So Adam and I have carefully planned our flight to Ryan Field, Arizona. We have an oxygen system, plotted flight plan, information about the airport we’re headed to, and information about airports along the way. We have snacks packed, liters and liters of water, and even a bunch of “Brief Relief” units. (Those are little [...]
There is an aviation joke: What makes an airplane fly? And the person being asked (usually a student pilot) tosses out all sorts of correct answers about airfoils, the Bernoulli effect, lift, and so on. The joke answer is: Money. I think I’ll try to limit my discussion of aviation and finances to this one [...]
Colin and I strapped in again on Thursday for an airport bounce. The aim was to really try out the Diamond DA20 as well as get some more new airports into the log book. We rented the plane from South Bay Aviation at Torrance Airport. No doubt this is the best rental place we have [...]
My brother and I are not two peas in a pod as pilots, or as people. We got into this at the same time and progressed equally smoothly, but we are quite different in temperament, and subtly different in the things we do well. Our parents think we are equally good pilots who have an [...]
Adam was having such fun flying Mom and Alex around that I had to figure out a way to take them up. The problem was that I didn’t really need to go anywhere. I don’t know where Adam is getting his flying dollars, but my budget appears to be a little tighter. I did need [...]
I realized Sharalyn and my mom were not much worried about flying with me as I took off from the bleak and windy airport at Bullhead City. My passengers all have headsets and each headset has a mic. I can’t imagine flying around in one of these little tin cans without being able to talk [...]
The hardest thing, by far, has been learning to land the airplane. Part of it is the pressure to do a good landing. When I flew by myself to three different airports in a little over four hours I was mostly concerned with getting the plane onto the ground safely. I knew I no longer [...]
As great as it was to fly all over the Los Angeles basin and out into the desert with Adam, yesterday was really the image in my head that brought me down to Santa Monica airport to begin with. I soared over the Malibu coastline, checked in with SoCal and then looked across at Nell. [...]