The headwinds were forecasted to be horrendous. Considering we had to get from Atlanta back to AZ before end of day Saturday, Matt and I decided to get some miles in.

We had zero plan for where we were headed. This is my favorite way to travel the country. We blasted off (after a thorough checkout of course) and headed toward home.

While on the ground, I had added the GDL-69a to my XM account so we were receiving weather and music onboard. I also had my GDL-52 with me displaying terrain, traffic, AHRS, weather, and charts on my Ipad. Our max GPS altitude on this leg was 3,574' according to the GDL. Even there, it seemed like we were bucking 50kts on the nose. Either that, or I just bought a plane that could barely keep up with a 182.

I decided I had to know just how slow we were going so Matt and I did a 180. Phew! Not slow at all. We were making book numbers.

We spent the next few hours deciding where to go. Gas price, weather, hotels nearby, transportation, FBO open...the normal stuff went into the process. We ended on Monroe Louisiana.

I figured this was good time to test the GPSS and couple an approach. It flew the course reversal fine, and the approach...then I bonked the buttons (new to 55X) and decided to just hand-fly in the name of survival.

After landing (got lucky with a good one) we taxid in with the AC on due to the humidity. Man thats nice...even at midnight in October.

Matt and I were smiling ear to ear. He and I have both had Barons and Bonanzas. After one trip, it was easy to see how much utility and comfort could be had with this plane. Everything worked, although most things needed some tuning or adjustment. The potential was obvious.

I brought a welding rod along that had been ground to a flat blade tip. I adjusted the course centering enroute. I also went into the settings of the 430W and increased the sensitivity down to approach scale. Both of those were big improvements (the plane actually flew a straight line), however, I added cable tensions and lubrication to the list of things to address. You can see from the track that there were some lazy spots in the reversal. This was due to the roll servo slipping.

Uber/Hampton...what a sweet day. Wake up, fly a jet across the country, deadhead to Nashville, test fly to Covington, buy and fly to Monroe...all with a great BT buddy. Life is good!

I’m just going to add a few observations along the way. As this was just such a epic amazing enjoyable trip!

First off it was fun getting back into the Citation! Miss that old girl.

Next my first big observation was in the climb out. I was sitting in the very back watching Steve fly and Jesse push all the buttons. Wearing my Bose A20’s I was like hum wonder how loud this thing is. I take off my headset and I’m seriously dumbfounded! At least during the climb out while we’re only indication 130kts or so this bird is freakishly quiet. I mean like it’s far less noisy than my Bo or the Baron. And like probably as quiet or better than the 425 I flew. Sweet!!!

Also those fresh air vents up front are serious amazing hurrican vents! Im totally jealous.

Oh yeah and I already called dibs on this one. So all the rest of you can just forgetaboutit.

Day two gets even better. Mmmm BBQ in Texas here we come!

Jeff's, I think you're going to have to change the name of the site to SaratogaTalk............

I love that photo Matt. You are a long way from the office back there.

Can't wait to deal with that interior though!

I'm envious of the way you can do your own mini-pre-buy (I don't change my own oil)! BBQ in Texas? Seems like I missed an opportunity to see it in person. If you say it was in Stephenville, this is really gonna be hard to take....

You better not have stopped anywhere near me for BBQ and not called!

Jesse/Matt....you guys were here in the neighborhood, and didn't stop in....shame!


Congrats!

enjoy it.

I must apologize to my BT buds that we flew over, however, we were on a tight schedule and the weather wasn't cooperating. We had to bypass DFW to the south to get through a line.

This is where the plane started to shine. Matt and I are not petite :). The amount of room, AC, fresh air, XM music, floor space for refreshments, and the SMOOTH ride in turbulence had us both eating some words about Piper.

The truth is, I knew it would be great. I had some time in one back in '05/06 and I remember it being a sweet ride.

For most of this flight we fought headwinds, dodged airspace, checked out the vast nothingness on the ground, and searched airports for our first stop of the day.

Good fuel price? Check. Food close by? Courtesy Car? Decent winds? Sure...

We settled on Llano Texas, which is a new-to-me destination. This is now one of my favorites.

