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RAIN CHECK for NORTH TEXAS

chrispratt

Well Known Member
After several weeks of miserable rain in North Texas, we finally got some relief in the form of a gorgeous Fall day. So everyone with a plane seemed to be out flying today.

With record setting rains for this time of the year, I had to check on my favorite grass strip and restaurant at Cedar Mills on Lake Texoma. The field is, shall we say, a bit damp. The photo below shows the eastern end (about 20% of the runway) under water. So a no-go for landing. Looks like the annual Cedar Mills Splash-In has been cancelled; ironic since it would seem ideal conditions for the seaplane crowd. The marina restaurant is still open (I called today 10/21/18 to check with them), so all is not lost. But the water sure looks close.






Fueling at KXBP (Bridgeport) brought out the usual suspects and a new ?strange bird? to the ramp. A Cavalon Auto-Gyro landed just ahead of me and it sure looks like fun. First one I?ve seen up close. Very nice package, but I?ll stick with my RV.





And to round out the morning, a transient high-wing airplane made an emergency landing in a field just southwest of 52F (Aero Valley) my home field. I wasn?t aware of it until I landed when a police car flagged me down during taxi, asked me to take off again and if I saw a downed aircraft to circle the site to verify the location. I did, there was, I circled. Ambulances headed that way. Fortunately the pilot made an excellent off field landing, aircraft did not flip and he walked away unscathed (too early to know the cause other than loss of power). And no, I didn?t think to take a picture. Sorry, I was busy flying the plane.

After such an ?uneventful? day, I need a nap.

Chris
 
Pic of downed plane....

Rob Reece and I saw the plane just barely clear the trees at the south end of the airport property. We hopped on my motorcycle and hauled A down there - fortunately we found our new friend Tom doing just fine. The only issue is muddy tires. Pic below. Very glad Tom was OK (and I saw Chris orbiting the field). Tom told us he instructed for 51 years and started flying when he was 15. Well done Sir!

A good day!


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Are you sure you are just not seeing an optical illusion caused by the paint striping?
Vic

Yeah. Like Vic says. Look at the small "hole" just inside the "red". That's the outboard aileron hinge. Once you see that, it will become clear.
The yellow stripe ends at the wingtip. The black stripe ends at the aileron trailing edge.
 
Ah, yes, instantly understandable once I realized the camera angle on the left side is looking rearward! The camera has a much wider field of view than I had thought. Thanks.
 
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Lake Texoma water levels

...With record setting rains for this time of the year, I had to check on my favorite grass strip and restaurant at Cedar Mills on Lake Texoma...

Chris

WOW...I landed there in March 2014 and the multi-year drought was raging...quite the change a few years can make!!!

Doug
 
Chris - my curiosity is piqued - in this picture, what is the sharp angle at the wingtip that we see?

If you are referring to the trailing edge side of the tip it is just the original style wingtip from Van and not the "batwing" tip style used later. As Vic says below, it may be an optical illusion created by the paint striping.

If it's the front, that's just shadow coming over the wing leading edge.

Chris
 
WOW...I landed there in March 2014 and the multi-year drought was raging...quite the change a few years can make!!!

Doug

I think this is about the fourth time in 13 years this runway has been under water at least partially. I'm more worried about the restaurant which has been flooded four times in that same period and rebuilt at least once. The owners seem to have gotten pretty good about how to pull out the equipment and clean up after a flood. With this week's dry spell, I think they'll get away without any trouble this year. Too bad they can't move the whole restaurant a couple hundred yards up the road to higher ground.

Chris
 
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