherwood safe & dry inside the FBO..........
And David & Lyndee Kantor, discussing our future
installation of Garmin GDL 49 satellite datalink weather receivers!!
After receiving word that the Skylane and Warrior were
not making the trip due to the weather, our tour guide gave us a personal
tour of the Freeman Army Air Field Museum. (Uh...the tour guide is the
gentleman on the right!) We could have spent hours exploring the
fascinating history of this old army airfield!!
But, we promised the wives that we would "quickly" run
through the Tanger Outlet Malls. The Lance does have the capacity to hold
200 lbs of outlet mall cargo....but we knew that we had to make an allowance
for dinner. We checked the weather visually towards Louisville.......
And decided to have a fantastic Mexican dinner while we
waited for the weather to settle down......
Jeff took command of the flight home. It turned out to
be a beautiful, night flight back to Bowman Field. It was a great trip...a
wonderful evening to remember!! We were sorry that the other club members
couldn't join us. But, I'm sure the GFC aircraft will be back on the
Pardieck Ramp enjoying everything the Freeman Airport has to offer!!
Join us next time!!
David A. Kantor
Glendale Member and UPS Captain