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ISSUE
150 - December 2010
Over 9,000 Total Ads Listed
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A
Flying Holiday - "Flyfest 2010" - Part I |
By Kevin Moore, Contributing
Editor & Photographer
Roslin, Ontario, Canada |
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Our two aircraft on the ground at Santa
Ynez (KIZA), Noel's 182RG "Romeo Mike", background
left, and Peter's rental 182 G1000 " Six Three Sierra," right. |
If you're a pilot or simply somebody
who is interested in flying, you may have, at one time or
another, thought about making a flying trip. That is to say,
a trip you and maybe a spouse or friend makes to a destination,
or series of destinations, by light aircraft. Whether the
aircraft you fly for such a trip is your own or borrowed/rented,
it's the flying and the trip itself that makes it unique
and all your own. |
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The flight from
Toronto, Ontario (YYZ) to Los Angeles (LAX
meant for some
great views of the still snow-covered mountains. |
Yes, most people (non-pilots) will
simply book a trip using commercial aviation and, once they
reach their destination(s) they will hike, bike, rent a car
to tour the area and then, after a week or two, hop back
on that 200+ seat sardine can and head home again. Fun, well,
the destination is, being packed into a sardine can with
sick people, crying babies, misbehaving children, and seat
mate that just doesn't shut up, not-so-much. |
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Landing at LAX,
left and the massive Qantas Airbus A380, right.
(You can just
make out the nose of a Qantas Boeing 747 behind the A380). |
So, why not find a friend or two who
love to fly and research borrowing or renting a small aircraft
and making your own trip. Even if you decide to pack yourself
into a large flying tube in order to get to a specific geographical
location and then make your way from there in a small 2 or
4-seat airplane, the experience can be unique and an experience
you'll not soon forget. |
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The mountains just
outside of Santa Ynez, looking eastward, left.
Soaring through
the valley, this beautiful hawk set the tone for the coming
trip, right. |
Such a trip was made by the author
and three friends earlier this year, starting and finishing
in California with Arizona sandwiched in the middle. It began
with an airline flight from Toronto to Los Angeles (yes,
in one of those sardine cans) with my first destination to
visit family, my cousins Ian & Christine, in the foothills
of the Santa Ynez area. At the same time 'chief' pilot and
friend, Peter, flew to San Francisco to begin his part of
the journey (the other two joining us on our trip, Noel & Landis,
actually live in the San Fran' area). |
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Our 182 G1000 rented from West Valley Flying
Club in Palo Alto, CA (KPAO). |
While one of us was lounging in Santa
Ynez for a few days the other was busy getting checked out
in the 182 rented for our trip. The booking and renting of
the 182 was all pre-arranged well in advance of the trip
by Peter to ensure the airplane was available for the period
of time we required it. The late model 182 G1000 equipped
aircraft was rented from West Valley Flying Club in Palo
Alto, near San Francisco and was ideal for the flying we
wanted to do, and roomy enough for two big guys, luggage
and full tanks. |
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"Romeo Mike" beside
us on the ramp at Santa Ynez before our departure for Big Bear,
CA (KL35), left. Our 182's Garmin G1000 showing us departing
from Santa Ynez, CA (KIZA), right. |
If you've never looked into renting
an airplane for an extended period there are certain criteria
that most clubs require before they'll allow you to take
one of their airplanes hundreds of miles from their airport.
Rules differ from club to club and West Valley Flying club
tends to be very strict, adhering to a check out policy that
includes, amongst other things, ground briefings, written
tests (aircraft performance and systems, and club policy
to name a few) and check out flight(s). Also, a current flight
review (every 2 years), recency, endorsement in the type
of aircraft, e.g., high performance and mission planned,
e.g., mountain checkout . |
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Even in mid-May,
there was still plenty of snow atop the mountains along our
route, left.
A pair of freight trains running through a deep
valley on the way to Big Bear, CA, right. |
This can take a couple of days or
more, depending on weather and your performance as a pilot.
No club is likely to let a pilot take their aircraft unless
they are satisfied you have met all these requirements and
are comfortable with your ability. Many clubs lease aircraft
so they are responsible, not only to other club members,
but to aircraft owners as well. |
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One of the most
beautiful Rutan Long EZ's you'll see, this one built and flown
by my cousin, Ian, and hangared in Santa Ynez, CA (KIZA). |
Once Peter's checkout was complete,
the aircraft was his and the trip was underway. An uneventful
flight from Palo Alto (KPAO) had Peter reaching Santa Ynez
(KIZA) in about 2 hours flying time. Santa Ynez is a beautiful
airport situated in a valley near the quaint town of Solvang,
CA and where Ian hangers his magnificent Long EZ. Arrangements
were made to tie down the 182 for a day or two and where
we'd arranged to meet Noel and Landis in Noel's 182RG, "Romeo
Mike," the next day before heading to Chino, CA for
their Planes of Fame Airshow. That was the plan. |
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Having a a telephoto lens offered me the
opportunity to get some great shots
of "Romeo Mike," flying
some distance off our wing over Southern California. |
The next day we awaited the arrival
of "Romeo Mike" but we had a long wait. As is so
typical with coastal flying, fog had rolled in over the Santa
Ynez area and we knew the likelihood of fog in the San Fan
area, where "Romeo Mike" was flying down from,
was all but guaranteed. The airshow in Chino was a no-go
as Noel & Landis didn't arrive at KIAZ until noon. We
decided on lunch and made plans to head to Big Bear, CA for
the night. We headed back to the airport, readied the aircraft
with fuel top-ups, flight planning and a check for weather
and we were airborne after saying our goodbyes to my cousins. |
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On the ground at
Big Bear, CA (KL35), left. Noel, Landis and Peter in front
of "Romeo Mike" at Big Bear on a beautiful, bright
blue sky morning, right. |
For every flight and every part of
the trip we sat down and talked about where we were going,
pulled out maps, wrote down related radio frequencies, and
made any necessary notes about specifics along the trip and
the destination. Flight and weather briefing with Flight
Service Stations at (800) WX-BRIEF were done and a flight
plan was filed for every flight. Once in the airplane, information
was input into the GPS, and maps, notes, etc were secured. |
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Landis refueling "Romeo
Mike" at Big Bear, left.
