AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022 - 39

was disappointed and so was I. But then we
thought just because AirVenture has been
canceled, doesn't mean our father and son
flying adventure had to be canceled also. We
had the vacation days marked off, we have
an airplane, so we began planning our nonOshkosh
flying adventure.
We always wanted to visit Mount
Rushmore and the Badlands of South
Dakota, so that became our main destination.
I have a cousin who lives in Michigan
and a sister who lives in Colorado, so I
added those destinations to the journey. A
good buddy of mine told me about a cool
airport, called Poplar Grove, and said it is
a " must see. " So, that was added too. After
much research and flight planning, we
were ready to go.
We packed the airplane and departed
Sky Manor Airport (N40) at 8:30 a.m.
on July 17. There was a 1,500-foot overcast,
so I filed an IFR flight to Jackson
County-Reynolds Field (JXN) in Michigan
for lunch and then to our first destination,
Ottawa Executive Airport (Z98) in
Zeeland, Michigan, to visit my cousin
Gary. He lives on an airpark with his wife
Darlene and owns a Van's RV-10 and a
beautiful Just Highlander on floats that
he built. After a great dinner, Gary took
Hunter in the Highlander for a sunset
flight and a few landings on a local lake.
In the morning, we enjoyed breakfast
and were in the air by 10:15 a.m. We flew
over Lake Michigan to our first fuel stop
in Minnesota's Redwood Falls Municipal
Airport (RWF) and then another in Huron
Regional Airport (HON) in South Dakota.
Next, we flew low through the Badlands,
circled Mount Rushmore National
Memorial and the Crazy Horse Memorial
and then landed at our destination, Custer
County Airport in South Dakota (CUT).
The following day was jammed packed.
We rented a car and went to Mount
Rushmore, drove all the scenic drives
through Custer State Park, and did the long
drive through Rapid City, South Dakota, to
check out the Badlands from the ground
and watched the sunset. Super cool places
that everyone should visit.
The next day we woke up at 6 a.m.
sharp because we rented a utility terrain
vehicle, which is a dune buggy type vehicle
made by Polaris, to go riding through
the local logging trails of Custer.
Hunter Kahle and Jim Kahle.
One great aspect about owning an
airplane is that you can do things spontaneously
that you normally couldn't do
because of time constraints and distance
needed to travel. While eating lunch,
after an action-packed morning in the
trails, Hunter and I were pondering what
to do next. I said, " Devils Tower is only
a 30-minute flight from Custer. " He said,
" Let's do it! " So, we hopped in the airplane
and flew to Hulett, Wyoming. We circled
Devils Tower and then landed at Hulett
Municipal Airport (W43). For those who
remember the movie Close Encounters of
the Third Kind, Devils Tower was the site
where the alien spaceships landed. Devils
Tower is 867 feet from its base to the summit.
It stands 1,267 feet above the Belle
Fourche River and is 5,112 feet above sea
level. We hiked the trail around the base
of the butte. What a spectacular site from
the air and the ground. Something that
would have taken us all day was accomplished
with ease in my airplane.
On day six of our adventure, we
departed for the City of Colorado Springs
Municipal Airport (COS). We flew south
along the Rocky Mountains, west of
Denver and ate lunch at the Airplane
Restaurant adjacent to the airfield. There
is a restored Boeing KC-97 Tanker that
you can eat your meal in and a ton of cool
aviation memorabilia decorating the restaurant.
We visited with my sister and her
family and the next day we drove up Pikes
Peak, the highest summit of the southern
Rockies at 14,115 feet. In the afternoon we
toured the Garden of the Gods rock park
and the town of Colorado Springs.
On day eight, it was time to head back
east. This day's destination was Poplar
Grove Airport in Illinois (C77). This is
an amazing airpark with an active EAA
chapter. My friend LD, who lives at Poplar
Grove with his wife, Kelly, was an amazing
host and tour guide and showed us all
around the airpark and introduced us to
a bunch of cool pilots.
The next day we all flew in a fourship
formation-Van's RV-8 and
RV-7A, Cessna 195, and a rare Waco-
to Janesville, Wisconsin's Southern
Wisconsin Regional Airport (JVL) for
breakfast at Bessie's Diner. My son flew
in the RV-8 and in the Waco, with some
loops and rolls as a bonus, on the return
flight to Poplar Grove.
After a tour of the EAA building at
Poplar Grove, where some volunteers
were building a Curtiss Jenny, we enjoyed
a fascinating history lesson about a beautiful,
Ryan PT-22. The owner then gave
Hunter and me rides. It was the first time
I experienced an open-cockpit airplane.
There's nothing like flying low and slow
over the soybean fields with the wind
blowing, the smells from the farms while
the sun sets. It was another fantastic day
of aviation, made all the better because I
shared these experiences with my son.
Without general aviation, this adventure
would have never happened. In just
10 days, we flew more than 25 hours and
covered 3,200 miles. We saw so much
of the United States and experienced so
many amazing things, but what I cherished
the most was the wonderful people
we met along the way and the time spent
with my son.
This summer we are flying to
AirVenture 2022! Jim Kahle is a passionate
aviator from Morristown, New Jersey.
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022
