The Phoenix begins the trip home

We had a huge change in plans: I decided the original plan for Jan and I to fly the plane home was much to ambitious because I didn't have the training or experience for that kind of flight. It took a couple of weeks, flying with the dealer as weather permitted, for that to become clear.

How to get the Phoenix to it's new home in Richlan? Neither Jim nor John (his assistant) had the 4 or 5 days needed to make the trip until late April - early mail. Jim suggested another owner could make the trip with me, and immediately I thought of Russ Owens, a glider pilot I've know for years. Miraculously, he was free and eager to help.

One day later, he arrived in Melbourne at 1 pm, we packed our baggage into the Phoenix, and left about 4 pm, headed northwest. It was sunny skies, light winds, and the flight went well, except Russ's headset developed severe scratchiness that made contacting air traffic control a bit irritating.

 

We landed at a small airport near Quincy, FL, about 15 miles WSW of Tallahasse, FL.

 After some converstation with Doug, of the two or three pilots still hanging around, offered us a hangar for the Phoenix and a ride to town to a motel. Doug has quite a man cave!

It's now 11:09, Russ and I are both tired (Russ left San Diego at 10:45 pm last night), so it's bed time.