LOEHLE SQUADRON ADVENTURE FLIGHT

Thursday, April 4, 2002 - 7:30 am Slightly breezy and cold. Frost on the windshields in early morning. Mike Loehle, Jim Young and Glen Holder worked in several layers of clothes doing the finishing details to their planes, topping off the fuel tanks, rechecking the route on the air charts, adding new airports to their GPS's...to head out to Lakeland, Florida to the first big airshow of the year---Sun 'n Fun. As Glen starts his Walter Mikron engine and the sound rumbles across the ramp as it comes to life, the wind picks up even more....

9:00 am Very windy! Too windy! Blowing 24 knots in the direction they would be flying thru Alabama...so they decided to hold off and see how it looks this afternoon. They hope to at least get a few miles in before the day is done...maybe Albertville, AL and on to Pell City, AL...hopefully.

11:00 am A call to 5151 builder Tommy Thompson in Pell City confirms it's blowing a lot there....staying pretty close to the radio while they watch a student pilot up in a C150 being bounced all over the sky. The Loehle crew figures it was probably a wise decision to wait a bit...although they are anxious to be underway. It's better to err on the side of safety...Florida will still be there tomorrow and they'll still be early for the airshow.

3:00 pm Go or no-go. It's time to make a decision. The weather report now includes thunder showers along the intended path, so the crew decides to wait till tomorrow. At the crack of dawn they plan to be on the airport and ready to roll...Dawn Patrol for sure.

Friday 6:30 am Much nicer! No blustery winds to deal with...sun's coming out and it's a great day to be up flying! Mike and crew are ready to go and head out for an fun adventure trip...

7:50 am Mike called home base to report they're already in Pell City, Alabama. With a 15 knot tailwind, they're making great time and are enjoying the flight. Tommy Thompson (5151 builder) is alerted by the FBO that they are inbound and gets to greet them as they're touching down. "Looking sharp!!" he said. After a brief pit stop and refueling, they're back on their way. It's noticeable that the Rotax engines get up and go....Mike lifts off in about 100 feet! Jim is right behind him. Glen's 5151 with the 4-stroke Walter Mikron is not as agile in the takeoff mode, but he soon catches up for some loose formation flying.

10:50 am Mike now reports they're in Eufaula, Alabama and will be ready to leave again in about 15 minutes. Eufaula is a beautiful airport...looks like a country club with lake and all. A really nice place to land and refresh.

1:20 pm The miles are quickly passing underneath. They're in Thomasville, Georgia. Going to take a few minutes to check the planes out good and maybe get something to eat to keep the energy levels up. Next stop - probably Live Oak, Florida.

3:30 pm Jim and Glen are heading on south! When Mike took off from Thomasville, he noticed his power wasn't coming up like it should. And it didn't develop as they were leaving the airport...so he made the decision to head back to the airport and told Jim and Glen to go on without him. Probably a vacuum leak or something simple, but not worth the risk of having to put it down in a field somewhere. Sometimes better judgment plays a part in this flying game...and you have to purposely decide to do ground yourself when you'd much rather be flying. Thank goodness Bobby Graves (who is pulling the Loehle trailer to Sun 'n Fun) happened to be traveling along I-75 in the same general area at the same time! Bobby drove straight south thru Georgia, and it was just our good fortune that they wound up so near each other. Bobby has landed at Thomasville many times before and helped arrange hangar space in a friend's hangar at Thomasville. And back on the road again!

Saturday 12:30 pm Jim and Glen landed at the Lakeland Airport! Meanwhile, Bobby and Mike have arrived just fine as well and are there to greet them and get them routed to our booth space (#E-41 thru E-43).

More details about the Sun 'n Fun trip as these guys pass them back to Loehle headquarters.... :-)