Another Cliffhanger

Howdy. Happy Cinco De Mayo! This evening finds me in Rochester, Minnesota. I arrived here yesterday afternoon after a bumpy two-hour flight from Janesville, Wisconsin. Seems like a wholesome place. To my delight, I found a campground less than two miles from the airport and had my house set up before dusk. I am again the only tent dweller on site, but it’s a pleasant place all the same. In between the dogs barking and the roar of semi trucks and late night cargo flights, I can hear the gurgling of a little stream that winds around the campground.

Flew for five hours today. Got a bit of a late start due to a random rain shower and then quit a little early due to impossible turbulence. I missed the same line something like five times. At least I didn’t hit my head on the ceiling today, as happened more than once in Wisconsin.

Flying lines in smooth air is really pretty relaxing. I can just point the airplane in the right direction and zone out. I think about all sorts of things on those days. Sometimes I don’t think about anything and it’s just peaceful. Tuesday morning was like that. Great day, Tuesday. I was just completely hypnotized and then … “KLUNK! A blug a duh, blug a duh…” Better than any snapping of the fingers! I turned the anemic bird back toward the airport as I checked for possible causes for the engine trouble. Oil pressure and temperature were good. I tried the carburetor heat for a while, but it wasn’t clearing up and the warmer air in the induction decreased available power even further. I was pretty sure I was missing one cylinder altogether. It seemed like it could be a fouled spark plug. I leaned out the mixture to make it burn hotter, hoping that any lead or carbon deposits would burn off. No luck. After I advised tower of my partial loss of power, they asked if I wanted fire equipment to roll. I declined since I was still able to hold altitude and it hadn’t gotten worse since the original flub. After an uneventful landing I limped over to the maintenance shop where I was due to have an oil change and spark plug rotation later that day anyway.

To be Continued…