DC-3 Trip Diary April 1998
This is kinda rough. It was written while I was on the road, and touched up very lightly a few days after returning. Those of you who are are professional copy editors... please cut me some slack here...
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14-Apr Tuesday
Baron flight, Falcon Field to Arlington. Fast (4h) due 30Kt tail winds. Stayed night at Rodney's. Visited Bill Thursby's office. Saw Carl (who used to work for Alisa).15-Apr Wednesday
Arlington to Fresno.. Very rough, slow (120Kt) -- that great tailwind from yesterday was still going, even stronger, and we were going the other direction! Made stops in Abilene and Deming, NM. I flew for at least 5 hours that first day as I seemed to be the least affected by the bumpy air. I loved it! Truly wonderful! Very windy at Deming, surface wind probably 30Kt, gusts to 40. I was introduced to the wonderful ways of the '3 right away. We got a ride into town for lunch at a typical small-town coffee shop. Rodney got air-sick for the first time in his life. Chris was feeling queasy. We got Dramamine at Deming and all but me popped a double dose.The weather from Mt. Graham through the Colorado River was a bit dicey, lots of cumulus and virga, the bases were uncharacteristically low, probably below 8000 ft. We climbed into it and got a temporary IFR from about Mt. Graham to the Phoenix area. At that point we descended back down to 6500. We had finally passed through the coldfront, and the weather cleared at the Colorado river. We went across at Blythe, then flew to Twenty Nine Palms, Palmdale, Tehachapi, and finally Fresno. At Tehachapi there was a nasty layer of rotor-laden cumulus all along the ridge line, tops at 11,000. We climbed to 12,500 to clear all of that. Later I talked to Stevie and found out that the night before so much snow fell on Gorman that they closed the Ridge Route / I5 ... in April! All those mountains were covered in snow (which we could see through breaks in the clouds). It was so beautiful, we were flying into the sunset. As we made the turn towards Fresno, after crossing the ridge at Tehachapi, the sun was going down.
That night, Greg and I both felt like we were still in the airplane in the bumpy air... I noticed that I got "that feeling" when the dinner table rocked and rolled slowly. Now I know the true meaning of the "DC-3 shakes". When I got back to our room, I took off my clothes, fell into bed, and went to sleep. I was bushed!
16-Apr Thursday
Fresno to Oakland, parked at Kaiser Air (old stomping grounds). We needed to fix two problems, an oil leak on the left engine and an exhaust leak on the right engine. They were all nervous about the oil dripping out of the engines and soiling their ramp. We talked to Brian at the Otis Spunkmeyer DC-3 maintenance base and he offered to let us pull the airplane over to their ramp and work on it.We completely uncowled the left engine and pulled the accessory cowling off the right one. The exhaust leak was the most critical. It had burned out the cowling behind it. There was a pretty good size hole behind the clamp on one of the exhaust tubes. We would have been screwed anywhere but Oakland. Brian took Rodney to an old parts boneyard in one of the hangars at Oakland. They had a DC-3 exhaust clamp! Rodney fixed it by putting the second clamp on behind the original one, covering the hole. We flew the rest of the trip with that burned out cowling piece.
The left engine had an "ohl leak" on one of the pushrod tubes. I went to a local Pep Boys store and got some Permatex form-a-gasket stuff that Greg used to patch the leak. We used all of the Stoddard solvent in the "bug sprayer" and filled it with avgas. That worked a lot better for cleaning "ohl" off the cowling and other stuff that got covered in oil.
Our English passengers arrived in the middle of all of this, and were very patient while we patched up our airplane. Finally, we thanked Brian for his hospitality and assistance, loaded our passengers, and headed off to Coalinga. The flight to Coalinga was quite nice, via Watsonville and Salinas. We circled the Harris Ranch, where our passengers were going to stay, then landed at the New Coalinga airport. When we got to the Coalinga airport, a couple of the local farmers showed up in their pickups. Eventually, they rode us into town and recommended that we stay at the Cambridge Inn, one of the "hot spots" (ha ha).
17-Apr Friday
Breakfast at the Cambridge coffee shop. We got hooked up with an old one-eyed New Zealander named Russ who more or less lives at the airport and was n the process of moving from the old (now closed) airport to the new one. He also ran the town's only cab service. He gave us a ride to the airport.It was a very pretty day! The mustard weed was blooming bright yellow and he wheat fields rippled in the gentle breeze. One of the guys that came out last night in his pickup turns out to have leased land around the airport and was dry-farming that wheat. It was already heading, and would be cut in another 4 weeks or so.
We spent basically all day working on the airplane. The oil leak fix at Oakland was only 80% successful, so we needed to put some more stuff on the one pushrod tube, plus a bit on another one. We again completely uncowled the left engine, and fuel-sprayed everything in sight to wash off the oil. Same for all of the underneath where oil had blown over the belly, the flaps, etc. Chris and Greg worked on the left engine leaks, and also "repaired" the left generator. The generator back cover, which supplies cooling via an air hose, had broken off. Chris duct-taped it back in place (!)
The other big project was washing most of the plane. Rodney and I did that, taking turns with the brush and the hose. It took a long time, and definitely made you realize how big that airplane is!
Evening, dinner at Harris Ranch as guests of our passengers. I called Harris ranch and asked if they could come and pick us up. I spoke with "John". He said no, there was no attendant available to do that. Rodney called them back and spoke with someone else, told them we had brought 11 people to stay there, that we were going to spend money there, etc. They made John pick us up and take us back!
