It was annual time again for my employer’s A36 Bonanza. It’s worth the trip from our base in Wichita, Kan., to Bob Ripley’s Southern Aero in Griffin, Ga., just south of Atlanta, for his level of expert attention. I chose Birmingham, Ala. (BHM), for a fuel stop; not the cheapest avgas, but one where I could be certain services would be available on a gloomy winter weekend. And I could get there with plenty of fuel for a solid alternate. The airport was directly under a dashed blue line on my iPad marking the western edge of an Airmet for moderate icing from the 5000-foot freezing level and up.
