Tennessee Waltz...

Monday June 13, 2011

Breakfast at six ...no Hans! 06:10 still no Hans? I am talking a quick look to see if he,s already at the car; Nope, better call the room. Found him! He's had the same problem as me with the alarm on the room phone ...it did not ring! Quick coffee, check the radar for the route ahead and all looks good and sees us in the air by seven. Terry came out to bit us Good Bye and wish us a great flight. We really liked Pell City.

Flight Briefing in Pell City

 What a beautiful morning flying over NW Alabama from Pell City to Muscle Shoals. With Hans on the controls for the first leg, I have time so sit and look around at the scenery flowing past below us. The view from the Aircraft is outstanding. There is no better way seeing this countryside than right from where we are. No topless sports car, motorcycle or RV could give this view, because you'd never get out of the trees on the country roads below. This Hill Country here, at the foot of the Appalachians, is simply beautiful.

Somewhere...

Giving Birmingham Airspace a nice buffer to the NE we end up with 1.9hrs flying from KPLR to KMLS. Arriving there you get the red carpet treatment. A smile comes to my face imagining Nick with marshaling sticks and a red carpet pinched in his armpit at the 108. That'll be the day. I would be seriously worried about him! :-)

Nice airport, about Williams Lake size and with a certain sterility that comes with the slightly larger, and a bit more jet oriented airports, but friendly never the less.

After a quick brake, another weather consultation, we notice it is really building once again over southern Missouri and we decide to add only another 0.9 to the trip and end up landing in Savannah, TN. Nice airport, smaller again and the same friendly folks that seem to come with these installation. Montille, the airport manager, offers us once again a courtesy car and we are off to Wendy's for a bite to eat ...after the plane was tied down as good as we could. Just in case! We landed by 10:45 and it was building up, and getting already lumpy again. This should be interesting on the next few legs ahead.

We luck out once again with a hangar space, and Paul the Assistant Airport Manager helps us move the birdie into place. Filled up, pre-flighted and off to Town for a hotel. The first one, Days Inn, is booked up and we head across the parking lot to the the Comfort Inn. Their prices are out to Lunch, pardon my french, to say the least. What is this? Vancouver, downtown, with a view of the Lions. Get a Grip! READ MY LIPS (next sentence) ...don't come here, the bang for the buck is not in line at all with the offerings. This is a first on this trip, twice the money for half the room, but it seems the only 2 left in town...

Hans on the "Red Carpet" in Muscle Shoals

Gosh, I am looking forward to get across the Ozarks and out of Tornado Alley. Slightly cooler, drier air would be good too! Well are we even in it? We did notice the damage all along below us for the last hour of this mornings flight. Not a pretty sight, uprooted trees, buildings with no roofs, signs of natures fury everywhere.

So tomorrow we will have to get going even earlier. We need to cover a bit of country and hopefully get into Missouri before the "Lunch Time Tennessee Waltz" starts playing, tossing the little 701 from wing to wing and from tail to prop...