dragonsblog

After 6 months in Colorado, I finally have done some flying. A week ago I got some tailwheel time in a Citabria at Front Range Airport. I was really rusty and only had one or two decent landings, but I guess that's no surprise.

Part of the reason I was motivated to get some stick time again was because this weekend I knew I was going to get a free aerobatic ride with IAC Chapter 12. The club was generously allowing members of EAA Chapter 43 to get some vitamin G by offering rides in Decathlons, a Pitts S-2B, an Extra 300L and even the beastly Sukhoi SU-29. I wasn't sure how much flying they might allow me to do, but if they did I wanted to not be a total hack.

I call this picture "Sukhoi On My Mind". As you can see the weather at Longmont Airport (LMO) was gorgeous, as it seems to be so often in Colorado.


The airport was busy with the acro rides, a huge bunch of Young Eagles being flown, and a Twin Otter constantly shuttling parachutists up to about 5,000' AGL over the field. Here are some friendly people sitting in front of a nice aerobatic biplane who helped take pictures of me. ;) The little guy enjoyed watching all the jumpers because the practice aerobatic boxes weren't visible from the field.


"Does this outfit make my ass look big?" By luck of the draw (and a special request) I was fortunate enough to fly with DJ Molny in his Extra 300L, a really sweet ride. In this picture DJ was explaining to me what to do in case I had to make use of the parachute strapped to my butt.


The Extra was a wonderful ride, and DJ let me get the feel of the plane and fly some loops and barrel rolls, and hang upside down for a while. The controls were incredibly smooth and sensitive, and the control harmony was perfect. Of course there is plenty of horsepower too. DJ's plane has a 4-bladed prop and a large expansion chamber on the exhaust so it is relatively quiet too, especially compared to the Sukhoi. Compared to my previous acro experience in a Decathlon, the easy controls and superior visibility made the flying much easier. I think some stick time in Kurt's EZ probably helped too (thanks Kurt). Needless to say, I was all smiles before and after the ride.


Brian, the Young Eagles Coordinator for EAA Chapter 43 got to ride in the Sukhoi so I got this shot of him before he mounted the beast.


All of this took place with the beautiful backdrop of the Rockies nearby. Here Brian in the Sukhoi taxis back in front of Longs Peak, located in Rocky Mountain National Park.


Lastly, here is a picture of the colorful Pitts S-2B in front of the mountains, an image of another perfect day outside with airplanes.

Labels: aerobatics, flying

I see it's been a while since I posted. Did I mention I moved to Denver?

I decided to get out for a walk today to keep from going stir crazy over the New Year holiday weekend. Going up into the mountains this weekend wasn't part of my plan because of all the snow we've had, but it probably would have worked OK because the weather has been sunny today and yesterday. I drove over to Bluff Lake Nature Preserve near where I live in Denver and was in awe of how beautiful it was there.

As I arrived in the early afternoon the entire snow-covered front range of the Rockies was spread out in front of me, with all of Denver in the foreground. The air was crisp and clear, and the sun cast dramatic shadows in the mountains. Longs Peak looked closer and taller than I'd ever seen before, and the Flatirons looked smaller than normal in comparison.

As I stood on the bluff overlooking the lake, enjoying the view, I called my mother to share it. As I spoke with her I noticed a tight formation of four F-16 jets buzzing downtown Denver--it must be the start of a Broncos game! I could hear the roar of their engines as they headed south in front of the mountains to return to the Air Force Academy, keeping their altitude nice and low the whole way.

I headed down the trail to the bottom of the bluff and around the wetlands, marveling at the serenity of the view of grasses and plants poking above the pristine surface of the snow and the shadows they cast on its surface. I looked back at the bluff and enjoyed the composition of the trees and snow drifts against the bluff, the pavilion atop it, and the near-full moon rising behind. Too bad I didn't bring a camera, I thought. The view was far too nice to spoil in an image on my crappy cell phone camera.

As I crunched along through the deep snow following snow shoe tracks, my eyes followed the tracks of various small animals and birds off to each side of the trail, some of them mysteriously disappearing at some point in the snow. A chipmunk and mynah bird were the only beings I saw making the tracks. Eventually I found tracks from the small resident mule deer herd and even found where they had bedded down along the trail, probably last night. But I couldn't see them anywhere. How do deer hide in plain sight like that?

