I have been so busy with work this summer that I've been neglecting a lot of other things: work on the house and yard, my bike, my kayak, my airplane...
In fact, I've flown so little that the FBO moved my airplane into another hangar to get it out of the way of the ones that DO fly.
I'm so sorry, airplane.
I finally got a chance to get up this weekend though. First time in a while.
Holding short. Run-up and mag checks. Dashboard dino says "Good to go".
8,500 feet of opportunity and adventure ahead.
Shenandoah Valley farms below.
Winchester and the airport there, OKW.
A couple of stray clouds are the only other things up here at 4,500 feet besides me.
A dam on the Shenandoah Rover down near Front Royal.
I was going to fly an hour down the valley to Shenandoah Valley Regional in Weyers Cave, Virginia, but there was a haze layer over the mountains to the south. I could have made the flight, but visibility would have been poor. So I'll save that one for another day. Instead, I just got some maneuver practice in. Turns, stalls...slow flight.
Full flaps, max power, pitched up. Two minutes of keeping it under 45 knots indicated, including a 360-degree turn. Lots of stall horn but no stall, This plane slows well.
Hello to my friends at Mt. Weather. You guys didn't think I'd forgotten you, did you?
Up the Shenandoah River, back in West Virginia now.
Mr. Peabody's coal train sits by the river.
Harpers Ferry ahead, at the conflux of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers.
And Harpers Ferry has an RV park, which could come in handy when family comes to visit.
On final for home. That was a quick 2.1 hours. I shot a few landings and called it a day.
The new C-17 neighbors. So small compared to the C-5 Galaxies that used to park there.
Back inside the main hangar again. I'll fly it more. I promise.
Is that a plastic dinosaur on the control panel, so you can pretend you are Wash? "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"
ReplyDelete:-P
Inquiring minds want to know...
gfa
Nah. I snagged my Choiceasaurus from a hotel back in the 1980s when I was on a motorcycle road trip. They had a basket of them in the lobby and I helped myself, even though I wasn't a paying guest of the hotel--I'd just snuck in to use the pool for a bit.
DeleteSince then, the little guy has traveled with me on about all of my road trips, and when I'm not driving paces, he lives in the plane. That little dinosaur has seen a lot of America and really racked up some miles.
Nice pic's and narrative, make sure and get your monies worth out of that little puddle jumper.
ReplyDeleteI need to get back down to your AO.
ReplyDeleteYes you do. And a right seat's got your name on it.
DeleteAlways good to put the wings on and go flying.
ReplyDelete"I am a leaf in the wind.....watch how I soar"
Good on ya for practicing the slow flight! THAT will get you concentrating! :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, it does. It's so easy not to practice the skills we get tested on every two years, and some of them actually have a purpose. I always practice my "go around" procedure too after the one time I actually had to execute a go-around for real and slapped the flaps full up with one smack of the switch. Knew it was a mistake as soon as I'd done it, but too late to correct it. Fortunately I was well below gross weight and got away with it...barely. Valuable lessons learned that day and now these things get practiced.
DeleteAnd boy the last couple days were beautiful ones!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures Thank-you for sharing them
ReplyDeleteDon't be disappointed if some random dude on the ground is flipping you off.....I do it to all of the birds that fly over the house. Ever since the piss filled water bottle ended up in my back yard, I'm kinda unhappy about flyovers.
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