Moving (or ferrying) aircraft from airfield A to airfield B is a thing that's kind of grabbed my attention and, to be honest, I really like it. There's a clear mission (get the plane to airfield B) and the receiver is usually very happy to get the aircraft. Moving an aircraft with and without the owner are very different experiences. Operation Diamond Mountain was to move a Diamond DA-40 (N346JP) from Colorado Springs (KCOS) to Newport News/Williamsburg (KPHF) and was with the owner. It was a two-day, four-base trip which morphed into a five-base trip. The audible of the fifth stop was to avoid a 2+ hour round trip in an automobile. It was a great audible.
This is how it all started...you can fill in your own comments.
This is the overall flight.
Day 1: KCOS to KPCD. Just short of (west of) crossing the Mississippi River, we eventually landed at Perryville International, but had a fuel stop at Moundridge Municipal Airport (47K) in Kansas. The two pictures below are the exterior/interior of the Moundridge "FBO". How great is that pic on the left? Tiny building, windows open, epic sky and a windsock with no bend. The inside pic doesn't really convey the atmosphere, but you're seeing about all of it. Loved the bowling alley chairs and while you can't see it, there was a locker with a key to the courtesy car! That's a great thing about airfields...they usually have some means of transportation and everything is secured by numbers pilots know (usually by heart).
Inside and out of the Moundridge 'Terminal'.
Above is just after landing at Perryville International, Missouri (KPCD). Pictures never do justice to the actual scene, but it was a nice day. Good wind, too. Luckily there were people at the FBO as they guided us to the courtesy car and the punchy code to the building. They knew we'd be arriving early on Sunday so their help was invaluable (and they were sure we'd have the airfield to ourselves - which we did). It was two guys working on a Skylane...the airplane owner and a guy that wishes he has an airplane.
The lodging was slightly more complicated than the airport. 100% of the hotels in the town were booked. That required real-time searching and the closest was 30+ miles away. Enroute to that hotel, we discovered the reservation we made on Expedia was only near the town but was actually another 30 minutes beyond. Luckily Expedia let us cancel on the premise that the hotel was listed in a different city. With even more luck, the town we were already driving to had some hotel vacancy. Not the first two we tried, but the third. So, in an effort to save XX cents per gallon and not checking hotels prior, we ended up paying more for hotels, haggling with a travel site, and burning time driving around Missouri. Eventually we ate at The Pasta House Company in Farmington.
Day 2: KPCD to KPHF.
The departure out of KPCD was uneventful and a pretty beautiful day. Winds were still howling so we had a nice, short takeoff roll. Note to GA flyers - if you're flying VFR and you plan on flying a practice approach - tell ATC (if you're getting flight following) because everyone and their brother will wonder why you're flying past and/or the long way to a field on a clear in a million VFR day. In fact, they might even say things like, "do you see the airfield...it's on your left for 12 miles" or "what are you doing?". Those aren't my favorite calls.
We made a fuel stop at Fleming Mason (KFGX) in Kentucky. Slightly warmer than I'd wish for, but still a beautiful day and the FBO (as seen above) was very nice and welcoming. Offered us the courtesy car and the whole nine yards. We didn't use it, but still very nice of them. At this point, I could feel the pull of Virginia so I wasn't overly keen on extending our time at any stop. The nice thing about this stop was we shared the fuel pump with a two-seat plane I've never seen and an RV-8 which is a personal favorite.
The next stops were Richmond International (KRIC) and the destination, Newport News / Williamsburg International (KPHF). The nice thing about stopping at Richmond was 1) we avoided a back and forth to recovery our car and 2) although it's in my flying neighborhood, I'd never landed there before. It was good to check it off the list and it saved us about 2+ hours. Amazingly, the aircraft owner (who recovered the car) arrived within minutes of me. I was buttoning up the airplane and he walked out on the ramp. It reminded me that there is a time 'minimum' where flying might not be more effective than driving. I've found that to be about 1-2 hours. By the time you've secured local transportation and done everything required with flying, a 1-2 hour drive might be easier in the car. It's never as fun...but that's not the point.
Overall, it was a very informative trip and I was able to garner just under 20 hours of Diamond time. That might come in handy for any future ferry flights which I've started to find interesting and rewarding. For the airplane itself, the DA40 is pretty accommodating, relatively easy to figure out, not bad on comfort (better if you're about 6' or shorter), and has a pretty capable autopilot (we had pretty rough air). Call me if you ever need to move your Diamond!
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