Clinton '07, Day 1
Today was the big day! I hooked up with the Ton Up Pirates Caravan in Greeley, CO this morning and we took off for Clinton, IA. The plan was to make it to Columbus, NE and over night there. Like all plans, things change. We got as far as North Platte, NE and found a big thunderstorm was about to cross our path. Instead to trying to get around it, we elected to stay in North Platte over night. Tomorrow we'll leave early and we should be able to make Clinton as planned, just an hour or two later than originally envisioned.
The day got off to a mixed start. I managed to get everything together and into the plane without forgetting anything important. Until I fueled the plane and left my fuel dipstick on the cowl. I didn't notice it until doing my run up when I saw this flash of something falling off of the cowl and land under my left main tire. I set the parking brake, opened the door, grabbed it and then my hat blew off. I got out, grabbed my hat and jumped back in. All too aware of what might happen should that parking brake fail. Fortunately for me, it held. That little escapade earned me the infomous Pirates caravan monkey cup at dinner tonight. I won't be earning it again this trip!
One of the Pirates was temporarily left behind in UT when his tachometer cable failed and he elected to return for repairs. We don't know what exactly happened but he's here in North Platte tonight. I'm sure we'll hear the story tomorrow when we meet him for breakfast.
So far, I'm having a wonderful time. The Pirates caravan has some wonderful people in it.
The day got off to a mixed start. I managed to get everything together and into the plane without forgetting anything important. Until I fueled the plane and left my fuel dipstick on the cowl. I didn't notice it until doing my run up when I saw this flash of something falling off of the cowl and land under my left main tire. I set the parking brake, opened the door, grabbed it and then my hat blew off. I got out, grabbed my hat and jumped back in. All too aware of what might happen should that parking brake fail. Fortunately for me, it held. That little escapade earned me the infomous Pirates caravan monkey cup at dinner tonight. I won't be earning it again this trip!
One of the Pirates was temporarily left behind in UT when his tachometer cable failed and he elected to return for repairs. We don't know what exactly happened but he's here in North Platte tonight. I'm sure we'll hear the story tomorrow when we meet him for breakfast.
So far, I'm having a wonderful time. The Pirates caravan has some wonderful people in it.