Kimbrell Coast to Coast, 1-1-99  Images from H. Rob Overly III

Sunrise at Palm Coast take-off point.

Scott and Wink during pre-flight of their Golden Eagles

Big John gets airborne while Dennis Evans completes preflight.

The flight to River Ranch.

Wink landing at River Ranch; Rob on approach.

Big John on take-off from River Ranch; Pat and Rob turning west and heading to Manatee.

The Chase.

Mike Marron of Ultraflight Magazine.

Tampa Bay and the final destination.

George Hawkins at Manatee Airport getting some well deserved rest while the rest of us pack up?

The pilots (from left to right): Dennis, Wink, John, Scott, Pat, Mike Marron, and Windsock.

Comments from participants:
 

From John, The event started out by checking into the Ramada Inn in Melbourne, Fla. Once every one arrived we went out to eat at Applebees.  This turned out to be a complete disaster.  My wife finally got her food as we were leaving. but we were determined not to let anything get us down.  The weather looked good and we wanted to fly.    On New Year's Day we were off to the field at 5:45 am.  We had planned to stop and get a biscuit, but the restaurant was closed, so on to the field. The field was in the middle of what would have been a huge subdivision.  All the streets were paved but no houses.  Every street looked the same in the dark.  Oh, yes we couldn't find the field that had been mowed.  Finally just before sunrise Dennis found the field. ( a special thanks to Dennis and his wife on all the last minute preparation) Every one unloaded and started to warm up.  Pat and I were the first to head down the field to lay out.  Sunup was already upon us and we knew we needed to get airborne.  Pat (in a single seat Buckeye), Rob (in a Six Chuter) and me (in a two place Buckeye) were the first ones up.  I set my GPS on the first stop and we headed out in hopes that the other would soon follow.  The others: Wink (in a Golden Eagle), Dennis (in a ParaPlane) and Scott with a passenger (in a Golden Eagle) were about a 1/2 mile behind.       The first 3 or 4 miles were over nothing but wet lands, no roads at all, the only trails were made by airboats.  If you had went down it would have been a job to get the plane out.  Soon there were pastures to be seen, I personally breathed a little easier. The rest of the trip was beautiful, lakes, farms, swamps, pastures it was great.  According to my GPS I was flying at 43 to 45 miles per hour, so we had a 15 mph wind going with us.  The wind was constant so the ride was very smooth.  When we reached River Ranch the guys had caught up to us.  As we turned into the wind for final approach you really noticed the change in speed.  Several of us low passed the field and everyone landed safely.  Due to our flight speed we had to wait on the chase crews to arrive for about 30 min. Gave us all time to talk and shed a few jackets as it was getting warm fast. Once the chase crews arrived we refueled and again the Buckeye's (Pat and I) had our engines running and ready to go, but had to wait for a couple of the chase vehicle to move before we could take off.  The wind seemed to be picking up so we wanted to get going.  Pat's chute opened as soon as it came up and he was off the ground in 50 ft.  Me in my Quantum took about 100 ft.  The wind was quite rough until you got up to about 500 ft.  Everyone had a good take off and we were off again.  Once up, I set My GPS and headed to the next stop which would be fuel stop #3, since we had decided to skip stop #2.  I was trying to get a head start on those Golden Eagles and the ParaPlane.  This was going to be a 53 mile run and I knew they pass me a I would be way behind in that distance.  However after about 20 miles it looked as though no one was gaining on me so I made a big 360.  Within 10 or 15 more miles here comes Wink in that GE and Dennis in his Paraplane.  Got several good pictures of them as they flew by.  I was flying at about 2000 ft and taking in the scenery.  Boy Fla. is flat, lots of lakes and boats, people fishing everywhere.  Airboats looked like they were flying down narrow channels in the grass.  For those of you that didn't come, you really missed it.    About 5 or 6 miles from our next fuel stop we all discussed if we had enough fuel to skip it and go on to Manatee on the West coast (another 30 miles past the next fuel stop).  The Golden Eagles had no problem there gas tanks hold 13 gallons, the ParaPlane had two extra tanks on and with the flip of a valve could have 5 or 6 gallons more, the Six Chuter also had an extra 5 gallons.  That left Pat and I with only our 8 gallon standard tanks.  We decided we could also make it, with about 1 to 1-1/2 gallons to spare.  So I reset the GPS and it showed 38 miles to go and I had about 4 gallons of fuel. No problem at 40 to 45 mph.  The air was still very smooth and the scenery was great.  As we approached Tampa the sky was clear and it was about noon time. The view of the bay and surrounding area was great, I could see several big ships in the bay, and the Sunshine Parkway bridge.  As we began to loose altitude the ride began to get rough.  At about 500 ft the wind didn't want to let you descend.  Once through that on final approach the wind was everywhere (by that I mean up, down, side to side and in front and behind) .  However everyone made a good safe landing.  There was lots of excitement once everyone was down, We had made it in what I think will surely be a record time. Everyone was congratulating each other on the landings and that we had made the first flight across Florida.    Even though I had never met Richard Kimbrell I had come to know him on the list.  We all agreed that he would have surely been here and enjoyed the flight.  It was at this time that we all agreed to name this coast to coast for Richard.    The chase crews finally arrived about an hour later, after making a wrong turn or two.  I would like to thank all the wives and other members of the chase crews.  All of us pilots appreciate your work.  To anyone planning a cross country, remember the chase crew works while we get to play(fly), they are diffidently the most important part of the venture.     We ended our day at Outback reatraunt and unlike Applebee's the service was flawless.  The food was excellent and waitress never missed a beat. Thanks again Wink.     I think it was George who said this list helped him to meet new people. It has helped me to meet 5 more guys and some of there familles.  Pat I already knew and to Scott, Dennis, George, Wink and Rob, I really enjoyed meeting and flying with you.  Now that I know you, your responses will mean a lot more on the list.       I had a fantastic time and am looking forward to next year.  BIGJOHN.................JOHN MASSEY