There had been an aerobatic box active earlier in the morning, however, when we arrived it was just us and the West Texas winds. I can't remember the crosswind figures, but it was blowing hard and a good chance to see how the Toga would do. It was cake.

We taxied in and the airport manager along with a local airport bum helped us get the plane fueled and secured.

It appeared after two flights that the KFactor was off. We calculated the ratio and made a change to the JPI. It looked like we were actually burning about 1.5gph less than it was indicating. That paid for lunch!

Llano has several crew cars (and a key lock box available 24 hours). More importantly, when we asked where we should eat we got a look like...."you boys ain't from around heya are ya?"

So....of course we went to Coopers! http://www.coopersbbqllano.com/

Man it was good. I over ate, as is required, and we headed back with the intentions of hitting AZ that evening. The headwinds were still howling.

Based on our logbook, our turn time at Llano was 2:15 which seems decent considering we made no rush and Coopers was slammed. With the winds, we had quite a bit of flying ahead of us so it was a good break...although it turns out we were about to get some more ground time.

Blasted off from Llano. Hey, the Toga has rudder trim and it really needs it. On takeoff the PFactor is strong. There is a nice knob for effective trim control. I was starting to figure out where it liked to be set for takeoff and initial climb to give my leg a break.

With the Johnson bar, it is so easy to add and remove flaps that I found myself using them regularly at this point for takeoff.

Smooth application of full power, hit 70 kts, pull two-notches and by the time 85 rolls around - SEE YA! 1,200 FPM loaded was typical. I was happy to see that it was capable of some great takeoff performance knowing I need it in Mexico. The plane was continuing to grow on me.

Again, we had no destination for this leg but we did have hours to figure it out enroute. It is such a joy to take a trip like this with a buddy who loves flying as much as I do. I am old enough now to cherish it in the moment. It was just great.

We would be landing within my normal flight territory so I knew the options well. Of course there was more weather around El Paso, and a big system moving through Arizona and right up over Payson. We wouldn't want things to be too easy, would we?

This flight was uneventful. As the terrain rises across West Texas, there is always turb on windy days. The Saratoga rides more like my 421 than a Baron or stretch Bonanza. It takes bumps vertically, versus the Beech airframes that often relieve updrafts with yaw and roll.

That #6 CHT was still 500 plus dF. Man, I hoped my hypothesis was correct regarding the indication issue. If not, I figured I'd come home to a cylinder replacement at a minimum. Everything was working! How cool is that?!

Then we broke it. :)

After overflying El Paso, we decided we would stop for gas in Dona Ana Santa Teresa KDNA which is just west of the hills outside El Paso. This got us beyond the pinch between Mexico's airspace and the White Sands restricted area, and there was weather further west that needed to move out of our way. Time was of the essence as it was getting later in the day and I didn't want to plan on night/IFR into our mountainous home base just yet.

"Dona Ana traffic, Red and White Saratoga 8 miles east for runway 28 Dona Ana" OK Matt, lets land this thing... Gear down please. Hey Matt... Gear down please, you know, like 3 green?? :) Nope. Nada. This is the point in the story where you question your life choices. Prebuy? Gear swing? Emergency extension procedure?

Good news! The seller had just purchased a shiny new POH for the delivery. $800 from Piper. Matt put that pretty golden tablet to use as I announced "Dona Ana traffic, red and white Saratoga left 360 and maneuvering north of the field."

The gear unsafe light was on. With my "extensive" :roll: knowledge of the system I knew the wheels were unlocked and in some sort of extended but not down and locked condition. This plane has an automatic extension system that works off a bellows. Hmmm...maybe I tried to extend at an airspeed that it didn't like. Around we went playing with different speeds trying to retract and extend while nothing happened. After slowing in a left 360 to reestablish, we aborted the landing and flew around north of the field. This is a deserted area so no traffic or tower to worry about. I began to think the issue was an electrical connection as it just felt like the switch was connected to nothing.

Finally I relented as we didn't have a ton of fuel to mess around. Matt read off the emergency extension procedure. Piper shined here.

