Anywhere XM-Wx Provides Weather For Both Directions

Mark Stolzberg of Stony Brook, New York and Fred Coon of Victoria Texas share a love of flying. They corresponded in December 2002 on the "Grumman Gang" list-serve. Mark had purchased a Grumman AA5-B (Tiger) from a seller near Phoenix and needed some help getting it to his home base on Long Island, N.Y. Having ferried a number of Grumman-built aircraft all over the United States, Fred offered his assistance. They met for the first time in Phoenix in January 2003, inspected the airplane and started toward Long Island.

Fred Coon received his pilot’s license in 1955. He had worked for Sperry Univac and was computer savvy long before it became fashionable, owned and operated a small charter flight business as well as several retail electronics stores. All was well until 1990, when Fred’s diabetes caused him to fail his flight physical. That was that. So be it. Until -- one day, five years later when Fred happened to come across a study indicating that a combination of medication and supplements could improve his blood sugar count. Sure enough, it worked and Fred was soon flying again -- an answer to a prayer.

Mark Stolzberg learned to fly while in the army, earning his license in 1968. Putting aside early ambitions of becoming a commercial pilot for a major airline, he decided to become a clinical psychologist - currently serving as President of the Adult Development and Aging Division of the New York State Psychological Association. In 1972, he sadly decided that family and professional pressures were too great for him to continue flying. That was that. So be it. Until -- one day 30 years later, while out to breakfast at a local airport one Sunday morning - their three children pretty much on their own and professional pressures diminished, his wife Marilyn encouraged him to begin flying again. That led to the decision to purchase the Grumman AA5-B, that led to meeting Fred Coon.

On Wednesday, July 21, 2004 Mark Stolzberg (right) and Fred Coon set the piston engine, under 1,000 kg. Class East-West Transcontinental speed record in Mark’s Grumman AA5-B Tiger (N28786), flying over the JFK tower (the starting fix) at 1:58 A.M. local time, and crossing the Santa Ana, CA (SNA-John Wayne) tower at 9:39 P.M., local time. All references to miles are in statute miles, the measure used by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) in measuring speed.

While this record is not yet official, the preliminary NAA calculations place the average speed, including time stopped for fuel, at 113.3 miles per hour. Not bad, considering significant head winds, two longer than planned fuel stops, diversions due to convective activity, and one diversion around a particularly high part of the Rockies due to poor visual conditions (setting sun through haze).

After passing over JFK tower (they made sure to fly over the Atlantic a bit on the way from ISP), Mark and Fred proceeded to Lima Allen County in Ohio (AOH), a total distance of 573 miles, arriving while it was still dark. Seven clicks of the PTT switch about 12 miles out made visual contact easy. Their next stop, 503 miles later, was Chillicothe Municipal in Missouri (CHT), where about 15 minutes was lost due to an empty fuel truck.

The next stop was La Junta Municipal in Colorado (LHX), 551 miles away. This portion of the trip was made more difficult by increased headwinds. Convective activity along a good portion of that route was only a minimal problem. "We were fortunate in that Control Vision, manufacturers of Anywhere Map, provided us with Anywhere XM-WX, a satellite (XM) weather system so that we could actually see which areas of rain were safe to go through without fear of running into embedded thunderstorms. Thunderstorms were visible on the screen, but we stayed clear of them, while at the same time saving distance (and fuel) by not having to divert any more than necessary. Without the Anywhere Map XM weather system, there is no way we could have made it to LHX because we had only 7.2 usable gallons left when we landed, just a bit above required reserves."

The next stop was at Flagstaff, Arizona (FLG), elevation 7,011 feet (and hot), 495 miles away. A quick refueling and they were on their way, thankful that they were also fortunate to have a newly installed Power Flow Exhaust System to help them over the mountains that were ahead of them. Using runway 3, Mark noticed that there were three areas of rain on the Control Vision XM screen behind them. As they turned toward a more westerly heading, there they were -- three isolated areas of rain, just like those represented on the screen. They were coded green, with no lightning, so they went through the one that was lying across the planned course, giving the plane a 150 mph power washing. They came across the mountains facing the setting sun and hazy conditions, erring on the side of caution, diverting around areas with poor visibility.

Not long after sunset, they passed over the tower at SNA, which was the final fix, following which they made sure to fly a bit over the Pacific - likely the first time that the Atlantic, then the Pacific were overflown in a light plane (under 1,000 kg.) on the same day. Last year, they were likely the first to overfly the Pacific, then the Atlantic on the same day, when they set the West to East record in Fred’s Grumman AA5-A Cheetah.

Fred took a commercial flight back to Houston the following morning. The next day, Joe Gabriel, a friend of Mark’s who also owns a ‘78 Tiger home based at Islip, flew to SNA on Southwest Airlines. They took off about 6:30 the next morning arriving at Durango, Colorado (DRO), elevation 6,685 feet, 617 miles. After having spent the day at Durango, they left the next morning for Kansas City (MCI), 722 miles away. Using the Control Vision Satellite XM system to see what the weather would be at distant airports was a breeze. By simply tapping on the METAR box at the destination airport, they were provided with visibility, ceilings, and even winds so that they knew hundreds of miles in advance which runways were likely to be active.

Mark and Joe climbed to 15,500 feet, where fuel burn was slightly less than seven gallons per hour. After a stop for fuel, oxygen, and lunch, they left Kansas City, expecting weather to shorten the next leg, where they figured to stay the night. Instead, they simply tapped the METAR box on the screen that was adjacent to Cleveland (CLE), finding that it was VFR and likely to stay that way. They also saw that the course to CLE was clear of convective activity, although some problems were building to the South and East. The decision was made to fly to Cleveland, 692 miles away. Later that evening, the Control Vision Satellite XM system indicated that, while rain and some convective activity was present, so that they could press on to Islip, Long Island. Flying at night with intermittent rain along the way was made almost worry free by the satellite weather info. Areas of convective activity were easily visible as they flew, so they avoided them, without worrying about any surprises from embedded thunderstorms. Mark and Joe arrived home safely a day early.

"Without the weather info, the night flight would never have been attempted and we would have cooled our heels in Cleveland until the next day."

FMI: www.controlvision.com, www.anywheremap.com