From Pat, Well ,well, well , back home from the flight across Florida and what a great time it was. The flight itself was a blast and the people were the greatest, many thanks to Scott and Dennis for the planning and prior preparation to make this a safe and enjoyable adventure and the great ladies (wives)  that served with valor as the all important chase crew.   The weather was great and the wind gods smiled on us by giving us that little extra push in the right direction, I kinda wanna say that Richard may have put in a good word for us, and was looking down on us through the entire flight, I know he was there on the final landing and gave me that little extra gust of wind to deal with  just prior to touch down,( I'd swear I heard him laugh when I had to deal with that gust), but he let me down softly at the last second, I think that was his way of saying  Hi & Thanks !   I've flown with Big John and Rob (Wind Sock)  before  but this is my first time to ever fly with Scott , Wink & Dennis they all are a great  bunch of guys and impressive ppc pilots and I will fly a cross country with them any time.   We were expecting a bigger turn out than we had , but the last minute tally is always much less than the original "Yea I'm in" when it  gets down to the wire for some reason it separates the flyers from the posters. ha ha ha, just kidding.  I guess Bob and Larry are just too busy selling planes and training students,  there were more Golden Eagles there than Six Chuters, Bob you and Larry should be penalized by Six Chuter for not showing up and selling some spring rods on such an occasion as this. Maybe next year huh! Should we put you down as pilots or no shows for next year, there is only 364 days left to make plans to be there.  Just kidding guys , We had planned to rag ya'll out , but we really wished ya'll could have made this maiden flight with us and been a part of the first coast to coast . Scott will be posting the weather prior to next years flight so ya'll stay tuned. I think I know 6 people that wouldn't miss the next flight for anything. I know I plan on being there and the other 5 are all ready to do the  Flight Across Georgia . Pat

