Leg 10 - Calhoun Ga (CZL) to Jonesboro Arkansas (JBR)

One one of these legs I hope that I will be able to report that I had a great day of flying. The blue skies, the smooth air....., yeah, that didn't happen today either.   

It seems I am in the unenviable position of flying through one storm front after another. Today there was a solid overcast at 6000 feet. I climbed to 4500 feet amongst clouds and haze. This would be another challenging flight.

I picked my way between low clouds as I made my way to Abernathy Field (GZS) for a fuel stop. It was morning but the cumulous were already showing significant vertical development. An hour and a half later I was high above runway 16/34 tucked into a sea of green vegetation. 

I was greeted at the fuel pump by a friendly gentleman who got the pump up an running for me. Afterwards, I sat in his office and we talked about the airport and places we've both flown. 

A young guy came in and asked me about my plane. I learned that he was an ag pilot that sprays crops for a living. He offered to show me his Air Tractor. 

He had half the panels off the plane and he explained how the spray system worked. I had no idea that a wind driven mini-propeller on the underside of the fuselage turned a pump that pushed the liquid to the spray nozzles. It incorporates an electric bypass valve that he manually controls. When he is not spraying the liquid is circulated back into the hopper which helps ensure the spray material stays fully mixed. He went on to say that he doesn't spray herbicides. He primarily sprays fungicides and seeds.

800 HP Turbine Engine!

I was really glad I stopped here. Nice people and an education on the spraying. 

I departed Abernathy into worsening skies. Some of the cumulous were clearly showing signs of anvil tops, the precursor to thunderstorms. In addition there were now much more clouds down at 4500 feet. This was starting to get sketchy.

I adjusted my flight plan to leap frog from one airport to the next. If the weather and visibility became untenable, I would always have a short distance to a safe harbor.

Lowering clouds and visibility as I cross the mighty Mississippi

Two hours later, just as rain began falling from the black clouds ahead, the Jonesboro Airport came into view. As I made my base turn a light rain caused streaks to run up the canopy. 

Dark low clouds above the Jonesboro taxiway

The total flight time today was 3 1/2 hours. This seems like a good duration for me. My back, and other issues, seem to be ok for this length of flight. I am going to try and keep my flight time each day to this length. It will allow me to keep my pain levels under control.