Co-worker Rich actually rallied at dawn to join me, but we didn't launch for two hours, as the fog and low scud were intimidating, and there was no way I was going flying with 65 hp in less than 8 miles vis. over unfamiliar, forbidding terrain without an artificial horizon.
But I was planning to flirt with mountain air on this trip- we had to go before the sun got higher and the winds started waking up.
We went over to the restaurant for some breakfast and hung around outside watching a few aircraft depart, then I said "Let's go back... we'll go up in five minutes to at least have a look..."
Tower had just come online when I flipped on the battery to get the ATIS. The dewpoint spread was finally more than 2 degrees, vis. was eight, and the altimeter setting was climbing. The sky above was already getting that unmistakable SoCal "outer space" blue... no worries about clouds.
And, uh, yes, I could finally make out the pass to the east that I was planning to fly towards.
This was my first Champ flight with anyone in the back except old Bob, but Rich gave me no trouble. He was an excellent passenger- spoke little (as usual), very capably assisted me in ground-handling the old gal, acted as video cameraman and shot a bunch of stills with his camera, didn't vomit-
and didn't even complain about starting out so late.
Tom had arrived, so we discussed my flight plan a bit. I immediately scrapped my plan to fly along the border when he suggested going over to Otay Lake first- I wasn't about to argue with him.
He then happily swung the prop for me. He explained that he'd advanced the timing a bit, so I should be sure to "pull it hard" when I restarted it or she'd swing the prop backwards. I'd seen this behavior before, and it's a good sign she'll start soon, so that was OK with me.
The mission profile, composed a bit off-the-cuff, was to fly east right along the border to Jacumba, which is a gravel strip even closer to the border than Brown.
After landing there, we'd veer north to Borrego Valley (aka Borrego Springs aka Borrego), land there and refuel. Flew this part at 3500 MSL , turning north and climbing to 4500 towards Borrego Valley.
I never found Jacumba, BTW... saw what later turned out to be a dirt road and circled for a look... almost decided on a course that would have slipped me around those hills there right to Jacumba, but decided to forget it and get up to Borrego, land without killing both of us, fill the Champ's little nose tank with refreshing 100LL, and get out of there before the wind started picking up.
Note the text box (see part 2) regarding wind... I had studied the chart carefully enough to notice this, which is why I had originally planned to get going at dawn.
Right where it says "Anzo Borrego Desert State Park", I was at 4500 in some very interesting air, still not seeing Borrego Springs Airport, but definitely seeing the high cliffs north of the airport. :o
But this was OK- all I had to do was descend and head for the cliffs, because the airport was in there somewhere. The landscape was breathtaking- dramatic but very serene. I saw about 1000 shades of "dirt brown" I'd never seen before, and surprising little oases. Also scrutinized every flat spot other than a highway as we puttered by... especially the ones big enough to allow me to land the Champ. You never know... that's why they're called "emergencies".
Found it, eventually, pretty close to my present course. A proud moment for me. Had some fun spiraling down to my "45-to-downwind" entry point, got over my "oh crap I'm going to land this crazy thing at some strange airport in this vast moonscape with increasing turbulence and my site supervisor sitting back there, naively trusting me oh crap" moment very quickly, slipped as steeply as I dared after cutting my base leg way too close, put her on acceptably well, used one of the nicest FBO bathrooms I've ever seen (sort of like Gramma's house if Gramma ran an FBO), took on about 7 gallons of fuel, then propped the Champ with Rich holding the brakes. I gave him a quick brief but he is bright enough, and before I started (with switch off) I tugged the prop to make sure the brakes were set. She sputtered on the second pull, then the sixth, then the... well, I lost count. She didn't backfire at all, but did sputter about five times once, causing me to head around for the door to set the throttle (which must be closed for starting).
She was playing with me, reminding me that she was the queen and I her abject slave. But next time she sputtered, she caught and started purring for me. Just in time- I was breaking a sweat!
I taxiied over to the departure end, did my simple Champ run-up and pre-takeoff checklists, then swung it onto the runway.
The sock was filling up- time to go!
Next: part 2