From Rob, First of all let me say that it is appropriate that I post last on this  since I was the last one to land in Manatee this past weekend.:-). I can't believe it, after waiting a year after last year's attempt was  aborted due to high winds, the trip was finally on. Last year, I was going  to bring my dad along to drive chase since, as a retired corporate pilot,  he got a real kick watching these lunatics fly something so bazarre as a  powered parachute. Well what initially started as a weekend with the old  man quickly grew to an RV full of the parents, my daughter, Kate and her  kids.... a real army. And now the big question would be where do we start:  on the gulf coast to fly east or on the east coast to fly west? The final  word was that there would be a wind blowing out of the east on Friday, so  our take off point would be from Palm Coast. The flight was on!!! I gathered Kate and the kids, drove down to central Florida to pick up the  folks and the RV and we all headed south toTitusville. Thanks to the  cool-headed directions of Dennis and Naomi Evans our caravan was brought in  for a landing at the Ramada Inn at Palm Coast, and true to precedent I was  last to arrive. Dennis, Pat, Scott, Wink,and John were there with planes  and chase crew. BUT WAIT.... there was no Bob Ogg anywhere to be seen. I  couldn't believe it. Were all the stories that Richard Kimbrell told me  about Bob's lack of a spine really true? It was a sad day when I finally  learned that there truly was no Santa Ogg. Well all I can say is that if it  is any consolation, those that did show up proved to be a collection of  true adventurers. I have flown with Pat and knew that he was definitely one  you could count on for a good time, and there was George Hawkins who was  asked to come along as ballast for Scott's flying RV (Golden Eagle), but  the rest of the guys were relatively new to me (except Scott who I met  while he was pampering his plane at Sun-N-Fun). The final count included  one Buckeye Falcon (Pat Thaxton), a Buckeye Dream Machine (Big John), a  ParaPlane Osprey (Dennis Evans), two Golden Eagle luxery liners (Scott and  Wink), and my ancient Six-Chuter. With the stage set and the cast in place  and briefed about the the morning's trek, we all went to Applebees to have  dinner at budget prices due to Scott's intimate relations with the  management. Now, there was a part of the flight that I did not fully expect. Dennis had  planned an initial twist in the morning activity involving a variation of  an easter egg hunt. Only this time we were not looking for eggs but the  field that we were to fly out of. I learned that it is awfully hard to find  a field, that is freshly mowed in an abandoned residential development full  of deteriorating roads and scrub growth, in the dark of night. However,  after what seemed to be a half hour of searching, the field was found, the  planes unloaded and warmed up, and we were ready to get under way. Pat got off the ground first and I followed his lead. We both loitered  around the field waiting for the rest of the group to get up into the air  and it was at that point that we determined to go forego flying to the  beach. Scott took off wih Kate aboard plane during the first leg to River  Ranch. Later, she told me that the in-flight movie was exceptional although  the food service was a bit lacking. With all of us up, the squadron headed  west with GPSs' indicating that  our ground speed was over 40 mph. This was  going to be a fast flight. We got to River Ranch way ahead of the ground crew. Kate informed me that  John told her that we were going to eat breakfast there since we did not  get much to eat at Palm Coast. Being that I am the gullable guy that I am,  I go in, reserve a table for twenty people, and proceed to the buffet line  for what I was told was some great food. Kate and I just sat down when the  chase crew arrived, so I tell Sharon (Pat's wife) that we had a table  reserved and I went back in to enjoy my meal. Within a minute Sharon  informed me that the group is preparing to take off. I hate leaving a good  meal! Well everyone posted about the flight and how we went straight on to  Manatee. I can only say that it was a great time with some real good  people. Thanks again to Scott and Dennis for setting the flight up; to Wink  for a great meal at Outback; it's great to have seen Pat again and I look  forward to heading back to Thompson for some more of his hospitality: and  it was awfully nice meeting you and your wife John, even though I had to  eat my River Ranch breakfast the following day. George.... I need some more  duct tape. I am scanning photos to give to Q to post. And, yes, Scott you  will get a copy. Now that we have done it, I do have a few suggestions. Pat mentioned that  Richard would have loved the flight, and he is right. But the Richard that  I knew would have flown low into the farm fields that were below us and  played a little. In addition, as George knows, there are some really great  places that we can fly over as we go from point A to point B such as  Cypress Gardens, Bok Tower, and of course Chalet Suzanne (great photo  ops.). After all, like the rest of you, I landed at Manatee with alot of  fuel left (half a tank) and regretted not using every last drop while  flying. Also it would be great if the Polo Fields were our final  destination. I think it would be great to have a tailgate party there after  the flight, that is if we were flying from east to west. Scott, I think I forgot to tell you that Kate is a naval doctor whose  military platform is with a forward unit of Marines. Messing with her is  like spitting into the wind, you will lose every time. I really am  impressed with the Polo Fields and am looking forward to coming down for  your fly-ins there. I talked to Michelle today to tell her of the flight. One idea that I  thought of (yes George I can engage the brain every once and a while) was  to get the silk screen template of Richard's old logo and print up T-Shirts  to be given to all the participants each year Wishing all of you Severe Clear Skies, Windsock

