This is from Last weekend> Jacobe Bought his first Midget Mustang and flying it home>>>
I am almost certian I will regret sharing this story online. OK so I bought an MM1 in Texas. I went down there, spent the night, woke up early to fly her home to San Francisco. At first light, the seller and I went out and started her up. I climbed to altitude, did some airwork, and boom - the canopy flew open. It hit the wing, then flopped back and hit my head (awesome), ripped my headset off, etc. After about a minute of trying to grab it, I slowed the plane, rolled it, grabbed it, and held on with my left hand. I briefly let go of the stick to close the throttle, but couldn't reach the flaps. Great, my first MM1 landing will be on a 40ft wide, 2000 ft runway with one hand and no flaps. I dead sticked it at about 90 - I know thats fast but I had alot of other things going on and didn't have a good feel for non-flap approach speed. Upon touch down, I did the usual tap dance and got her stopped. Surprisingly, I found the MM1 to be as touchy as the Pitts S1S I sold, on the ground and in the air. I confirmed this later on other more "normal" landings on my route home. OK, so the canopy lip cost me some knots. Plus my flight planning was made by someone who had never even flown an MM1 - oh wait, thats me. So I left TX, late, slow, and in need of flight plan revisions. I basically ran out of daylight in Milford, UT. I chose to take that route because I am familiar with it - I had just ferried a Cessna 195 that same route a couple weeks earlier. Milford has a great diner/motel nearby and the people are very nice. I checked in and got some sleep. The challenge with that route is that there is nothing between Milford and Tonopah - 200 NM of desert with no paved airports, and MOA's to the north and south. It also features a pattern of range-valley-range-valley as you crisscross east to west. I woke up at first light, checked the weather again - at least as best as one can for that route - there are very few reporting stations. No pireps were available. Tonopah has a TAF, and that looked good for most of the day. Returns showed snow in the Reno area, but the route to Tonopah was "manageable" - I use that term to describe VFR that can easily become MVFR. In summary - I actually didn't perceive any unusual risk in flying that morning. I took off at 7-something in the morning, just after sunrise. Ceiling was 8000ft. I crossed a few mini-ranges with no problems, and went around others (why climb and freeze when you can turn and avoid). As I approached the midway point, rain showers started to show to the north and south. I reached the midpoint, and from the looks of it, the way forward was about the same as the way back. I came upon one particular range that had obscuration, weather to the north, weather and the MOA to the south. The ceiling had lowered and I could not climb over this one. I saw a small hole in the range that was very bright with sunlight - from far away it looked good. As i got closer, I smelled box canyon - and sure enough, it was. Hmmm - 1:20 of fuel, 45 mins from Tonopah.... I followed the range north...nothing. Terrain and weather weren't cutting me a break. I would have to turn back. 1:10 left of fuel and 50 mins to Milford. I got back to the range I had just crossed - cut-off. I was stuck in this valley. Its a huge valley, and I had plenty of room to maneuver, but the closest airport was in the next valley over, and it was dirt. I had a 20 second panic attack. "What do I do? How did I get in this? Can someone help me? I want out! I checked the weather! I am such an idiot! Where do I land? Is my fuel estimate accurate? Do I REALLY have 1 hr of fuel left? If I land out here, how will I call my family? They'll worry! What do I do? Someone help me!" I saw a semi truck. And another one. "OK, I can land on the road, near a fuel station. I can fuel up and wait for the weather to pass. What if it doesn't pass? Low pressure and snow coming from Reno...Can I land on a road? Is that legal? What if I hurt someone? What if i get hurt? Shouldn't I tell SOMEBODY my intentions? This is why you file a flight plan GENIUS". I called NELLIS approach. I gave them my position and told them I was over Hwy 318 and would possibly be landing on the hwy if I didn't find a way out of the valley. They asked for my fuel - 1 hr. How many souls? 1. What kind of plane is it? Experimental. Make/Model? Midget Mustang. Can you maintain VFR? Yes. Position again? I gave them the nearest VOR/DME, since Highway 318 was a bit meaningless. Squawk 7700....I cant believe this. "7700". I saw a sign - "US 93 Junction 53 miles". Ok, there will be gas there, and phones, and medical, and a nicely paved road, and...traffic? Well, I had enough fuel to go look and come back to 318 if I needed to. I hit 93. 40 mins of fuel left. I heard a broken call from Nellis, something about an airport ahead. I checked my charts - of course, Alamo! But wait, how did I miss this on my "Nearest" press on the GPS? I didn't....it was dirt, so I had ruled it out. The MM1 wheel pants have about an inch of clearance. Well, maybe this will be an exceptionally nice dirt runway? I told Nellis I was over Alamo. No response. I flew low and slow over the dirt runway - it was worse than I expected. Rocks, garbage, bumps. I was better off landing on a salt lake. I climbed - U.S. 93. There is a Chevron station right over there. 