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By Bruce Williams
Microsoft Simulations Product Planner
July 23, 2000
Sunday started with a 0645 MDT takeoff from the Double Eagle Airport just west of Albuquerque en route to Liberal, KS. The original plan called for a stop in Amarillo, TX, but the weather radar showed a line of thunderstorms pushing SE across the Texas panhandle, so a slight change of course to the northeast seemed in order. Except for some wakeup bumps on the way out of the ABQ area, the flight through the last mountain pass and across the high plains of eastern NM was smooth, with only a few diversions required around virga (rain that evaporates before it reaches the ground) and the turbulence associated with it. Just under three hours after liftoff, the Sweepstakes Cessna settled on to the runway at KLBL for a quick topoff.
Virga in flight. Click image for a larger picture
The second leg of the day took us all the way across Kansas to St. Joseph, MO (KSTJ). In only three hours of flying, the landscape changed from lunar isolation to crop circles to fertile green hills. Except for a stretch northeast of Liberal, only scattered clouds obscured the view of the heartland. The FBO in St. Joseph fed the airplane and we stopped for a quick lunch at the airport cafe.
View of the Heartland of America from the Sweepstakes plane. Click image for a larger picture
We had to climb to 11,500 feet out of St. Joseph to stay above a broken layer of cumulus clouds, but after about 45 minutes of cruising, the clouds gradually turned to scattered, and we descended to 3,500 for the remainder of the flight into Dubuque, IA (KDBQ) for the night. The ride across Iowa was smooth, but we smashed a lot of bugs at that low altitude.
Tomorrow: Oshkosh.
Eastern Kansas viewed from the Sweepstakes plane. Click image for a larger picture.
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