Wednesday July 12, 2006

On the 10th I did some interviews, and was planning on leaving the morning of the 11th. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans, and thunderstorms kept Voyager on the ground. Used the day to do maintenance (change oil, clean air filters, other fun stuff).

It rained most of the night, and a morning takeoff was canceled. Considering how far behind "schedule" we are, the decision was made to skip Branson and head straight to St. Louis (SUS) via Rolla (K07). The Springfield News Leader called to set up an interview for 5pm, with the hope that their photographer could get some photos of a takeoff at 6pm.

Linus Campbell joined me on the flight to Rolla. We left the ground at 6pm, flew 60 miles, then Linus landed to refuel while I circled overhead, and then we completed the flight to Rolla (92 miles total). It was a beautiful flight. Large puffy clouds, smooth air, and a reasonable tailwind.