Taking my daughter and grand kids flying
We had a chance to fly up to Redding last month to visit my oldest daughter’s family. While there I got to take her and the grand kids for a flight. They have flown commercial but never in a small plane. We went through a pre-flight, explaining everything to them and climbed in. I went […]
300 Hours and yet another First Flight
For the past two years my oldest son has been gone serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. For those that don’t know anything about our missionaries, when they are gone the only communication with home is through mail/email once a week and phone/video calls on Christmas and […]
Sunset
A beautiful flight back to SoCal from Phoenix today. The sunset lasted for almost an hour!
Flight Review
Every two years, if a pilot wants to keep flying, they must have a flight review with a CFI (Certified Flight Instructor). The purpose is to provide a regular review of the pilot’s skills and aeronautical knowledge. To quote the FAA in the document ‘Conducting an Effective Flight Review‘, “the flight review is the aeronautical […]
Dusty and Windy – Salt Lake – St George – Corona
A great weekend visiting family, and going to my niece’s wedding. We even worked in a trip up American Fork Canyon to see the fall colors. We got to the airport Sunday morning and it was windy… There is no weather at Skypark (KBTF) but Salt Lake (KSLC) is only 6 miles to the South […]
Morning Weather Delay – Corona, CA (KAJO) to Salt Lake, UT (Skypark-KBTF)
We wanted to get an early start for Utah but the weather just wasn’t cooperating. We had arrived at the airport at 7am knowing we couldn’t leave that early but giving me time to load up the plane and then just putter around a little. I did a thorough pre-flight and also cleaned it up […]
Birthday Lunch in Santa Maria
A great day for a flight. A late birthday lunch in Santa Maria? Let’s see, it’s 196 miles and 3:44 by car or 182 miles and about 1:20 by Mooney. That’s close enough for a lunch trip, right? We weren’t going to be able to get an early start and it was supposed to be […]
Creative Weight and Balance
Phoenix in the summer requires air conditioning. Air conditioning is extra weight, and when that is combined with all four seats being filled it can require getting a little creative with the weight and balance. For those that don’t know what weight and balance is, it requires making sure that the plane isn’t too heavy […]
Grand Canyon via Richfield and Monroe
After three great days up in Utah with family it was time to head home. We would have to get up early (4:45am local/3:45am Pacific) because I wanted to get in the air and through the desert before the afternoon thunderstorms had time to develop. After a few trips last year sneaking through between building […]
Big Bear Again…
We were going to go to Camarillo (KCMA) for breakfast but the forecast was for IFR conditions there until after 10am. Corona was supposed to be clear in the morning so we decided to give Big Bear another try and see if we could eat at the Barnstorm Restaurant on the field. There is a […]
July 4th – Big Bear, CA
We had wanted to fly to Big Bear last Saturday but it was late in the day before the clouds cleared so we drove instead. However, the morning of July 4th dawned clear so we decided to take advantage of it for a much quicker trip up the mountain. After fueling up we took off […]
Working on “the bug”
In aviation there is often talk of “catching the bug.” You can tell those where are infected, they are the ones that look up whenever they hear a plane flying overhead just to see what it is. In their mind they are wishing they were up there defying gravity. I didn’t fly anyplace special today, […]