Essentially, the procedure is to push down on a red lever until you get three green. It took about two seconds after releasing the hydraulic pressure via the handle, for the gear to spring into action. Being the trouble shooter I am, I couldn't help myself and attempted a retract wondering if a limit switch had been stuck. No joy...we landed.

On the ground, we fueled up and I hopped on the phone to Steve back in Covington. I listed the symptoms and asked him to describe the gear system for me. He explained it was a simple electric-over-hydraulic powerpack in the nose baggage area (under the floor) along with a couple of Cole-Hersee style relays. I thanked him and we asked the "line guy" to bring us some tools.

The "tools" consisted of a leatherman (off-brand). It was about a #2 screwdriver on this POS that I held while I stared down the 40 screws on the pilot side access panel. Screw that!

I accessed the motor assembly via the nose baggage door. 2 screws for the firewall insulation, 2 screws for trim, 4 screws for the floor. Hey, the nose baggage interior is actually really nice. Too bad the passenger compartment didn't match. As I inched my way deeper into the bowels of the nose baggage, I ran out of reach and had to use my shoulders to wriggle myself deeper as my feet came off the ground. My arms were positioned like T-Rex as I gained access to the gear system.

I have no idea how Matt did not snap a picture of my legs from the shins down hanging out of this thing as the sun continued to move towards the horizon. Let the adult language begin. But man....roomy nose-baggage!

Long story longer, I couldn't find a smoking gun. All of the wiring was intact. One inline fuse looked burnt, so I snagged one from under the panel and did the swaperoo. I hoped that it was as simple as a stuck relay. After relenting, I ended up leathermanning the 40 screws of the pilot-side access panel and looked some more. I tapped all of the relays with the mighty multi-tool as well as the motor. We were going to run out of time. I fiddled with the wires behind the switch hoping for a loose connection....nothing obvious.

We departed. Thank the Lord, we were not made to suffer a gear-down final leg on our flight home. The gear retracted as advertised and we began our climb. Now we had a line of weather to deal with.

. . . . . and the entire market for Chero-Lance-Togas (sp?) just ticked up 5 points.

Great write up on this terrific adventure! After getting to the part of the story where you paused with the “then I broke it” line, I thought this better have a happy ending. Glad it did!

I was already feeling sorry for myself for overlooking this bird...
Excited to follow along too!

I can't believe I've been made envious of a Toga. Add a chute, and I'm in.

You get a pass on Llano get-together. Great food! I still prefer Hard 8, but only slightly.

You weave a good yarn....

All I can add is OMG that BBQ was good! When we got home I told the wife next free day we have we’re flying the Bo to TX for BBQ. Nothing like a good $1000 BBQ run.

Regret that I didn’t get a pic of JJ feet sticking out of his baggage compartment. But at the time I was admiring this beautiful sight.

After playing mechanic with a 2 inch leatherman knock-off, we were a bit behind schedule.

It was 5:30 when the wheels were tucked away and we stared down a line ahead. It looked like we could climb to 14,500 or so and top it on our way home from West El Paso to Payson. Not so much.

With our goofy mustache cannulas proudly in place (the plane had 3 on-board), we out-climbed the clouds and headed towards home. The overhead ports on the built-in O2 are quite nice. I'm going to have to figure out a way to replicate that experience while using my O2D2 boxes. This flight highlighted how much better that system is vs constant flow. After one leg I was dried out. That never happens with the O2D2.

The weather became a solid undercast over ugly terrain, however, I am very familiar with the area and I have been fooled by this weather once before. Its the southern end of a line pulling moisture from the Sea of Cortez, which is quite close to Arizona at its Northern boundary. The moisture, coupled with the convection of the building/regenerating line, and the high upper-level winds would set up a nasty ride below the system. Not this time Motha Nature. We're going ballistic Mav....Matt.....whatever.

As the terrain rose underneath us, embedded in the pillow tops, the cloud layer forced us to continue the climb as the sun had gotten away from us and was busy saying goodnight to the Pacific coast line.

Gaining altitude, the tops were still in view. We could see we were maintaining an escape route to the southwest, and I was mentally recording headings I would have to fly to stay VFR in the event we had to choose plan B. The XM weather on the GMX-200 showed a rather narrow line of precip that we were now north of...but the cloud deck above that precip turned out to be well over 100 miles wide. We pushed on to the northwest.

