Day 3: North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana

Mon 6/18/01 6:01 PM, Billings, MT

Not a good day. When we went to bed last night the forecast predicted we would have a great day for flying and one of our more difficult tasks of crossing the mountains. We knew we were in trouble when at 2:00AM we were awoke by thunder and lightning. It looked to clear up a little by 5:00AM when we headed to the airport. The ceiling was low but the visibility was good so we decided to press on to ND. The closer we got the worst the weather got. We were just about able to get on the ground and back off and the weather closed in around us. With mountains around we knew our only option was to try to climb out through it. After what seemed like forever in the clouds we finally broke out at about 8500ft. We were in and out of the stuff for most of that leg and had to fly almost back to Perrie SD before heading West over to WY. We had to refuel in WY and headed for Billings. By the time we got to MT we had had it for the day. The prediction for weather over the mountains was not good and we both were physically and mentally drained. Hopefully Day 4 will be better.

Bill & Ralph Capuano

Email the Pilots: ralphandbill@flightofamerica.com