Kath's North America adventure, part IV (Dallas edition)

kath

Administrator
Management Council Member
PoA Technical Administrator
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
1,871
Location
Anchorage, AK
Display Name

Display name:
Katherine
Our last episode left off in Arizona [https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/kaths-north-america-adventure-part-iii.122451/], with one of @Lowflynjack's epic air-to-air photo shoots [https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/air-to-air-az-cessna-172-kath.122662/]...

I spent most of December in Tucson AZ with family. The Hubby (who had to stay behind in Anchorage for this trip) flew commercial down to Tucson to be with us for Christmas Break. I picked him up at TUS: "So, what do you want to do tomorrow, honey?" I asked. "I want to go out to Benson Airport and see the plane," he says immediately. The man has been living without his wife *and* without his plane for five months now, poor guy.

There is a lot to see and do in the desert southwest, especially if you're nerdy. Telescopes, for instance. Through my "in-crowd channels" in physics and astronomy departments at various universities, I got to take a tour of a couple of really neat telescope facilities: the VERITAS gamma-ray telescopes at the Whipple Observatory near Tucson, and the Very Large Array (VLA) radio observatory near Socorro New Mexico.
DSC00681_small.jpeg
DSC00783_small.jpeg

I also made a day-trip out to meet a guy who is a former Alaska bush pilot. I found out when I got there that he hadn't flown (or even sat in a plane!) for seven years. I thought to myself, "We are fixing that. TODAY." And we did. That was very rewarding!

Hubby and I flew together for the next big leg of the trip: Tucson -> Dallas. After so many months of flying everywhere solo, it was nice to have experienced company along for the ride. He helped me fly some practice instrument approaches, too, which was great.
DSC00827_small.jpeg

Here in the DFW area, I've had the pleasure of getting to meet several POA'ers who either live here or were visiting, including:
@Ravioli (whom I still owe a dinner), @AggieMike88, @kayoh190, @JCranford, @Mrs. J Cranford, @Craig, @Salty, @GRG55, @RyanShort1, and probably others I've left out...

The weather is exactly as crazy as all the local Texans warned me about: it goes from tornado to snow to 70 degrees and sunny in the space of 48 hours. I've spent most of the time working, but somehow the weather has cleared up for the weekends and I've gotten to explore a few nearby airports such as Possum Kingdom, North Texas Regional, and Sulphur Springs. Still haven't gone out for barbeque. Still meaning to do that before I leave the state... (Anyone?)

As always, I've been putting most of the pictures and stories on the blog (since it's too much work to duplicate everything here):
beetlejuiceadventure.wordpress.com

tripmap_dallas2.png

Next (probably next weekend), I'll be heading east again, towards Tuscaloosa, Atlanta, and Florida. Then up the coast towards West Virginia. If anyone wants a meetup, just drop me a line.



For a last bit of fun, if anyone wants to play "name that airport", here is a fun one: Of course, knowing the general region of the country I've been in is a big hint. Blog readers may not participate, since the answer is in there. :)
DSC00833_horizononly.jpeg
 
Glad you made it to Texas!

I know the airport you posted above, but only because I stopped there on the way back from the Arizona adventure. I thought it was pretty cool taxiing by the tail of a couple of 747s!
 
Our last episode left off in Arizona [https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/kaths-north-america-adventure-part-iii.122451/], with one of @Lowflynjack's epic air-to-air photo shoots [https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/air-to-air-az-cessna-172-kath.122662/]...

I spent most of December in Tucson AZ with family. The Hubby (who had to stay behind in Anchorage for this trip) flew commercial down to Tucson to be with us for Christmas Break. I picked him up at TUS: "So, what do you want to do tomorrow, honey?" I asked. "I want to go out to Benson Airport and see the plane," he says immediately. The man has been living without his wife *and* without his plane for five months now, poor guy.

There is a lot to see and do in the desert southwest, especially if you're nerdy. Telescopes, for instance. Through my "in-crowd channels" in physics and astronomy departments at various universities, I got to take a tour of a couple of really neat telescope facilities: the VERITAS gamma-ray telescopes at the Whipple Observatory near Tucson, and the Very Large Array (VLA) radio observatory near Socorro New Mexico.
View attachment 82073
View attachment 82074

I also made a day-trip out to meet a guy who is a former Alaska bush pilot. I found out when I got there that he hadn't flown (or even sat in a plane!) for seven years. I thought to myself, "We are fixing that. TODAY." And we did. That was very rewarding!

Hubby and I flew together for the next big leg of the trip: Tucson -> Dallas. After so many months of flying everywhere solo, it was nice to have experienced company along for the ride. He helped me fly some practice instrument approaches, too, which was great.
View attachment 82075

Here in the DFW area, I've had the pleasure of getting to meet several POA'ers who either live here or were visiting, including:
@Ravioli (whom I still owe a dinner), @AggieMike88, @kayoh190, @JCranford, @Mrs. J Cranford, @Craig, @Salty, @GRG55, @RyanShort1, and probably others I've left out...

The weather is exactly as crazy as all the local Texans warned me about: it goes from tornado to snow to 70 degrees and sunny in the space of 48 hours. I've spent most of the time working, but somehow the weather has cleared up for the weekends and I've gotten to explore a few nearby airports such as Possum Kingdom, North Texas Regional, and Sulphur Springs. Still haven't gone out for barbeque. Still meaning to do that before I leave the state... (Anyone?)

As always, I've been putting most of the pictures and stories on the blog (since it's too much work to duplicate everything here):
beetlejuiceadventure.wordpress.com

View attachment 82080

Next (probably next weekend), I'll be heading east again, towards Tuscaloosa, Atlanta, and Florida. Then up the coast towards West Virginia. If anyone wants a meetup, just drop me a line.



For a last bit of fun, if anyone wants to play "name that airport", here is a fun one: Of course, knowing the general region of the country I've been in is a big hint. Blog readers may not participate, since the answer is in there. :)
View attachment 82077

One of them boneyard joints. Isn’t there one down around Bisbee?

EDIT: Pinal KMZJ
 
Last edited:
One of them boneyard joints. Isn’t there one down around Bisbee?
EDIT: Pinal KMZJ

It is a "boneyard-y" place, but not that one...
 
Well you gotta fix that before you go! That's great barbecue joints near airports in Stephenville, Taylor, Mexia, and others.
I might know someone based at Taylor ;) Good BBQ in all of the placed Lindberg mentioned for sure. Stephenville is the closest one to you that most of us go too.
 
Quick update... I made it to KTCL, and am going to be hangin' in Alabama this week.

The most interesting part of the flight is that I got to log my first actual in 14 years! About a half-hour of it, crossing the Dallas area from the west side to the east side... My "New Years resolution" has been to get comfortable with IFR. After getting the rating in 2005, I only flew twice with any actual time, and then moved to Alaska where no one flies IFR much under Part 91 (too much terrain and icing). I've been trying to resuscitate my atrophied skills with hood practice, but given how much time it's been since I've seen the inside of a cloud, this was a big step and a psychological hurdle.

Wow, "popping out on top" truly is the most amazing feeling!
DSC00884_small.jpeg

Total actual now: 3.4 hours.
Number of actual approaches: 1.
 
Back
Top