Colorado... Home Sweet Home

I had the most wonderful time at Christmas. There was flying, cookies, family gatherings, walking in the snow, a decorated tree, new friends, great wine, a singing-dancing show and my new favorite pre-Christmas service at the Unity Center with Rev. Dawna.

Mark and I had the pleasure of a comfy suite with a view over the golf course... Mornings were spent sleeping in and geeking out... Coffee was fresh brewed and hot... And Packer greeted us with his schnauzer puppy love in ample supply, every single day.

Five days just flew by and before I knew it, I was on the home stretch. Cedar City to Longmont.

I'm luckiest girl in the world; My sweet boyfriend flew me slowly and carefully around Bryce Canyon National Park for a photography fix before landing at Cal Black Airport for our last fuel stop.  :-)

Then I flew, Cal Black to Longmont, direct over the Rockies at 13,500 feet, with an oxygen cannula in my nose!

It was an almost perfect day for flying. Wispy clouds hung off high peaks as we flew close by Montrose, Aspen, Eagle and Granby airports. The finger pulse-oximeter told me my heart rate didn't go above 80... But I didn't believe it. When I overheard a commercial aircraft announcing their intentions to take off, there was mild anxiety. No ATC?  When one of the pilots (already in the air) asked if anyone could help him open his IFR flight plan, I swear my heart was racing. Of course Mark reassured me that they had us on radar and wouldn't suddenly emerge from the clouds in front of us... But a couple did seem to come too close for my comfort, none-the-less.

Just over two hours later, Long's Peak poking through the clouds welcomed us back to the Front Range and we slowed up N303B for her bumpy descent from 12,500' to pattern altitude, 6,000' at Longmont Airport.

Home. Safe. Tired.
Nothing a glass of wine and a hot bath couldn't cure!

Tahoe Scenic Flight

It had been 20 years since I last saw Lake Tahoe. I barely remembered it, but that was all about to change. Lew Gage and Mark had chatted about flying together and it was decided we could kill several birds with one stone. (I really dislike that saying!)

Leaving Reno at 10-ish, Mark flew while I enjoyed the scenic view that can only come with being in a small plane circling overhead.  It was beautifully peaceful and oh so calm down there. The flight was calm too... A nice change.

  

This is how the "other half" live. Their homes perched along the shore, their boats docked privately on the lake. Ahhh...   No, I'm not jealous. After all, I'm in N303B cruising Lake Tahoe, headed for lunch with friends.

We landed and talked airplanes...

We had lunch and took off again. The next (last) thing on our busy schedules this morning, was re-fueling the Bonanza at Carson City on the way back to Reno Stead Airport.

I flew the legs into and out of Carson City while Mark kept his eyes out the window. The airspace around here is complicated and well trafficked. I love my co-pilot!

Approaching Reno Stead the winds favored landing to the south on Runway 14 (see it at 11 o'clock tracking down to 5 o'clock on the pic below). Given that our hanger was on the west side of the airport (9 o'clock), we were going to have a "bit of a drive" after landing. Quite rightly, Mark suggested I land long to reduce the 10 mph commute.

Flying downwind for runway 14, I knew it was plenty long enough. What I didn't quite factor in so well, was the runway was 150 wide, making it look shorter than it was... Until I was flaring. Holy crap! I can barely see the edges of the runway. 

So, the landing was not bad, but I would say I was only a quarter of the way down it and the next 10 minutes were spent taxiing. I'm not complaining. It still counts for me to log the time!  The question is... Do I owe Mark some new tires?!  Those little wheels were not intended for long distance driving.

Ahh... good for a giggle though.

Aviation Classics: Life threw me a little bonus today!

The first day in Reno, we had a few errands to run. Not the least of which was to refill the oxygen bottles for the flight back east at the end of the week. Mark and I (mainly me) had drained them coming over. Flying high to avoid turbulence, coupled with my ridiculous sensitivity to altitude meant we stayed almost the entire flight hooked up to supplemental oxygen.

Mark started the morning calling around to see who could help us and ended up selecting Aviation Classics, at Reno Stead Airport, as the service provider. We drove out, both bottles in hand and entered the hangar via one of two entrance doors.

WOW! A hangar filled with aircraft in various states of repair and completion, greeted us. An airplane hospital is how I would best describe it.  About half a dozen men were busy at work.

Mark delivered the empty tanks to the office and asked if they minded us poking around. The staff and mechanics could not have been more encouraging, so we took the opportunity to get to know the inside of aircraft I had previously only seen chocked on a ramp - or never seen at all. Awesome!

Twin engines, exposed. Wings removed. After-burners explained. Despite the sadness at some of the dreams yet to be realized and projects stalled, there was a lot to make me smile.

I watched as a guy gently lowered an ejection seat back into a Russian trainer. And took as much in as I could (most of it over my head, of course) when another mechanic gave me the in's and out's of several of the other Russian fighter jets.

Mark and I were in heaven. I for one, love the smell of hangar. Grease, oil, fuel and vintage upholstery.... Mmmm.

