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Posted

Late this morning the wife and I made a return trip from Lakefront-Cleveland, OH to our home base in Blackstone, VA.   1.75 vmc out of a 2 hour flight.  Light to moderate rain most of the route with a nice GPS approach ending.   Breaking out close to minimums  with the runway exactly where it is supposed to be never gets old!   Magic Carpet ride!    Also, Cleveland was great.   Tired of the heat and humidity we set out to find better weather.   We laid out a 2.5 hour radius and Cleveland had the nicest forecast so off we went.   We were airborne Saturday morning and were greeted with 70 and clear with a nice breeze.  Walked all of downtown, ate some great food and enjoyed the sites.  Another great weekend made possible by our Mooney.  

  • Like 4
Posted

Quick trip to Arizona and back over the 3 day weekend. The track is the Inde motor sports ranch in Willcox, AZ. The orange pit is the old copper mine in Bisbee, AZ. 

 

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  • Like 6
Posted

I don't have any "pretty pictures" to post, but today I flew Solo for the first time!

Solo.2

That's an empty right seat next to me.

 

 

 

 

 

Solo.1

 

 

Here I am, new Halo headset and nobody else in the plane.

 

I won't muck up this thread with a long post but if you want to read about it I have my blog and posted it up in my training thread too.

 

  • Like 8
Posted
I don't have any "pretty pictures" to post, but today I flew Solo for the first time!

Solo.2-300x169.jpg

That's an empty right seat next to me.

 

 

 

 

 

Solo.1-300x169.jpg

 

 

Here I am, new Halo headset and nobody else in the plane.

 

I won't muck up this thread with a long post but if you want to read about it I have my blog and posted it up in my training thread too.

 

Very cool . No feeling like the first time . Congratulations

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Posted

That first picture is one of the prettiest you can ever see! Congrats on reaching this point, and good luck with the rest of your training.

  • Like 1
Posted

Today's Flight (well yesterday) was to Lafayette LA  (KLFT).  Some interesting buildup on the way to and from KLFT. It was also nice to be up above he haze layer on the way back.  --And it made for a good picture.

 

Big Clouds on the way.  Looked like a thunderstorm, but nothing on the storm scope or Nextrad.  I like the little trail above the cloud, you can see the lifting.

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Landing KLFT.  It looks more cloudy than it was.

 

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Above he haze layer on the way home.  Maybe this is the African dust they have been talking about. --The difference between clear air and dirty air is amazing.

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Made it home just before sunset

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  • Like 9
Posted (edited)

Nice flight. Love those last two pictures!

No flying around here, the CBs have really been popping the last few days. There's a Convective SIGMET starting about 15 nm south that goes to FL450; the one to the west goes to FL600.

 

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Edited by Hank
  • Like 3
Posted

Well after our long trip to Montana it's back to moms grocery getter. Pretty bumpy over the east hills today and some stiff winds on landing not much traffic out today. Once we get above 4500 feet 122.8 usually gets pretty busy but very quiet today. Certainly beats the heck out of driving to the city for shopping.

  • Like 3
Posted
16 hours ago, bonal said:

Well after our long trip to Montana it's back to moms grocery getter. Pretty bumpy over the east hills today and some stiff winds on landing not much traffic out today. Once we get above 4500 feet 122.8 usually gets pretty busy but very quiet today. Certainly beats the heck out of driving to the city for shopping.

Where do you go to get the groceries?

Posted
9 hours ago, Joe Zuffoletto said:

Where do you go to get the groceries?

There is almost no decent shops in my home county and the closest is over an hours drive so we hit WLW for a super Walmart that's across the street from the field and then there is STS where we can use a courtesy car and of course the Nut tree has a number of retailers just a short walk and VCB has the cheapest LL all three are less than 20 minutes by Mooney.

  • Like 1
Posted
10 hours ago, bonal said:

There is almost no decent shops in my home county and the closest is over an hours drive so we hit WLW for a super Walmart that's across the street from the field and then there is STS where we can use a courtesy car and of course the Nut tree has a number of retailers just a short walk and VCB has the cheapest LL all three are less than 20 minutes by Mooney.

Guess that gives a whole new meaning to "Grocery Getter".

Tom

  • Like 1
Posted

We're about half way into our pre-Oshkosh warmup lap. So far it's been:

KHYI -> KODO (fuel) -> KFLG -> KSBA -> KAPC -> Mount Shasta, Crater Lake, Mount Thielsen, -> KRBG -> KBFI.  There is nothing quite as good as owning a smooth running, fuel efficient, speedy airplane like the M20C. It's myself, the wife, and our large dog. We're also carrying right at the max 120 lbs of stuff. 

We felt a bit like Lawrence of Arabia between KHYI and KFLG. Unavoidable scheduling had us launching at noon for a very warm, very rough, very slow, crossing of the great southwest desert. ATC was calling out build-ups along the route, and I was going from one to the other just trying to stay in the shade. We left KFLG at sunrise to avoid any DA issues with a runway sitting at 7014 ft elevation already. But with lunch on the beach in Santa Barbara followed by a couple of days in the Napa Valley, we'd fully recovered.

