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.
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.
What a fantastic experience
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