A Lovely Day for Flying...

etsisk

etsisk

En-Route
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Sep 20, 2005
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Chapel Hill, NC
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iYiYi
Sunday was! Boxed in between two days of CRUMMY weather, it was chilly, CAVU, smooth as silk and loads of fun! :D

Mark Shilling picked me up at IGX in the morning and we headed for the mountains! Went to Ashe County (GEV) and had a lovely time getting there. I flew (right seat, of course!! :eek:) and kept track of our position on the charts, providing me with valuable experience for my up and coming x-c (well, I assume it's up and coming!). Mark gave me tips and helped me see stuff that I couldn't yet see (although my height sight is getting better all the time as I learn to distinguish things on the ground from the air)...Me: "Either THAT is Elkin or THAT over THERE is Elkin... hmmm..."; Mark: "Well, we have a river and an interstate as clues"; Me: "oh, THAT interstate . . .so I guess THIS is Elkin... yeah" :redface:

But I knew where we were the whole time and everything was working just fine! Landed at GEV and had lunch, then I grabbed a paper and read the funnies (important social commentary) and did the crossword while Mark took care of the business he had to take care of, then we headed over to Boone, NC, flying through the mountains, where we landed (uh, "interesting" airport ya got there!) and I met BarkleyDog and his lovely and charming wife! Then we got in our respective airplanes and flew around a bit checking out ski slopes and taking some air-to-air pics (to be posted by Barks and Mark, I assume?). It was pretty cool (although I, the newby, was a bit nervous, what with both planes and mountains in visible proximity!!!) and we had a great time with it.

Then Mark and I headed back, saying good-bye to BarkleyDog over the radio . . . wonderful people, Mr. and Mrs. BarkleyDog, and a pleasure to have met them!

Mark flew back while I located us on the chart (whee!) and tracked our progress.

A good time was had by all, I do believe! I'd fly with these folks ANY day!
 
Sounds like a great day Tom. Mark is certainly the ambassador of aviation in N.C.
 
Tom,

Sounds like a fun time! Looking forward to the air to air shots.

All the XC practice sure can help.....the bigger the better for landmarks. On next weeks XC I will note more airports, major interstates and whatever else I can find that is large. I may even run the trip through google. No more itty bitty railroads covered in snow for me!
 
GMascelli said:
Sounds like a fun time! Looking forward to the air to air shots.
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Here's one. Will do more tonight.

1716Rmountains.jpg
 
NC Pilot said:
Here's one. Will do more tonight.

1716Rmountains.jpg
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That's me there on the right, secure in the knowledge that I know exactly where we are! "Chart? Well, I had it right here . . . whaddaya mean that WASN'T the right radio frequency for Boone? Oh, yeah - Johnson Co ... oops! Well, it's not like it's in another STATE or somethin... oops."

Navigation. What a concept. :redface:

But ain't that just a FINE lookin' aeroplane? :D
 
Where is the snow? Isn't theres supposed to be snow in the mountains during the winter?

Great write up Tom. Sounds like you guys had loads of fun. Me I have never been to the NC mountains. Kinda sad eh? I have flown over the Appalachian Trail in Great Barrington Mass. Yeah you could feel the airpockets every now & then.

X/C are fun. I made it to my solo x/c but ran out of funds at that time, so I didn't even get to do that. :mad: One of these days I will. :yes: Don't worry....you will do fine on the x/c Tom.

Brook
 
Here's the snow. Ski slopes with ants skiing...

Skislopes10.jpg


Skislopes9.jpg


Bill Moore's (Barkleydog) plane. Very nice 172...

Billsplane5.jpg


Billsplane4.jpg
 
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HPNFlyGirl said:
Me I have never been to the NC mountains. Kinda sad eh? Brook
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Yeah, Kinda sad. We'll have to see if we can rectify that...
 
N2212R said:
Coooooool, a plane with an inverted fuel system.
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Uh, gravity flows down...:rofl:

Although I do have an electric fuel pump on this plane, so far it's only been run to check it to make sure it works during the runup...

Had a great time with Tom yesterday. He did really well with the navigating part. A little more practice and he could actually get somewhere on his own. Whether that somewhere is actually where he planned on going may be a different story, but we've all been there before, haven't we?

Here's another photo of the plane... Beautifull sky isn't it...
1716RBeneath2.jpg
 
Ah yes....snow at last. Hey Mark & Tom did you guys have any snow flurries this morning?

Beautiful pictures.
 
NC Pilot said:
Had a great time with Tom yesterday. He did really well with the navigating part. A little more practice and he could actually get somewhere on his own. Whether that somewhere is actually where he planned on going may be a different story, but we've all been there before, haven't we?
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Ahem, I have learned that the important thing is to be at peace with the place where one is, at the time. This whole business about going places, and getting actually where you are aiming is surely overly emphasized in our culture. Be here now.

That's what I call a functional philosophy, and I'm stickin' to it!!! :)
 
HPNFlyGirl said:
Ah yes....snow at last. Hey Mark & Tom did you guys have any snow flurries this morning?

Beautiful pictures.
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Nope, nothing but blue skies and smooth air. Really boring trip.
 
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