Brunswick

Tuesday, my friend Dan flew me down to Brunswick in his Mooney. What a difference in speed a good stiff wind behind a fast powerful airplane makes. We made the trip in under an hour. You just can't beat horsepower and a clean design.
We were delayed for an hour while the engine block heater was given a chance to change the viscosity of the oil from Heath's Toffee to Karo syrup. So it was lunchtime on arrival. The receptionist at the FBO recommended "Willy's Wee Nee Wagon". So we borrowed the courtesy car (a red, Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer) and had a great meal!
Dan is looking to buy a cruising sailboat and run away to the Islands. We went to the Brunswick City Marina to crawl a 2000 Island Packet 420 cutter. Cleanest 10 year-old boat I've ever seen! The only upgrades to the boat is a recent 20-inch HD TV/Monitor on a swing-away mount in place of the original tube-type TV. Boat has had very little actual sailing/cruising use. Great engine access. And most of the toys. Needs an installed generator and wind or solar charging. Canvas needs TLC. ETC. But a really sweet cruiser!
Got back out to the airport around 3 o'clock and checked weather and wind for the return. The winds were still near the 15-knot crosswind limit, but doable. But the winds aloft were howling. from 3-6000 feet the winds were around 40 knots and nearly perfectly head-on for a boy trying to get home. The quick math went this way. No wind the trip was 138 nautical miles at 105 miles an hour for 1+20 and home at 4:50 or so. If the forecast wind is right, my ground speed woulkd only be around 65 knots with an arrival in Augusta at around 5:40.
Thr problem is that's solidly AFTER sunset. For a Day VFR pilot, that wouldn't work.
Got Dan on his way back home. Arranged to get a shuttle to the Embassy Suites. They came to get me, but were sold out! They got me room at a Hampton near I-95 and shuttled me there.
Had supper at the Waffle House, settled in and called Dan.
The winds aloft weren't as advertised. He only saw 10 knots on the nose which would have only added 8 minutes to the trip. Que sera!
Watched TV and snoozed the night away. The overnight low was 19F. After breakfast, a quick cab ride got me out on the flight line. While untying the tail I noticed an unusual amount of fresh engine oil on the bottom of the airplane.
Pulled off the cowlings and saw oil on the engine. Not just the usual wayward drop or two. Cowled the engine. Checked oil quantity. Started and warmed the engine up while paying close attention to the oil pressure and temperature. All seemed normal. Took the cowlings back off, but unable to isolate the leak. Decided to monitor oil consumption and engine parameters carefully, but go home.
Once off Brunswick and climbing, JAX CENTER wanted to know if I was routing to Savannah to avoid the Military areas. I confirmed that. I was also having a continuation of the headset problems that have plagued me. I reached over, took the unused copilot's set and used it the rest of the trip.
JAX got me north of Fort Stewart and cleared me direct to Augusta. That course took me right up the northeast boundary of the restricted areas. I could tell that we'd soon be over what appeared to be tank or artillery ranges. I deviated away from that. You gotta love the Garmin with moving map!
Almost immediately I could see the steam plume from Plant Vogtle 70 miles away. Turned up the XM radio and enjoyed the ride. Warm, fast and smooth. Cleared in to Augusta I pulled the throttle back and started a slow descent. That's when the warm part stopped. Tamping down the fires means less heat in the muffler which means cold feet! Next time I'll wait for the VNAV to kick in.
Greeted at the gate by my lovely wife, we secured the bird in the hangar. Way too cold to lay on the concrete and clean up oil.