February 'Freedom' Ferry Flight

Log Entry Feb. 2005 - CH601XL - CYKF to K1H0 - Ferrying my friend, Art's Zenair 601XL from Kitchener-Waterloo (CYKF) down to the Creve Couer airport (1H0) just west of St. Louis, Mo..

The airplane accelerated briskly down the runway and like my own 601HDS, it required a definite pull to get the nose up. I'd say it's like a Mazda Miata with wings, but I've never driven a Miata. The 'Woodcomp' constant speed prop settled in at 2350 rpm, holding the Rotax 912S just below redline rpm. The climb at 80 mph buried the horizon and the rate of climb was over 1,000 feet per minute, so I eased the nose down a little and let the speed build rapidly towards 100 mph.

I noted the off time (11:30 EST)., climbed to 2,500 asl, and thanks to GPS, I was soon heading 260 degrees with my first waypoint on the nose. Passing London, Ontario I called the Aeradio operator and requested that they pass on a corrected ETA to U.S. customs. Their initial response was "we don't provide that service anymore..." Then after a short discussion of other possibilities, the operator asked, "What's your ETA, I can send over a message for you." I was grateful as I didn't want to have to call Art and tell him that his aircraft was being impounded by the U.S. authorities! As I cut across the edge of lake Erie, towards Pelee Island, I climbed to 4,500 asl and scooted down the edge of the small chain of islands that leads toward Sandusky (KSKY), my airport of entry into the States. The water below looked very cold.

Everyone at Sandusky, from the customs officials to the FBO people were friendly and helpful. By 1400 EST I was airborn again. For the next hour I had to fly at about 1,000 agl to maintain comfortable VFR below as I tracked around a few areas of virga and snow showers. Once clear of this line of weather, I settled into cruise mode and began doing some calculations. I began to wonder if I might arrive at Greensville and find the local FBO closed for the day. I didn't want to fly into the STL terminal area on fumes so I scanned the GPS, and the VFR nav charts, and decided that a visit to Marionville, Indiana was in order (KMZZ). I punched up the 'nearest/goto' button on the Garmin, and a few minutes later was gently touching down on runway 22. After a quick comfort stop, fuel top-up, weather briefing, and a chat with the local folks, I was airborne again by 1600.

I couldn't help but ponder on the amazing freedom I have to fly around the U.S. even as a guest in the country, with no need to file a flight plan or in any other way report to the authorities. This is a wonderful privilege and I hope it is never lost in the 'war on terror.' If so, then maybe the terrorists will have won? In Canada we have a slightly more stringent requirement to leave an itinerary with 'a responsible person' for flights away from home base. This is due to search and rescue requirements. It's a big country with a lot of places to get lost.

The rest of the flight to KGRE was routine (well, I may have stumbled through a restricted zone around a munitions factory that wasn't on my Garmin database. But no F-16s appeared on my wingtip and no shells exploded around me, so maybe I was far enough away ;-). At GRE the local FBO manager was literally on his way home when he heard me call on the unicom that I was inbound. He apparently made the 180 to come back and opened the office for me. What great service! Using his phone, I called the ATC shift supervisor at St. Louis TRACON for permission to fly into the mode C veil without a transponder. He had me confirm that I would be remaining clear of Class B airspace, then basically said 'Come on down!' -- what a country. I've always experienced excellent service from American ATC.

By 1815 EST I was airborne again for the 45 minute flight to Creve Couer airport which is on the west side of St. Louis. The sky was dark and overcast, but visibility was excellent. I maneuvered around and under the Class B 'inverted wedding cake' of airspace as I followed the recommended VFR route along the winding Missouri/Mississippi rivers. All around me the evening lights were coming on.

As I was turning down the west side of STL, I suddenly began to feel a vibration in the rudder pedals. I wondered if I was having rudder problems, but the aircraft showed no signs of yaw. I carefully pushed the pedals a little to one side, then the other and then as abruptly as it had begun, the vibration stopped. I had't noticed any change in pitch so I hoped it wasn't the nosewheel departing the aircraft! Meanwhile I was still scanning outside for traffic, most of which was just above me inside 'B' airspace and evidently on approach for KSTL. And I was straining to follow the visual waypoints in the growing darkness. This was getting to be too much like work!

Finally, I spotted the Creve Couer runway lights exactly where Mr. Garmin said they should be and eased the nose down for another rapid arrival. I carefully bled off the airspeed before letting down the nosewheel and the rollout was completely normal. Touchdown was at 1800 CST (1 hour time zone change). I made it with just 15 minutes of official 'day VFR' flying time left.

The new owner waved me into a parking spot, and I could see he was a little puzzled by something to do with the nose gear. I climbed out to find that the rear half of the fiberglass fairing had lost both screws on one side. The wind must have swung it out into the airstream like a billowing spinniker. When I moved the rudder pedals it somehow flipped into a more stable position jammed in behind the fork. It showed very little damage and I was able to pull it back into place, needing just the 2 missing screws to make it good again.

Total flight time on GOXL worked out to 5H50 over a GPS distance of 570 nautical miles. Average fuel burn was 5.25 US gph, using 24 to 25 inches M.P. and 5000 engine RPM / 2,000 propellor RPM at 2,500 ft asl, more or less. (I don't know what % of power this represents). I was cruising at 135 mph (indicated) and getting ground speeds varying between 110 and 130 mph, (i.e. 25 mph headwind at the north end to almost calm as I went south). That works out to over 27 airmiles per U.S. gallon - pretty efficient travelling!