Waypoints: Check notams

Fuel here is more than a buck a gallon cheaper than at home. And, hopefully, that big storm will be out of the way by the time we fuel up and take off in that direction for home, just another 85 miles ahead. Yep, I was feeling pretty good. We had left Rice Lake, Wisconsin, four hours earlier. Over those 655 nautical miles, we had traversed a good chunk of the country with a slight tailwind at 9,000 feet. But as we crossed Lake Erie near Cleveland on our southeasterly course, the wind shifted slightly to a headwind, and clouds piled up along the lakeshore. Nexrad showed scattered showers and thunderstorms ahead with tops well above us. I’ve always said Johnstown is the breeding ground for eastern thunderstorms, and this August afternoon was proving me right.

We had spent a long weekend at a private grass strip in rural Wisconsin hanging out with a few other pilots and doing some air-to-air and ground video and photography of their remarkable airplanes. Aside from a few hours of rain overnight Friday and into Saturday morning, the weather had been great. We accomplished a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the company and camaraderie we had been missing since COVID-19 came crashing into our lives.

The forecast for our Sunday return had been for mostly clear skies and a strong tailwind. Unfortunately, forecasts are just that. We woke up Sunday to dense fog and the promise of storms along the second half of our route—and not much of a tailwind.

I had scoped out fuel prices along the route and planned Johnstown as a fuel stop. Fuel there was about the cheapest of anywhere in the region and it was right along the route. That way I would arrive back at the home drome of Frederick, Maryland, with as much fuel as possible. Fuel at home is among the highest in the region.

As the storms piled up just southeast of Johnstown, I was beginning to get concerned about our ability to get home after refueling, but we trundled on through northeastern Ohio and into southwestern Pennsylvania, all the while evaluating various other options. As we dodged some cloud tops and picked our way around the scattered storms, it looked like our Plan A was going to work. However, fuel was beginning to be a concern. If Johnstown got socked in, we would need to turn around and head back to the northwest to a couple of airports I had already identified.

Soon, though, we came around the corner of a large cloud and there was Johnstown’s 7,000-foot-long runway. We landed and pulled up to the FBO. As we opened the Bonanza’s door, a lineman asked, “What can I do for you?”

“Top if it off, please. We’ll be heading right back out again,” I said.

“Oh, sorry. We don’t have any avgas. It’s in the notam.”

What! How did I miss the notam? He must be wrong. I pulled out Foreflight and poked the Notam tab. Sure enough, it was there—right at the top. No avgas available. How could I have missed that? I had looked at the route a week or more earlier—focused on gas prices—and was expecting to finish the detailed planning later. Well, later came and apparently, I missed that step.

So, there we were, low on fuel and with scattered storms all around. We went inside the spiffy new FBO and studied the radar map for a while and scoured the region for airports away from the weather. It appeared that Cumberland, Maryland, was the best choice, 42 nm south with a path relatively clear of the slow-moving storms. A call to the FBO confirmed they were open and had avgas.

With an IFR flight plan filed for the short trip, we climbed away from Johnstown as I carefully watched the fuel gauges. I had installed CiES digital fuel senders and new electronic fuel gauges a couple of years ago, so I knew exactly how much I had—but those yellow bars made me nervous.

Minutes later we descended into Cumberland. As we shut down, I checked the fuel quantity—13.1 gallons remaining. About an hour at lean-of-peak cruise.

We topped off and filed another IFR flight plan for the 65-nm trip home, flying in the clear past some amazing rain shafts. Forty minutes after we landed, those same storms ripped through Frederick, causing flooding and wind damage on the south side of the city.

You’ve heard me preach, “Check notams before every flight.” I didn’t, and it caused me more angst than I care to admit. Don’t be like me—I’m trying not to be like me. Check notams. Save yourself the grief.

Email [email protected], @tomhaines29