Rain and planes and big box electronics stores

JONESBORO, Ark. – The only thing worse than a cold October rain here is a cold November or December rain.

It’s 53 degrees and pouring this afternoon, so I’m holed up at my favorite table in the Hastings Hardback Cafe. My favorite barista just brought me a complimentary hot chocolate to drink along with my usual coffee, I’m warm and I’m dry and I have Internet connectivity, so life is good.

My October BMW Owners News was a no-show in our mailbox again this morning so our friend Dom has agreed to share his copy. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t care that much except that the October issue has the photo layout from the July BMWMOA rally in Johnson City, Tenn. and I’m curious to see how many of my photos made the cut. My BMWMOA membership was scheduled to expire at the end of October, so it makes no sense that they would cut off my magazine subscription before then. That said, I went online over the weekend and renewed my membership.

I just fired off a query to BMWMOA Operations Manager Tammy Leuthauser asking where my Owners News is, but I suspect they sent it and the post office lost it.

Today’s Jonesboro Sun had a couple of significant announcements:

1. The new Best Buy store will have its grand opening from 6-9 p.m. a week from Friday (Oct. 23). Beginning the next day, the store will open from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. weekdays and Saturday. Sunday hours will be 1-9 p.m.
2. SeaPort Airlines, which heretofore served communities in Oregon and Washington from a hub at Portland International Airport (PDX), will launch service to Jonesboro, Hot Springs, El Dorado and Harrison, Ark. on Oct. 26 out of a hub at Memphis International Airport (MEM). The flights from Jonesboro to Memphis will be served using a 9-passenger Pilatus PC-12  turbo-prop aircraft.
   Passengers in Memphis will board and disembark the aircraft through Signature Flight Support’s fixed base facilities at 2988 Winchester Road instead of the airport’s terminal building, according to an announcement on the Memphis International Airport Web site.
   SeaPort is offering an introductory offer of $29 each way to Jonesboro (from Memphis) and $49 each way to Harrison, Hot Springs and El Dorado with a 3-week advance purchase. Jonesboro has been without passenger service since June 2008 when Mesa Airlines suspended operations.

The Pilatus PC-12 is a single-engine turboprop passenger plan manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Eighteen people have died in the three Pilatus PC-12 crashes this year in the U.S.

A Pc-12/45 crashed on approach to the Bert Mooney Airport at Butte, Mont. on March 22. The pilot, who had taken off from Oroville, Calif., and his 13 passengers were killed. Early reports suggested the plane was overloaded.

A PC-12 crash landed June 12 at Sikorski Airport in Stratford, Connecticut. No one was injured.

A Pilatus PC-12 crashed July 5 in Rockbridge County, Va., after the pilot reported an exterior panel came off of the aircraft. The pilot, Daniel Dorsch, owner of Papa John's Pizza chain in Florida, Fun Bike Center of Lakeland, Fla. and former CEO of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, his wife Cynthia Dorsch and at least two other passengers were killed. A National Transportation Safety Board report suggests failure of navigational instruments was the main cause of the crash. The failure may have caused Dorsch to become spatially disoriented, causing him to lose control of the plane.

Besides SeaPort, the PC-12 is in service with Pascan Aviation, Wasaya Airways and Dexter Airlines.

The plane cruises at 312.5 mph with a service ceiling of 30,000 feet and a loaded range of 1,753 miles. It needs 1,475 feet of runway for takeoff and 945 feet for landing.