Right after I wrote that our other stops typically did not have prolonged low weather, I looked at the Rapid City (KRAP) Forecast. It was calling for several days of really low weather. I started watching and sure enough Rapid City was bouncing between IFR and really low IFR. The automated MOS forecast was looking pretty bleak for a while calling for ceilings of 200-400 all Tuesday. The other forecasts looked better but barely.
The winds would be out of the Southwest which meant the GPS 14 which had minimums of 250 feet. Frankly, while we train to minimums and on occasion I have had to go there, it is not what I prefer. It was time to start formulating some plans and wait and see what weather we got.
Bozeman weather was going to be glorious so our departure would be easy. Taking all the forecasts and together, on arrival I was expecting 600-1,500. Our original schedule was to leave at 8:30, we pushed that to 9:30 as the weather would be better after 11:00. We would leave VFR and head through the Bozeman pass and then direct HITOS intersection. This was 40 minutes out from KRAP and would be our transition to IFR if needed. Just kidding, it would be needed.
Gas was a concern. I had planned 116 gallons on departure that let us keep our weight 10% below gross and gave us a better single engine climb rate in an emergency. We planned to land with 60 gallons which is 2:24 reserve. If we went missed, our planned alternate, which should be VFR, was 39 miles and 8 gallons away. This would put us on the ground with 2:12 of gas. Less if we had to use a back up alternate but worst case we would land with 1:30 or better.
I had some variations of this plan. If the weather was less than 600 an hour out of KRAP, we would stop and add more gas. My thought was that this would open our options and the delay might provide improved weather. So after lots of planning, deciding on my go/no go points, we were ready.
The friendly folks at Signature Bozeman had parked the plane on a slight downhill slope so once the oil temps were in the green we started rolling and headed for the runup area. I asked for flight following to Rapid City and got my squawk. At the end of the runway, the engines were warm, the runup went as expected and we were number one. Cleared for takeoff runway 12 straight out, mixtures leaned, acceleration a lot less than normal but with 8,994’ of pavement we were soon airborne, clean and climbing.
The pass is 5,718’ and we easily cleared the rising terrain. Leveling at 9,500' we took a shortcut along the ridgeline. The forecast was for a small tailwind and it appeared as promised. When we departed, KRAP had been 1,200’ but the next update was 600’ broken. This was acceptable but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to go lower. Twenty minutes later the update was 1,200’ and I was much happier.
We cruised along and watched our alternate’s weather which continued to report clear so we continued. It was hard to believe we would soon be IFR. We had clear skies and 60+ mile visibility. I had filed IFR from the HITOS intersection to KRAP. Salt Lake City had been following us but Denver would have our clearance as they controlled the HITOS airspace.
As we progressed we got some views of the places we had visited as we passed Billings. One cool sight was the Bighorn Recreation Area where we overflew the lake. The canyon views were equally stunning from above.
Our handoff to Denver came as expected and Denver had our clearance waiting. We became IFR and were assigned 9,000’. This would be temporary as the MEAs would require us to climb to 10,000 to cross the Black Hills Forest. The weather at KRAP was holding and the ATIS was calling 1,200’ and we were soon handed off to approach. We got some vectors to space us behind an airliner and after flying us through final, we were turned back and cleared GPS 14.
We had been descending and were under the glidescope as we tracked inbound. I slowed to 135 knots and at glide slope intercept dropped the gear. We checked in with tower and were told to report the FAF inbound. By now we were solid, the needles were centered and landing checks were complete. At ZUDIM, the FAF we called in and were cleared to lane. The winds were 15-20 knots and it was not a smooth ride but at 1,000’ above the runway we broke out to good visibility below.
The landing was good and we were soon on the Westjet ramp. Our car was there and again it was a bit awkward unloading with the gusty conditions. Westjet is nice but overpriced. I did buy a cool t-shirt though. It says, “I flew through KRAP to get here”. I though that was appropriate based on today’s weather.
We spent the afternoon visiting town. They have a section of the Berlin wall which was cool. They also have a Dino park. The Dinosaurs were built with WPA money during the depression as an attraction. It is sort of silly but fun. The park is on a hill overlooking town and the views are great.
We took the skyline drive down the hill to town. On the way we saw some wild turkeys which tearing up some elses lawn for a change. We have a Turkey at home that keeps making amess in our lawn. Downtown is small but interesting. They have statues of most of the presidents on the street corners. I'm sure why, but they do.
We parked and took a walk. Our first stop was art alley which is an alley that has been painted and painted and painted. Anyone can participate, it just requires a free permit.
We enjoyed the art and met a young man priming a section for his next work. He had been commissioned to complete 3 projects but we would be gone before he was done. As we left the alley, 3 men asked us to take their picture. They said they were some of the artists. I think they were; though our conversation was less coherent because they appeared to be quite drunk.
Downtown was interesting, not only did we have the friendly artists, we saw a street preacher reading the bible to the street. The street did not seem impressed. I was also stopped by a young man that wanted to talk cameras and lenses. We chatted a bit and then stopped into a bakery but they had sold out of bread so no snack for us.
After more wandering, we called it an afternoon and headed back to the hotel for a rest before dinner. We had a big day Wednesday and since this is vacation, we decided we could take it easy for a bit.
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