Checked out of the Homestead and got to the airport early in order to take off for Phillip, SD then onto Mandan. But this time it wasn't the weather but one of our aircraft didn't cooperate.

On the previous evening, Kari and Kim hadn't been able to shut down 339SP. And in the morning, a pool of fuel had been noticed underneath the engine. Turns out the problem is with a portion of the fuel injection system, a solenoid to be exact. So while Tony and the crew of Advanced Air worked the issue, the FOD had their pictures taken by Mariano for Plane & Pilot while I started thinking about Plan B.

Eventually it was decided to take all our gear back to the Homestead. We doubled up, putting three crew in each aircraft and headed out to Phillip, SD for our meeting with the Milesville School kids. Tony at Advanced said he could probably have the work done by this evening so we planned on a return to CBF instead of continuing on to Mandan. I called Amy to let her know of the change in plans.

After a stop in Yankton, SD for fuel, we arrived at the airport in Philip just afternoon; headwinds slowing us down a bit. We were met at the airport by Lori Quinn, who was instrumental in us sending a TOD to Milesville. Lori took us all in her SUV to Milesville Hall where we met with about 50 students, parents and their teacher, Carmen One Skunk. The parents had cooked a hearty lunch for us; what a deal!

Milesville School's Trunk of Discovery is sponsored by our friend Dan Waldman and it illustrates what the TOD program is all about. We listened as the some of the students explained others how the TOD is used and we examined the plant, rock and plaster cast footprints that the kid's have collected to date. One boy claimed to have 9,009 rocks in his personal collection (later confirmed by his mother). Another student said that he'd taken an on-line aptitude test that said he should pursue a career in aviation. We gave him one of our patches.

Jill, Kim and Kari did a fantastic job explaining women's roles in aviation and the girls were enchanted. Greg taught the parents and teachers about how to use a GPS and Tony took a great series of photos. Then it was off to the Milesville School itself.

There was some concern about getting back to CBF before dark, but after some discussion it was determined that since there were a number of airports enroute, we would fly until a safe landing could be assured before sunset. As it turned out, the Comanche landed only 20 minutes before 722RJ with Kim piloting the Cessna in for a greaser just as the runway lights turned crystalline in the dusk. 339SP was repaired and we celebrated with some great BBQ and root beer at a local restaurant.

Flight Operations

Lori Quinn picked us up and drove us 30 miles on a narrow dirt road to join the kids of Philip for a FOD presentation. These kids were so much fun! They even presented to us what they have been doing with the TOD. Greg took the teachers and parents outside and taught them how to use their GPS unit so they could teach it to the kids, and the rest of us broke up into groups inside working with the kids on weather, charts, and aviation. Before driving us back to the airport, they took us to their one room schoolhouse, where Carmen One Skunk is the teacher for all grades. Some of these kids actually drive over 50 miles each day to school or to the grocery store. The countryside is flat barren farm land. Farming and trucking seem to be the biggest industry.