"Romeo Mike" and "Six
Three Sierra" posing at Big Bear, right. |
We then took to the air, bound for
Big Bear, CA (KL35) following a path that took us past and
to the east of Santa Barbara and Los Angeles and up into
the mountains. A unique and interesting place to fly into,
Big Bear was our first stop together , Peter and I in "Six
Three Sierra" and Noel and Landis in "Romeo Mike." We
taxied in, tied down and secured the airplanes and then headed
to our hotel for the night.
The next morning, planning and briefings
done, we took to the air bound for our next destination of
Tucson, AZ (KTUS). Departing Big Bear, surrounded by snow-capped
mountains, was soon to prove a very different landscape and
experience from where we were headed and what we'd be flying
over. Once out of the beauty and majesty of the mountains
surrounding Big Bear, the landscape below soon changed to
desolate desert and barren, dry rock. A stark difference
in climate and colour both. |
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Flying from Big
Bear, CA to Tucson, AZ meant flying over very different types
of landscapes that seemed to change constantly along the entire
length of the trip from river lines in the dry desert-like
foothills, to sandy dunes dotted with cactus and sagebrush,
right. |
With GPS coordinates set we spent
time 'sight-seeing' and checking out the different landscapes.
One of the more visible oddities all over the desert-like
landscape are the 'dry' rivers. When the rains do come to
the area, the ground is so hard and dry that it simply runs
off, down from the mountains and hills it comes forming temporary
creeks and rivers, bringing sediment with it and leaving
dried up 'river beds' as the landscape returns to desert. |
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As we crossed over
the border from California to Arizona, the difference in landscape
and population at the border between the two states was very
evident. |
As we approached Tucson we started
our descent, listening to control, maps and frequencies on
hand, prepared for changes to our heading as required. "Romeo
Mike" took the lead and pulled ahead, landing first
with "Six Three Sierra" a few minutes behind. We
taxied to our FBO, Atlantic Aviation, who had "rampies" waiting
and ready as well as a rental car. If you've never used an
FBO when flying into a large airport such as Tucson, the
services that AA in Tucson offers is outstanding. They have
bottled water on hand for aircrews, a lounge with comfortable
recliners and tv, computers available and, most importantly,
excellent tie-down facilities available. Accommodations were
made through Atlantic as well and, once we made sure the
airplanes were secure, we headed off to the Staybridge Inn
only minutes from the airport. |
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While in Tucson
we spent time visiting a few museums, including the Pima Air & Space
Museum with this fantastic piece of art at the gates, left,
and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base "Boneyard," right. |
The next couple of days were spent
visiting a number of attractions in the Tucson area including
Pima Air & Space Museum, The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum,
The Titan II Missile Museum, and the Colossal Caves all of
which the four of us would highly recommend. There were,
of course, a number of other attractions we would have loved
to have visited but it was time to head off to our next destination
so we packed up and headed off to the FBO to ready the airplanes
and look after all the necessities before our departure. |
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Tucson is home to a U.S. Air National Guard
squadron of F-16s, one of which declared an emergency just
as we were preparing to depart which left us sitting idling
for 20 minutes while the aircraft was recovered and other aircraft
that had been waiting in the air were given priority landing. |
While at the FBO taking care of all
our flight details, the local Air National Guard unit launched
as many as two dozen F-16s on routine training missions.
With the last of them launched, we boarded our aircraft and
checks and run-up done, started to taxi out for take-off.
Now, you can plan all you want for flights and trips, but
you can't always plan for the unexpected and the unexpected
was just what we got while taxiing out to depart Tucson.
An F-16 pilot declared an emergency which meant all take-offs
and landings were on hold until the F-16 landed and the all
clear was given. So, while we sat on the taxiway, engines
running burning fuel and time, we waited. And waited. And
waited. Finally, some 20+ minutes later, we were cleared
for take-off and climbed out to the north-west, departing
just over the 'Boneyard' of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base,
bound for our next stop, Sedona, AZ (KSEZ).
Next week we'll
complete the trip with the next stop Sedona, AZ for lunch
before flying along the Grand Canyon to the Hoover Dam and
on to Palm Springs, CA. |
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