Hello there! I've started this 3 times on my new PDA whiz-do, and always manage to erase it. Tough typing. Better luck this time, Bow. I'm tired of trying to send this.

I came off the trail last Sunday to visit a friend in Minden, NV. He and I drove to Virginia City on Monday, the day Fossett was lost. It was very windy, the gusty, unpredictable kind. There were wind warnings posted for trucks. That afternoon I drove up to Reno, and was surprised to see 737s taking off from the Reno airport. It was that windy.

And, I've logged about 40 hours flying an Aeronca 7AC, the little brother to the Citabria Fossett was flying. It is quite light, a two-place tandem airplane, which is quite at the mercy of gusty winds.

And last, one of the search pilots said he had dropped 1500 feet in 30 seconds due to winds on Tuesday while looking for Fossett. And the winds weren't as bad on Tuesday. And wind doesn't care about you any more than does the sea. Or fire. Or earthquakes.

I'm afraid he's lost. I thought so the minute I heard where and when he was flying. Even if he isn't splattered all over some godawful sagebrush and sand landscape, and is only hurt, there's precious little water out there.

Arf