Once levelled off at 2800, I pulled out my trusty "tweeker" and finally adjusted the squelch on the radio so I wasn't hearing intermittent blasts of Mexican FM programming. Throttled back a hair and let her lope along at a comfortable speed. I was fairly certain that it would be possible to make this RT without refueling (the 7AC holds 13 gallons), if I took it easy. I had made a line on the chart, and was making my way with that, my watch, and my compass. A three-sided base is strong and stable... and that particular trio is all you need for flying.
I began my route by retracing my previous steps on dual sessions: headed for Mt. Helix to overfly Gillespie, then turned west slightly at San Vicente Reservoir. I climbed to 3500 to clear the hills NW of the lake but still remain under the Class B. Once clear of the Class B shelf, I decided to stay at 3500. I could already see the mountains to the NW that my course would take me over, and it was obvious that even if I were to climb to clear them, it would be stupid, when there was a nice highway and plenty of flat,open ground- and small airports- just to the east. All I had to do was start following the highway northeastward once abeam Fallbrook; a minor detour.
Had a few minutes of uncertainty near Fallbrook (couldn't spot the airport, and the highway intersection didn't look right), but soon realized I was where I should be. i hate when that happens... but I'm always relieved, too.
The wind was weird- first it seemed easterly, then westerly. I soon realized it was, in fact, changing up- even before noon, the onshore breeze was building. I thought about whipping out the E6B to try to calculate my groundspeed, but it was getting bumpy, an it wasn't important enough to warrant the difficulty.
Lake Elsinore looked quite different in RL than it does on the chart, but eventually I convinced myself that it was in fact that lake, and began to make my way alongside the 4000-foot peaks to the NW. They were chocolate-brown and unbelievably forbidding: there was nowhere at all up there to put a plane down safely, even a Champ.
Corona Airport was to be my reporting point for Chino Tower... I found Corona right where it should be, but everything else looked wrong. I circled over Corona once as I listened to the Chino ATIS, then as the nose swung around to the east, I saw Chino right where it should be. Called Tower, and they asked me to squawk an ident. I smiled and told them I couldn't (70E has no xponder).
This seemed to make the controller nervous, so I made sure to report my position not only at the "2 miles SE" he requested, but as soon as I had descended to TPA to enter the downwind. I also called abeam the tower, which was when they had me well in sight. Made a very tight Champ-like right base and made a good if slightly bouncy 3-pointer.
Taxiied over to the transient ramp, which luckily was right near the museum... spent a few hours soaking up the museum and taking pics, then decided to stroll over to Flo's on the field for some lunch.
I was all set to try propping the Champ by myself (not a big deal: tie the tail down firmly at the handle just forward of the empennage; pull the plane forward so it's tight; swing the prop; carefully walk back to the tail and untie it while leaning back against the horizontal stab just in case, then move forward quickly, grabbing the strut first, then climbing in). More than one pilot at Brown had assured me that I could do this safely.
But there were two guys preparing to leave in a Cessna near me on the ramp, and one of them said "need a prop?" I asked him if he knew how, and he said "Well, I've never done it, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night"... LOL!
He did a fine job, with me holding the brakes, and I was off for home. The nearest pump seemed miles away, and the tank was about 1/2 full, so I figured I'd proceed as planned, with a stop at French Valley as an option.
Next: Part 2: Stuck at French Valley, and the Bonus Cessna Checkout!
