Today was a good day. We left the farm in the morning and flew to Pittsburg, Kansas for fuel. We then flew to Keokuk, Iowa, just so I could say that I've landed a plane in Iowa. :-) Then it was on to Mount Hawley, Illinois, to meet a friend for coffee before heading on to Joliet, where I planned to drop off Brent. 70L was flying very well today and the weather was beautiful. We were making good time -- our groundspeed was around 100 knots (115 mph) for much of the trip.
Unfortunately, as we prepared to leave Mount Hawley, we discovered that we evidently had a stuck exhaust valve again. That's the same problem that we had in Missouri. We discovered the problem while performing a runup, before takeoff. Much better to discover it then than in the air!
Bruce has an excellent and trusted mechanic here at Mount Hawley. He'll take a look at the engine tomorrow to see exactly what the problem is. Once we know that, we'll decide on a course of action.
Today was yet another example of the kindness and generosity and support offered by so many pilots. As a breed, pilots are some of the finest people I've ever had the good fortune to meet. It's just not unusual for pilots to say "You've got a problem? How can I help? Do you need to stay at my home? I can take you to lunch or dinner if that will help" -- to other pilots they've never, ever met before. It's a throwback to the kind of midwestern kindness and generosity that was so common a generation or two ago. I feel very fortunate to be the recipient of so much good will. :)
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You're ever so correct about the pilot community. After from the view, I think it might just be the best thing about aviation.
ReplyDeleteGood luck sorting out the valve situation - you're doing a great job telling the story!