KCMI to K06 to KCMI - 1.6 hours

Today's flight was to Beardstown, IL. It was a typical Sunday drive for me and the world's most beautiful passenger. The weather was fantabulous. On the way there we flew over my . . . oh, why Beardstown? Laurie (world's most beautiful passenger) is attending a women's retreat near there next weekend and asked me to fly her. We thought we'd avail ourselves of today's fantastic weather and check it out. Now you have the backstory.

So, as I was saying, our route took us right over Monticello. From the little bumps we were experiencing I fully expected to see a glider or two. While we did catch a glimpse of the tow plane parked on the taxiway and one glider outside the hangar, we didn't see any airborne. The route also took us just to the north of Decatur and Springfield. As we were flying pretty low (4,500), I thought for sure we'd see some traffic around there too, but no.

As we approached Beardstown I got to thinking about what Airnav had said about the runway ("some cracks"). I decided we'd do a low approach and survey the surface before we actually landed. We entered a left downwind for runway 18 and put in a notch of flaps. I set up for a final approach that would fly us down the west side of the runway. This way I could get a good look at the surface condition.

On final I descended to about 300' AGL (above ground level) and checked it out. As we paralleled the runway a glance at the turn/slip indicator on the PFD showed me flying in a slight slip. A look at the artificial horizon confirmed my suspicions. I was about 5 degrees nose high, hence the slight ball deflection. I gave it a little right rudder and went back to scanning the runway (Note to self: always be conscious of the ball when just 300 ft. from terra firma). From what I could tell the runway looked way better than advertised. I called the CTAF (Common Traffic Advisory Frequency) and let anyone within earshot know that we were going to make the next pattern full stop and entered the downwind.

Touchdown was nice and the runway was smooth as butter. Apparently improvements had been made since the last Airnav survey. Considering Beardstown was a tiny 4,000' x 60' strip in the middle of nowhere, I'm guessing it wasn't high on their list of priorities.

As we taxied back to the ramp, which was barren but for one lonely airplane and a guy on a cell phone, Laurie suggested we just turn around and head back. We really only came to see if it was a good drop off spot for next weekend anyway. I dutifully taxied us back to the approach end of the runway and pointed N218DF's nose back into the wind. 30 seconds later we were airborne and on our way back to Champaign.

We were light on fuel so I stayed low and slow on the way back. It was nice. I like doing that now and again. It reminds me of the days buzzing around at 100 knots in a little Cessna 152 as a student. You can see so much more detail at 3,500 feet. Illinois really is a beautiful place. You just have to have the right perspective.

As we passed north of Decatur we caught a whiff of what smelled like stale french fries. Yes, even 20 miles north at 3,500 Decatur was able to make its presence known. I can see that being handy if I have a complete avionics blackout. I'll always be able to get to Decatur. Just follow my nose.

Coming back over Monticello I called and let anyone in a glider who might be too busy looking for indications of lift in their variometers to look for traffic that I was coming through. I heard a faint, but garbled reply. Nothing else was said after that. No traffic was visible for miles. My guess is that someone was telling me they'd sewed it up for the day. It looked like that was the case anyway as I flew over the airport. Everything appeared to be put away.

As we set up for a 4 mile final to runway 14L at Champaign, I decided to try a flaps up landing. This is a procedure that I was taught during transition training. It's used in the event I have an electrical malfunction (primarily alternator failure) that requires me to conserve as much battery power as possible. It is in no way dangerous. Just slightly abnormal. Instead of flying the approach at 75 knots and full flaps I'm zooming down final at 85 knots in a slightly nose high attitude. That's the "abnormal" part. You have a slightly different picture out the front and the ground is going by a little faster as you touchdown. On a big, fat, long runway like 14L at Champaign, it's a piece of cake. There might be slightly more pucker factor if you have to do it someplace like, well, Beardstown.

I like flying them because, in a Cirrus anyway, the higher ground speed and nose high attitude makes you feel like you're flying a jet. I greased it on, but I was probably a couple knots hot. It certainly didn't take as long as it normally did to reach the turnoff at Bravo taxiway.

We shut down in front of the hangar and stepped out of the plane to a beautiful sunset and gentle breeze. They don't end much more picture book than that. Laurie snapped a picture of N218DF basking in the glow. That's the main picture that will serve as the anchor image for the blog. She's a beaut' ain't she?