Yesterday I cranked up the Q and headed east out of the mountains of NC
to the coast of VA. Made two previous attempts but morning fog
postponed them. Yesterday the fog burned off at 10:00 so I headed to
Newport News to have lunch with an old Air Force pilot training
classmate. It was worth the wait. The wx was spectacular. Not a bump
one in the air, no clouds in the sky and visibility was 30 miles (really
something for around here). I climbed to 7500' where the wind was light
and variable. Had a 2-4 mph tailwind component all the way. (oddly
enough had the same component coming back at 8500'.

I set the A/P, stretched out and watched the world fly by. According to
Dr. Dynon, I was truing 170mph. That must be pretty close because I
traveled the 356 miles in 2 hrs 6 minutes. I didn't think that was too
bad for an obese tri-gear weighted down with baggage and tools (I always
bring tools because I usually have a need for them along the way (no
comments Terry) - not this time!!!!!). Had a wonderful lunch, and
swapped war stories for 4 hrs and came back home in the same smooth
air. A widely scattered layer developed at 5,000' just to give me
something beautiful to look at on the way home.

Its times like these that make the 14-year building process and all of
the following "tweeks" REALLY worth it. As all the others say, "Keep
building. You will be glad you did."

Jerry Marstall
608 hrs