Cross country adventure from 1C5 to T25

[Sonex1517]

Route of Flight 1C5 to KEOK to KVIH to KARG to 4M3 to M18 to T25

7.4 flight hours
Apx 772 nm

12.5 gallons
8.5 gallons
Apx 7 gallons (no receipt)
5.7 gallons
8 gallons
About 41.7 gallons total

Highest gas price Hope Arkansas M18 was $6.75 a gallon
Cheapest was in Keokuk, Iowa at $5.41 a gallon

As most of you know, my wife and I bought a lot at T25, Aero Estates in NE Texas. The original plan was to move here in about a year after our new hangar home is built - but a rental house with a hangar became available quite unexpectedly, so we changed plans and rented it - also sold our home in Chicagoland.

We drove two cars with our dogs and important stuff down on Friday September 1st, and it took us 17 hours to make the drive. We are so excited to be here, and so far it is everything we expected and more! Next up - go back and get the Sonex!

On Tuesday September 5th, I flew on American Airlines points out of Tyler via DFW and a friend picked me up at ORD and took me to our old home base Clow (1C5), where I had arranged to use the courtesy car and stay overnight in our old house.

The original plan was to leave Wednesday the 6th, but a strong front passed through the night before with storms and resulting low clouds which lingered into Thursday morning. As I would soon discover, this front would dominate my trip and being patient was a requirement to get home. Flexible planning was also important. I took advantage of the time to go over the Sonex and plot various routes other than the original plan.

I left Clow on Thursday September 7th about 12:30 pm after waiting a day and a half for good weather. The departure was under low clouds, but as I flew west/southwest the ceiling went up. My original route took me to Vandalia, IL and then southwest past St Louis, but the weather had other ideas. I did not want my route of flight taking me over the Ozarks in western Arkansas, so whatever path I chose needed to stay on the east side of Little Rock.

Instead of going south, I flew to Keokuk, Iowa to take advantage of the weather west of the Chicagoland area where it was much nicer. It took 1.7 hours to get to KEOK, and I was dodging a few rain shafts along the way. While the gas was cheap, the FBO guy was useless - more interested in watching videos on his phone. Oh well.

Next up was Rolla, MO to gas and go, making sure I had enough to get past the Mark Twain National Forest. Flying over that forest was the only area where I looked down and thought I would be in trouble if the engine died. At one point I was at 5500’ with a ground speed over 160 MPH. Another uneventful 1.3 hours and the FBO in Rolla (KVIH) was awesome. I did another gas and go, and decided to stop at Walnut Ridge, Arkansas (KARG) for the night. KARG was on my original route. I had done my homework - and it paid off. I was able to tuck the Sonex in an old hangar and get a courtesy car for the night. KARG is an old WWII base that was interesting to see.

The hotel was just up US Route 67 in Pocohontas, and ironically my wife and I had passed through both towns the week before on our drive down. Dinner was delicious at a local restaurant recommended by the hotel staff. I awoke the next morning to a text from my friend Tony, who flies the big aluminum tubes, telling me there was a line of storms headed my way. And indeed, there was - it was more of a huge blob, followed by a line that redeveloped all day all the way back towards Tulsa, OK. So I sat in the FBO and waited it out.

Eventually I figured I should get the Sonex out of the hangar and preflight it - turned out not to as easy as that. The hangar doors were very old and one had jammed - so basically half the hangar was open and half was shut. The airport staff was able to get the door open far enough that, with some creative thinking, I got the Sonex out by pivoting it.

Eventually the line of cells began to slide south, so I decided to get lunch using the courtesy car again, then head further south to be ready to push to T25 when the weather permitted. After lunch, I flew 0.9 hours to 4M3, Carlisle, Arkansas and again had to wait in the FBO. It became very apparent that the rest of the day, those cells would block my route to T25, so I again used the courtesy car and found a hotel. To my delight, I also found a local restaurant named “The Grumpy Rabbit” with delicious meatloaf at a really fair price.

This morning, I plotted my route to T25 with a stop planned for gas at Mount Pleasant Regional Airport (KOSA) in Texas. That would have left me with a 30 minute flight to T25. Once again, my plans were foiled by weather - en route, KOSA had gone IFR and did not look good for my time of arrival. So, I decided to stop at Hope Municipal Airport (M18) even thought I knew the fuel prices were higher than I liked. I did not want to get low on fuel and run into weather. Hope Municipal was deserted and definitely off the beaten path - looked like another old WWII base that survived and changed over the years. I landed on runway 04, and at first I thought I had landed on a closed runway since whatever marking there were had basically vanished.

After fueling up, I checked the weather and found that VFR conditions were prevalent ahead of me - awesome! I was 1.1 hours from home!! I departed M18 and headed southwest again, transitioning the Texarkana Class D en route - the first time I had spoken to ATC the entire trip. (I actually was above their airspace, but decided to call them anyhow in case anything happened as I passed over)

Visibility dropped a bit as I passed Texarkana, but was still well above VFR minimums - the miles ticked by as I started thinking through finding the airpark for the first time. A friend here had coached me through the process and what to expect on the runway (thanks Mark!) - the runway here is sod over old asphalt and is a bit different. Slope at one end, trees at the other and right traffic for Runway 9. No problem.

As I neared the airpark, I had a bit of trouble finding it - but by staying right on course, it was right on the nose as I approached. I overflew from the north to a right-hand downwind for runway 9 (the one where we land slightly downhill) and set up to land. It was great finish to a challenging trip, but seeing my wife and neighbors out waving to me was awesome.

I built my Sonex from 2011 to 2015 and this was the first real adventure I had been on - she performed flawlessly. It was fingertip flying the entire trip, even when it got a little bumpy. With a 16 gallon tank, a Jabiru 3300 with a Bing carburetor that burns about 6 gallons per hour I planned 90 minute legs (or less) and just factored it into part of the adventure. (Yes, I could tune the Bing to burn less fuel - but it runs perfectly and I am not changing a thing!) My fun, sporty Sonex just took me from Chicagoland to east of Dallas - and I am really happy with the airplane, the decision making, and the adventure I just had!

A huge shout out to my friends Michael Farley and Tony for backing me up on weather, planning, and just being there when I wanted to chat. For all of you out there still building, keep at it - the Sonex line of aircraft are a blast to fly and with planning you can fly them anywhere you want to!

[Bryan Cotton]

Awesome trip report Robbie!

[n502pd]

What a great write up, and a great trip! Welcome to Texas! I am sure you will enjoy yourself! I have yet to go on an extended x-country, but am looking forward to at least one, sometime! Come see us at KGYI/Perrin Field in N. Texas!