Missouri to Washington, Trip Report - N3934V Part 1/5

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counsellj
Posts: 420
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:58 pm

Missouri to Washington, Trip Report - N3934V Part 1/5

Post by counsellj »

So what do two Alaska Airline guys do on their day off? They get up at 0300, and head to Seattle Tacoma International Airport where they normally work, to fly standby to Kansas City, Mo of course. This story starts earlier than 0300 though, almost a year and a half early actually.

Jared Haddock is a 36-year-old father of a young toddler with another baby boy due soon. Jared had been working on a VariEze when he came to the realization that being a young father, husband and airline pilot left little time or energy to airplane building. It was when he sold his project that he started to hear about the great family airplanes that 170’s are. Jared reached out to Tom Downey and myself to learn more about the type. With over a year’s worth of looking for the right airplane, Jared received a call from Tom. Tom told him that his old 48’ ragwing was about to be put on the market. Tom had restored this airplane and soon after faced some health issues and also received too good an offer for the airplane to pass up. He sold his bird three years ago to a United Airlines Captain in Harrisonville, MO. Unfortunately the Captain was now living and flying in Guam and the airplane wasn’t getting getting cared for or flown. N3934V had only accumulated 70 hours since the restoration was completed. This classic airframe had approximately 2200 total hours, a known recent history and a newly overhauled engine The restorer lived forty miles up the road and was anxious to see his beloved airplane go to a good family that would fly it often and care for her the way it should be, Jared knew he had found his airplane. Now he just had to buy it, learn to fly it and get it home, maybe not all in that order.

That is where I really got involved. Jared had been bouncing ideas off of me for a few months and had me review some prospect airplanes. When it looked like this deal was going to happen, we came up with a plan to bring the airplane back and teach him how to safely fly his 170. Unfortunately that plan had us up at 0300 headed to SEATAC.

We landed in Kansas City where the owner’s son picked us up for the eighty-mile drive to Lee’s Summit Airport. Inside an old, run down hanger sat 34V, embarrassingly covered in dust, and bearing several splotches of bird poop, despite an annual inspection having been completed only 30 days prior. While it was sad to see such a beautiful bird in this condition, it was great to know that we were there to set her free and take her back to a loving home.
That is where the $$$$$$ goes Jared
That is where the $$$$$$ goes Jared
We spent an hour and a half closely pre-flighting, loading and fueling the bird. She instantly fired up with a strong battery and settled into a super smooth idle. We found a hose over by the fuel pumps and rinsed off the layer of dust from her wings, tail and fuselage. At 1600 we lined up on runway 17, the southwesterly winds and 3500’ ceilings were calling to 34V. Airborne we headed 30 miles east to skirt Kansas City’s Class B ring before picking up a 310 heading towards central Nebraska.

Kansas River, SW of Kansas City
Kansas River, SW of Kansas City
We had a system of thunderstorms in Nebraska we were going to have to contend with so we planned a two hour leg to confirm fuel burns and give us a chance to update the weather if need be. We had access to onboard wax through Jared’s Stratux ADSB-IN receiver As we neared the KS/ NE border the dark skies ahead indicated out initial route around the east of the weather wasn’t going to work.
Nebraska Storms
Nebraska Storms
We turned back to the west and spent a few minutes studying the weather and potential fuel stops. We elected to run back southwest to Clay Center, KS. Evidence of the previous days’ storms were easily scene across the state. Most of the fields still had large amounts of standing water in them. As we approached Clay Center we found a farm shed and several grain silos that had been destroyed by a tornado, within the last few days. The tree rows and wooded areas marked the twister’s path with broken branches and entire trees uprooted.
Tornado Damage
Tornado Damage
A nice 12kt direct crosswind challenged me on my first landing on normal gear legs and small tires. I also realized how much not having heel plates below the rudder pedals impede rudder inputs, as I found my shoes catching on the plush carpeting.

The crosswind takeoff was slightly smoother with my awareness of the carpet issue. We turned to the west for the two-hour flight towards my favorite Kansas overnight, Atwood, (ADT). I have a great Air Force friend that grew up in this small NW Kansas farm town. This would be my third overnight stay in Atwood. The airport has several courtesy cars that are always available. The city even has a hangar that is free to use along with good 100LL prices. A quick call to my friend’s parents confirmed that their “Townhouse” was available. The townhouse is nothing more than an old house they own in town, as compared to most of their property, which is out in the countryside. The beds are comfortable and the doors are always unlocked. We took advantage of the grass, cross-runway to give Jared some more landing and takeoff practice. With the plane fueled up and tied down for the night, we enjoyed a cold beverage with three generations of the family at one of the local watering holes.
Atwood Airport - ADT
Atwood Airport - ADT
Last edited by counsellj on Tue Jul 10, 2018 5:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
counsellj
Posts: 420
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:58 pm

Re: Missouri to Washington, Trip Report - N3934V Part 1/4

Post by counsellj »

Hopefullly an Administrator can rotate the tornado picture. I kept trying to do it while inserting it, but it always posted the same way.
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