At the far end of the park I turned back onto a snow covered trail so straight and flat it must have been an old road or railway. The trees arched over it framing a wonderful winter view. From the trail the sunlight reflected off the patterns in the ice of the small lake. For being so low the sun was surprisingly warm on my skin, and for a while I had to remove my jacket and fleece to keep from overheating despite the freezing temperature.

A small gaggle of geese flew across the face of the moon above Sand Creek to my left. The only intrusions of humanity to the solitude of the trail along the side of the wetlands were the jets climbing out from DIA (an intrusion I don't mind) and occasional sounds from the industrial area to the north across Sand Creek. Aside from the rustle of the wind through the trees and the crunch of the snow under my feet, the only other sounds were the occasional groups of geese flying overhead, constantly debating their formation and destination.

But the sun was descending rapidly and as I climbed the trail back up the bluff I enjoyed the shadow of a small tree stretching far across the smooth snow toward me from the glare of the bright sun behind it. At the top of the bluff I heard a loud honk across the creek, a pickup truck at a wastewater treatment plant trying to chase the geese away. The one loud honk erupted into hundreds of lesser honks and the beating of hundreds of wings as a huge cloud of geese rose into the sky above the plant.

They launched to the east and west up and down the creek, circled around to try and regroup. A small group landed in an open area of the creek and more landed in an open area of the nature preserve, the rest circling around and discussing the options. One group passed over the crowded landing area to circle around again and passed low over my head, then came around with their wings drooping with extreme anhedral as they sank down into their noisy, flapping spot landings.

I love watching geese fly. I love their close formations, high-speed cruising, short-field landings and take-offs, and water ski landings. Maybe I was a goose in a past life. Maybe I will be in the future. We'll see how this one goes . . . Hopefully I'll end up with enough karma to come back as a goose.

I got to fly in a Piper Cub with Dana yesterday and, as I suspected it would be, it was way more fun than any other flying that I've done so far! What a total gas flying low and slow with the windows open, buzzing the corn and trees, full slip approaches 180° from downwind to 3-point landing on wet grass... If this is the way America used to learn to fly, it's no wonder we had so many good stick and rudder pilots.

It was drizzling rain some of the time while we were flying, but the air was calm and cool and the rain kept other traffic away. It cleared up beautifully later in the evening and I could hardly bring myself to stop. We even visited a couple of homebuilders working on their airplane projects at Westosha and Galt. What a great time--thanks Dana!

I got checked out in the club's 172-S Skyhawks and had a great afternoon and evening buzzing around playing with the moving map GPS and autopilot. The extra horsepower was nice too.




I ended up flying from Westosha to Kenosha to Poplar Grove (Belvidere) to Waukesha and back to Kenosha. At Kenosha Kurt and I went out and buzzed around for a while and then I headed back to Westosha.


This is a view to the west just after I departed Waukesha Airport. There is a big quarry in the foreground and the airport just beyond it.


You may just be able to see the downtown skyline of Milwaukee in this view to the east taken just after I departed Waukesha.


Here is a view of all the toys in the instrument panel.


Aside from some drizzle and some mild gusts, it was perfectly smooth and warm, a beautiful day to be out flying!

I believe:

• We don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
• No matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
• True friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
• You can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
• It's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
• You should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
• You can keep going long after you think you can't.
• We are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
• Either you control your attitude or it controls you.
• Regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.
• Heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
• Money is a lousy way of keeping score.
• My best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
• Sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.
• Sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
• Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
• Maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
• It isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
• No matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.
• Our background and circumstances may have Influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
• Just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.
• You shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.
• Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
• Your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.
• Even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you - you will find the strength to help.
• Credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
• The people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

(From an email I received from Claudia, and others.)

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!

I'm so glad Tom flew with me on Saturday as my safety pilot/photographer and captured images and video of my "dream flight" to Iowa. He captured some fantastic images with his Canon digital SLR, a few of which I'm posting here. The image above shows the picturesque atmospheric conditions as we flew up the Mississippi River just north of Dubuque.


Tom captured a lonely little barge pushing upriver.


This view shows the broad expanse of the Mississippi at Guttenberg, including the dam there.


There were many wonderful patterns in the landscape below us, and Tom captured this one of a big John Deere tractor planting along the contours of a big field.


