Leg 8 - New Orleans (KNEW) to Thomson-McDuffie (KHQ) - Bumps, Bandits and Blood

 With some sadness I launched off the runway at New Orleans and climbed into a sky filled with balls of white cotton.  While balls of cotton appear as a beautiful sky decoration, for a pilot they can be an ominous sign of things to come. 

Climbing out over the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain there was a building wall of cumulus clouds to the east. I climbed along the side of the wall trying to judge it's width. The base of the wall was about 3000 feet and the tops were uneven up to 5000 feet. 

I had a decision to make. Did this wall have a limited depth, or was it a continuous broken layer for miles. It would be uncomfortably bumpy going underneath,  but little risk. Going over would be a much smoother ride but would increase the risk. 

It would be possible for the rising cloud layer to develop faster and higher than I could climb. Also, if the layer below closed in to a solid overcast, I could end up trapped on top with no safe way down.

I climbed higher and could finally see the wall was only a 1/2 mile wide. In the distance the was a scattered layer as far as the eye could see. 

I leveled off at 7500 feet and headed into the uncertain skies ahead. 

The air was smooth and cool. The scattered to broken layer below was beautiful. However, I could not relax over the concern the layer below would start to close up on me. I jogged my flight path to keep a large out below me at all times. 

A temporary break in the clouds. Don't know what river this is.

Two and something hours later I descended into the bumpy stuff into Mac Crenshaw Memorial.(PRN).

I fueled up and had a gourmet lunch of beef jerky, cashews, and a bottle of orange juice. 

As I stepped outside the terminal building I noticed a very cool Starduster 2 had pulled up. The pilot was just climbing out of the open cockpit biplane. 

It turns out that he, too, was coming from Central California. He had been hired to fly the recently sold plane home to its new owner in Alabama.

I wished him a safe journey and took off. As I was climbing for altitude I saw him on the ADSB coming up on a converging course. I doubted whether he was ADSB equipped so I hailed him on the CTAF frequency and asked if he saw me. 

He somehow interpreted my request as I plea for an airborne fly-by. I really didn't want him anywhere near me. There are too many holes in the ground already from impromptu formation flights. They have a habit of ending badly. 

However, a few moments later he was right off my left wing. I quickly snapped a picture and let him know I would be pulling away. As I did, he executed a perfect barrel roll. I had to admit that was kind of cool.

My lunch break had allowed time for the clouds to continue to build. There were fingers billowing up to ten thousand feet now. I wouldn't be flying over those. 

The bases were between 3500 to 4500 feet and I was forced to fly just below this base. The next 2-1/2 hours was an aggravating, painful, ordeal as the turbulence bounced me up, down, and sideways. My back was screaming at me for the last hour of the flight.

I landed at Thomson-McDuffie Airport, Georgia, with almost 5-1/2 hours of flight time. My longest leg yet. In retrospect, continuing to fly when I was hurting so bad was not smart. However, there were few possible overnight options along the route.

It was about 4pm as I pulled the scooter out of the plane and set out for the budget hotel 2 miles away. My pain for he day was not over, however.  I took a painful fall off the scooter, onto the asphalt road resulting in a bloody arm and shoulder.  Fortunately the damage was not too bad. 

Mr. Dumass rides again...

I am really looking forward to getting to Kitty Hawk tomorrow. It will be a 4 hour flight. The weather forecast is very iffy right now. I may not be able to launch until the afternoon.

For those following me on Spot X, I don't know why it didn't record today. You can also follow the plane on flightradar.com. Just enter the aircraft number "N972GL".

.