1 car/truck every 2-3 miles. There was a stretch a ways back that was straight, uphill, upwind, no poles, unpopulated, and a few miles to town. Thats the spot. I'll wait until traffic is clear and go for it. I got a call from an ExecJet - they were relaying for Nellis, who couldn't reach me. I told them where I was, that the dirt wasn't going to work. They said I was cleared to land on U.S. 93, and that HWY patrol was going to shut it down. I told them I would hold with 20 minutes of fuel. They said Hwy patrol wouldn't make it in time and asked my intentions. I signaled my intent to land. They reiterated my landing clearance, and provided me a phone number to call. I thanked all involved an signed off. OK! I it's late and this is way longer than it should be. I'll post part 3 later! Haha!! In the meantime, can somebody give me a ride to Alamo? Its 100 miles north of Vegas... PART #3 So, I am downwind on US 93. Not because of wind, but because the other direction was uphill. So really I was on the left downhill leg. I really don't remember much about the approach other than flaps and 75-80 kts. (BTW - what do you guys approach at? I feel fast...). I did overshoot - my base leg was almost non-existent, I was too close to the hwy on the downhill leg. Anyhow, I just corrected to the left and centered up. Hey, this wasn't exactly a fly-in. One last check for traffic while I am high enough to see, looks good. This is it. The actual landing was a non-event. I was surprised at how not-a-big-deal it was to land on a road vice a runway. Really. There was no difference, other than the occasional marker/pole on each side that kept you in check down the centerline. But it doesn't end there... So I have the tail down, and I started taxiing at about 15 mph. i wanted to clear the hwy and there was nowhere to pull off. I remembered seeing a lodge/motel up ahead and there was a big gravel lot. I was going to pull into that place, and then walk to the Chevron. Just then, a silvery-blue late 90's minivan came the opposite direction. It didn't appear to slowdown immediately. Then it got within about 300 ft and started to slow. You guys really have to visualize to appreciate this moment. It was a lady in the driver's seat and somebody in the passenger seat (didn't get a good look). The look on her face as we crossed paths at about a combined 20 mph was simply classic. She was obviously confused but trying to convince herself it was normal - yes, I could see all that through a canopy, 20 ft of distance and a windshield. I laughed out loud - the first time I have ever done so in an airplane while it was on the ground. Still taxiing... wow I guess I gave myself enough space! Semi truck approaches. He is cooler about it - he floats over to the left and doesn't slow much. I did my best to get my wing out of the way but i was protruding a couple feet. Sorry. I gave him a goofy salute and just kept going. About 10 seconds later, the unthinkable. A white pickup truck comes from behind and PASSES me on the left!! YES, he passed me!! I don't have a rearview, so I didn't know he was there, and there was no room to S-taxi. Did i just get passed? I had no blinkers, no horn to honk, I just had to sit and watch this guy as he took off. I was shocked! Am I the only one on this road who thinks its odd to see an airplane driving southbound? Maybe its normal!! But can I at least get a little patience? You couldn't wait until the turnoff buddy?! I can't speed up - I don't want to get a speeding ticket in an airplane! So the hotel is on the right. I pulled in, swiveled around and parked in front of this windmill. Nobody around. I just got out, found some rocks and tried to stuff them under the wheelpants as chocks. I was reminded how interesting a dirtstrip landing would have been. Still a little spaced out, I walked up to the hotel diner. A lady was loading supplies into the side of the building. She saw me midstride and approached, explaining that they were closed Sundays. There were two empty parking spots next to the building. One was for disabled parking. "Can I park here"? Yes, she said. "Mind if I take both spots?" She looked confused. I realized she hadn't seen my 'ride'. "Can I park my airplane here?" She took a moment, looked down towards the hwy...and then saw the midget mustang. "Sure". She was confused but trying not to be - just like the minivan driver. As I am walking back to the plane...flashing lights. Highway Patrol was hauling butt northbound. I ran out to the highway to catch him before he passed. I waved my hat in an updown motion. He got the message, slowed down and pulled up. "Are you the pilot?" Yes. "Are you ok?" Yes. "Is the plane ok?" I pointed to it, Yes. It is a bit funny how the plane can go unnoticed - I guess its the size. He let me use his phone. I called my wife... He took me to get gas, but I had to sit in the back. Great - the first black guy ever to visit Alamo, NV and I was arriving in the back of a patrolcar. Could this morning get any stranger? First we went to his house to get cans, then to the Chevron to get gas. It was actually kind of fun to pull up and just jump out of the backseat, onlookers and all. Back to the hotel. The owner, Kim had arrived. She offered food, coffee, a phone. Wow! The HP officer gave me his card - "Call when you are ready to take off and we'll shut down the hwy." Thanks officer! I called Nellis. They were happy to hear I was OK, and said they actually had appreciated the opportunity to practice emergency procedures!! They said they learned some things. Specifically that when they were talking with NV Hwy patrol, they were able to give Air Nav info, but that it was meaningless to HP. They needed a way to map air info to hwy info, and they were glad I had indicated the Hwy name in my radio calls. Apparently the ExecJet was the last of the day to get overflight clearance due to the Nellis airshow. It was good fortune that he was there to relay our transmissions. I said my thanks, and hung up in shock that I wasn't getting chewed out. I made more calls. Flight service. Weather wasn't going to improve. US airways. I could fly home out of Vegas that evening. The hotel owner volunteered to drive me 100 miles south to Vegas. Talk about blessed! Then this guy shows up. "Are you the pilot?" "Yes sir". "I'm with the local newspaper". I'll scan and post the article when I get ahold of it. It publishes tomorrow (Thursday, 13 Nov). The hotel owner and I found stakes and twine. I made rudimentary tiedowns. I bundled her up and left a sign in it that says "No Smoking. This plane is fully fueled". I wrote it so that kids wouldn't play on the thing. I took pictures of all this and will post if I can.
