|
Joanne and Steve Alcorns' Aviation Adventure in a J-3:
Steve and I just got home from our latest adventure ferrying a 1939 J3 Cub from Bedford, IN to Winter Haven, FL. We
left in freezing temps and it stayed that way into Florida. 12 stops, 3 full days, avg 50 knots ground speed, don't
need a GPS- only a calendar! 
Freezing out of Bedford, IN into headwinds. Stopped at deserted Breckenridge, KY (below) in hopes of fuel.
No one there and no fuel...
After
fueling at Elizabethtown we headed south to Lafayette, TN. Out of Lafayette, TN at 2000' thru the pass at treetop
level....She wasn't a climber!
Out of McMinnville Airport thru
the TN valley (above) at 2000' again.....and over the Blue Ridge Valley (below). Finally had tailwinds (90 knots)
for that leg.
And
the end of a long first day in Rome GA. 27 degrees in the am. A valve stuck. After some sunshine to provide
a little warmth toward noon, we were on our way south again....
Just keep heading south to LaGrange, GA
Landing
with our shadow at Eufaula, AL...then on to pretty little Quincy, FL airport without paved taxiways.
Then
down thru desolate Perry, FL and Cross City.....across the Shawnee River. See the seaplane base?
Thru
rain showers around Inverness, FL and finally into Winter Haven
January Paradise
Coast Chapter meeting includes Flour Bombing Extravaganza!!  Our January meeting included something for everyone, beginning with flour bombing a target painted in a festive pink color
on the grass runway at LaBelle Airport(X14). Each pilot/bombardier team was allowed only one bombing attempt, with a fee of
$10 per bag collected for the pot. For safety reasons, low passes were to be made in cruise configuration. Winner of the drop
closest to the target receives half the pot, with the other half going to our scholarship fund. Five aircraft
flown by 99’s participated included a J3 Cub, Grumman Tiger (our only low wing entrant), Cessna 182, Cessna 172, and a light sport CTLS. After some initial confusion about the
location of the drop zone, and many calls on the Unicom, each of the ladies over flew the target at 200 AGL and dropped her
2 pound bag of flour, attempting to hit the 10 foot diameter circle. After each drop our judging team of
Tad, Vern and Joe scurried out to the drop zone to mark the location of each bag. The ever present easterly cross wind appeared
to have affected accuracy a tad. After changing crews  some participants made a second run, so a total of 7 bombs were dropped.
Before
the contest results are revealed, a little background. Since I was a little rusty on flying 200’AGL, I decided to do
a little practicing. Accompanied by D, we made some practice bomb drops at a sparsely inhabited area east
of Venice. We found a couple of choice locations and made a drop, only to discover that bags of flour we
dropped could not be located. An area that looked dry from the air turned out to be swampy, so the flour
bags disappeared. But then all of FL south of Orlando used to be one big swamp like the Everglades is now.
So we considered this flying a little geology/geography lesson, too. Next D next found an airport that would let us set up a target adjacent to the
runway, making the whole issue of lining up with the target easier, and finding the flour bombs a whole lot easier. After being rejected by Page Field, Venice
and Arcadia, Sebring welcomed a little more aviation activity at their field. Joined by our newest chapter
member, Peg Brady, D and I took turns bombing an  abandoned runway. Afterwards we refueled at lunch, and reflected on our new found skills. We
were joined by Jessica who was in the area doing flight instruction. In exchange for use of the field,
Project Coordinator Vicky Stewart is asking for volunteers to help at the US Sport Aviation Expo January 20-23, 2011.
If you can work a 4 hour shift escorting vehicles across a runway during the show, please give Vicky a call at 863-655-6444,
extension 129. After the bombing we sat down to a great pot
luck lunch. Chapter members Anne Roethke, D, Marilyn Burysz, Anne Miller, Carolyn Skaggs, Jessica Stearns,
Terry Carbonell, Patty Berg, Judy Bowser, Peg Brady and Ellen Herr were in attendance. Also participating were Tamra Sheffman and Sonia Bortolin of the Goldcoast chapter. Guests Bruce, Lisa. Joe,
Tad, and Vern also joined us. Thanks to everyone who donated all the delicious food for the lunch! A brief business
meeting was followed by Terry’s Carbonell’s presentation about aviation applications for the IPad.We need all members to promote our scholarship, so please encourage lady pilots residing in Lee, Collier, Charlotte
Hendry and Glades counties to apply.  Carolyn
gave her “Sweet Dreams” plaque from the 2010 ARC Banquet to race winner Terry. And finally
the bomb drop winners…Pilot D pilot and Bombardier Peg Brady, whose drop was 10 feet from the target center! 
|
|
Tennessee Chapter prepares for Girl Scouts Tennessee Chapter had their Chapter meeting and organizational meeting for
our next Girl Scout Aviation Day at DKX in Knoxville. I have a meeting for the one at TRI next Wednesday. We were
planning a third at Collegedale FGU, but are hitting snags. The last and most significant is the airport mgr has rented
out the large hangar we were to use. I don't believe there is another hangar big enough to be of help if it is raining.
The CHA regional airport has TSA and parking restrictions which make it unworkable. Additionally, we just haven't had
the support from our group in getting presenters for this program. GA is just not that active in that area. At both
DKX and TRI we've had plenty of folks jumping in to help. I'm going to contact the FGU manager on Monday, but we may
need to cancel that one. If we can't do it right, we shouldn't do it.  We reached our max. registration at TRI and DKX a week before the registration
deadline (200 each). I'm still returning requests. Yesterday, which was the deadline, I must have had a least
a dozen calls or emails. We're hoping that once we hit our stride this year, we can up the registrations next year.
The exciting news is that we had three students at our meeting today. They
are all helping with the Girl Scout Day and I hope we can keep their interest. This is just what this Chapter needs.
The photo is us looking over the hangar where we will have the DKX event. Also of significance is we will be donating our first local scholarship thanks to the Girl Scout income.
There is a local foundation: F.L.I.G.H.T. in TN that provides scholarships for JROTC students through solo. We
will be able to donate to a woman and track her progress, hopefully attending the solo. www.flightfoundation.com They did a presentation for us at a meeting last summer. Janice Pelletti, Chapter Chair
|
