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50-state club


Flash

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I have now taken off and landed an airplane in all 50 states (and Puerto Rico). I'm sure I'm not the first on Mooneyspace to do that, but it was a goal and it was fun to accomplish.

Number 50, Hawaii, was the only one where I wasn't flying N315L, my 1993 MSE. It felt odd flying a Cessna 172 again, but for now it was my best option. Kahului (PHOG)-Kalaupapa (PHLU)-Kahului (PHOG), after a checkout flight from PHOG. Ovick from MauiSkyHi Aviation rents his 172 with a mini iPad with Foreflight, for $160/hour wet, which is the best rate going on Maui, where nothing is cheap but everything is beautiful. Ovick is a great guy, too, and will share all the advice you could ask for. (I chose the checkout and the rental, but I probably would have saved a bit having him take the whole trip with me.)

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Kalaupapa is on Molokai, on a peninsula blocked off from the rest of the island by some sheer cliffs. That geographic isolation was combined with social isolation; Hawaii established a leper colony there. It is now a national historical park,

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but it's an unusual one, in that you can't visit it (other than walking around the airport), without a visitor permit, which is an invitation from a resident, or you're subject to arrest under Hawaii law. You can buy such an invitation from a tour company. Lest it trouble you that you have to pay to visit a national historical park, remember how the people who got to Kalaupapa got there, and that although they can leave nowadays (a treatment for leprosy was developed in the mid-20th century) and only a small number remain, they were exiled to this place from their homes merely because they had the misfortune to have a disease.

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From Kalaupapa, I flew across Molokai over to Lanai, where I viewed the remains of a couple of sailing vessels that met their fate on the northern shore.

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There were a bunch of clouds shrouding the top of Haleakala, the 10,000-foot dormant volcano on Maui, so though I climbed up to take a look there wasn't much to see. My focus on my iPhone 5s while flying also is not very good, partly because I am busy flying, partly because it's an iPhone 5s, but there were some terrific views beneath the 2,500-foot scattered layer along the Maui shoreline. Some of the best views were of the coast near the Hana airport, where I had hiked the day before.

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Our multi-talented friend @Amelia lacks only Alaska, I suppose all on her own nickle. (Their plans to do Alaska this past summer in their Screaming Eagle did not work out but she hopes to be younger in the next  year or two and finish that bucket list item.)

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17 hours ago, Marauder said:

How long did it take you Flash? 15, 20 seconds tops?

 

That is quite an accomplishment. I’m sure you have some stories to tell.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

Thanks, Marauder. I do have a few stories, some of which are true. I've been flying for more than 25 years, bought my Mooney in 1999, flew it to Europe in 2003, have also flown it to Belize, multiple hops in the Caribbean, French Guyana and Suriname, multiple adventures in Canada, a couple of journeys to Mexico. I'd love to be an earthrounder someday.

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12 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

That is cool,

I keep thinking about filling in the holes in my map. I could do it in a couple of days except Alaska. That one is in the wrong direction. Luckily, I got Hawaii out of the way back in the eighties. 

Rich, I highly recommend Alaska. It's the best flying state in the country, IMHO.

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10 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

I lack Alaska and Utah. Really gotta get it done. Congrats on a filled in map, @Flash

Thanks, Paul. Bryce Canyon is a fun place to fly in Utah. The airport is very near the park, and the park is gorgeous.

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Very cool to keep track and land your own aircraft in all 50 states! Congratulations! I read a book a number of years ago authored by a guy who hit all 49 states with his son in a Stearman. It was a very cool trip. I've hit most east coast states, Bahamas, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland and England.  Would love to put it all on a map.

How do we get that cool map that some of you have on your profiles showing states visited?

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Congratulations, that's a bucket list item for me. I'm just getting started but checked off Hawaii last week. Flew a 172 from Maui Aviators around about the same path. Took a CFI with us the whole way for a couple reasons. Biggest reason, I have almost 300 hours in the last two years but have never flown a Cessna. Even if I was proficient in the Cessna having the CFI make the position calls and point out interesting things "tour guide style" allowed me to just fly and enjoy the ride. I need to get the pictures off my camera and upload them. 

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21 hours ago, Bob_Belville said:

Our multi-talented friend @Amelia lacks only Alaska, I suppose all on her own nickle. (Their plans to do Alaska this past summer in their Screaming Eagle did not work out but she hopes to be younger in the next  year or two and finish that bucket list item.)

Well, my eyes, at least, are now younger! Some years ago, one a dark and stormy night, I got out a stack of logbooks stretching back to the mid70s, and began ticking off States. The Midwest and New England were easy, back in  C172 days. We stopped often for fuel and toddler potty stops.. And Our Hero had Continuing  Education requirements before the days of Internet seminars, so we went places.(Guess who picked the courses he attended?)  A couple of trips to California, Colorado, and Vancouver, BC, meant, landing every couple of leisurely hours. Frequent trips from Ohio to see my family in Alabama and Florida added more gas stop states. Pretty soon, I lacked only Oklahoma and Arkansas in the Lower 48,  plus Hawaii and Alaska. My MIL lived on Waikiki Beach, so I arranged to rent a 172 at HNL with a  delightful CFI who moonlighted as an anesthesiologist. After 25 years in a Mooney, I wondered if I could still fly a Skyhawk. So easy and comfortable! It was a wonderful circumavigation of Oahu, with the instructor in charge of the radio, and tour-guiding. MIL swore it was much better than the helo tours. I so highly recommend that experience. OK and AR were on purpose, just to say we did. (Air Race stops didn’t count, because I was not PIC.) so now, I lack only Saskatchewan in Lower Canada, and Alaska. Maybe next summer! 

Edited by Amelia
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14 hours ago, Skates97 said:

Congratulations, that's a bucket list item for me. I'm just getting started but checked off Hawaii last week. Flew a 172 from Maui Aviators around about the same path. Took a CFI with us the whole way for a couple reasons. Biggest reason, I have almost 300 hours in the last two years but have never flown a Cessna. Even if I was proficient in the Cessna having the CFI make the position calls and point out interesting things "tour guide style" allowed me to just fly and enjoy the ride. I need to get the pictures off my camera and upload them. 

That was a wise move, Richard. I got my instrument rating in a 172 many years ago, so I knew what to expect, but I must say that after all my years in a Mooney (1) it felt strange the way you sit in a 172 but (2) I found a 172 very easy to land. By the way, you should update the map on your signature to show your latest accomplishment.

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6 hours ago, Stephen said:

Mooney "caravan" to Alaska in 2020 2021?

A group of us from the Caravan had planned to go to Alaska in 2015... but a key member of our group was diagnosed with breast cancer. So we put it off. Thankfully, she's fully recovered and might be up for the trip this next summer. 

I now work for a company in Seattle and spend quite a bit of time there. I intend to spend June/July 2019 in Seattle with my Mooney.  I might have to make a quick run to AK over the 4th or something, just to check it off the list.

We will check Utah off the list this winter.

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