Tracking Progress

School has moved into whiplash pace these past couple weeks. Our new instrument instructor is now on board so I've been flying quite a bit. Things are both exhilarating and overwhelming. I've been taking my GPS receiver along with me and I've saved the tracks of a few of the more interesting flights. The track in red is a flight from OGD to BTF (Bountiful/Skypark) and back. It covered 88.6 nautical miles (102 statute miles) took about 2 hours with a max ground speed of 110 knots (127 mph.)The track in blue is from my first flight with my new instructor and third flight overall. I don't have the data on that flight anymore, but it was less exciting anyway. Practicing turns, assents & descents and one touch and go in Brigham City on that flight. Compare that to nine approaches at Skypark a week later plus flying near Class B airspace and passing though Hill AFB airspace. A lot of excitement that made for quite a bit to digest in one flight.

Static Displays Fuel Dynamic Dreams

Between flights the other day I dropped in on neaby Hill Air Force Base. They have an aerospace museum there that I hadn't visited in probably 15 years. It's more impressive than I remembered and wished I had more than my camera phone with me to prove it.

Displays included Thunderchiefs, Phantoms, Eagles, Hornets, Falcons as well as an assortment of helicopters, cargo lifters, bombers (including the B-1 and the venerable giant B-52) and let's not forget that greatest of all jets - SR-71. I'll have to go back and take some photos when I'm not in such a rush. They close a little early but it's hard to fault an all volunteer staff operating an admission free facility for wanting to keep hours short.

Pictured here are a "Huskie" and a Sikorsky "Jolly Green Giant" both Vietnam era choppers that made impressive displays.

Beware the Ides of March

"Ides: the fifteenth day of March, May, July, and October, and the thirteenth day of the other months."

Man, the stuff you can learn with just the word of the day! Further knowledge gleaned form dictionary.com:

Ides comes from Latin idus, probably from an Etruscan word meaning "division" of a month.

Travel Light - That's Us!

After taking a short flight to Long Beach and back the topic of packing is fresh on my mind. Before packing for myself and a two year old, I could pack in a briefcase. A rollaboard was a mobile warehouse to me. Now a days I yearn for the times I only packed for myself and could travel with naught but my suitcase and backpack. For those of you who may have not yet captured the vision of traveling light or seek the enlightenment that will take you to these lofty heights, I offer this comprehensive, easy to understand and concise set of directions to traveling in a single suitcase I have yet read. And wouldn't you know it, it's a wikipedia eHow:

How to Travel With One Bag

For those of you who need more convincing as to the merits of light travel or seek in depth knowledge I submit to you a resource of limitless potential to the wanderlust afflicted:

OneBag.com

Thanks to Doug Dyments recomendation I think I've found my new suitcase. My change in baggage preference is only the begining of the travel light ideas that now grace my knowledge base.

Short stay in Long Beach

After spending a few short days in Long Beach enjoying the temperate weather and our Disneyland Passports we were back on a plane to SLC. It was somewhat fasinating to fly out of LGB (Long Beach.) The city has worked hard to keep the terminal at it's original size while still accomodating airlines the likes of Delta/SkyWest, Jet Blue and U.S.Air. In fact Delta just started service to LGB this week from thier hub in SLC via thier DeltaConnection partner SkyWest. So we felt quite priviliged to be among the first few to forge the skies with the SkyWest CRJ's.

It was awfuly good to be back in the air. Well, back in a passenger plane anyway. It's remarkably relaxing to marvel at the wonder of flight when you don't need to keep your rotor RPM's in check and flare that autorotation at just the right time.

The munchkin was good flyer this trip too. She was abosorbed in Finding Nemo on the trip down and slept on the trip back leaving Dad time to study and relax. She had a hard time figuring out why Mom was at the airport - outside her window, at the gate - but not flying with her. In the end she handled it like a trooper. She even had some fun trying to figure out these fancy airplane seatbelts. We've even got pictures of mom outside the aircraft getting ready to push back the plane.