Our Return Trip from Sloshkosh

Good to be back home! We had an interesting return trip. We didn't leave OSH on Friday until after 2:00 pm, made it into Juneau at around 3:30 pm and couldn't get the plane loaded until late. Before we knew, it was already 5:00 pm before we could takeoff. For Sue and me it would have meant a landing at White Plains at 1:30 AM. We decided to spend the night in Watertown. Thank God we made that decision. I'll explain later.

We had a nice dinner with Alex, Gabi and Rodney and went to bed early. Next day, got up at 6:00, breakfast with Alex, Gabi and Rodney, bumped into Jim Blackman, one of our pilots from Ontario who finally made it to Sloshkosh, and off we went.

After taking care of one last thing, we took off IFR and broke out at 3,500. A minute later cancelled IFR and continued VFR. First fuel stop, Wood County Airport (1G0) in Bowling Green, OH. The line boy was by himself, obviously inexperienced, and overwhelmed by the OSH crowd. He topped off my tanks instead of pumping only 13 gallons in each side as I had asked. He didn't know what to do and almost had a meltdown. I had to teach him (which I love to do) how to cut a piece off a rubber garden hose and sucked the excess gas into 5 gallon gas containers. Sue and I got in the crew car and went to eat Mexican fast food (Chipotle, not bad at all) while the boy cleared with his manager my refund. We came back and took off into a high overcast and stayed at 3,500.

Then came the excitement. While flying inside the Cleveland Bravo at 3,500 the "VOLTS" light in the annunciator panel began to flicker and the ALT FLD breaker popped out. I ran the electrical failure checklist twice with no luck. Called Cleveland Approach, told them we were switching to handheld and asked them to keep us on flight following using our primary radar target. They were cool with that and I shut everything down. Flew to Youngstown, Ohio, an ANG base, landed on runway 14 (the longest) with six emergency vehicles awaiting us. I didn't ask for them. In fact, when the controller asked me if I needed assistance, I just said: Yes, I need a mechanic, I have no electrical power and I need the longest runway in case I can't deploy flaps. ATC and ground crew were dolls. Good kids handling the FBO but no mechanic on the field until Monday. The only one who was willing to come and check the airplane wanted $470, just to come to the airport ($120 per hour, 3.5 hour minimum plus $50 for the house call), and he didn't have an alternator or regulator in stock. I called Jim Andres and Rodney, who called Ben Dubois, one of our pilots and A&P in the area. After pondering their advice, I decided to spend the night in Youngstown.

This morning we got up at 5:00 AM and headed for the airport, charged the battery, took off at 8:00 AM and flew 3.3 hours to Westchester County Airport (HPN). Everything went well, used the handheld for all communications and used the airplane battery to run the transponder for 5 minutes while in the YNG Delta airspace. Flew the rest of the flight NORDO and did quite a bit of scud running but always VMC. Upon reaching the edge of the New York Bravo Airspace, fired up the battery, turn on one com and the transponder, called NY Approach and 5 minutes later was on final to Rwy 11 at HPN. Two hours earlier I texted Dmitry and he met us at the airport. I unloaded the plane and dropped Sue off. My son Marcos was also awaiting us at the airport and he took Sue and the load of crap home while Dmitry and I flew in formation to FOK in Long Island to drop my plane at my mechanic's place. He took me back to HPN and then flew to Danbury. I'll find out tomorrow what's wrong with my plane, but I've already talked to Craig Chipley and got his advice on what alternator brand to buy, if I need one.

When I got home, Sue's mom had a great meal of rice and beans, platanos and carnita ready for us. I just finished it, and it was only after that great meal that I got enough energy to write this post. Now I'm ready for a shower and bed.

I had a blast this past 10 days. Saw good friends again and met really nice people. Rodney, Craig and I are already conspiring for next year's event. We have agreed on a few things already. But you all will have to wait a few months to find out.