Topping off the Gas for the long trip home.	Jim Kaiser & Bill Acker
Have to dodge the weather.	Taxi to 18.
Filan checks done and slowly push throttle forward.	Nice wind out of the south makes a short run.

It is June 24^th, 2004. We are now safely and joyously on the ground at Schaefer St Louis Metro-East (3K6) north of Lebanon, Illinois.

 Yesterday, we set out for another great adventure to bring my Challenger home. This was to be an exciting day but at the same time I knew it would be also one of apprehension and sadness. Apprehension because of the rather long trip we had planned ahead of us. Sadness because I knew my contact with the Robinsons would be greatly reduced from now on. Over the last year and a half they have not only been the consummate aviation professionals but extremely gracious hosts (sometimes at a moments notice) and very dear friends. You don’t come across people like the Robinsons too often in a life time.

 It all began almost two and half years ago when a friend of mine who is a retired Air Force C-130 navigator and private pilot/Bonanza owner, Jim Kaiser and I got to talking about flying. I had been an aerial observer in the Marine Corps that had fun flying in the back seat of OV-10s. Having been bitten by the aviation bug while in high school, I began taking private lessons in a Piper Cherokee until lack of money and college studies changed my priorities. Over the next twenty five years, as I moved around under government orders I tried to satisfy my aerial thirst by getting check rides in Weedhoppers, Quicksilvers and anything I could to get off the ground. My wife even bought me hang gliding lessons while we were in California, both times. Fast forward until 2001 and Jim Kaiser and I talked a lot about me getting back into flying. I told him of my delight with ultra lights and he mentioned the Challenger. We even took a ride in his Bonanza to Erie and got a check ride from Jim Robinson (when the trainer was still blue.)

 That was all it took. We decided we wanted to get a challenger. Because we were both working, we decided we could buy one already built and save the build time. We started shopping around and checking ebay. Over the intervening year we flew to small airports to look at Challengers for sale. We just couldn’t find the right one. We called Jim Robinson to ask about installing instruments for the back seat of a CH II. After speaking with him a bit he mentioned that Doc Davis had a really nice Challenger like what we were looking for and just put it up for sale. We already had pictures of it from our check ride visit eleven months earlier. That was it; we decided to get it. Jim Kaiser suggested adding a mutual friend as a third partner that was a certified A&P mechanic. This was to be a match made in heaven. As we were pooling our funds for the purchase, first one then the other partner dropped out. I went home after our week long efforts to put the deal together fell apart. I was devastated. My wife asked what happened and I explained to her what transpired. She didn’t say much. That was Thursday. Friday was Valentines Day. When I got home from work on Friday my wife wished me a happy Valentines Day and gave me a booklet that said I was now a Challenger owner. She bought that airplane for me!

 Over the next year and a half I would try to make the four hour and fifteen minute drive from Shiloh, Illinois to Erie to get lessons from Jim Robinson. Coordinating time, travel, weather, and instructor availability proved difficult. I finally decided I needed to get my Challenger home where my availability and opportunity to fly would be greatly increased by eliminating travel time. I still had the instruction issue to deal with but the weather wouldn’t be much of an issue since the plane would now be close. I asked Jim Kaiser to help me out and this time he came through. This has been a wet spring and the Lord forgot to make it nice on the weekends. A nice day was finally on the horizon but it was during the week. We both took a day off work and caught a ride from another bonanza owner up to Erie.

 After some maintenance and minor adjustments such as dropping the heater, safety wiring a couple things, and changing spark plugs, we prepared for the trip From Erie Air Park (3K5) to Schaefer (3K6); it is a distance of 177nm. With two wing tanks and a ten gallon main, we left with twenty gallons of fuel on board and the doors on; (I had to get them home too). Burning about three and a half to four gallons per hour, we figured we would have fuel to spare once we got to Schaefer. There was a slight head wind and as we prepared to leave the winds were starting to gust up to fifteen out of the southwest. Having flown up in the bonanza a couple hours earlier, we knew there was some smooth air up there some where; we just needed to find it.

 We took off to the south; got our heading and climbed to twenty five hundred feet. It was a beautiful clear day but that head wind slowed us down. After about fifteen minutes of flying both GPSs we had showed that this was going to be in excess of a four hour flight. We started hoping for favorable winds. We eventually climbed to thirty five hundred and stayed there for most of the flight. We cruised at sixty five hundred RPMs and showed seventy miles per hour indicated air speed. The GPSs told a different story. We were really only clocking about fifty six mile per hour. At one point we were flying parallel to a road below. Jim said “hey look; we’re going the same speed as that guy down there pulling a boat.” I said: “Yeah but we’re having twice as much fun!”

 The head wind lightened up a bit and so we started to pick up some time. Our estimates were shortened to just less than four hours. That is a long time in a Challenger seat. One of my next modifications will be the thicker seat with lumbar support for comfort! Jim was in the back seat and after I got the airplane trimmed up he would pull his legs back to try to get comfortable and I would have to re-trim the plane! We refueled ourselves three times during the flight transferring fuel from the wing tanks to the main. That is a great option to have.

 As we got closer to our destination we picked up some scattered puffy clouds. At one point we flew right underneath one and it shaded the entire plane. It was a nice respite from the glaring sun that we had been wishing for so long. The air was cool and we were even able to partially close the vents. All in all it was a great adventure. Soon we were within twenty miles of Schaefer so we started our descent being mindful of carburetor icing. No problems other that radio transmissions and we were soon on the ground. Total flight time: three hours and twenty eight minutes! Six gallons of fuel left in the main and about a gallon in each wing tank.

 I’m already thinking about when I will be back up to Erie Air Park and seeing the Robinsons as well as the many kind people of the Illowa Sports Flyers Club.

 Bill