Adventure Flight Day Three: Texas to Southern California

Today we operated as a "flight of three" which was geeky pilot fun! That meant we flew close together, the lead plane communicates with ATC and uses the unique squawk code, while the other two listen, follow suit and turn the transponders to standby. One clearance covers all three of us - so if you're plane #2 or #3 you feel like you're taking off or landing without clearance. This first photo was taken by Jonathan while Dan flew, with me on the left and Marc just off my right wing. It feels SO much closer when it's happening!

I started the day as plane #3, with the C152 "bumblebee" wedged in as #2 so it wouldn't get lost (no GPS) or left behind. We flew from El Paso, TX to Ryan Field in Tucson, AZ which took 3.2 hours. El Paso handled the flight of three, no problem but I think we gave the Ryan controllers something to talk about at dinner. "A flight of three? You're three planes? Flying together?" So here's my view for the first 3.2 hours today. It was a smooth and very enjoyable flight, with clear skies and no wind. Perfect.

After a surprisingly good breakfast, we fueled the planes, I hopped in the C152 Bumblebee and we all  launched again. Today's experience was very different from yesterday's, I was actually able to trim it out and hold both heading and altitude. Plus I didn't get queasy looking down at the iPad and back up out the window again. 2.2 hours after crossing some outer space-looking landscape, we land just across the California border at Blythe. Winds had picked up by this point

We had hoped to make to Lancaster or San Diego, but everywhere we looked it was either super windy/gusty or low clouds/IFR or both. We spent the better part of an hour flight planning in the airport office, then decided the best bet was to head for Palm Springs, take a deep breath and fight the winds to get the planes on the ground. I rode right seat with Jonathan this time in plane #1. We stayed low and followed Hwy 10 into Palm Springs. Jonathan nailed the landing and braced for the taxi, giving everything he had to keep the plane from being spun around by the winds. The others arrived and we called it a day.

We hope the weather improves tomorrow so we can make up to San Carlos in two segments.

Adventure Flight Day Two: Oklahoma to Texas

 
7:00am came pretty early this morning, but we needed to get paperwork filled out, inspections completed and try to launch as early as possible to take advantage of calmer winds. We arrived at Christensen Aviation just as the sun was rising and got to work.

 
After thorough pre-flight inspections of all three planes, we were ready to launch! Our first leg would take us about 250 nautical miles and 2 1/2 hours to Wilbarger County Airport in Vernon, Texas. I flew the first leg in the C172 with the Garmin1000 glass cockpit system - the cream of our crop. We took the crew car (looked like a police car) into town, got a sandwich, then back in the planes to head to Midland, Texas.

This was the leg we all talked about at dinner. The updrafts and downdrafts were severe and relentless. We all fought them, plus headwinds, for 2 1/2 hours. Did I mention I flew this leg in the C152? Lower horsepower plus lighter weight meant enhanced turbulence. Sheesh. Oh, and it's a 1978 model which means no GPS.I managed to snap one photo before realize the need for intense focus.


We pressed on toward El Paso, planning to land about sunset. This time I'm back in the C172 G1000 and I welcomed the super deluxe autopilot that holds both heading and altitude. Nice luxury at the end of a long flying day. Smoother air was a plus too. I crossed the last ridge into El Paso just as the sun dipped below the mountains. Perfect.

All in all I flew 7.4 hours today and I'm wiped out. Tomorrow we get up and do it all again. The weather and our energy will determine how far we make it. I feel so lucky and happy to be making this trip!

Adventure Flight Day One: Colorado to Oklahoma

The four of us pilots met up here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The others (Dan, Marc and Jonathan) flew in commercial from San Francisco. I flew with Jason so he could share in the adventure. I let him fly the whole way here since I'd be flying plenty over the next few days.


We departed Centennial, CO (KAPA) in clear skies and light winds. Jason filed an instrument flight plan, expecting storms as we crossed over into Kansas.









The first two hours were uneventful, cruising along at 11,000 feet. I like spotting unusual shapes in the scenery. This one looks like chaos among extreme order.









As expected, we found a couple of active thunder storms near Wichita, KS. They both looked pretty angry, but there was about a 100 mile path between them which allowed us to fly through in visual conditions.

Once we passed beyond the storm front, our destination, Richard Lloyd Jones, Jr. airport (KRVS) was less than an hour away. We descended and landed in beautiful calm weather. Jason refueled himself and the airplane, then took back off to head home while I went to the hotel to meet the others.

After some food and flight planning, it's time to get some sleep for tomorrow. Dan will sign the final paperwork so we can take the planes and launch the next step of the adventure! Stay tuned...

A flying adventure of a different sort

I'm about to set off on a flying adventure that's completely different than anything I've ever done - and I'm SUPER excited about it! I'm one of four pilots flying three planes from Tulsa, Oklahoma to San Carlos, California.

Why? Why not! Three planes need to get from here to there, and there's only one way to accomplish that. Fly 'em.

The direct route would cover six states, 1250 nautical miles, and about 12 flight hours.

But we'll be flying around the highest mountains for safety, covering five states, 1500 nautical miles and about 15 flight hours.







Stay tuned... it's about to get exciting around here...

Just a test of mobile blogging

What's more fun than chasing prairie dogs?