Flying Summers Brothers

Tuesday, August 11

North of Canada… the United States?

CNK4 – KANJ – KACB

Part of the lost trip report.

The time at the Lake was superb. Dexter got very into fishing and, even though he didn’t catch very much, it gave him motivation to see more of the shoreline, other little lakes nearby, and one of the creeks that feeds the Lake. As great as it was, my friend TW kept telling me that his place on Torch Lake would give any lake in Ontario a run for its money, so I started planning our next flight. Continue reading →

Thursday, August 6

Escaping to the North

KLEB – CYTZ – CNK4

Part of the lost trip report.

Checking The Barn box office

The summer is all about the boys seeing some places other than home. The airplane is great for that. So far they have seen nearly every state (we’re missing Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Iowa, and a couple southern ones; I don’t think we’re going to ever have a reason to fly through North Dakota, so we might have to just call that one Canada and let it go). More importantly, they have seen a real variety of places, from college towns to Washington, D.C., the town of Marfa, Texas out in the middle of the high desert, and the non-town of Pontiac, Illinois set amongst infinite cornfields. Next winter vacation is meant to be a flight down to the Keys. I would like to stop in Marfa again on our way there. Continue reading →

Sunday, August 1

East over the Lakes

KMSN – KIAG – KLEB

Part of the lost trip report.

The thunderstorm line swept over us in the night and dissipated out over Lake Michigan. The breakfast at the hotel was surprisingly good (I have gotten used to trying to find anything edible in an “included” breakfast sort of buffet, not much effort was required that morning). Once we are packed up, the hotel shuttle van took us back to our FBO for departure. Along the way, Nell lamented that we didn’t get anything Wisconsin-specific during our stay and ventured that maybe the cheese is something to write home about. The van driver, a college-aged woman, say that it’s cheap, and that’s good, but that it’s nothing special, just fresh cheese. She then proceeded to give a running commentary about what the party scene was like around the university and how we are lucky to be there when school is not in session. Continue reading →

Friday, July 30

KSMO – KHND – 36U – KJAC

Go North Little Plane

Part of the Lost Trip Report.

Our destination is the traditional Pleasant Lake in New Hampshire, but we started our trip with two hours along the route I have travelled most often. We were headed north, more north than we had been in the plane. Nell’s family has friends (Dick and Claire) who summer in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

With the plane all packed, the iPhones charged, the stack of approach plate books stowed within easy reach in the luggage area, and the Kindles loaded with electronic books for boys, we rolled onto Runway 21 and a right downwind departure.

Nell was working with an actress and a producer on a possible series idea, and she needed a morning conference call. The timing worked out for her to do that from Henderson when we landed for fuel. We had practically rolled the boys right into the plane from bed, so it was great that the restaurant at the airport was open. They had a nice brunch (pancakes, eggs, bacon) while Nell used her iPhone and a hallway as a make-shift office.

Continue reading →

Our fifth and sixth trips across the country led us to these Fixed Base Operators, and I wrote the following reviews on Airnav, which is the site many pilots (including me) use to select an FBO or even an airport. (I reviewed the FBOs for my 2007 trips across the country, but somehow neglected to do it for our 2008 trip. Really, I need a master list of places we have been, just in case there are some we don’t like.) Continue reading →

Sad Bees

These are the bees that were left when I returned to the plane. Most blew off when I started it up. The remaining dozen stayed on until run-up (the engine is at 2,000 RPM for a few moments). There were two left who hopped off as I taxied to the transient parking area.

I used window cleaner on the canopy, but there were still a couple on it the following day. (Poor fellows, no idea where the Queen might have gone, they just return to the last place they knew her to be…)

Almost ready for eggs

I try hard to fly twice a week. Otherwise I wonder how sharp my skills are and flying isn’t something you want to do when you are rusty. Even a little. Mistakes, especially when they start to chain together, take the situation out of your control very quickly.

Last Spring I had two incidents that made it seem like I should be flying more, but they were really just random. Continue reading →

Forty-one hours on the Hobbs timer and we have returned from our Spring Break trip to Washington, DC. It is a little difficult to write up, since there were four blogging authors along this time. There is a page summarizing the entries for the trip, so you can see what Rudy and Dexter wrote. That page also has links to the plan for the trip and rules in the plane. Nell took a lot of the photographs and they are captioned mostly with her comments. I will try to stick to the flying portion of the story, since I like to think that’s what my readers are coming to the site for. This page collects my write-ups of each day of flying. Continue reading →