Santa Monica, CA to Marfa, TX

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Colin Summers

Monday, March 30

The Southern Route: KSMO - KRYN - KELP - KMRF

The Southern Route: KSMO – KRYN – KELP – KMRF

I had spent the last few days packing and re-packing the plane so that all the little bits and pieces I needed were on board, but out of the way. I had the boys’ clothes packed along with mine. We had delayed our departure for a day so that we were sure we were landing in small Texas towns on a weekday rather than on a Sunday. That also gave me more time to re-pack the clothes and make absolutely sure that we had all of the gadget chargers we needed. (That didn’t work. A lot of the chargers have a little USB connector and I thought if I brought along a hub it could charge six iPod/iPhone/iThings at once. No such luck.) And Nell was able to do her first pass on a script she was rewriting, so she could print a clean copy to bring along on the trip. Continue reading →

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(Flying) Ciderhouse Rules

Posted on March 29, 2009 by Colin Summers

Before we took off on our recent Spring Break trip (coast-to-coast from Santa Monica, CA to Washington, DC) the boys each received two pages which told them the rules in the plane and suggested some things to do if they got bored. It worked remarkably well. Rather than fielding constant requests for Gameboy time we just occasionally checked in with the minute log and, on a few occasions, did the timing for them. Because they knew each flight included some playing time, they were less anxious about it, and also seemed to enjoy the non-playing time more.

Continue reading →

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The Plan

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Colin Summers

It is time for another adventure. Rudy and Dexter each have two weeks off for Spring Break, but they don’t line up (Rudy gets out first and goes back first). So we will bring along a bunch of work for Dexter to allow for having pulled him out of school a week early. After we end our trip on the east coast Nell and Rudy will fly back commercial and Dexter and I will fly back slow, possibly with a passenger picked up in New York. Continue reading →

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More Fame

Posted on September 14, 2008 by Colin Summers

Oh! I am so famous now, I’m on the Internet. Well, at least this is good for people that might want to see a video of the plane so they understand the size and shape of the star of most of these posts.

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Coming Back Solo

Posted on September 12, 2008 by Colin Summers

Well, I made it all the way back across. The boys had a birthday party that they wanted to make it to, so Nell had to bring them home on JetBlue. She loved the flight east and was sad that she wouldn’t get to fly west. I said in a couple years we would be able to send them on ahead while we brought the plane home for them.

They flew out early on Tuesday morning, so I did too. I was a little concerned about the autopilot, which was steering thirteen degrees to the right for the last few hours. I tried to get an avionics place to look at it before I took off, but they were too busy.

Continue reading →

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Halfway

Posted on August 20, 2008 by Colin Summers
Nope

Nope

Welcome to Kansas!

Made it halfway, but high winds and impending storms make it unlikely I will make it home tonight.

I how to take off at 8am. I am in a Denny’s without any handguns. My brain is a little slow to turn over this morning, but I watched Dexter play with Weezer for a couple songs and that helped.

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Pittsburgh, Headed West

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Colin Summers
Pitt' Stop

Pitt’ Stop

A lot of clouds ok the way in, but still VFR. Nell and the boys are probably a few hundred miles ahead. Time for lunch.

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West to East!

Posted on August 8, 2008 by Colin Summers
Full Trip

Full Trip

We made it!

We are in New Hampshire in a lovely house overlooking a pleasant lake. I have just barely recovered from eighteen and a half hours of flying. We traveled nearly twenty-three hundred miles. We hope to continue to East Hampton on Saturday morning, so that we can really say that we have crossed the continent from coast to coast. Continue reading →

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Wednesday: Ithaca, NY to Lebanon, NH

Posted on August 8, 2008 by Colin Summers
Fourth Day

Fourth Day

On Saturday morning we hope to continue our coast-to-coast journey to the actual coast by landing in East Hampton and having dinner on the sand by the lapping waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Until then, this is the end of our epic journey. I took the boys to a fancy buffet breakfast at the Statler Inn. We ate eggs, bacon and fresh fruit overlooking the campus. Continue reading →

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Tuesday: Champaign, IL to Ithaca, NY

Posted on August 8, 2008 by Colin Summers
Third Day

Third Day

After sleeping the sleep of the near-dead, I rolled over at 6:30am and pulled my laptop up to check the weather. The air conditioner seemed to ignore the thermostat (my friend Marc would have loved it) so the room was a brisk sixty degrees. We were deep under a comforter and flannel-like sheets, but the aluminum MacBook was the temperature of an ice tray. Continue reading →

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