Cool Mountain Breeze

We had headed North in search of cooler weather.  It was going to be 90+ back home but there was still a last gasp of Spring to be found in the Mountains of North Carolina. We slept in Saturday which was poor planning but felt great.  After the rain Friday night, I wanted to check on the plane.  Not that looking would change anything but if it was wet, we could start the drying process.  

We stopped by and I checked the front, the back, the nose baggage and even the fuel.  No water which was great news so headed off to the mountains.  Two years ago we had stopped by triple falls but only saw one of three.  It was pretty empty last visit but not so this time.  I know better than to travel on a holiday weekend but we did it anyway.

We showed up at the visitor center and there were no spaces but there was a long line of cars waiting.  We decided to head off to the other lot 2 miles down the road.  Here we lucked out, the second lot was also busy but it had two parts and we looked at the far part.  Right after we arrived, we saw people leaving and scored a space.  

We took the short hike down to Hooker falls.  They were nice but not impressive.  It was also terribly crowded.  Lots of people who I had the sense had never before went hiking.  I am curious if we will see this devotion to the outdoors in another year?  I also notice rule breaking.  For example this sign.  I left my horse in the car, leave the windows cracked and some hay, no big deal.

At least one person did not follow the rules.

There was more hiking by the falls but it was so crowded we decided to head off and sell our parking space.  Just kidding but we may have been able to pay for the trip if we had.

Our next stop was the Botanic Gardens in Asheville.  It got good reviews and promised blooming plants.  The drive up to Asheville is always pretty and today there were some clouds hanging on the mountains so the views did not disappoint.

The Botanic Garden did.  It is a nice green space and has lots of plants but it lacks any cohesive layout and the blooms were very scarce.  We enjoyed a nice walk and it is free so I guess I can’t complain too much but I won’t be returning.

Some places are worth revisiting and there was a BBQ joint I wrote about in November 2019, Smokey and the Pig, that was worth a second taste.  I was a bit nervous though, you have a great meal at a place and when you go back the pressure is on, will it meet your expectations?  It did, it was a great brisket sandwich. 

Full of BBQ we headed off to Pearson falls.  Pearson falls is one of the few falls we have had to pay to see.  It is a modest entrance fee of $5/person and it was well worth it.  These falls were not too busy and you can tell they use the funds to keep the property in top shape.  

The trail is only a quarter mile over pretty flat terrain.  They have also added wood chips so the trail is not muddy.  You walk along a rushing brook, across a bridge and then you hear the falling water.  The falls are very nice.  Good height, nice cascading levels, great views and plenty of room. 

We hung out for a while enjoying the falling water, taking pictures for other fall viewers and doing some drone flying.  I am sensitive to not wanting to disturb people with the drone so we waited until there were only two other groups at the falls before taking out the drone.

The falls are loud so the drone seemed silent.  When I lifted off I looked around to see if it was annoying anyone but I got the opposite reaction.  One family with little kids was quite entranced by my toy.  The kids enjoyed waving at the drone and then started asking the parents for one.  The other people were intrigued at the video I was capturing.

I flew about 5 minutes and then put it away, no need to press your luck.  We made the quick walk back to the car and and headed back to the hotel for some dinner and to kick back and relax.

Sunday the flight home was smooth and uneventful.  I am settling on my favorite power settings.  2350 RPM seems to be a sweet spot and 12 gph/side gets me 182 knots,  13 gph/side gets me 190 knots.  Today I compromised on 12.5 and we made 188 which feels like a good place.  The spinners are still shiny and I enjoyed how they reflected the puffy clouds.  With the twin moving 18 knots faster than the Bonanza we made quick work of the return and soon had the plane back at the hangar.

Obscene Friday

You can’t change the weather but you can choose it. We had been planning to go to Roanoke Virginia but as Friday drew closer, the weather looked pretty bleak.  From a flying point of view, it was well within our capabilities but it looked like it was going to rain as soon as we arrived.

