McAlester Oklahoma KMLC

It's been a while since I've had anything to post. Too many real life issues have been getting in the way of my desire to fly but just when I though all hope was lost, my friend Scott saves the day. He called last night and said that he wanted to fly somewhere. Anywhere, and he let me pick. I wanted to fly somewhere I had never been, so McAlester Regional it was. It's in a small town in Southeastern Oklahoma. We were in the 100s yesterday but had a cool front come through last night so our highs will only be in the low 90s today. This morning was broken at 5500 so we gave it a shot. By the time we crossed the Red Fiver, it was nothing but blue skies.

We finally got to McAlester and found some interesting terrain surrounding the airport. We landed on runway 02 and had to dive in to the runway because of a large hill on the approach end. Likewise, there was another big hill off of the departure end of 02. Once there, we found that they had a crew car! Maybe another Crown Victoria? Not this time. We had a red Oldsmobile Alero. This is a new one for us. Breathtaking, yes?

Aside for the obvious, I was a little concerned about the previous condition of the last one to park it.  I really hope that it wasn't a fellow pilot. It also looks like there was a fire in the door for the fuel filler neck. I can't understand what all of that black is. Our 2 tone red Oldsmobile had a few other tricks up its sleeve for us. When we opened the doors, it wasn't too bad. It had a little trash like a Starbucks Frappuccino can and some paper. I'm still waiting for the day I find a condom in a crew car. The A/C didn't work (surprise) and in order to roll down the driver side window, you had to lock all of the other windows first. In order to roll down the other windows, you had to unlock the windows. And of course, the Service Engine Soon light was on. After we started it, nothing blew up or was drastically smoking.

We headed into town to find "What About Bob", a local restaurant that popped up on Google Maps. 

It was actually pretty good. We each had 2 eggs, sausage or bacon, hash browns and 4 pieces of toast or biscuits and gravy for $6.50. Not too shabby!

All in all, the car wasn't horrible but I was concerned about the fuel door. We made it back in and started our preflight and headed home. I'll leave you with some pictures of our scenery on hte way back home to McKinney.

Stay tuned for other adventures.

Back to Llano

It's been about 7 years since I've been to Llano. Larry, the airport manager has retired but it is still as good of an airport as you'd ever want to visit. I can't say enough about the how good the service is there. Roy is the man there now and he is awesome! So if you're headed there for some Cooper's BBQ, bring him back a sweet tea. He'll really appreciate it.

Llano is a great little place to visit. They have a great porch filled with rocking chairs, for those not in too much of a hurry. Roy will come out and greet you in his golf cart and help you with anything you need.

Now for the crew cars. I only got a picture of one of the Crown Victorias. They have 2. Number 1 has a working passenger door. They also have a Suburban and a passenger van. No one goes hungry here.

As far as Crown Vics go, it was very clean and the A/C worked.

 I also found out that Llano is the deer capital of texas, or so they say. When we took off to the south, there were several deer stands very close to the airport. I'm not saying that this is good or bad, just stating some facts.

Of course we were there for BBQ! So off into town we went. This was Scott's first time there and he soon found out why I like this place so much.

That's 3 ribs and a nice chunk of brisket. You have to get the brisket dunked. This was some of the most tender brisket that I've ever put in my mouth. We both had to bring home some for the wives, if we wanted to maintain our status of sleeping in our own bed.

When we got back, it was starting to get busy as another Cirrus, a Meridian and a King Air had arrived and when we were getting fuel, a Grumman Tiger landed and taxied over.

So now it's time to head back to soggy North Texas. I hope it won't be another 7 years before I come back.

Back to KOSA Mount Pleasant

It's been a while since I've been to KOSA. The last time here we went into town and had lunch at Chili's. I finally got a chance to go to Outlaws BBQ and for a change, I was not too disappointed. Of course the crew car hasn't changed. Still a city owned Crown Victoria but it had great A/C.

Did I mention it had great A/C?

I'm not sure what the button does but with all of the problems with Takata air bags, I wasn't taking a chance. For all I know, it is an igniter for an ejection seat.

 I was very excited top finally get to go to Outlaw's BBQ. I've heard from many people that the BBQ was good but I've never made it here on a Saturday. Thanks to Scott for asking me to fly right seat for this trip.

Being a BBQ snob has its disadvantages. You can never just go and enjoy the BBQ. I usually judge BBQ by 2 things initially. These are the things you have to get right. First is brisket. It can't be dry or over-smoked. Second is the sausage. One of my favorite BBQ places changed their rub up and made it too peppery and the sausage is very cardboard like in its taste.

These guys got it right. The brisket was moist (even though I ate it on a sandwich) and the sausage was very good and tasty. Don't worry, I sampled the brisket without the sauce you see sliding off the sandwich. I don't usually use sauce but they had a nice variety. There was one labelled "HAF" that I was not going to try. I was told it would hurt you and that's not how I like my BBQ.

All in all a good day of flying, crew cars, museums and BBQ. I love their drive thru at Outlaw's BBQ.

We originally went to go to the Mid America Flight Museum at KOSA. It was a great museum. Some of the pictures below are from the trip.

So all in all, we had a great day. Just wish the Texas heat would take a break. This would have been even better at 80º instead of 94º.