COFlyBoy
Line Up and Wait
Well I put 9.87 hours on the tachometer flying around New Mexico. We left CO12 around 1030 on 3/30 and headed almost due south to Santa Rosa, NM SXU. We landed on old Route 66 straight into a 22G33 wind. It was a very short landing. Got gas and checked out the local A-7.
We wanted to see Blue Hole and eat in town, but we needed to get down to Carlsbad before the car rental place closed. So back into the 6 for a departure into the gusty and bouncy wind.
Down at Carlsbad KCNM) the winds were about the same, but they have so many runways that it doesn't matter much. We spent a cushy night at the Holiday Inn Express (nice but pricey), and then headed out to the caverns. On the way past the airport we saw the 6 on the ramp next to this big bird:
The Carlsbad Caverns are totally worth a trip to southern NM. Truly huge and amazing.
Surprisingly the winds got even worse while we were in Carlsbad, so we decided to stay until April 2. We checked out the Living Desert zoo, which the kids really enjoyed. The javelinas (desert pigs) were really cute.
Friday morning (4/2) we departed Carlsbad for Santa Teresa, NM. The weather was cold, wind had died down and the density altitude was low, so we got off the ground like a missile. My wife doesn't like the smell of the heater, so we froze our way past El Paso, under a Southwest 737, and into the Santa Teresa Airport (5T6). There we checked out the truly awesome "War Eagles" museum. The gentleman there said that all of the prop driven aircraft in the collection were in airworthy condition. And I got to sit in the cockpit of a P-51. Here's proof:
After the museum we ate a quick picnic from our snack bag and then took-off again. This time we went north over Hatch, Truth or Consequence, and some really big lakes. We landed at Socorro, NM (KONM). There is not much to the town of Socorro, but they do have a really nice airport. We rented a van and met some friends who flew down in their M-20. We stayed the night in Socorro. The next morning we all piled into the van and went to the Trinity Test Site in the middle of the White Sands Missile Range.
The trinity site is a pretty surreal experience. There is not really much left. They blew it up, you know. I don't think I'd suggest a trip just to see it, but since we were doing the NM tour, it fit in well.
We got back to Socorro in time for lunch and then flew to Albuquerque (KAEG). In the morning we went and looked at some old petroglyphs (ancient Pueblo graffiti) and did the International Balloon Museum. Then we bounced home.
No mechanical problems, no weather problems. Just a nice relaxing trip across almost 1500 miles of desert.
We wanted to see Blue Hole and eat in town, but we needed to get down to Carlsbad before the car rental place closed. So back into the 6 for a departure into the gusty and bouncy wind.
Down at Carlsbad KCNM) the winds were about the same, but they have so many runways that it doesn't matter much. We spent a cushy night at the Holiday Inn Express (nice but pricey), and then headed out to the caverns. On the way past the airport we saw the 6 on the ramp next to this big bird:
The Carlsbad Caverns are totally worth a trip to southern NM. Truly huge and amazing.
Surprisingly the winds got even worse while we were in Carlsbad, so we decided to stay until April 2. We checked out the Living Desert zoo, which the kids really enjoyed. The javelinas (desert pigs) were really cute.
Friday morning (4/2) we departed Carlsbad for Santa Teresa, NM. The weather was cold, wind had died down and the density altitude was low, so we got off the ground like a missile. My wife doesn't like the smell of the heater, so we froze our way past El Paso, under a Southwest 737, and into the Santa Teresa Airport (5T6). There we checked out the truly awesome "War Eagles" museum. The gentleman there said that all of the prop driven aircraft in the collection were in airworthy condition. And I got to sit in the cockpit of a P-51. Here's proof:
After the museum we ate a quick picnic from our snack bag and then took-off again. This time we went north over Hatch, Truth or Consequence, and some really big lakes. We landed at Socorro, NM (KONM). There is not much to the town of Socorro, but they do have a really nice airport. We rented a van and met some friends who flew down in their M-20. We stayed the night in Socorro. The next morning we all piled into the van and went to the Trinity Test Site in the middle of the White Sands Missile Range.
The trinity site is a pretty surreal experience. There is not really much left. They blew it up, you know. I don't think I'd suggest a trip just to see it, but since we were doing the NM tour, it fit in well.
We got back to Socorro in time for lunch and then flew to Albuquerque (KAEG). In the morning we went and looked at some old petroglyphs (ancient Pueblo graffiti) and did the International Balloon Museum. Then we bounced home.
No mechanical problems, no weather problems. Just a nice relaxing trip across almost 1500 miles of desert.
