Russ and Eric's Excellent Adventure

6:15 AM Sunday morning, I woke to hear distant thunder, or maybe pickup getting ready to leave the motel. A flicker of light made it clear it was thunder and not very distant. A quick check of the weather radar on my iPad showed a strong storm approaching; the National Weather Service forecast heavy rain and possibly dime size hail. Hail is not a pleasant forecast when your airplane is tied down outside.

The blue dot with the blue circle is our location - Minden, LA - and shows the weather later in the day, but not much different from the morning.

I woke Russ so we  could drive to the airport, where we might be able to move the Phoenix into one of the open hangars out there. It was still dark and raining when we went by the airport entry sign, and we didn't see it. Two miles later, I attempted to turn around at an intersection, but drove a couple feet off the pavement, putting the right front wheel in the ditch. Damn!

The truck was so tilted, the left rear wheel didin't have any traction. Standing on that corner didn't add enough weight; in fact, the wheel could almost be turned by hand. My phone didn't have a signal, even though it had a full signal at the airport, just two miles away. The nearby home had some vehicles in the driveway, but no lights, so I was reluctant to go knocking in the dim light and rain. 

Finally, lady on the way to church stopped to ask how we were. She tried to call on her cell phone ("I live close by and I have good service"), but it didn't have signal either. Finally, we decided Russ would stay with the truck, the lady would take me to the airport, and I'd contact an airport person. Once there, I talked to the airport manager. He was great, asking first if anyone was hurt, then if the truck was damaged, then said he'd have a tow truck come to the airport to get me. That was about 7:40 AM.

I stood in a hangar out of the wind and rain while waiting for the tow truck, peeking around the side to watch for it. Soon, a white Ford pickup appeared with it's yellow light (on top of the cab) blinking - it was Russ! A large pickup with a big rope and kind stranger had pulled him out of the ditch. Shortly after that, the tow truck operator drove up in a big SUV. Russ told him the situation, and he left; fortunately, he lives next to the airport and wasn't much inconvenieced.

By now, the airport lady that loaned us the truck showed up. She let us push the Phoenix into the nearest hangar with five other planes, but it was big enough we did not have to take off the wing tips. She also let us keep the truck, even after putting it in the ditch.

It's quite a comfort to have it in the hangar, knowing there are thunderstorms around with hail.

Russ huddles in his jacket, the plane and canopy cover are very wet, but we're glad the Excellent Adventure for the day has worked out well.