Distance round trip 466 statute miles (not including our unscheduled stop at Kosciusko)
Distance round trip 466 statute miles (not including our unscheduled stop
at Kosciusko)
October 25, 2008
Today we decided to make a trip up to northern Mississippi and check out Oxford, home of Ole Miss (Mississippi State University). We had always heard about this little town with its charm and ambience, so we thought it would make a nice little one day adventure for our first cross-country trip in the Bearhawk.
The trip up to Oxford, MS is about 268 statute miles (as the crow flies) from my home airport (MS82) so I figured a little over 2 hours flight time. By comparison, the drive time according to Mapquest is 7.5 hours.
Joining me for this trip was my wife Michelle and our 11 year old grandson
Cole. We took off from Shade Tree airport (MS82) at about 8:30 AM,
launching into a cool, clear sky headed northbound. The weather check this
morning indicated a bit of a headwind going up and tailwind coming back.
For the first part of the trip, the air was smooth so we stayed at about
1,000 feet to enjoy the terrain as we flew along.
Locally born and raised hero, and current NY Jets Quarterback, Brett Farve's
house is near Hattiesburg, MS. Here it is:
I'd say that Brett has done pretty good for a small town boy from
Mississippi.
About an hour into our trip, Michelle looked over at me and asked "What do we do if we have to go to the bathroom?". Remembering that we had both consumed a couple of cups of coffee before leaving, I asked her if she could wait another hour and she shook her head "no". So I pushed the "nearest airport" button on the GPS and looked for a nearby airport that was north of us. Kosciusko, MS (KOSX) was about 20 miles N.E. of our current position, so I turned toward it hoping they had an open FBO with restrooms available on a Saturday morning.
After landing, the airport manager Allen Ross and his awesome dog "Sugar"
came out of their home on the airport and welcomed us.
The restrooms were clean and Allen was a super nice guy. He spent some time looking over the Bearhawk and asking lots of questions. Allen has a Citabria but says his next airplane will most likely be a Bearhawk. He even remembered seeing the Miss'ippi Mudbug in the Sport Aviation magazine. Said he remembered the "N" number. Said if we are ever up here again, to stop in and he'll buy us some dinner. Alan showed us the courtesy car and where the key is hidden for future reference. "If I'm not around, just help yourself to the van". By the way Kosciusko, MS is where Oprah Winfry was born and raised. They have some great history from the civil war days and a nice museum there. It's right on the Natchez Trace historical highway.
After the emptying of bladders and good conversation, we were off again,
headed north for the remaining 90 miles to Oxford. Here is the Kosciusko
airport as we were climbing out:
Here is the family self portrait as were heading up to Oxford:
A bit blurry, but as you can see Cole and Michelle were cold and had on
their sweatshirts with hoods. Now that we are moving into winter, I
guess I need to go ahead and seal up the doors and windows. I found that
the cabin heater is very anemic so I might have to look at that too.
Here is what most of Mississippi looks like from the air. Never a problem
with an engine out situation. Just pick a field or a dirt road and
land:
Our destination Oxford, MS off the nose about 20 miles ahead:
With the stop in Kosciusko, our flight time was about 3 hours total. Here
is the Mississippi State University (Ole Miss) Stadium, home of the Rebels:
