This is the story
of how we lived our dream and brought our Eagle home!
Part 1: The
Dream
Part 2: First Flight
Part 3: Plan "B"
Part 4: First Solo
Part 5: Eagle Update
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Part 3: Plan "B"
Okay,
time to try plan B, or is it C or even Z by now? We had a really cool plane but it
was still in Kansas. What could we do to get it home? Flying with Jim again wasn’t
going to work. By the time the weather improved it would be time for him to be in
the fields planting. We decided to call Rich Stowell, an instructor from California
we had flown with before in our Decathlon. Could he fly with us so we could get our
plane back home? Yes, he could. We agreed on Easter weekend and kept our fingers
crossed for good weather.
 The day before Easter we headed down to Kansas
in an Archer with our friend, Jeff Dinsmore, and Rich Stowell. The weather was excellent
all the way to Kansas except for some strong headwinds (which made us late) and a
little bit of choppiness in Kansas. We arrived at New Century Airport in Olathe,
Kansas at two in the afternoon. Within the hour, we had fueled the Archer and the
Eagle and were on our way back to Minnesota.
Owen and Rich flew the first leg in the Eagle from New Century to Ames, Iowa (hey,
we’re not in Kansas anymore). The Archer led the way with Jeff and I navigating and
the Eagle in loose formation. In Ames we switched pilots and Rich and I flew the
Eagle. Jeff and Owen led the way home taking pictures and navigating.
 Soon, we were over Albert Lea and following
I-35 North to the Twin Cities. I was surprised that the plane wasn’t as hard to fly
as I had expected. It was very responsive to control inputs but not so responsive
that the pilot can’t move. I was originally afraid that I would move wrong and put
the plane into a roll or something. You see, I have a hard time sitting still and
thought that I would simply move too much to be able to fly the plane correctly.
Thankfully, I was wrong. We landed, with help from Rich of course, at Flying Cloud
just before sunset. We taxied to our hangar on Oscar lane. “The Eagle Has Landed,”
I wanted to yell, but after eight hours in small airplanes I was too tired.
Continued in...First
Solo
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