Tom caught this dramatic image as we flew over my cousin Stan's place north of Elkader. If you click on it to view the larger version you may be able to see Stan standing near his pond while his dog, Dutch, swims in it, and the shadow of our airplane passes by. The wing was washed and waxed that morning so the reflections really show up well.


We flew from Elkader to Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, just before sunset and were treated to dramatic golden lighting of the rolling hills near the river as we detoured north near Effigy Mounds National Monument. The sun set as we waited for fuel in Prairie, and then we enjoyed a fast ride back to Westosha at night, thanks to smooth air and a tailwind.

The highlight of the trip for me was being able to land at Elkader Airport (I27) and drive into town to visit my grandmother, Abbie. It was so nice to not have to drive 5 hours each way to see her! Although it was a challenge to fly into Elkader's 1700' grass strip on top of a hill, it was quite enjoyable and I look forward to doing it again. I also enjoyed flying over the Kobliska farm north of town, which I've wanted to do for years. I hope to soon add some pictures of Elkader and the farm, or link to them on Tom's site.

Courtesy of Steve Wright and Roger Heerema, several of my co-workers and I were able to enjoy the Cubs game at Wrigley Field yesterday afternoon. It was a nice sunny day for a ball game, but a bit cold where we sat in the shade--normal for this time of year.

The outfield bleacher section of the park was remodeled over the winter. Here is a view from inside the park of the extended bleachers and the new restaurant in center field.

Here is a street side view of the new bleachers overhanging the sidewalk. Blair Kaman gave it a good review in the Tribune.

Cubs lost to the Marlins, of course, but the great thing about going to Wrigley is that you enjoy the experience anyway!

I can't believe I did what I did last Saturday. It's still sinking in. I keep looking at the photos and the videos, reliving the experiences, as usual in vain hope that I will never forget how it felt.

It's funny how a dream of how things can be in the future can become a dream of how things were in the past so quickly, separated only by the brief moments of the actual experience. The dream before and after can, in fact, hold as much or more joy than the actual experience, and can comfort in hard times and motivate one to accomplish so much.

I'm not sure when I first began imagining portions of the flight I took last Saturday, but I think it was close to twenty years ago, maybe more. Now it is hard to remember how much I dreamt of flying before I actually started taking lessons sixteen years ago. I know I wanted to fly in college and even before in high school. And I know I imagined building my own airplane and flying when I was even ten or eleven years old, maybe younger. How young was I when I first wanted to become a pilot? I spent my youth in airliners, flying around the planet 3-1/2 times by the time I was eleven, so was it as soon as I could understand what a pilot was?

My flight instructor, Dana, said I needed more pictures on my website of me as a licensed pilot-in-command. Well, I don't have that but I have some photos of me with trusty N96832 and of my first flight down the Chicago lakefront. This past weekend was beautiful flying weather here so it was nice to get out after being skunked by the weather the previous weekend.

I didn't fly all the way downtown Chicago in the evening, but went as far as Montrose Harbor. The lights of Wrigley Field are visible on the right side of this image, and the lights of downtown Chicago in the center.

I also flew over my home neighborhood, my old neighborhood in Libertyville, the Fort Sheridan area where I used to work, and a couple areas along the North Shore where Wright Architects has projects. Here is a shot of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, from a flight earlier in the afternoon.

A couple weeks ago I got checked out in the club's 172P's so from now on I'm moving up to the bigger iron! (So to speak--172's don't really qualify as "big iron." :)

I did it! I passed the flight test for my pilot's license yesterday. Any euphoria I might be feeling has been thoroughly crushed by the severe blow to my ego from the test itself. Being critiqued by a 13,500-hour air transport pilot who's been flying for 59 years can do that, I guess. That, and being so nervous that any memory and coordination I thought I had seemed to disappear for the day, rendering me but a hint of the pilot I thought I was. I am so glad it's over so now I can go back to having fun flying!

I flew over to Kenosha Airport for the test, and although I obviously didn't take any photos during the test, I did take a couple on the way back to Westosha afterward. Here's one of Kenosha Airport as I was departing. It's a Class D airport with a control tower and plenty of nice runways.


As I headed back to Westosha, completely exhausted from the experience, the sun was setting into some clouds in the west. It had been a beautiful day for flying!