From George, Harald et al -- It's the answer to the same question in a different sense, but yes, the list is working. Before the sun rose on New Year's morning, I was with a group of twenty-one other people, getting ready to launch six powered parachutes in an attempt to fly across Florida.  I met all but eight or nine of these people only hours earlier.  Nine months ago, I knew none of them.  I met them all as a result of subscribing to this mailing list.  I think the list is working pretty well. You've already seen Scott's flight report on a prior post.  Everyone made it fine.  Tailwinds were 20+,  so flying time was between 2:50 and 3:05, approximately, for the 114.3 mile trip, depending on the unit.  The group used the first fuel stop, decided to skip the second before taking off, and decided to skip the third while in the air.  The second leg of the trip was 82 miles plus a couple more to go to Tampa Bay and back to the Manatee airport, for those who made that final loop.  I was a passenger in Scott's Golden Eagle for the 82-mile leg, and the air was almost perfectly smooth from about five minutes after takeoff until about fifteen minutes before landing.  The last fifteen minutes were some of the roughest I have ever been in.   The approach had all kinds of gusts and thermal activity, resulting in some difficult landing conditions.  Everyone landed smoothly and gently, which means that all of these guys knew what they were doing. Here are some other observations: Pat Thaxton had a gorgeous two-color APCO chute that went up beautifully over his single seat Buckeye.  It wasn't the fastest flyer, but worked very nicely. Pat also had a neat radio setup where he could  hear or broadcast on either aircraft band or CB.  Trouble is, Pat speaks a different version of the English language from the rest of us.  He has a real enthusiasm for flying, and was pretty hilarious when some of his words were close enough to real English for us to understand.  I believe that if you had a contest to go from enclosed trailer to airborne in the least amount of time, Pat would have no peers.  'Give me ten minutes and a couple hundred feet, and I'm gone.'  A great guy who has given me a lot of help with my engine problems (See 'Hat Trick' post). Big John Massey was another Buckeye pilot who, like Pat, came down from Georgia with a nice enclosed trailer.  John helped look at my broken engine parts and shake his head   with the rest of us.  John's chute was purple and blue, and the kids on the chase crew nicknamed it the 'Barney chute.'  I don't know what kind of chute it was, but for whatever reason, it was a faster flyer than Pat's APCO, although with a couple of exceptions, there wasn't much difference among the speeds. One of the speed exceptions was Wink Winkler.  Wink is a nice guy with a Golden Eagle, and he was the fastest flyer in the bunch.  On the long leg of the trip, he was the fifth of six to take off, but arrived first, by about five minutes or so, on a trip of just under two hours.  Since I was in the back seat of Scott's identical Golden Eagle, providing more total weight, we wondered why Wink flew faster.  There was some explanation about how his center of gravity was farther forward than ours, and that overcame the weight loading difference.  Since Wink's not on this list, I can tell the truth.  It was all those Goo-Goo Clusters he ate the night before.  No telling how much faster he would have been if I hadn't helped him eat some of them. While I'm on it, I guess I'll mention the other Golden Eagle pilot, Scott Cunnyngham.  As Harald, Scott has trouble spelling his name.  Most of you on the list know Scott, so I can't fool you with any stories about what a great guy he is.  You know the truth.  But, Scott was the major organizer of the event, and deserves the credit for getting the idea and following through.  I had the pleasure of sitting in the back seat of that prize-winning craft for the last 82 miles, and felt firsthand Scott's piloting skill as he brought us down gently in the midst of some really rough air.  Scott has also shown sympathy and helped in my recent engine problems.  He's also the only other person who has been there all three times my engine seized.  Could there be a coincidence?  I've never seen him and Superman together at the same time, either.  Coincidence? Those of you who know Dennis Evans know what a great, positive guy he is.  He deserves the credit for organizing the eastern end of the trip and for helping Scott map out the route.  Also, he was pressed into harder service the last couple of days when the prevailing winds dictated a reversal of the route for the trip.  Hats off to Dennis for that and for the fact that he was flying probably the oldest craft on the trip, a ParaPlane.  I think it's an Osprey model.  It was also one of the faster craft in the air. Last of the ragwing pilots is Rob (Windsock) Overly.   I'm listing him last to show the appropriate lack of respect.  His old 6C Aerochute was the slowest flyer, but he made a feather-light touchdown at the Manatee Airport in spite of getting bounced around on approach like I've never seen before.  Besides being a really nice guy, he is also lucky, and provided some great-looking backseat ballast for Scott on the first leg of the trip.  It was after meeting Kate in September that I put out the post that touted the 6C as a babe magnet, having met Tonto a few weeks prior.  Way to go Rob !  Great to see you all. Now that you know the lay of the land, maybe we can get you down here to fly some. I need to mention Mike Marron (relying on Scott's spelling here), of Ultraflight magazine, too.  He flew along for most of the trip in his trike. As we left the field at the start of the trip, Mike took off and buzzed the chase crew on his way out.  That's a cool machine.  He flew around us for most of the second leg, climbing up, spiraling down, and looking like he was having a really great time.  Because it is a fixed wing, I guess you have to be more like a 'real' pilot to fly one, but it sure did look like fun.  We were glad to have Mike along and I guess he'll make our pilots famous by writing an article on them. And I should also mention some pilots who were not there, but I won't, because they weren't.  Except for that chickens**t Ogg, who was afraid I would get my engine working and outfly him.  Bob, you will be welcome for the 1/1/2001 flight, but not next year's.  Those who said they were coming but backed out, have to sit out a year.  And Scott says by not showing up, you added five years to the already infinite number of years it would be before he lets you fly the Golden Eagle. Finally, anyone who has participated in one of these things knows that the chase crew works hard.  No exception here.  Because I was part of the chase crew for a part of the trip, I won't brag on the chase crew very much, but for others who might plan such an outing, give the chase crew a lot of planning consideration and respect. As Scott mentioned yesterday, this flight, and others that will follow, will bear Richard's name. So Harald, in answer to your question, and to paraphrase that famous saying that comes around about this time of year --  'Yes Harald, the list is working.' --  George

