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By
Mary Corrington What
a time I had going cross-country to Oshkosh! To
start with, my freshly serviced built-in GPS quit as I took off from Creswell.
If it hadn't been for my friend Dave’s hand-held GPS that he loaned me, I
would not have had ANY navigation equipment on board other than my compass. On
Wednesday, I left Creswell around 11am, (as conditions were marginal with very
low ceilings,) and as it was, I had to fly at only 1500ft until I passed
Eugene heading north. The
FSS (Flight Service Station) had told me that the cloud ceilings would improve
as I went north, and they did. I
flew north to the Columbia Gorge then turned east and landed at The Dalles for
fuel. Then again east toward Walla Walla, Wash. As
I approached Walla Walla I could see a build-up of towering cumulo-nimbus
clouds over the Blue Mts. between me and Lewiston, Idaho. I
was using flight following through Seattle Center and I asked them for an
updated weather report. They said lots of turbulence and everyone was
deviating to avoid the clouds. So
I deviated to the south and threaded my way around the clouds and between the
mountains. It was VERY bumpy and Seattle Center lost me on radar as I was
behind the Mts. but they kept checking in with me and asking my position every
five minutes or so. Finally
I came out past the clouds AND the Mts., and the Snake River was in sight. I
turned north and Lewiston was just over the last big hill. This is where the
worst turbulence hit but fortunately it only lasted about 5 minutes! From
there I again turned east and went on to land at Orofino, Idaho where I
planned to spend the night, refuel, and recuperate! My hands were still
shaking when I got out of the plane! The
next morning, Thursday, I left at 0700 to fly over the Rocky Mountains, to
Missoula, Montana. The air was glassy smooth and the sky clear. I
landed at Missoula and fueled the plane, then off to follow Hwy 90 through the
passes then on to the east. I
landed at Bozeman for fuel and then threaded through more CB clouds until past
Billings. At Billings, Dave’s GPS quit and I had to fly by pilotage to Miles
City, Mt. where I fueled up and spent the night. I was nervous about the CB
clouds and so I made doubly sure that the plane was tied down well and her
canopy cover in place. A
good thing too. Within two hours
a big storm hit with thunder and lightning and LOTS of rain. I was concerned
that it might hail but it didn't. And it turned out that Dave’s GPS just
needed fresh batteries. The
next morning dawned clear but hazy. I
checked with the FSS and they warned me that a front was coming down from the
north and I had a good chance of beating it if I left quickly. Back
at the airport, I found a B-52 and a B-24 parked next to my little bird. Quite
a contrast! I
took off at 0640 and continued east. I had an uneventful flight and landed at
Lemmon, South Dakota for fuel. After
I left Lemmon, the weather started to turn for the worse.
The front was coming toward me from North Dakota and approaching from
my left. It was a great gray-black wall.
I was hoping to get past it and further east before it hit. I
was planning on a fuel stop in Watertown, South Dakota. As I attempted to land
there, the conditions deteriorated very rapidly and I got ATC to vector me to
another airport that was just off my sectional, in Brookings, South Dakota,
for fuel. Thank
God I have high personal minimums for fuel, as I still had 1/2 hr of fuel when
I landed. But it was scary watching that fuel gauge drop so fast! And thank
God for the Air Traffic Controllers that are there to help when you ask for
it! I
was much too busy to be hunting through my sectionals (maps), as I was
executing a 180 degree turn to get out of
the rapidly deteriorating conditions. From
Brookings, it was an uneventful flight to Mankato, Minnesota, for fuel and to
spend the night, before my last short hop to Janesville to meet-up with the
other women in 'Chicks Flight'. I
had the good fortune to make contact with Tony and Cristin Timm in Mankato,
Minn. and we had a pleasant dinner. His Alon is pristine! I
slept in the next morning, as I knew it was not that far To Janesville (235
miles), and I did not want to arrive too early. It
was quite hazy with a cloud layer at 4000ft.
