Monday June 19 through Wednesday June 21, 2006

Great stay at Meadow Lake

Early up, as usual, and a smooth flight to Meadow Lake. As soon as I landed Chuck Baker interviewed me on the radio while I stood on the taxiway. A few minutes later Richard Martin, one of the airport directors, walked over and greeted Michael and myself. The EAA chapter (number 72) at Meadow Lake is very active, and they made us feel quite welcome.

After positioning the RV and trailer next to the EAA hangar, I was fortunate to locate one of the EAA members who is an avionics whiz. His name is John Lingwall, and his knowledge of electrical "stuff" and avionics is truly awesome. He and I spent most of the rest of the day trying to find exactly what it is that's making my radio perform so poorly. The result was, in reality, not very satisfying, as we couldn't single out any single "smoking gun" source of the troubles. In the end John installed a "trap" and a modulator inside the comm box, which seemed to improve the radio's performance on the ground, but didn't seem to do much when I was back in the air. So... I'm still looking for a solution.

I borrowed a car and we ate a lunch with Chuck Baker at his wife's restaurant, the East Side Diner. Excellent meal. Rusty proved without a doubt he has a hollow leg.

The weather at Meadow Lake has been extraordinarily variable and interesting. Thunder storms quickly blowing through, yet rarely does rain actually reach the ground. The scenes of virga are spectacular. Winds aloft sculpt clouds into unusual spirals and shapes.

Although we've been given great radio exposure here, the TV media crapped out on us again, due to the numerous wild fires that have sprung up in the past few days from lightning strikes. The drought has persisted for 6 years in this part of the country, so the whole area is a tinder box. If the fires were small or controlled they wouldn't be news. But several are spreading quickly, threatening housing developments, etc..., providing the kind of visuals the TV stations can't resist. So we've been pushed to the back again. Bummer. But... several TV stations and newspapers in cities we'll be visiting in the next few weeks have called to set up interviews.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we'll fly to Flagler (CO00), and then on to Kit Carson (ITR). Early to bed tonight.