By the time you read this, the mission will be underway.

As you may recall, last week-end I went down to Beckley, West Virginia on "business" of a sort. Well that business was to look at an aircraft. I looked at one, and I ultimately bought it.

It's not a Corsair, It's not a Mustang, and it's not a Spitfire. It's not even the O-2A FAC bird that a certain redhead talked me out of buying last year (The so-called "chance of a lifetime, deal of the century" that is still for sale a year later, having been joined by two others just like it last I checked.)

No, mine is but a simple Cessna 172G.



It has no war history and no patched battle damage. If it has stories to tell, they probably aren't too interesting. But it's clean, and it's been well cared-for. The engine is low-time since overhaul and the avionics have been updated over the years so that it's comparable with anything out there today. In fact, it's a solid and well-maintained aircraft that was most recently owned by an A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) mechanic and flown regularly. It's only real flaw is a paint job that's flaking pretty bad in spots. But we can deal with that later. The current need it to get it home, and that's today's mission.

By the time you read this, I'll have gotten off a commercial jet 500 or so miles from the Lair. If things work as planned, and if weather cooperates, I will be flying this aircraft from western Kentucky back to far northeastern West Virginia. I hope to make the trip in an afternoon, and I'll have my iPad along with me, which I'll try to use for an update or two along the way if able.

If nothing else, count on pictures tomorrow, probably accompanied by a few tales of minor screw-ups along the way. It's been a while since I've made a long cross-country flight, and unfamiliar territory and a new (to me) aircraft should make for an interesting trip.

So stay tuned for updates, and if you're somewhere along the flight path from GLW to MRB and you hear something overhead, you might want to duck.

And if when I make it back, I gonna go get me a Big Watch. (h/t Ed Rasimus)

OK, so it'll probably wind up being a Timex. But it's a start.