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lanning for the trip took several sessions during which we agreed to camp on site and cook some of our own food. I also made several attempts at route planning using my trusty Flightsoft PRO (which proved itself invaluable before and during the trip). Since camping is first come first served, we wanted to leave as early as possible. We also wanted to arrive as close as possible to the Mooney Caravan Monday afternoon. I started the flight plan with a great circle path and worked from that. After several iterations, we finally decided to fly IFR from TCY (Tracey) to OGD (Ogden), then IFR/VFR to ANW (Ainsworth Ne) then IFR/VFR to OSH. The first leg from TCY to OGD started in the early evening and was definitely IFR all the way. Other then extreme darkness and an overcast right at our enroute altitude it was uneventful although we both swore at times we saw lightning in our path (it was 25 miles to one side, I wish I had known the ADF trick ). We stayed the night in Ogden and started out the next morning. We then flew IFR to ANW (we didn't need to but...) followed by a great circle path to the Ripon checkpoint. (GPS is a wonderful thing). At each stopping point we took the opportunity to update the weather with DUAT through the Flightsoft software, then file our next leg. In Ainsworth, Norman was grumbling something about my choice of stops. ( nothing on the field but vending machines and we were both hungry and I was not feeling that well). But it was probably for the better. Due to the sparse accommodations we got in the air fairly soon and we got to Ripon 30 minutes before they closed for the night. Getting in to Oshkosh wasn't nearly the problem we thought it would be, the procedures were very clear and ATC was friendly and efficient. (They did an excellent job)While on the ground, we periodically listened to the various frequencies in use and I was constantly amazed at how well traffic was handled. At one point three Cessna's 'bunched up' on final even though they were repeatedly advised to maintain some distance from the plane in front of them. The controller kept his cool. He brought all three planes over the runway at 50 feet and had them land at the same time. Very nice in an environment where a go around would have created even more problems.
Round about Friday, I was noticing that people were starting to leave in fairly large numbers. Since we were not planning to leave until Monday I was not monitoring the weather that closely. A quick review still left me wondering why so many were departing early. (Scattered TS through Nebraska and South Dakota ). I began to feel like I was missing something. My associate reassured me that if the weather did not look good on Monday we could always delay our departure. Even more people left until finally, we were the only plane on the north end of the field. I really was getting a complex now. We stuck it out, and using my trusty computer, briefed and filed an IFR flight from OSH to MHE (Mitchell SD). From about 4k feet on up we were in clouds and rain all the way. ATC was again very accommodating, giving us direct routing whenever possible and routing us away (and between) the strong echoes. When we arrived in Mitchell, we noticed some bags lined up in a hallway at the FBO. We also noticed some very pretty KitFox's in the hangar. It turns out that the KitFox's had left Saturday morning in an effort to beat the weather and have been stuck at the FBO ever since. To add insult to injury, all of the rooms available in town were booked, so they were camping at the FBO. We did our normal computer brief and file and we were out the door to RKS (Rock Springs Wy). As we were leaving we overheard one of the pilots trying to rent a truck to drive home with the planes. Our hearts went out to them but It felt good not to be stuck. Once again we were in the soup most of the way. Gradually the spaces between the clouds increased until it became VMC about 30 miles from the airport. We spent the night there (I definitely recommend the Inn at Rock Springs) and departed VFR to SJC (San Jose) in the morning.
A wonderful trip. We also watched the news later and learned that Oshkosh had thunderstorms and increasingly severe weather starting Tuesday night and there were still people on the ground on Friday waiting for the weather to clear. We could not have timed things better !