18-Apr Saturday
Back out to the new Coalinga airport to get ready for the trip to Palm Springs. As we tidied up the airplane, Chris fell off the left wing, hit the ladder dropped a glass jar he was holding which broke, and he landed on a piece of it, cutting his hand badly. We called 911 and they came out and took him into town to suture it. It cut the muscle as well as the skin. We decided to fuel up there to avoid the $2.50/gal rate at Palm Springs.Our flight from Coalinga to Palm Springs was stunning. The southern San Joaquin valley was really green from all the rain they had that Spring. We crossed back over Tehachapi and Palmdale. We could see all the snow we only glimpsed a couple of days before. I've never seen that much snow this late in the year. Then we went along the northern edge of the San Bernardino mountains, then through the Cajon and Banning passes. Mts. San Antonio, San Gorgonio, and San Jacinto were all beautiful, covered in snow.
When we arrived in Palm Springs, late afternoon, Chris decided he wanted to go back home. He was really depressed, we felt sorry for him. So we put him on a plane for Dallas.
19-Apr Sunday
In the morning, we went to the Palm Springs Air Museum, which we all enjoyed. We ran into our passengers there. I noticed that Bernie Kreitzer's name was on the board listing the museum's charter members. I worked for him when I was in high school, as a human spreadsheet calculator doing aircraft structure analysis. I also was first exposed to computers by his partner, Stan Rasmussen. I eventually got his number, and called. His wife Rosalie answered, and told me that Bernie had passed away three years ago from kidney cancer. We talked for a while and I got her number for my Dad. I also found out that Stan Rasmussen is living in Glendale, and I need to call her back to get that number. Meanwhile, Rodney got to talk to Bob Pond and offered to take him flying in the DC-3.Afternoon was quiet. I worked on this document mostly, napped.. We had a nice dinner at Stuart Anderson's in Rancho Mirage (10 mi south of Palm Springs).
20-Apr Monday
We got out to the PSP airport at about 9AM and looked over the airplane. I was set to make the takeoff this morning, so Rodney went over the basic stick-n-rudder stuff for that. Our guests arrived about 10:30 and we were off. I made the takeoff, which went really well. We flew east-ish down to the I-10 grade so the passengers could see the Salton Sea, then swung northwest to Lake Havasu, where we landed for lunch. At 3PM, we left Havasu and flew to Laughlin/Bullhead for the night. The weather was beautiful.21-Apr Tuesday
We left Laughlin/Bullhead for a flight to Falcon Field, Mesa, AZ (my home field) via the Grand Canyon. I flew right seat for most of the way, except for Gaynor Luckett who flew right seat for about 45 min. The flight went well, though it was a bit rough over the high country.After landing at Mesa, I got out my truck and took myself, Rodney and Greg to the Champlin Fighter Museum, then on to my home. There, my wife served a very nice dinner and we all enjoyed a relaxing evening in the back yard.
22-Apr Wednesday
Before our passengers arrived, I got a chance to take the DC-3 around the pattern at Falcon Field, flying from the left seat. I made the takeoff and landing. It went well except I bounced the landing (my first) twice before finally three-pointing nicely it on the third contact :).Then we flew from Falcon Field to the University of Arizona's Maricopa Agricultural Station. They have a dirt strip near the town of Maricopa. Rodney made the landing, and just greased it on. We went to a local native American casino for lunch and then I joined the British farmers for a 3 hour tour of the U of A facility and projects. I found it very interesting.
Finally, we flew to Tucson International Airport, where we stayed until Saturday. We found out later that our hosts has made the mistake of standing behind the DC-3 for our takeoff at that dirt strip... you can imagine what happened! Rodney, Greg and I stayed with my parents. We sat around their back yard and swam, etc. Then we went out to dinner at a very nice restaurant nearby.
23-Apr Thursday
Today we went to Davis Monthan Air Force Base to try to walk through the "boneyard" there. We weren't permitted to do that. Our next objective was the Pima Air Museum, which both Greg and Rodney enjoyed very much. We ran into our passengers there, as they were completing a guided tour. Then we returned to Robert and Margot Denny's house for a barbecue dinner and "telling lies under the stars". Rodney really got my father going on old stories.24-Apr Friday
Red letter day! After dropping Rodney off at the commercial terminal to return to Arlington, Greg and I flew the DC-3 out to Ryan Field west of Tucson to do some takeoffs and landings (full stop) under "adverse conditions", namely a fairly stiff gusting crosswind. I shot a few takeoffs and landings, and did quite well considering my inexperience. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to fly the Gooney under those conditions, a rare treat! Aircraft Registration Mark : N5106X
Aircraft Serial Number : 9058
Aircraft Manufacturer : DOUGLAS
Model (code) : DC3C-S1C3G (3021458)
Type : Fixed wing multi Engine
Year Manufactured : 1943
Engine Manufacturer : P & W
Model (code) : R1830 SERIES (52020)
Type : Reciprocating
Registration Type : Corporation
Owner Name : DAVID NICKLAS ORGAN DONOR AWARENESS
: FOUNDATION INC
Owner Address : 5070 S COLLINS ST STE 101
:
: ARLINGTON, TEXAS 76018-1134
Region / Country : Southwestern / UNITED STATES
Registration Date : 1996-08-15
Last Action Date : 1999-09-02
Airworthiness Classification : Standard
Approved Operations :
Status Code : N-Number assigned
Aircraft Transponder Code : 51462257
Robert B. Denny