We didn’t make it very far today. We thought we had a fuel leak and now we are pretty sure that it was a false alarm. By the time we came to that conclusion the wind had picked up to a point where you don’t want to fly a Cub. It was about 25 MPH. It’s not really that bad flying in 25 mph winds but the airport we were aiming for had a runway that would have required a direct cross wind landing. I’ve done a lot of cross wind landings, but a 25 mph cross in a Cub has a high pucker factor for any pilot.
Before we started having problems we had a really great leg across Tucson and the surrounding mountains. We crossed some ridges at about 5000 feet and in the morning when the wind is calm and the early morning sun is lighting up the mountains it’s really beautiful. It’s a view that makes the trip worth while.
Click on the map below for todays hops. You’ll notice that it ends at our first stop, that’s because when we started having the fuel issue I stopped taking pictures and started working on alternate airports. Safety first 
Tonight we are staying in a hanger courtesy of Richard Ankrom from Alpha Tech Coatings at Phoenix Regional Airport. He was nice enough to move some projects he had in the hanger around and make room for the Cub. So a big thanks for helping us get the Cub out of the wind and weather for the night.
We’re just over half way home now and tomorrow we have a couple of tricky legs. Our first one is only 50 miles and it will let us know for sure whether or not we have a fuel leak. Our second leg is more than 100 miles and there is nothing in between. If we do have a fuel leak we will be landing on the road. We actually picked up a 5 gallon gas can just in case but I really hope we don’t have to use it.
That’s it for today. We’re hoping to have a good tail wind tomorrow. Cheers from Paul and crew.
Entries (RSS)
October 16th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Love you - get home safely! Glad you are having such a great time. Proud of you!
Okay - I will stop the cheese …can people read this?
heehee….love, J
October 17th, 2007 at 7:30 am
Man, this starts to sound like a real adventure! Fly safe and keep us posted. Beware them wolves in the desert. Or something.
October 17th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Hey Paul,
Just want to say that over here at ShoZu we are all very impressed with your adventure! What a cool use for ShoZu and your N95!
Jenny- if you are running the latest version of ShoZu on your phone (version 3.3 released this week) you can get all of Paul’s Flickr pictures straight down to your phone as he takes them
Best wishes from the team at ShoZu!
Mark
October 17th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
You look like you are enjoying yourself even with the obstacles. You have that kid in a candy store look in your eye. It’s great to be able to see your trip as you are taking it. Hope alls well and yes jen, we can see your comments. Terri
October 18th, 2007 at 5:49 am
Working my way backwards thru the blog. So, trust me: Watch out for Day 5. Pucker factor grows exponentially. Reaches Black Hole proportions!
Katherine
November 19th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Hey guys,
Sounds like you had alot of fun. We enjoyed hosting your cub for the night, and thanks for the link!!!!!!! KEEP ON FLY’N