All posts by Terry Pitts

Terry is a retired school teacher, retired Army Reservist, and retired civilian Department of the Army Civilian working about half the time as a pilot and flight instructor. He has been flying since age 19, adding gliders in 2011. He's been an FAA certificated flight instructor since 2013.
Cars

What if you don’t have enough gas, can you still get there?

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I HAD TO MAKE a 335km trip today. I forgot to get gas last night. The car has a computer that indicates how far you can drive until the tank is empty. The computer said 277km. Not enough gas. I can only buy prepaid, tax-free gas at Esso stations, so traveling takes some planning. (Unlike American freeways with multiple gas stations every few miles, the Autobahn will only have one station every 50km (31mi) or so. (Yes, I can buy gas anywhere if I have to, but who wants to pay $8/gallon?)

The “distance to empty” calculation is based on the recent average fuel consumption. As I drive on the Autobahn, the average increases, and I am getting closer to the destination. About 75km into the trip, the “distance to empty” is 318km. This means I can make the trip w/o stopping for gas. But should I?

About the time I have all this calculated, I see an Esso station. Should I stop? Oh, I can’t stop. The exit is closed by a permanent construction site (“Dauerbaustelle” for those of you working on German vocab.)

No problem. Too early for gas. The math looks good. The kilometers-driven are increasing ever so slightly faster than the “distance to empty” is decreasing. Ninety minutes later, there is another Esso station. I still have a 50km cushion. The math looks good. Keep going. Uh oh. Big hill. Well, it turns out going down the far side recaptures most of the loss going up. Still have 50km extra.

At 125km “distance to empty” the little yellow warning light comes on. Hmmm. 125-50 is 75. How far is it actually until I get there? The iPhone shows I’m right at 75km to the destination. Good. The needle keeps falling. And falling. The computer is still reassuring me. Until…

The Autobahn is again hilly and full of curves. The needle is now almost touching the bottom of the markings. Hmmm. The math looks good. Can I trust the computer? Hmmm again.

I decide that I will stop at the next gas station. It’s better to be safe than sorry. I can always claim “I was pretty sure I’d make it, but just wanted to play it safe.” Sign says next gas station in 5km. Next sign says my exit is in 3km. No, it’s not the same exit.

I leave the Autobahn without buying gas. The needle is moving “below empty.” Hmmm. Maybe I should not have done this. It’s illegal to run out of gas in Germany. OK, next gas station it is. There isn’t a next gas station…

Every time the transmission shifts or there is a bump in the road I feel like the engine is about to quit from fuel starvation. Oh, why did I do this? The needle is so far below empty that I don’t know what’s going to happen. The computer says 44km of gas. The iPhone says 20km to the destination. What happened to my 50km cushion?

A crossroads ahead. GPS says go straight and the iPhone says turn right. Hmmm. The GPS is 20 years old. The iPhone is not. Turn right. Where the heck am I?

I get to the back gate of Tower Barracks (Grafenwöhr, Germany) and ask for directions to the gas station. When I get there, the computer shows 18km to empty. I put 56 liters in my 60-liter tank.

Average fuel economy: 31.3 miles per gallon or for Germans 7.9l/100km. I drove that tank of gas ever so carefully!

Family, History

Walking in my ancestors’ footsteps

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I HAD AN interesting, unique, special experience this weekend. I visited the town my 7x great-grandfather and his family left about 275 years ago. There are still buildings there they would have seen!

Several weeks ago I had looked at my dad’s digital genealogy records. I searched on “Germany.” I shared part of this story already. I was able to contact the head of the historical society in Eisern, Germany, in the state of Nordrhein Westfallen and set up a visit. Sunday I drove to Eisern.

Eisern was once an independent village. German government was simplified/flattened a number of years ago, so it’s now part of the university town of Siegen.

I missed an exit on the Autobahn because of a construction site. The GPS fixed the error via narrow roads and tiny towns, but brought me back on track. I arrived with a few minutes to spare.

I’m happy, even if it doesn’t look like it. It’s just hard trying to compose a good picture.

Eisern was the site of large iron ore mines until the 1970s. The current population of 2,500 is ten times its size in the 18th century. I don’t know what he did or why he left, but Johann Heinrich Rehlsbach ended up in Virginia with his family as (John) Henry Railsback.

Eisern as viewed from the top of a hill upon leaving the Autobahn for the village.

I said above I had a few minutes to spare. I could have been a bit earlier, but after I left the Autobahn to drive the last few kilometers in to town, there was a spot with a great view from a hilltop down into the valley. I stopped to take a few pictures before driving down into the valley and town.

I wasn’t sure where to go exactly, so I parked and called Klaus Eckhardt, my point of contact in town. He said, “Get out of your car and turn around. I’m right behind you.” There he was!

The heimatverein is located in this former chapel/school building.

Klaus is the head of the “Heimatverein,” which translates literally as “Home Club” but would be a local historical society in American usage. The heimatverein has a museum in a former chapel school and adjacent bakery.

The chapel / school was built in the late 18th century on the remains of a previous building.

There are interesting artifacts dating into the late 1500s. Klaus drove me around town showing me the fire department, the school(s), a former mill, the iron mining sites, and where the train station used to be before driving up a hillside to show me the town from above.

This is the end of the church you see as you walk up. My ancestors would likely have been baptized or christened here.
This door takes you in to a double church, Protestant on one side and Catholic on the other. Perfect for me!
Pax – “Peace”

The chapel the historical society uses a museum and meeting room was built shortly after my ancestors left, presumably on the foundation of an older building. The church in which people of that era were baptized is about three kilometers away. It is an interesting building; it has two naves back-to-back with a single common entrance between them. One side is Protestant and the other Catholic. They were ecumenical long before it was “in.”

A view of the countryside from the church.

Do I have any relatives in Germany? On my dad’s side the German connection is a long time ago. On my mother’s side, though, it’s just a few Generations back. Maybe I can find someone. I do have some relatives in England to see if I can meet one day.

If I did the math correctly, I am 1/256 of Henry Railsback and his wife. I wonder what it would have been like in their village in their era? I’ve crossed the Atlantic four times on a ship, but I can’t imagine doing it on a sailing ship back then. Klaus told me the German spoken then was much different from today both in vocabulary and accent/pronunciation. I wouldn’t be who I am today w/o that journey all those years ago.