Roundtrip to Fayetteville

Last night my son pronounced that he was going flying with me and Steve today. So, Steve, Spencer, and I boarded N1940T, an Arrow owned by the flight school we rent from. 40T is an older Arrow, with the "Hershey Bar" wing and small back seat than Aggie. 40T is a wonderfully flying airplane and I enjoy taking it up.

With all of the places we've flown together, Steve advised this morning that he had never landed in Fayetteville. I have. Dad and I had to divert there when we encountered a thunderstorm on a night flight a few years ago. I won't ever forget that flight - I learned a number of lessons that evening. I digress.

Since Steve hadn't landed there, he took the left seat this morning. A typical hazy summer Carolina day greeted us, but there was a rather strong west wind pushing us along. We cruised at 153 kts ground speed and made the 80 nm flight in about half an hour. Steve planted us down on the runway and we taxied in for some coffee.

We traded seats and taxied for takeoff. A quick run-up and we were on our way. A bit slower on the return because of the headwind. Still, it was a surprisingly smooth flight. We landed at Concord, tied up the bird and headed in to settle up. As we walked in, I looked over at the pathetic sight of Aggie, waiting for her repairs to finish so she could soar once again.

2.0 hours of flight time and on with our respective days.