Circumnavigation of the US in my Home Built Aircraft: Day 3

I didn't sleep well last night and was up at 5:30.

I packed up, ate a bowl of oatmeal without milk (not recommended), and rode the scooter to the plane. I think I got off the ground around 7 am.

It was a pretty morning and the sky was calm.

Davis Monthan Air Force Base

As I passed Tucson I called up Tucson Approach and picked up flight following.

Once away from city, the barren Arizona landscape seems to stretch on forever. The view is frequently broken by large ragged mountains reaching up to 9000 feet.

And then, strangely, in the middle of nowhere - crop circles.

I landed at Deming New Mexico (DMN) to get gas and food. Unfortunately the crew car was being used, and it was a long way to the nearest food trough, so I wouldn't be eating here.

I took a quick picture of my wife, Linda's, keep sake. It's my reminder she is watching over me.

No, I don't know what happened to his pants. Knowing Linda she probably took them off to see what was underneath....

A few air miles down the road was Las Cruces Airport which I heard had a BBQ place on the field. On the way there the afternoon thermals started kicking up.

Las Cruces has a massive runway with a ton of heavy iron. I have no idea why since there isn't anything around here.

I keep running into friendly people. After I parked the plane a guy rolled up in a WW2 Willys and asked if I wanted a ride.

As a serious off-roader, I jumped at the chance for a ride in the pre-cursor to my Jeep. He dropped me off at Jim Bobs BBQ, right on the field. And it was damn good BBQ!

I departed Las Cruces an hour later and ran into a near repeat of the day before. To be fair, the turbulence wasn't quite as bad but it was enough that I could not take my hands off the stick, even for a second, over the next hour and half.

I think I did learn something important about turbulence today. I learned that it helps to really fly thru it. By that I mean not just hanging on for the ride but actively making control inputs and throttle changes to maintain altitude and control. It's still bloody exhausting, though!

As I passed El Paso (%^) ), I had to veer over downtown to avoid another series of jagged cliffs. What I didn't realize was how close to the Mexican border I was. One moment I was looking down at this strange line below the nose wondering, "What the hell is that?".

And the next moment I realized it was the border and I was, technically, in Mexican airspace! Crap!

I made a quick jog to the left and waited for Center to read me the riot act. It never happened, so no harm no foul. I hope...

In case you're wondering -yep, there really is a wall from El Paso and stretching for miles into the distance.

Once again, I decided to forget my original destination and headed for the nearest airport. This turned out to be Culberson (VHN). It's located next to the town of Van Horne.

After landing, "Jeff" walked up and asked if I needed fuel. Sure! So Jeff filled me up. I asked him if there was a hotel nearby. Yep, about 3 miles to town.

I was not feeling like riding my scooter 3 miles when Jeff asked if I wanted to borrow "Bill's" truck for the night? Uhh, ok.

"Its right over there, just have it back by 8:30 am, ok?" Uhh,ok.

Bill has a nice truck, by the way.

Walking by an open hangar I noticed a bunch of military drones. It turns out the national guard does border patrol with them out of here.