From Scott, Yes it did.  There were only 6 of us (excluding Oggy, your loss pal) but what a blast we had.  We got in the air at 07:30 am.  Our first fuel stop was River Ranch which we made in about 1 hour.  We had to wait 45 minutes on the chase crews to arrive for refueling.  We had 2 more fuel stops planned but because we had a 15-20 mph tailwind we decided to skip the 2nd fuel stop and go directly to the 3rd.  We were making such good time averaging about 46 mph ground speed we also skipped the 3rd fuel stop and flew nonstop to the Gulf Coast.  At least 2 of us that were flying Golden Eagles would have been able to fly coast to coast non stop.  On my only fuel stop I added 3 gallons of fuel and had over 4 gallons left when arriving at the final stop.  The weather was beautiful, about 75 degrees with a perfect tailwind for the flight. The flyers were myself, Pat Thaxton, Dennis Evans, Rob (Windsock) Overly, Wink Winkler and Big John Massey.  All flew solo except I offered cross country instruction to Rob's lady friend Kate and George Hawkins.  George kinda got the best deal because his training began at River Ranch and of course lasted the balance of the trip.  Our total flight time to cover Florida was right at 3 hours. We were also joined by Mike Marron of Ultraflight Magazine in his trike. He followed along and took multiple aerial photographs for a story he will be writing for the magazine. We also renamed the flight "Kimbrell Coast to Coast Memorial" and will be doing this each New Years day from here on. Those of you that have been complaining about flight withdrawel eat your hearts out and plan on attending next year. --  Regards, Scott Cunnyngham ParaVenture, Inc. http://www.paraventure.com