Friday August 25, 2006

Wheels up a liitle before 7, with Michael Byrd as the wingman. It's soon apparent why these are named the Smoky Mountains. An eerie landscape passes below.

As usual the weather forecast was wrong. Instead of a relatively gentle 5 mph headwind, we immediately encountered a 10 to 15 mph headwind. We decided to fly on, and the velocity of the headwind varied widely. It took 2 hours 47 minutes to reach Pickins airport, at Jasper, GA. Michael landed with not much fuel left in his tank.

I'd hoped to fly on to Toccoa (TOC) in the afternoon, but again the forecast was wrong. Instead of widely scattered clouds, a heavy, low overcast moved in before noon, and didn't break up until after 5. Too late to attempt the flight. Tomorrow morning's forecast is identical to today's, so perhaps it will be possible to make the flight in the morning.

Rick Burnes, a PPC pilot who lives about 20 miles from Jasper, picked up Rusty and I and took us back to his house for a fabulous BBQ. We had the pleasure of the company of his wife Kathy, and their children.