The Trip North to South

The pace of the journey down from Chicago to New Orleans was constant but un-strenuous. We where only once held up by the weather. The aviation community provide all that we needed and more than we would even have expected. Everyday was different and present new challenges. As a pilot I was challenged on many occasions and constantly found myself managing and minimising risk. It was amazing dropping in on random towns along the Mississippi and beyond, accord to odd factors such as runway directions, facilities and atmospheric conditions. Where ever we landed we where confronted with something different that we had no pre requisite of, we just landed there because we needed to or wanted to because it looked interesting.

The journey across the USA north to south basically got in the pace of a morning flight for 1-1.5 hrs, arrive at airport, relax, jump in the courtesy car, eat lunch, tour town, fill up gas, come back to terminal, snooze, then fly in the afternoon to our next destination. AS we got further south the local's would be increasingly amused that we had flown our little aircraft from Chicago. In the rural south there was definitely a reticence and an initial barrier to cross. The rural southern seem to be on there guard at first. After all we were foreigners in an alien aircraft!!! (or more correctly aliens in a foreign aircraft). They were really friendly once they established what we were doing there !

Some of the things we saw and heard on this leg amazed, shocked and/or stunted us. Unfortunately we are often not in a situation where we can easily pull out the camera and start recording, (like when we where hauled in to the sheriff car in Mississippi),without breaking the flow of conversation or the ruining the situation. I guess these moments belong to the traveller yet we share these as best we can in written form below.

The Actual Route and Basic Stats fro North to South

10 days, 850 Nautical Miles, 18 hour of flight,300 litre of petrol (79 gallons)

Click to enlarge map.

A Woman Perspective from Above

A woman’s view from above


I had never dreamt of crossing the States in a trike but I have always loved flying and seeing things from above. So when Dave proposed the idea I thought -What could be a better way of seeing a country and I have never been scared of adventures so yeah –let’s go for it? I had not expected what I was about to experience – the best adventure I have ever taken part in!!!!

I didn’t tell my mum who would not have been happy as it seems a lot more dangerous then what it actually is flying a trike. We managed to get safe on the ground in some emergency landings which would not have been possible in a bigger aircraft.

Having only flown shorter legs in the trike I was a bit anxious I would get bored doing long legs such as 2-3 hours. It is quite windy and noisy up there and sometimes cold. The pilot will probably think you are a bit sensitive as he can’t feel the wind as much – well that’s because he has a wind shield to hide behind!!! So get well dressed up there in the air. After having flown in planes with cockpit I hold on to the opinion that flying in a trike is for me a lot more of a sensation as all your senses are being used.

The first leg I did get a bit bored and cold. How will I cope I thought? It quickly changed. We realised how much easier it would be if I did the navigation from the back which would allow Dave to concentrate on flying. It would also give me a sense of involvement during the voyage. I felt like we were a team now – Dave, me and MrP.

The flying community usually consists of men – married men but where are their wives? You can imagine there were a lot of engine talks and beers. I never felt secluded as I involved myself and enjoyed learning more and more about trikes and flying. There were times I was urging to get in contact with other women. I met some wonderful pilot’s wives along the way who took me under their wings and knew exactly how I felt. Such a wonderful community.

Being in the air watching everything from above gave me such inspiration. I did a lot of photographing and filming from the back. I was busy and lost track of time and was surprised each time we landed and Dave said – That was a 2.5 hour flight!!!!.

There were a few moment when I felt a slight anxiety like when we had engine problems. I always trusted Dave and I knew we would work it out together. I was glad I knew how to navigate at this stage so I could find places to land by reading the map.

Dave and I also had a side challenge to flying. We wanted to sleep as few nights in hotels as we could. It is usually more interesting camping. We had some funny nights sleeping in a boat on land due to danger of alligators close by, sleeping on the tarmac next to Mr P and some cosy nights in pilot lounges. This way of living encouraged my innovation techniques to develop. I made a shower out of a gallon water bottle, I tied together office chairs to make them into a rather comfortable bed and I was a master of finding space on the aircraft. Dave wasn’t aware of half of what was hidden in there!! I recommend packing in thin fabric shopping bags as they are light and can fit in to the awkward spaces. They are also easy to take with you if you leave the aircraft. A pocket knife and some dried soups are great to have as food supply.