Date:      Saturday, July 19, 1997
States:    OK, TX, AR, LA, MS
Weather:   early haze, then widely scattered 
           cumulus clouds
Altitude:  6,000 - 3,000 ft MSL
Dep Time:  9:31am CDT (1431 UTC)
Arr Time:  2:11pm CDT (1911 UTC)
Airtime:   3 hr 10 min
Distance:  401 nm
Avg Speed: 127 kts
Fuel Burn: 36 gal

    Today we woke to some light misting rain in Chickasha. We got a weather briefing from FSS and it looked better in our desired direction of flight to the east. So I filed my first real IFR flight plan and we got our taxi to the airport. Same blue Ford Taurus as last night, but a different driver. We got some charts photocopied from the good folks at the Chickasha airport and cranked up. Couldn't reach Oklahoma City departure on the ground so we launched in the barely 3 miles visibility and called Departure from the air to get our clearance. We were given the clearance to Paris, Texas (PRX) and away we went. Most of the time the surface was visible below but occasionally we entered the clouds and lost sight of ground. What a feeling for an IFR neophyte! As we approached Paris, we had left the misty rain behind with only the high-humidity haze remained with about 8 miles visibility and getting on the ground was no problem.

    At Paris we got some fuel and mailed another envelope. Picked up more charts for the rest of the day's journey and and away we went. Paris had a nice long runway and large ramp, reminding us of Wendover, Utah, and many other former WWII training airfields. The terminal building was really quiet, though, with no other aircraft moving around. The terminal was built in 1957, funded by the old Civil Aeronautics Administration, not much going on there now. Actually, during this trip so far, I have been discouraged by the decline and decay of these smaller airports. I'm sorry to seem them struggling to stay afloat.

    We left Paris after another quick check with FSS; looked okay so we went. We had some puffy little cu's building by now at 11am, and the bottoms were at about 4000 MSL. We first climbed above, but then worried about getting caught on top, besides we were going to let down again into Texarkana, Arkansas (TXK) after just a short time, so we settled for the hot, bumpy air underneath at 3000 MSL. Into Texarkana we found a full towered airport and a little commercial terminal with serviced by American Eagle. We picked up fuel, breathed a little air-conditioned air in the FBO, and launched for Ruston, LA (RUS).

    At Ruston we found another little airport, but a new one, built a couple of miles east of the old municipal. We found a really friendly threesome in the little terminal and chatted for a bit about Mooney's (one fellow of the group flew an older M20C) and these guys were a laugh a minute. Great people. They helped us check the weather charts coming over the weather terminal monitor and it looked good to Natchez, Mississippi (HEZ), so away we went after fuel and mailing another envelope.

    Recieving no answer we figured to drive into town and work out the room as we went along. We drove to the Monmouth and were able to book the attic suite which gave us a couple of rooms for Saturday and Sunday nights. Since we had experienced trouble getting through on the phone earlier, Bill took a look at, and fixed, their little telephone switch; the power had been disconnected by accident. Settling into our rooms, we prepared for what was to be a very elegant and pleasant evening meal. We sat down to a five course dinner in the old dining room around an enormous table with about 12 other folks. We got to know them and shared some stories. It was a blast, and the meal was terrific! Blackened redfish with a nice crawfish gumbo soup and salad along with sorbet and a walnut puff desert. Great!