I landed at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, on the Mississippi River, for
fuel. I was VERY disappointed with the river! I expected something much
bigger! Our Columbia is much bigger and faster! The
rest of the trip to Janesville, Wisconsin was uneventful. It was bumpy flying
the last leg, but it was quite flyable. I had difficulty seeing the Janesville
airport in the haze that seems so common there. I
met-up with the rest of the women at Janesville and the next day we were
interviewed and photographed for the Janesville paper! They used my photo on
the front page! I
met some wonderful women there, Judy Dixon and Kathie Richie, who originated
the idea of 'Chicks Flight', both fellow Oregonians, and Abbie Fridell, our
"momma chick", who was our flight leader. I enjoyed meeting Kathy
Chamberlain and her dog 'Emma’ from Michigan, Sunni Gibbons from California,
Michelle Homister from Illinois and many others, too! I
think the friendships I made there will be long lasting ones. Really NEAT
ladies! Then
we flew in formation to Oshkosh. I must say that I use the term 'formation'
loosely as it was a VERY loose formation. This was to be expected, as our
planes were not very evenly matched in power and ranged from a very fast
Glasair to a Cessna 152; but we were all caught up and looked good as we
landed in Oshkosh on side-by-side runways. My airplane A
few of us were invited to display our planes for the Photo shoot and so my
"Merry Wings" became a celebrity! Every one loved her nose art of
the girl waving. Then we were all
interviewed and it was on NBC news! We
were interviewed by so many aviation magazines that I am not sure how many
there were, or who they were. I know the AOPA Pilot, the EAA Sport Aviation,
Aviation for Women, and Private Pilot magazines were all planning to put
articles about us in their magazines. We were also interviewed by AV web and
an article about us is on the internet. The rest will have to be a surprise. What
a rush! We made history! We were the first all female group to fly-in to
Oshkosh ever, and since many of us had to fly all the way across the U.S. to
do so, and most of us flew solo, it was considered to be a newsworthy item. I
had a lot of adventures while I was in Oshkosh.
I set up my tent and camped next to my plane all week. Judy
Dixon, Kathie Richie, Kathy Chamberlain, Sunni Gibbons and her husband Travis,
and Michelle Homister and her husband Wes, were all camped in the same area. Meanwhile,
a mouse set up housekeeping UNDER my tent and even ate several holes in the
floor of my tent! I found 5 baby mice under it when I took the tent down. (And
a momma mouse too, of course!) She used bits of my tarp and tent floor to
build her nest! I
met up with an Ercoupe friend, Bob Saville from Eugene, Oregon. He was the
only person that I saw at Oshkosh, that I had known previously. We
toured the EAA Airventure Museum together and enjoyed the wonderful planes on
display there before going our own I
got to see a jetpowered biplane do aerobatics. It was strange to hear that
radial engine suddenly be overpowered by a jet blast! I went to the seaplane
base and fell in love with a Beaver on floats. It was beautiful! So quiet and
peaceful there, too. I
had dinner sitting next to Patty Wagstaff and got to play with her parrot
"Buddha" at the Bonanza dinner we "Women with Wings" were
invited to. She is very
supportive of our group. I
won a T-shirt at the Mooney BBQ that we also were invited to, and was very
pleasantly surprised at how nice they were to me. They even wanted me to bring
my plane over to be displayed during the BBQ.
My 'baby Mooney' was a hit! I
think I had the only Mooney Cadet at Oshkosh! Lots of
people stopped to ask about it as it is a very rare and unusual plane. I
went through a B-17, and took photos of the navigators seat and the area where
my dad would have been when he flew in one during WW2.
