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 | Saturday, September 8, 2001
Historic Scott Field in Belleville, Illinois. Now headquarters for the 375th Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command. Thanks Colonel Stickford!
When I wrote last night, I was getting ready to attend a dinner in my honor at the Belleville Country Club. It was a most memorable event I must say, particularly as Amelia had been given a dinner party at the exact same place, attended by a similar number of military and civilian guests, many from Scott Air Force base. The base is presently the headquarters for the 375th Airlift Wing and Colonel Stickford, Commander of the Wing, was there along with the Mayor of Belleville, and a host of others. One very special guest was the daughter of Annabelle Hoppe, also an Annabelle, who had driven up from St. Louis to attend the dinner. It was Annabelle Hoppe who hosted Amelia when she was in town on the 1928 trip and I very much appreciated the chance to visit with her and to relive the hospitality of Belleville, just as Amelia had.
This morning we got to the airport around 9:00 a.m. and spent a little more time than usual to get ready to go. Some oil had gotten on my windscreen from the engine the day before and we needed to taken care of that small leak. That was fixed, and after a thorough inspection of the plane we departed Belleville and headed west for Muskogee around 10:30 a.m.
Flying past the St. Louis arch and crossing the Mississippi this lovely morning was a memorable moment. The wind was lighter than expected though the hills around the Mississippi generated some turbulence, which required my full attention to the controls. Missouri is such a beautiful state with many rolling and forested hills.
We had planned for one fuel stop a little further than half way along but noticed some darkening clouds to the west. There was some concern that weather might be moving in so we landed about 75 miles early at a nice little airport called ?Salem.? There was no one there but I quickly put the self-service gas pump to work and was ready to go in only ten minutes.
Heading west the weather started looking a little more ominous and it felt as though it could rain at any moment. We were really heading west-southwest and paralleling a line of darkening, though not particularly threatening, clouds. I steered the Avian a little more northward to see if I could get around the end of it. Well, that was not to be. I had to head southwest or simply miss Oklahoma! I decided then to head directly toward Muskogee through a light mist that was starting to hit my windscreen. Then an occasional light rain shower popped up making me a little concerned about my wood propeller that does not really like to get wet.
The weather became increasingly inhospitable with the visibility and cloud ceiling dropping slowly. As any good pilot will tell you, accidents happen when you try to push the weather or keep a schedule without considering the weather and safety first. Thus, only twenty miles from Muskogee I landed at a wonderful little airport at a town called Tahlequah and parked the plane. They loaned me a car for free to drive into Muskogee. I will return it tomorrow and pick up the Avian in better weather and land at Hatbox Field at 11:00 a.m. then fly six miles to Air Show Oklahoma being held at Davis field. I should arrive there at around 1:00 ? 1:15 Sunday afternoon. That?s all for now? except of a good night?s rest!
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