Day 2 - Spruce Creek to Lubbock TX

Flight Service said "this is the best day to travel west from Flordia - no significant weather and tail winds"

Who were they kidding!!    

Sure, the flight through Florida was OK but once Alabama was reached it was clear that the forecast was not holding true. Fortunately I had filed IFR and had an autopilot so the turbulence and rain, whilst annoying, was within limits.

However, once MEI (Meridian, Mississippi), the first fuel stop, was almost within sight a rapidly brewing storm meant a diversion into the field was essential - and this was the first of many storm diversions this day.

The storm meant that no fueling could take place so an enforced rest passed the time until the lightning has departed and there was only rain to contend with.

Eventually I was able to depart westward skirting showers on the way, but over Louisiana the storm clouds were rampant. It turned out that the remnants of Hurricane Dennis was still affecting the weather in the deep south but fortunately my PDA Nexrad weather system allowed early diversion requests, even before the controllers knew was was happening.

NavAir had kindly provided the weather service for my flight, along with their Approach Plates system. Both were to be invaluable for this intensive flight adventure.

Everyone on the air was requesting a diversion, and in Texas the situation was much the same. It seems that Dallas / Fort Worth was closed down due to weather. A diversion to the north east was essential as a huge storm system was engulfing the entire metro area.

Eventually a way round appeared on the NavAir system, much to my relief, but this meant an additional landing at Wichita Falls for fuel. The evening flight onward to Lubbock TX was very pleasant after the turbulance and storms earlier in the day. However, it did mean a later arrival than planned and a night landing.

The saga of the first day had another twist in store - it turned out that Lubbock was hosting a Texas Farmers conference and there was NO accommodation available in Lubbock. Fortunately Lubbock Aero came to the rescue, loaning me a courtesy car so I could at least find somewhere to eat. They also allowed me to stay overnight in their pilots lounge - sleep in a Lazy-Boy is certainly possible, and was to be pure luxury compared to what was to come the next night!!

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Footnote: Most pictures taken during the first 7 days of the flight were lost due to a computer 'crash' whilst attempting a backup!