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I tried. Really.
Undid hydro lock, then left (or is that right?) Texas (near Guthrie/Seymour) Saturday AM but got
ambushed (GPS 120 and less) most of the way to ABQ, worse west of there at Grants (90 GPS), no way I could land the TW
for fuel in the x-wind (full rudder, tried twice), back to ABQ (180 GPS) throttle way back bingo for a runway into the wind,
please expedite. Deteriorating to the west, spent the night. Sunday all was well but overheard lots of air file
IFR in NM and eastern AZ, had to detour south to Phoenix to stay in the blue. Saw one unpainted CJ launch and a
CJ 3-ship land while I ate lunch at DTV, lots of PanAm (Rove-speak oxymoron?) Cherokees in the pattern both runways,
various accents. AIRMET/SIGMET weather mostly failed to materialize :>) in the SoCal area, arrived PTV about 6PM.
Finally got to see the pretty flush riveted -50 (sitting near the gas pump when I refueled). Square tips? Too
bad it doesn't have the slick little teardrop canopy and fixed gear any more. Otherwise nothing breathing.
Oh, well. Continued to MYV, landed in the dark (good lighting on the TW). Spent the night, uneventful back home
to KAWO yesterday. Good to be in the green and blue with mountains again.
BTW most expensive fuel $5.36 at ABQ, $3.95 PTV, cheapest $3.79 at Cottage Grove, OR, though I'm
told Scapoose is cheaper. Nice having 74 gallons on board the TW, easy 3+30 legs @ 60% and 150 with healthy reserve
except for my butt on a chute. 32 or even 40 gallons would have been troublesome in BF nowhere most of the route Texas
to SoCal, especially dodging weather. Did I mention TW she be for sale? 193TTSN etc. Nice. 400hp feels
good. Pussycat. $135K.
Also BTW, as reported by AOPA et al, the Lockheed/FSS takeover has all the earmarks of "tax-cut-privatization"
(more Rove-speak), i.e., it don't work but costs more. Ergo "user fees" bailout, layoffs, closed facilities,
gross deficits, big bonus for CEO. See also national parks, Medicare v. private insurance, donut hole prescription plan,
Iraq etc. To-wit: Briefed over the phone before leaving Texas, filed, launched. Reached ABQ, please
close my flight plan. What flight plan, there must be some mistake? Hmmm. Lunch at DTV, brief via Seattle
FSS (800-WXBRIEF) with various system snafus, filed VFR, launched, no, testy Prescott Lockheed/FSS man sez, we don't have
no stinkin' flight plan on file, so you wanna air-re-file you idjoe? No, I didn't take a 3-hour lunch after filing.
And it ain't the environmentalists' fault or a socialist plot. Better fatten-up your wallet, Craig, it's happening here,
nose, ears, front feet and hump in the tent already.
Next year?
PS
The Yak-52TW is one terrific airplane. Power, good speed (150 cruise at 60% and 10.5K) , 3+30
legs with a healthy reserve, room for bags, sweet Yak handling and fully aerobatic. All at a price way below a new 172
to say nothing of a T-34, T-6 or any other American warbird. One of life's great bargains. Every hangar should
have one (or two). | 
Wild Blue Aviation