I have found if you are time or space flexible, you can pick your weather. In this case we decided to go where it was sunny.  So Thursday night I changed some reservations and recompiled for Greenville, SC.  We have been to Greenville many times but this time we were in search of filth.

CC had read that the town had installed an art exhibit the was called, Obscene, Demonic, Pornographic and more. The art in question is a series of bronze statues of Angels.  One of them which is an anatomically correct representation. The rest are about as accurate as GI Joe or Barbie.

(Spoiler alert, that's CC smiling after being exposed to the horrific artwork) Friday morning we were off.  This is our first overnight trip in the new plane so that was exciting.  We departed and were soon cleared to 9000 and direct SAV VOR. I filed this way to avoid all the military airspace.  This slight bend in the course actually only adds minutes and the time enroute was a quick 1:30 vs a 6 hour drive.

The weather was good which makes the flight easy.  The only minor challenge was being sequenced behind a Delta 757. Though not classified as a heavy, the 757 can cut a big wake.  We added some space and I was careful to fly well above the jets path.  The Jet touched down about 800 feet down the runway.  We made sure to be 2000 feet down the runway before touching. Greenville has 11000 feet of runway so room was not an issue.

We taxied in, grabbed our stuff and found our rental car waiting.  After this we dropped our stuff at the hotel and then it was off to see the obscenity.  We had been warned that our eyes could be damaged but we took the risk.  What we saw was art, I liked some of the pieces more than others.  I was not damaged, I don't think.  I also saw some extremely cute ducklings, which in retrospect may have balanced out the obscenity.

We had free 2 hour parking so we strolled downtown a bit before heading out to grab lunch.  Now CC was not part of the permanent exhibit but she does look angelic which is surprising after what she just saw....

I did not have a lot of planning time for our trip so I had grabbed an old list of things we had not seen yet and decided to try Paris Mountain State Park.  We drove to the top and tried one of the trails.  It was nice but a bit disappointing.  You are near the summit but the forest is so dense this time of year that you don’t get many views of the surrounding area.

The sun was setting so we headed back to get some dinner and though we had avoided the weather so far, there was a line of rain coming through.  About 10 pm we had a 20 minute downpour.  We were safe inside but the plane got a good bath and I started wondering if this plane was leakproof.  Nothing I could do about it in the middle of the night, that was a problem for Saturday.

NASA Redux

Back in July 2018, we did the "Shuttle Tour".  The Tour consists of a low pass over the shuttle landing facility.  You get great views of the complex, vehicle assembly building and Merritt island.  We headed down this morning and it was a smooth ride with light traffic in the Daytona area. 

I had double checked that the restricted areas were not active and just to be sure was working with ATC for flight following.  All was going well until it took Orlando a long time to accept our handoff.  Checking in, I requested the tour and he replied, "well you can do that on your own".  I could have requested services but he seemed busy so once he confirmed the airspace status, we switched to the local frequency and proceeded to make a nice run down the runway.

The smooth skies got a lot bumpier around 1000' which made filming difficult for CC but we had a great view.  At the end of the almost 3 mile runway, we made a climbing right turn and headed back North.  Overall it was a good flight and a nice morning to sightsee.  It is getting warmer out there so I took advantage of the cooler weather to complete some work on the plane.

Last week I had done my first oil change on the Baron.  I had the mechanic come by and double check my work so I was pretty confident that all was well.  After landing I popped open the cowl sides to take one more look at everything to make sure.  It was all good and other than the oil that streaks back from the breather line onto the gear, everything was dry.

I then wiped the bugs off the wings and finished up polishing my spinners.  It only took me an hour or so to get the plane cleaned up but then took another hour and a half talking to people on the way out of the airport.  Lots of exciting things going on.  One pilot was working on a plane he is building, another had made a BBQ run, a plane was working through annual inspection and another was getting new windows.  A busy Saturday.

Shuttle tour the Movie.