Friday the 13th

Friday, June 13, 2014

Did you say we need to fly from New Mexico to the San Francisco area on Firday the 13th?  Can we fly that far by the noon deadline?  We decided to give it our best effort.  

After a pleasant stay at the Grand Hotel in Deming, NM (KDMN), we got to the airport for an early departure.  Bert from Dessert Aviatioon already had the plane fueled and ready to go.  We departed for a 4 hour flight to Blythe, CA (KBLH).  Blythe was a hot, dry, and isolated airport with no food but plenty of fuel and Dave was there to fuel N37TJ for us.

In Florida, we are used to flying over airports all over the state but during our flight today over New Mexico and Arizona we noticed very few airports and the ones we did fly over were small with single runways and limited services.  Many did not even have fuel but they were all picturesque and had a story to tell.  Tamra became nostalgic as we flew over her Alma Mater, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and Mount Lemon.

From Blythe, we planned to fly to Bakersfieild Muni (L45) and as we were on final, ATC reported that the runway was closed.  We had to make a quick decision and diverted to Meadows Airport, CA (KBFL).  I am not sure how a single pilot could handle a quick change like that but with two of us, it was no problem.  We landed at Meadows and felt like we had been transported back to the future.  KBFL is a fully modern airport with a tower, unlike the airports we visited the day before.  Atlantic Aviation loaned us a car so we could get a meal and they kindly took care of the airplane, including washing the window and without being asked to do that.  As we were preparing to leave, we met a gentleman who was getting out of his airplane and he said, "Are you going to the Concord?"  Wondering how he knew about the Air Race Classic, we asked.  He explained that he had been helping one of the other racers prepare for the race.  (He recognized us from the large 25 on our tail.)

We arrived at Concord, CA (KCCR), the air race start location, at 7:30 pm.  We given an extension to the deadline because of our many mechanical issues and we were joyfully welcomed by several other racers.  A good night's sleep is what we needed to be ready to start early on Saturday.  The hotel is right on the airport and we wake up to a flight line full of beautiful airplanes.