EAA Sport Aviation

The week leading up to our trip I nervously watched a storm system make its way toward Wisconsin. Six to 9 inches of snow and hard IFR conditions were forecast for the day of our trip.

I put too much work into this trip to let bad weather keep us grounded. I purchased tickets, reserved a hotel, arranged childcare for our two kids, and rented a Cherokee for the entire weekend, which had to be arranged months ahead of time.

For the first time as a pilot, I was feeling pressure to make the flight. Marginal VFR was looking acceptable to me. I wanted to make the trip so badly my thoughts were beginning to scare me. A war waged within.

I’ve heard of the dangers of “get-there-
itis,” and now I was experiencing firsthand
just how powerful it can be. It’s scary
when your desires turn against you.

To protect myself, I stopped and decided
to establish guidelines to make the go/no-go
decision the morning of our flight. The more
decisions I could front-load, the easier it
would be in the critical hour. I set firm per-
sonal weather minimums that would
determine whether we’d fly or not.

We launched and had an amazing flight, at
least for the first three hours. It was just as I had
dreamed all these years. We laughed, shared
stories, and took some sightseeing detours.

Without a GPS, my plan was to fly west until we found the Mississippi River, then follow it north to St. Paul. Along the way I taught Katherine how to read and navigate with a sectional chart. By the time we reached St. Paul, she could find landmarks and approximate time better than I could.

A problem was brewing en route, though—the winds were picking up. They were now blowing more than 30 knots in St. Paul. All the airports we flew over were reporting similar conditions. I also had to go to the bathroom terribly bad, and my feet were getting cold and numb from a draft in the plane. I say this not to whine, but because these were legitimate factors stealing my attention and weakening my ability to cope with what was ahead.

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VAN'S RV- 12 QUICKBUILD TOOL KIT

Our newest kit contains all the tools you need to build Van’s exciting new RV- 12 Quickbuild Kit.

The new RV- 12 has become an instant favorite of Light Sport Aviation (LSA) kitplanes because it’s remarkably easy to assemble.

It requires virtually no sheet metal skills, and needs little more than a few hand tools. Every tool you see here, you will use at some point in your construction.