In the MOA, we monitored the controlling frequency. It was Saturday night and nothing was going on. I hadn't planned on climbing this high, but the clouds gently lured us in.

Pitot heat and dual stall-vane heat ON. Prop de-ice ON. The prop ice gauge was rock solid. We had tested the heated boots on the ground and I knew they were all drawing current. There is nothing that will ruin your day like a cold blade in an icing encounter.

This is not where you want to enter a cloud. We were maintaining clearances above the tops, but approaching a hard ceiling of Class-A airspace above at FL180.

This is why I have a Turbo baby. That Piper wing was giving us strong-lift as we continued our climb. That big TIO-540 had the MT prop humming as we rose with plenty of reserve lift. I maintained good forward speed, and a low AOA incase some invisible precip was in our path.

It was time to start discussing the bail out. Matt had a flight to catch the next day. I had a family waiting for me, and plans in the morning back home. Night had fallen. We were pinned down by Class A airspace in a MOA with no chance for a pop-up to keep climbing to the Saratoga's ceiling of FL200. The clouds seemed to just keep climbing underneath us. It was becoming difficult to tell how much clearance we had.

We absolutely were not going to penetrate a cloud up here, I told myself. Let alone the FARs, this was a wet system. The cloud-top-temperatures were relatively warm, while below freezing. The conditions were absolutely ripe for a rough ride and would instantly transform us into a Togasicle. Not interested. Maybe its time to grab the participation trophy (and a blue ribbon for Matt) and turn back to the south. With any luck, we can get through underneath even though we would literally have to go to California to do it. Its been a long day. That doesn't sound....

...Whoosh. That feeling of relief as the stream of consciousness evaporates into a sea of lights from the city of Phoenix. This must be what a fisherman feels after a long night of work, searching the fog for the lighthouse near his home port. It was a welcome sight. We were home free. This bird has plenty of room up front for man-style backslapping and high-fives all around.

There is a beautiful highway that runs from Phoenix to Payson if you ever want to go for a drive. It takes you from 1,200MSL to above 5,000 as you twist your way through the desert, high-desert peppered with saguaros, rock formations and mountains that light up with morning and evening rays to distract even the youngest passengers from their devices, and finally the Tonto forest which is the world's largest stand of Ponderosa Pine trees....also known as Home.

I know that road well, and the terrain that surrounds it. The system was behind us now, but there remained puffy clouds scattered through the night sky left behind by rain showers that had passed earlier in the evening.

It turns out that ground delay with the gear actually prevented us from turning back due to weather. Perfect timing.

As we followed the pairs of white lights on the winding "Beeline Highway", we inched closer towards home. Hey Matt, look at our groundspeed! For the first time in 24 hours we were no longer fighting a headwind. We cruised along at 180 kts. That is the way to end a trip.

"Payson traffic, Saratoga 41A 5 miles south to cross mid-field for right traffic 24...Payson"

Would the gear be coming down? Dropped the switch...transit light on...."survey says"...nope.

That was actually good news. Intermittent electrical failures are a trouble-shooters worst nightmare. I was relieved as I slowed to 110kias and depressed the emergency extension, lighting the cockpit with the hue of three green.

As we rolled toward final, we noticed what Matt called the "cherries and berries" just east of the runway.

We touched down and tucked the Toga in for the night. I had made a good choice. This was going to be one heck of an airplane. I grabbed my list of squawks, downloaded the engine monitor data via the panel mounted USB port. Matt and I headed for our families in the trusty Outback.

The streets were saturated with rain. It was obvious a heavy storm had come through. In Dona Ana, I had spoken with my wife on the phone and she knew to warn me of the weather they were getting at the time. Windy and HEAVY rain.

The next morning when I arrived at the airport to begin work, I learned that the lights from the police and fire vehicles were in response to my hangar neighbor Craig's crash into a residents home. Residents OK, Craig and his female companion dead. Ugh. That will turn your morning sour in a hurry. This flying stuff is serious business.