A small trip report, unfortunately lacking pictures (slaps self for forgetting camera).

We flew from 42A (Melbourne Mun, AR) to XNA (Northwest Arkansas Regional, at Fayetteville) in the trusty Navajo PA31-310. As we got ready to depart Melbourne, we called up Memphis Center on the cell phone and got an IFR clearance, due to the fact that there was a massive cold front going through, it was raining cats and dogs (and a few cows), and the clouds were rather thick. Then we get the plane cranked up and ready to go, but we encounter a small problem with the Loran. Its a rather old model and doesn't always have the current ICAO codes for the airport you wish to go to.  So, where's that approach plate so we can get the lat/long?

Turns on the FAA couldn't decide what to order XNA under (look in an arkansas plate book and see if you can find it), so it wasn't under Fayetteville, or NA Regional, so off I go on the dreaded page-after-page search. Ah, there we are, and off we go.

A few bumps on departure, the we break out at about 3000. Hmm, guess the clouds aren't that thick after all. We get leveled off, and dad hands the plane over to me to fly. Now were approaching the actual cold front, and wow-wee you can actually see the line between warm and cold, as a kind of sausage-shaped cloud above us. Really cool.

So we set up for the ILS runway 16 into XNA, with a Hawker 800 following us. Then right at the perfect moment, the clouds blow off over the airport, and we're cleared for the visual. Unfortunatly, those nice little puffy-type clouds managed to get dead-on with where we turned final. So, it's kind of like "hmm I guess were far enough to turn, try it now", so we turn final, and break out shortly thereafter. (only a 100' thick, broken cloud layer) There's a major crosswind, so I turn the plane back over to dad, and we do a greaser landing for the passengers of a holding-short NW regional jet.

Make the next turnoff, park it next to a FedEx Caravan (those things are massive up close! It's like a wide-body's cockpit) and unload.

All in all a beautiful flight, bumps and all.

Maybe next time I"ll remember my camera, so I can get some nice pics of the sunset and front line.

jonathan