The MiG 21:

Role	Fighter
Manufacturer	Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB
Designer	Artem Mikoyan
First flight	14 February 1956 (Ye-2)
Introduction	1959 (MiG-21F)

Enough fuel to fly just an hour, short wings (think squirrel suit) meaning the aircraft virtually drops like a rock if the engines quit and air force bases well inside Russia's borders make perfect sense when you don't want your pilots to defect! Scary!!!

Mark stepped away for a minute to check on the oxygen refilling process. I took the chance to ask my new mechanic friend if I could sit inside the MiG 21 I was peering into. He said yes! After promising I would not pull the red ejection lever and give myself the headache of a lifetime, I climbed inside.

It was perfectly sized for me. Russian pilots were apparently chosen for skill and physical dimensions. At 5'7", I was about as tall as one would want to be while crammed into this surprisingly comfortable seat and surrounded by important instruments. Of course some of the instruments looked vaguely familiar to me... But others, still labeled in Russian were a complete mystery, so I kept my hands to myself. :-)

Out the front, the view was almost non-existent. The windscreen and canopy was surprisingly close to my head and the shallow angle meant I had a window of 6" high and a couple of feet in depth to look through. Bearing in mind that, upon landing, this aircraft would have the nose pitched up significantly, I think it's safe to say the pilot could not see the runway at all. He better have lined it up nicely before touch-down!

At the end of my bent legs, I tucked my booted feet into the rudder pedals. Yes, tucked. Each small pedal sported leather hooks on the left and right of the pedal. They wrapped over my feet, giving me the ability to push on the rudder pedals as well as pull up on each. Why? To quote the guy eagerly explaining stuff to me: "So that if you get a leg blown off, you can still control left and right with the remaining foot."  Glad I asked!  Even gladder to have not been born into the life of a Russian jet fighter pilot.

All too soon, the oxygen tanks were filled and our excuse to poke around in Aviation Classics business, had come to a screeching halt. Mark and I reluctantly exited the airplane hospital and re-entered real life... Still smiling.

Reno Christmas Flight - Take Two

As you might remember, last year around Christmas time, Mark and I took off and headed for Reno for the holidays. We never made it.

This year, it was different. With a new prop and engine, we planned to skip over the Rockies to Reno between spells of bad weather - or at least give it a go and get a hotel anywhere along the way as needed.

On the ground in Longmont at dawn on December 22nd, it was cold but clear.

Fifteen seconds after take-off, the turbulence kicked in. At first mild, then proceeding to get bit worse as we climbed. We headed south along the Foothills, climbing at times (when lift took us up) at 1000 feet per minute and at other times, losing up to 500 feet a minute. It became abundantly clear we might be going further south than Castle Rock before we had the altitude needed to go west over the mountains.

Beverage service was cancelled and lapbelts tightened as the plane dipped at turned - under my (?) control. It was going to be a rough day.

Climbing through 10,000 feet, the air was still challenging and Mark reminded me that we could take turns flying. It's fairly exhausting trying to hold course and keep an eye on altitude while being shaken and stirred! We cranked up the oxygen and climbed higher still.

Further south than we had originally planned, but staying clear of weather that was clearly chasing us down as it sped south too, we seemed to be within spitting distance of Albuquerque for a ridiculous period of time because of our 50 mph headwind. Then, like a Christmas miracle, the edge of the front appeared and we saw sunshine behind it. We were now in Utah. Orange canyons and meandering rivers blanketed the ground below and Cal Black Airport was just a half hour away.

You might remember Cal Black from previous posts. It's the only airport to offer auto-gas as well as avgas (100LL) for miles. A cheaper alternative that N303B drinks just as happily.  Landing at Cal Black is pretty cool. The runway is long, but a bit narrower than what we are used to. Base to final is kinda over a canyon and the couple that run the FBO and live on-site are super sweet. We had last visited this airport 14 months ago, but as we stepped off the wing onto the ramp, we were greeted with familiarity and welcomed back. (Ok, so the guy remembered just me and inquired as to whether I was in the same plane as last time or with the same guy... But still.... Nice to be remembered!)

We spent 15 minutes at Cal Black. It was a welcome firm footing after our 3+ hour bumpy flight. I noticed a crib behind the front desk and asked. Yep, since we were last here our cute couple has had their first child! Charlotte, just 4 months old, was adorable. She made a short appearance to meet us and I got an easy-going smile from her.

Mark flew the next half of the trip to Reno. I was ready for a nap. My flying had taken us as high as 15,700 feet over the Rockies. We didn't need to go that high now, but it was still bumpy up until about 12,300 feet on the way to Nevada.

I took the opportunity to shoot some pics out the passenger window. :-)

We stopped briefly in Yerrington, NV for more fuel and the Realtor in me was horrified with the lock box situation. Normally the Pilot's Lounge or facilities are locked and the lock box typically is the radio frequency we use when landing. This was different. From a security perspective, I might also go as far as calling it pointless!

Landing at Reno before the sunset, we were greeted by Lew Gage. Bonanza legend and author. Mark has been listening to Lew's advice from afar for years and to have him offer us the use of one of his hangars for the holidays was both a really a nice gesture and fantastic opportunity to meet him.

Our Christmas holiday had began. And this year, we had made it slowly but safely all the way to Reno.