Straydog wrote:
In the end, I decided on 05A, an A&P owned 1957 PA-22/20-150 with 35 SMOH, good fabric, decent paint, and IFR equipped.
SD

Congrats! Nice looking plane, I'm sure it will serve you well. Savor the trip home, it'll be a blast!
But I'm a bit confused, is it just me, but I don't see a VOR/glide slope head in the panel to shoot an ILS approach with, is there something I'm missing?

you;ll have fun with the little pacer... I owned 3 tripacers before I bought my maule...I see yours has williams tow brakes... best upgrade I ever did on my tri rock...by the time I was done with my last one it had a bunch of upgrades... 53 inch pitched prop, and vortex generators..to name two.. both excellent additions ....the prop twisted down to 53 made it a climbing animal....

Hafast- thats a fair question, one that I asked also. The gizmo to the left of the VSI is a Terra Tri-nav C, it's a gas discharge display that serves as that VOR G/S head and also will display inputs from Loran or GPS. Its a bit dated and I've never used one before but I've read the manual and I think it'll do. Anybody ever use one of these? Do they suck or are they ok?

SD

Nice looking plane. I was wondering why that disappeared from the classifieds... You guys need to stop bringing the nice Pacers west.
Good luck with your trip.

Looks like you've got some reading to do............

http://www.csobeech.com/files/TerraTri-Nav.pdf

After about a three year research process which took me from 108s to Pacers to 170s back to pacers to M-4s

Congratulations - the above makes a nice thread title, or magazine article, enjoy the trans continental flight.

Straydog, sorry for the delayed response. Pm me your contact info and we can arrange a meet up.

The pacer looks sweet!! I'm excited for you. It's a great feeling bringing your own bird home to roost. (I still can't believe I have one of my own)

Now, are you taking it to LA (Los Angeles) or LA- Louisiana?

Crzyivan13 - PM sent

Home field is in Oxnard which is just north of "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Rio de Porciúncula" (Los Angeles) but "NY to Oxnard" just didn't have the same ring to it

SD

Well I've collected all the pieces so as promised here are a couple pics of all the crap I'm taking with me. No sure if it's overboard, underboard or otherwise. Since I'm flying out commercial, a few easy items will be sourced at the local Walmart once I get there i.e. pool noodles for gust lock construction, Everclear for alcohol stove (can you get high test Everclear in NY?) and of course food.

Since these pics I've added me trusty hammock (wont be strung from tiedown point yet) and some paperwork checklists etc. oh and Imodium and Afrin. it all weighs in at just over 56lb. I feel like I've packed too much crap. Lemme know what ya think. Did I miss anything?

SD

SD
If you can plan a departure out of Polo to eat after a short leg, try Beaumont, Kansas. (07S) Land on a grass strip on the east side of town, taxi to the south end, take a right on the road/street to go a short way into town, tiedowns/parking across the street from the Beaumont Hotel for breakfast or lunch. (I've heard that you have to stop at the stop sign, but I've never seen any police there....) Its a real novelty and photo op, especially if parked next to a semi with a railroad water tank in the background, along with decent food. No fuel and it can be soft after a rain, so its best to call the Hotel beforehand to make sure. http://beaumonthotelks.com If the WX is good on the weekends, its a popular motorcycle stop, so there could be a wait for a table.

Resky,
Thanks for the recommendation, that looks pretty cool. How often do you get to taxi on a road in town in the lower 48?

Will report back with pics if we make the stop.

SD

actually 53 lbs isn't anything... on my idaho trips every summer I had 150 lbs in the back stuffed to the ceiling. It was just me and I had the back seat out and all camping gear stacked on the aux gas tank which was full also...That's where the flat prop comes in handy....Even with all that gear and with half tanks I always got off Johnson creek before the first outhouse....It's a great little airplane but I went for my M4 finally.....

Looking forward to reading the Trip Report, and seeing lots of photos... especially if you go to Beaumont!

Good Luck, and Fair Skies!

Mate shes lovley! Well done! I can see many great adventures ahead in that gorgeous bird!

Thanks V.P. I'm tying up any loose ends (not with chains), checking my list twice. I've figured out my Spot Gen 3 and customized the messages. One custom message, the helping hand one (not the SOS) is programmed to text and email my wife "alert BCP" at which point she has a canned post and instructions on posting it in the event of non life-threatening troubles outside of cel range. This network of people here, as many have said in the past, are who I want looking for me if I have trouble.

Pretty nervous, as this is by far the longest cross country I've ever done and the most recent shorter ones have been a while. Consequently I'm studied up geared up and working on getting rested up.

Wish me luck
SD

Straydog wrote:Pretty nervous, as this is by far the longest cross country I've ever done and the most recent shorter ones have been a while.

Just keep thinking of it as one short hop after another. Not only will this make the trip less overwhelming, but it will allow you to enjoy each individual leg more. Give yourself plenty of time, don't push weather, and take confidence in the fact that you've got plenty of wingmen out here ready to give you a hand if anything comes up. If these adventures in our lives were easy or predictable, then they wouldn't be adventures!

Have a great trip, and thanks for allowing all of us to enjoy it along with you.

RanchPilot wrote:Just keep thinking of it as one short hop after another. Not only will this make the trip less overwhelming, but it will allow you to enjoy each individual leg more. Give yourself plenty of time, don't push weather, and take confidence in the fact that you've got plenty of wingmen out here ready to give you a hand if anything comes up. If these adventures in our lives were easy or predictable, then they wouldn't be adventures!

^^^^^^^^^^^
This, exactly.

I might have missed it Straydog, but I'd suggest bringing a spare tailwheel tire and tube, plus some basic tools, a spare spark plug or two, etc.

Have a blast!

Happy birthday, Zack! Get ahold of me when you get close to Noble County.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the encouragement fellas, I'm sure it'll be great.

Evan, thanks for the B-day, the electrons finally carried my message to Swingle and back so I'll likely go in to OH82 in order to simplify a bit but will surely give you the heads up as I get close.

Now it's off to gather my gear and catch the train to Burbank to get this party started.

SD

Sounds good. Have fun!