dragonsblog

Dana said he wanted to see more pictures of me flying as pilot-in-command, so here they are. Tom took these as I flew in to Griffith to pick him up for our weekend flight to Iowa.


A good view of 15L as I flew the downwind leg for runway 26.


On short final. It's always good to stay higher than the trees.


Beginning the flare. On runway 26 the threshold is displaced about 1400', so although it looks like I'm a long way from the end of the runway, I'm actually just about over the displaced threshold. The PAPI lights for 26 are in the foreground.


Settling down to the runway . . . after the first bounce.


Back taxiing. There was a small flock of geese on the other side of the runway, and later two deer wandered past. Fortunately they all stayed out of my way. As I departed Westosha at the beginning of this trip I saw a big tom turkey displaying to a bunch of hens on the grass runway--that was fun to see. It seems that big birds are always attracted to airports...


I must say I do look better in a bigger bird.

Flying down the shore of Lake Michigan on Saturday morning was spectacular! The air was smooth as can be, there was no other traffic, and the morning sun was perfectly illuminating the skyline of Chicago. Conditions were so perfect that it didn't even bother me that all I could see when I looked straight down was water. Lots of cold, deep water... (Click on the images to view larger, 1280 pixel images)


Although this zoom view of downtown from near Evanston looks hazy, it was a perfectly clear morning. Montrose Beach and Harbor are in the foreground, then Belmont Harbor and then Diversey Harbor closer to downtown. For a similar view at night, see my April 12th post.


This is a view of my home neighborhood, but I really like it because in the distance at the top of the image you can see the main east-west runways at O'Hare, almost twenty miles away. The planes approaching those runways were just a couple thousand feet above me.


Of course I had to take a shot of the friendly confines of Wrigley Field as I flew past. Waveland golf course in Lincoln Park is in the foreground. It was fun to see Lake Shore Drive and the lakefront trail from above, the routes of which I have become so familiar on the ground.


I like this view of "Big John" and the Mag Mile/Gold Coast area, mostly because of the reflections in the lake. The Museum of Contemporary Art is visible in the green space along Lake Shore Drive near the center of the image, and the historic waterworks and water tower are just visible beyond it.


Navy Pier looked quiet before the daily onslaught of tourists and visitors. I was just down there on that patio outside Festival Hall...


This is a good view looking up the entrance of the Chicago River. The lock into the lake is visible at the bottom of the image. The building under construction at the bend in the river in front of the black IBM Building is the new Trump Tower, which will be about as tall as the Aon building on the left.


This is a view of the Loop, Grant Park, Millennium Park and Monroe Harbor. The Sears Tower dominates the view, but on the left you can see Buckingham Fountain and the green roof of the Harold Washington Library, and on the right you can see the Pritzker Pavillion designed by Frank Gehry. The large white tents at the Petrillo Band Shell are temporary structures for the "Garden In A City" show. Just above them is the Art Institute.


Here's a view of the Loop north to Navy Pier.


Here's a view of just the main part of the skyline. Notice how the antenna masts on top of the Sears Tower extend just above the horizon, a little higher than I was flying (at 2500' above sea level).


This image shows the Museum Campus, Soldier Field, Burnham Harbor and Northerly Island (formerly known as Meigs Field).


I didn't take any more pictures as I headed south because I lost interest and had to prepare for my approach into Griffith-Merrillville Airport, sneaking past Gary Airport's airspace along the Illinois-Indiana border.

I had another weekend of living in my dreams. I did everything from fly down the Chicago lakefront to flying with an eagle over Iowa. It was great to have it work out as planned and have a few bonus surprises along the way, though some of the surprises were definitely in the "learning opportunity" category. I'll post a bunch of images as soon as I get them all formatted.

Special thanks go to Tom for going along as copilot, ground support (when I was giving rides), and photographer, and to Sherry for hosting us in her heavenly "bed and breakfast." Thanks also to Hiltje, Aja, Marissa, Pam, Rob, Stan, Abbie, Julie, Dave, Candice and Cassie for taking time to hang out with me and go along for rides. I hope you really did enjoy it as much as I did!

Tom sent me a link to an opinion/article on general aviation safety. He swore he would never set foot in an airplane again . . . until next weekend when we plan to fly to Iowa again.

The article tries to do a statistical analysis of GA safety that has been done a thousand times before a thousand different ways. I limited my aviation activity for years due to numbers, but nobody does it because of numbers, they only avoid it because of numbers. And the numbers don't take everything into account.

Despite the bad grammar and marginal clarity, I think these comments posted to the article put it in perspective:

"One more comment... I've been a pilot for some years and there are very few people in the U.S. who can pilot a plane and the beauty of flying a plane is more than most people could ever experience in a lifetime. I've seen more beauty then most could ever imagine. I've also been in several emergency situations but I assure you that with the intense training of being a pilot you are prepared for most situations. When you are up at 10,000 feet with the moon gleaming off a big lake you realize that in your lifetime you out of very few will ever experience that beauty.
I guess I could spend my life smoking and drinking not to accomplish anything in life or fly a plane knowing I've accomplished what billions of others only dream of, so I guess it is all about choices."

And this one:

"GA is a hobby just like collecting motorcycles, playing sports or what so ever... The thing I can assure you of is that pilots are the most highly trained of all. Accidents happens and I don't know what is safer but sometimes you have to ask yourself are you really doing what you love to do? If you put GA in perspective to motorcycles and to some sports there is no comparison. So many people get wrapped up into comparing GA to cars when really there is no comparison as the proportions don't compare. But after watching my mom pass due to cancer which kills more people then both combined, I have to believe that you have to let people fulfill there dreams. You can never tell someone their chances are greater one way or the other, because you are limiting their dreams and hence are they truly happy."


As with everything to do with the way we live our lives, it is all about choices.

Tom did make a page on his website of the images from our flight over Northeast Iowa that he liked best or thought I would appreciate. These images have special significance for me:


The town of Clayton on the Mississippi River




The town of Elkader on the Turkey River

I can even see my grandparents' apartment bay window!



The bend in the Turkey River around the Kobliska Farm



Another dramatic view of cousin Stan's place north of Elkader



And this nice view of the mouth of the Wisconsin River where it feeds into the Mississippi. In the center of the image is Pikes Peak State Park and in the upper left is Prairie Du Chien Airport where we landed for fuel. Tom even caught a train crossing the bridge over the Wisconsin River!