We had completed 39 states as of 2023 but the first half of 2024 we made no progress. Lots of reasons but mainly we had the far away ones left and the best time to visit them is either April/May or September/October. Sam graduated in May and we were busy in April so that meant pushing off our big travel until September.
The Baron is often described as an all weather aircraft but the reality is that it is a most weather aircraft. Having radar, lots of redundancy and de-ice helps a lot but it can’t handle everything safely. Our initial plan was to head out Sunday at 8 AM to get up to North Dakota by around 4PM. In a perfect world it was a doable plan but after a dry spell in Northern Florida we were beset by a constant deluge with a front sitting on top of us for days. Little did we know the people back home would start building arcs after we left and a Huriicane would slide through for good measure.
After getting 5+ inches of rain Wednesday before departure, I made the call to leave early. The problem was that the FBO in North Dakota closes at 5 PM and our rental car was being left there. Being late would have cascading effects. If we had early storms Sunday morning, it was possible a delayed departure would blow the plan. Leaving a day early would get us 2.5 hours ahead and move us to clear weather on Sunday. On Saturday we could be very flexible on the departure.
It was decided and after some searching I chose Tullahoma, TN. It was big enough to have everything we needed and small enough to get in and out easily. As a bonus, it had good fuel prices and a Beech Museum. When I checked the weather at 7:30 AM there were storms in our path and our home base was 600 Broken. It was forecast to improve and the storms were moving quickly to the East.
When I put the bags in the car I was surprised by a high broken layer and partial blue sky which looked pretty good. I had a lot to load. 3 weeks on the road meant lots of clothes. In the end we had 10 bags totaling 160 pounds, crazy. Clothes took 2 medium duffels and a small overnight bag. We had a toiletries bag, camera bag, flight bag, hiking bag, snack bag, a laptop bag and CCs purse. It adds up fast….
Preflight was smooth, I had set the plane up earlier in the week and the Baron has tons of room so it swallowed our bags easily. At full fuel load we would be at 5300 pounds and in the mountains we would back off gas to allow for departures as light as 4904 pounds.
Our departure was into 900 overcast which was smooth and easy. Tops were around 1900 so we were soon on top fighting headwinds. I expect all Westbound legs will be into strong winds and coming home light headwinds. The morning storms had mostly moved out of our way but about 80 miles out the XM radar was showing lots of yellow. This was a day for the active radar as we were soon swallowed by a layer and I started plotting our route.
Getting closer I could see a few areas of heavy rain on the active radar. A quick request let us deviate to the West a few miles which put us on a new course that would avoid anything heavy. We had some light sprinkles for around 10 minutes but soon cleared the weather and started to see blue skies.
The direct route would have taken us over Atlanta which I knew was not going to fly so I had filed GRANT T294 HEFIN and surprisingly we got to fly just that. Usually ATC vectors you even when you file the published bypass routes but today they must have been in a good mood. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we made a bumpy approach to Tullahoma, TN. Winds were 10 Gusting 21 and variable. I had to work for it but the first landing of the trip was nice.
Pulling up to the FBO I found a space and headed in. The nice folks got our fuel order and the price was less than online, a nice surprise. They offered a ride to the Museum but we chose to walk the quarter mile. It was 75 and a wonderful day with blue skies. The Beech Heritage museum started as the Staggerwing Museum but then branched out to all Beech airplanes. They have about 40 aircraft and it’s a nice stop. It is also home to the annual Beech Party, a gathering of Beech Aircraft owners and all things Beech. I have never been but it sounds fun. You can actually taxi your plane to the museum but I thought it a bit silly to fire up the plane twice when I needed the exercise.
After seeing the museum, we walked back to the FBO. On the way one of the people from the airport stopped to see if we needed a ride back to the FBO. This was pretty typical, lots of friendly people. Our initial plan was to Uber to our hotel but the FBO had offered to run us over and grab us in the morning. While we were buying cool shirts at the gift shop, the museum manager told us her husband worked at the airport and to get the courtesy car and go see some sights. When we got back to the FBO we inquired about the car and were given keys. We decided food was top priority and headed out for burgers and fries.
We took them back to the FBO and sat out and watched the sky divers and a local glider getting towed. It was really nice to hang out under blue skies for a change. After our burgers we went and borrowed the car again to go see a local waterfall. Yes, long time readers will know that I am a big fan of falling water.
Rutledge Falls were only about 20 minutes away, easy to find, lots of parking and a short trail to some really nice falls. We stayed in the safe area though many people seemed like they wanted to hurt themselves by climbing the slippery rocks. We watched the water for about 30 minutes and then headed back. It was near the end of the day and they let us keep the car overnight. Our Hotel was only 5 minutes away but this made it super easy. Tullahoma earns Five Stars!!!!!
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