I saw a Super Guppy! What a curious looking plane! It really DOES look
like a big fish! A VERY BIG fish! I
also saw a Mooney Mite, a cute little plane, but you could only take one
change of underwear and a tooth brush when traveling. I
met people from all over the world. There were 3 gentlemen from Germany that
had flown to Oshkosh in their Cessna 182. The whole front cowling of their
plane was chipped and broken away with huge holes from hail they ran into near
Iceland! I
also met 2 gentlemen that had flown their Mooneys from Switzerland just to
come to Oshkosh! I met Jon
Johanson from Australia. This man has modified his RV-4 by making the entire
back seat a huge fuel tank. He
has flown around the world twice. First from east-to-west, then from
west-to-east, and now is flying from north-to-south to make an attempt at a 3rd
record. He had his stuffed aviator bear with him, too. He was interesting to
talk to. And,
of course, Nigel, of Great Britain, who made sure to look me up, as he had
previously flown my Cadet in England, and wanted to meet me and see the Cadet
again. I
had invitations to stay with pilots in New York that I met there in Oshkosh. I
probably would have taken advantage of them if I could have continued my trip
around the Statue of Liberty as planned. I
saw a Ford Tri-motor and was amazed at how big it was! And it was used as a
'bush' plane too. Those pilots had to have been either very good or very
foolish! I saw multiple airshow routines, lots of warbirds, lots of formation
flying by the warbirds, and strangest of all, a contraption powered by a noisy
engine that had wings that flapped up and down. A bald man in a bearskin was
pedaling it. A woman was standing on top in a bearskin and a Vikings horned
helmet, and was waving to the crowd, like a wingwalker...Of course it couldn't
fly, but it WAS very amusing! I
am glad to be back in the Northwest. It was strange not seeing mountains or
hills. I could not gauge the weather ceilings without a hill to use as a
height reference. Also I was very surprised when I sighted a tower that was
>3500 ft high! It was close to my flight path and I was flying at 3000ft
due to the visibility and haze. I could see how that could be a very big
hazard to airplanes if it was not spotted visually or on the sectional! My
little airplane performed flawlessly. The exception was my GPS which the
factory had just replaced the batteries on and inspected and cleared for
return to service. It made navigation VERY difficult, but Dave’s hand-held
GPS and my sectionals and ATC, I was able to make it just fine. I
had the GPS rechecked out at the factory on the way home. It turns out that
the coax cable was not making contact from when it was reinstalled. So ... my
mechanic can readily repair that problem. In
all, I spent 7 days and nights camping at Oshkosh and I was ready to leave
when I did. I saw some awesome aircraft and met some very famous people.
Everyone was very friendly and helpful. I was impressed with how clean the
grounds were and how everyone picked up after each other! All the pilots were
policing the grounds! I
met people from all over the world. Pilots all. It was a great experience to
know what a wonderful bond we all have, no matter WHAT we fly. It only matters
that we DO fly. It
was a WONDERFUL adventure and I learned a lot about myself and my
capabilities. And what is important to me as an individual. I met some amazing
women and made some new friends that I am sure will be lasting. And I learned
more about the geography of the U.S. and the weather of the U.S., than I ever
did in school! The
only big disappointment of the trip was not being able to continue and fly
around the Statue of Liberty as I had planned. The weather was un-flyable.
Many of the big airports like Chicago were closed. Thunderstorms were
throughout the eastern part of the U.S. in the area I needed to go-through to
get there. Departure
from Oshkosh was in very hazy conditions around 11am Sunday.
I
re-fueled in Owatonna, Minn., and then fueled and spent the first night in
Watertown, South Dakota. I am not sure if this was a good idea as the whole
town was shut down and no food was available for dinner! However, as it was a
Sunday, I was concerned with getting fuel at my next stop. In
the morning I was off again, heading west to Mobridge, South Dakota for fuel,
Hettinger, North Dakota for fuel, Miles City, Montana for fuel, then on to
Billings, Montana for fuel and to spend the night. Up
early and followed Hwy 90 to Boseman for fuel. Very smoky from Billings to
Bozeman. The whole trip back from
Oshkosh was uneventful until I got
to my next stop at Missoula, Mt. There, I ran into a problem with high-density
altitude. It made climbing to
altitude to get over the Rocky Mts. a real challenge ... but I made it! The
tower controller at Missoula must have gotten bored watching me do so many
spirals to gain altitude before I headed off across the mountains. My little
bird was sure working and flapping her wings real hard to climb in that hot,
thin air. I
was very glad to land at Orofino, Idaho! I stayed at Orofino for a week. I
then flew home with a fuel stop at Pendelton, then direct to Salem to have my
GPS checked at the factory. The flight was uneventful except for a 20-25 knot
headwind most of the way westward. The
factory found the problem with the GPS and then I re-fueled and flew to my
home airport at Creswell. GOOD TO
BE HOME! Would
I do it again? YOU BET! |
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