Napa, CA to Roseburg, OR afforded some spectacular views of Mount Shasta, Crater Lake and Mount Thielsen from the air. Oakland Center handed us off to Seattle Center just as we pulled abeam Mount Shasta. I acknowledged the freq change, but didn't check in with Seattle immediately. We were just too busy taking pictures and gawking at the view of that massive peak so close. After a few minutes, Seattle called. I quickly apologized and checked in with our altitude. The Seattle controller said, "no problem, I figured you were busy taking pictures of that large peak off your right wing." He then said, "Crater Lake coming up next, it gets even better." I wanted to show Mount Thielsen to the wife as that's one that I've stood on the top of. And it's a very small top.

Overnight with family in Roseburg, then file for an IFR flight to Seattle. We were on top at 6000, then IMC requesting 8K, on top then IMC again and requesting 10K. The descent into Seattle had us breaking out at 4500 for a spectacular view of the Puget Sound. We were cleared for the Harbor Visual to 13R at Boeing. The base leg on the approach as you eye level with the Seattle downtown skyline. On final ATC says, "Cleared to land 13R, don't worry about the 767 just above you, he's landing SeaTac."

Stay tuned for the second half....

Staying in the shade by chasing thunderstorms across the desert to Flagstaff.

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Mount Shasta right at about 70 miles.

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Lake Shasta

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Mount Shasta getting closer.

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She's a big one.

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Crater Lake

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The "Lightning Rod of the Cascades" Mount Thielsen. 9184 ft. and one I've stood on the top of.

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Typical PacNorthWest IFR conditions. Somewhere over Oregon.

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A good running engine.

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The full crew... Paul, Alicia, and Darby.

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A black dog always knows where to find the shade on the ramp.

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On approach to Seattle.

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Welcome to Boeing International.  13R - 10,000 x 200 might be the biggest runway I've ever landed on.

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Time for Lunch!

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  • Like 9
Posted

Awesome pics Paul. Eli said to tell Darby "hi"! Don't wear out that fine ship; we need her in the formation in 12 days!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  • Like 4
Posted

Looks and sounds like a great trip! But I can't imagine going that far with that much dog. I love my toy poodle, but sometimes I begrudge saving half the backseat for his travel crate, although I have been known to stack light stuff on top of it . . .

When my wife and I took our C to Yellowstone and back, we left him at home and used the extra cube for baggage and souvenirs. We had no firm reservations, and didn't want to try to find pet friendly hotels from the various FBOs where we stopped. But he does travel well in the plane, and functions as a landing alert (audible through the headsets).

  • Like 1
Posted
3 hours ago, Hank said:

Looks and sounds like a great trip! But I can't imagine going that far with that much dog. I love my toy poodle, but sometimes I begrudge saving half the backseat for his travel crate, although I have been known to stack light stuff on top of it . . .

When my wife and I took our C to Yellowstone and back, we left him at home and used the extra cube for baggage and souvenirs. We had no firm reservations, and didn't want to try to find pet friendly hotels from the various FBOs where we stopped. But he does travel well in the plane, and functions as a landing alert (audible through the headsets).

Darby looks a lot bigger in the picture than she is.  She has 3/4 of the back seat to herself and never makes a sound. She sleeps most of the way. She's also never in a crate, and almost never on a leash. Finding pet friendly accommodations can be challenging, but so far this trip we've not had any problems. We like airbnb and have stayed in more than 50 airbnb locations around the world without ever having a problem.  She's a great airport dog and likes to fly well enough.

  • Like 3
Posted

Thursday went from KLBL to KOKC and it was the biggest airport I have flown into yet . Yes I know it's not that big but it felt like it . We caught a little weather but nothing that was worry some.

Today we went from KLBL to KETN to have lunch with an old friend that I have not seen 16 years . KETN is a nice little airport not to bad on fuel price I would say average . It has a very very nice new FBO building and a charger for a curtesy car , that was kinda fun tbh . Gave me a flyer for a flyin on September 24 presented by EAA . Overall a very nice airport

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^^^^^^^ these are from the trip to KOKC

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^^^^^^^^ today's trip

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  • Like 2
Posted
5 hours ago, Marauder said:

Today's trip.

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I wish I could say it was from my plane. But seat 11A wasn't too bad.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Why you flying spam can on a nice day light that?

Tom

Posted

Today was a nice 40 minute hop to LVK for a family get together as our nephew was back from NY for a few days. Very nice flying weather. On base to final tower cautioned us of the rotor wash from a helicopter we were following and at about 100ft we definitely rolled about a bit. 

Posted

On Saturday morning I flew some circuits in a friends RV7, then hopped in my RV4 which I had not flown in some time.  I'm in love again!

Clarence

Posted
5 hours ago, Marauder said: Today's trip.

89d0b6ff851e9a1863bf78d411a3ad91.jpg

I wish I could say it was from my plane. But seat 11A wasn't too bad.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Why you flying spam can on a nice day light that?

Tom

Simple reason, my Mooney would run out of fuel before I made it to the UK.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

There's always the Viking Route . . . . which is reputed to be workable for a C model, 52 gal, no ferry tank . . . .

That isn't what got poor Yuri.

Edited by Hank
  • Like 1

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