THE FLIGHT OF A LIFETIME





This is my very first attempt at blogging so I hope this flows smoothly and we can all enjoy it.


This week, we (my best friend, co-pilot and wife) will be flying from Northwest Arkansas to Anchorage, Alaska via American Airlines to pick up Cessna 63082...a Cessna 150.


This plane was nicknamed "Mighty Mouse" some time back as this is no ordinary, run of the mill Cessna 150.

This is a 150-150 which means the stock Continental, 100 horsepower engine was removed and then upgraded to the Lycoming O-320 with 150 horsepower.

Additionally, Mighty Mouse has the full Horton STOL kit installed and 39 gallon long range fuel tanks.

Another big plus with this conversion is the 160 gross weight increase.

Mighty Mouse is a 1976 model with about 2,500 hours total time on the airframe and a new, zero timed, Lycoming factory rebuilt engine.




Here's a picture of Mighty Mouse in Alaska.










Cindy and I will be flying with (following actually) our good friend Terry Dickinson from Big Lake, Alaska.

Terry has two planes. One is a Piper Super Cub (on floats this time of year) and the other is a Cessna 152 which is affectionately known as Mosquito or......"Skeeter" for short.

Terry has a need/desire to reposition Skeeter to his winter home in the desert of Nevada and we (Cindy and I) have a need to travel with a highly experienced bush pilot (who also just happens to be a CFI) from the Alaskan wilderness, through the Canadian Rockies and on home.

Our generic plan will have us crossing back into the lower 48 at Great Falls, Montana and at this point (probably) we'll separate where Terry will turn right to the southwest and head to Nevada and we'll turn left to the southeast and head to Arkansas.




Here's Mosquito (Skeeter) parked next to Mighty Mouse at Big Lake, AK




All three of us consider this to be the ultimate flying adventure of a lifetime and we'll do our best to document this trip for not only our enjoyment but yours as well.





Jim & Cindy

Monday, June 23, 2014

Emporia, KS to Rogers, AR - "The Final Leg" - June 22, 2014

We departed Emporia, KS with the end of our adventure within spitting distance.....so to speak.  We flew this last leg in 1.7 hours still having to watch the weather as build ups were taking place throughout the region.

There was nothing in our line of flight that would stop us, although there was a build up that looked menacing off to our south west that made us divert about 20 miles to the east just for the safety factor.  I flogged Mighty Mouse for about an hour or so simply to guarantee a safe distance.....we were to close to get beat now.

Staying to the east offered better visibility and when I knew we had it made, I throttled back to a more mundane cruise setting and savored these last few miles of what truly was a trip of a lifetime.

We left Wasilla, Alaska on June 5 and flew 30.7 hours to home base in Rogers, AR where we landed on June 22.

My what a journey it's been.

And to Mighty Mouse.........you done good, Pal.



Jim & Cindy 



The transition from farms to the Missouri Ozarks take place rather quickly in southern Missouri....trees and hills begin to take over.



The visibility to the west was shrinking and storms were out there too as we closed in on the end so a left turn to the east helped matters quite a bit and enhanced the safety factor.  

Turning to the east and much better visibility that direction was the choice at hand assuring no complications on into home base.


And home base on the nose, a welcome sight for a couple of tired pilots....tired plane as well.

Short final for runway 20

We're almost there......just a few more seconds to touchdown.




And touchdown........Mighty Mouse has arrived in Rogers, AR

Here's our hangar and Mighty Mouse is put to bed following this very long trek from Alaska.  Our 152, Sierra, is here as well and Sierra is, well, quite the lady.  I would think Disney might be interested in another "Lady and the Tramp" picture cause this sure fits that mold.  Dang good job Mr. Mouse......dang good job. 

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)