May Mountain Adventure

Leg 4 - 5/9/2023 - Kansas City, MO (KMKC) to Dodge City, KS (KDDC)

Leg Stats

• Time Enroute: 2.3 hrs
• Distance (direct): 266nm
• Distance (actual): 301nm
• Fuel Used: 24.5 gal

By checkout time on Tuesday, I had found out my friend Adam, a stand-up comedian and actor, was doing shows starting on Thursday in Wichita, KS. Since that was in the general direction we were heading, I started watching weather and planned to get off work early and depart towards Wichita around 4pm.

The weather was a cold front approaching from the northwest, however it was not due to arrive until later in the evening. We Ubered back to the airport (which has a cool TWA museum!) and I started to preflight while Katherine finished her work day. I saw the front was tracking well ahead of schedule but it seemed like we could still get to Wichita before the weather, so we set off as quick as possible. This turned out to be overly optimistic. The front was moving at least 30 kts, and so by the time we were halfway to Wichita (less than an hour, normally), it was clear that we would lose the race, with Wichita beginning to report >45kt gusts. There was an angry looking wall of clouds just a couple miles off our wing for much of the flight and we saw a 20 kt TAS boost at one point from the updrafts, before I put a little distance between us and the weather. We had plenty of divert fuel (>2 hours), so I started looking for options to get 'behind' the front. Ultimately I settled on getting west of the weather and waiting for the front to pass and then coming back behind it. The weather in Dodge City was clear, but windy.

We landed and were immediately greeted with the unmistakable smell of the nearby cattle yards. We quickly ordered fuel, and again grabbed the crew car to get some tacos. On return to the airport around 7pm, it was clear we were not leaving. The winds were well over 40kt at times, and the doors on the FBO were repeatedly being sucked open from the wind. Fortunately the FBO had a rental car, they tucked us in a hangar, and we found a cheap no-frills motel in town, so we decided to stay the night. The next day we made a quick stop by the Boot Hill Museum to check out 'Old Dodge City', and then we headed back to the airport in the late afternoon.

Trip Leg Navigation