6/8/07 To Gaston's White River Resort for the Annual POA Fly-In - Today Kent and I flew a Piper Archer from Madison, Wisconsin to Lakeview, Arkansas to Gaston's White River resort. This was for the annual fly-in of Pilots of America message board members. We made a stop at Camdenton, Missouri to fuel up and look at the two Ercoupes my flight school is interested in buying. We flew about 4-1/2 hours and landed at Gaston's at dusk. It was a nice VFR day with light wind and not much turbulence once the evening started. We enjoyed the company of other friends from the Pilots of America message board.

Almost to Gaston's near dusk

6/9/07 Gaston's Flying, Food, and Fun - Kent and I woke up to the sound of airplanes taking off past our riverside cabin at Gaston's this morning. The Arkansas weather was very warm and humid, so I was pretty sluggish and spent most of the day watching airplanes from the shade. Later I got to go for a ride in an IAR 823 Romanian military training airplane. In the cooler and hazy evening, I was treated to a ride in a wonderfully restored and maintained Piper Cub. We flew around the area with the side door open, with nothing between us and the sky. That was great! Later everyone gathered for dinner in the restaurant at Gaston's, where we watched the fog rise and shroud the windows in white.

6/10/07 Stuck at Gaston's - This morning our group had a tasty brunch in the Gaston's restaurant, then everyone started leaving for home. Well, almost everyone. A few of us -- a dozen, maybe -- lollygagged around and planned to leave later in the day. Meanwhile a major downpour of a rainstorm dumped several inches of rain on us within a couple hours. Those of us who were left hung out in one of the cabins and passed the time with hangar talk.

Later it looked like we could go, weather-wise, even though the runway was a little soggy. Well then we all witnessed a Beechcraft Bonanza pilot abort his takeoff as he hit a big muddy patch, kicking up water everywhere and mushing to a stop. That's when we decided we'd have to re-think this idea! We walked the runway, which had standing water ankle-deep in spots. We noticed another ugly cloud moving in, and it poured on us before we could stop what we were doing, so we were all drenched head to toe. (I was the only person wearing flip-flops, so at least I didn't have to walk around in squishy shoes.) Two members of our group managed to get out in their Cessna 140 although it did use up a lot of runway. That encouraged another pilot from our group, who moved his DA20 over to the nearby paved airport -- more rain was forecast the next morning, so he wanted to get the plane out of there. Finally Kent took the Archer solo to that same airport. It was a little nerve-wracking watching these three planes leave, but everyone made it OK.

We all tried to turn lemons into lemonade by piling into the Gaston's van and driving to the other airport (Mountain Home), then going to Wal-Mart for two of the guys to buy new shoes and socks. Finally everyone went to a Mexican restaurant for a tasty dinner and booked cabins for another night at Gaston's.

6/11/07 Return Trip from Gaston's - We awoke to find the Gaston's runway almost just as sloppy as it was the day before, so we were glad we had gotten the Archer out of there. It was a gloomy morning and it started raining again. We departed early afternooon from Mountain Home under an IFR flight plan into the clouds. The weather got better as we headed north. We stopped in Missouri for dinner and fuel, then flew the second leg of the flight to Madison. We did the second part of the flight VFR. We arrived in Madison in the evening after dark.

6/13/07 St. Paul Downtown Twice - Yesterday I flew the four-hour round trip from Neenah to St. Paul Downtown Airport in Minnesota to drop off a student, then repeated the trip today to pick him up. On the way in today I was cleared into the Class B airspace, which wasn't as busy as I expected. I had never flown into this airport before. The approach was interesting over the river and close to buildings.

on base for the runway at St. Paul Downtown

6/12/07 ERCOUPES! - The flight school I work for, CAVU Aviation, bought the two Ercoupes I looked at in Missouri. We'll be bringing them up here via a trailer soon. Later this summer I will do sport pilot training in the blue and yellow one, and it will be available for rent. It needs a little bit of work to return to airworthy status but is in good condition overall. The white one in the background is going to be more of an ongoing project.

A work in progress at the hangar in Missouri

6/18/07 Big News: Instructing for Able Flight - Back in April I was invited to instruct for the Able Flight organization for a project they are doing this summer. (I have kept it pretty quiet until now.) It is a wonderfully cool opportunity for me and will be a big adventure. I will be working with two students with disabilities and training them for their sport pilot certificates in the span of a month. Last month I met one of my students, Sean, who lives in Philadelphia.

I flew commercially from Appleton, WI to Atlanta, GA today so I can train in the airplane. Originally I was supposed to start on Midwest Airlines and finish on Delta, but I volunteered to get bumped on the Midwest flight when they were overbooked. I barely had to wait two more hours, but just for the "inconvenience," they gave me a free round-trip ticket to anywhere they fly! Wow. Plus they changed my itinerary to stay on Midwest all the way to Atlanta, which was great. The second leg was on a Boeing 717 with big comfy seats and, of course, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

Upon arriving in Atlanta, I met Mitch Hansen of Hansen Air Group, and he drove me to Kennesaw, on the north side of the Atlanta metro area. He is going to train me in the Sky Arrow 600 Sport and then I will fly one from here to Oshkosh solo. The plane will be based in Oshkosh for the program, which will end before EAA AirVenture.

6/19/07 First Day of Sky Arrow Training - I really like the Sky Arrow! I took my first flight in it this morning. First I flew from the front seat and practiced maneuvers, takeoffs, and landings. Then we switched seats so I could practice some takeoffs and landings from the back seat. The hardest things to get used to were figuring out where "level" is and using hand brakes instead of toe brakes. I thought the plane was very easy to fly and quite fun. It has great visibility that makes it seem like you are sitting in a chair in the open sky. I did better from the front seat than the back, but I'm sure I'll get used to sitting back there with a student in front. We flew for 1.9 hours. Later today I went up again in a different Sky Arrow for more practice.

Sitting in N448SA which is one of the two planes I trained in

6/20/07 Second Day of Sky Arrow Training - This morning was rainy and then it got windy. I flew in the wind and turbulence this afternoon for another training flight. Kudos to Mitch for landing the plane in a gusty crosswind that I gave up on! In the evening I flew the plane from the front seat using the hand controls for the rudder. It was definitely challenging to tell myself not to use my feet on the rudder, and I kept forgetting which way to pull or push the rudder control. It was good to have this experience so that I will know how to better teach my student who will be using the hand controls.

6/21/07 First Day Ferrying the Sky Arrow - I left Kennesaw, GA early this morning and started my long solo trip to Oshkosh. I stopped at Sparta / Upper Cumberland Airport in Tennesee for fuel, then flew on to Bloomington, Indiana. The turbulence was crazy on the way into Bloomington. When I was almost to the airport, I hit such a strong downdraft that my handheld GPS flew off my lap and up to eye level! I called it quits for a while in Bloomington, where I went into town to eat and then spent a lot of time napping on the couch. I had done about four hours of flying so far. Later in the day, towards evening, I departed again. There was a weak front to my north that had me a little worried with a few showers and thunderstorms popping up. It was difficult to judge exactly what was ahead of me, so rather than going straight to Kankakee, Illinois as planned, I stopped at Crossville, Indiana to check the weather on their computer. There were some good downpours around the area but my path to Kankakee was clear. I noticed my new route took me past Kentland, Indiana, where I couldn't resist stopping to take a picture of the airport sign to show Kent. Then I went on to Kankakee and landed in the fading light. Kankakee had a generous courtesy car policy where I was able to take one of three cars overnight to stay at the hotel. I made it about 2/3 of the way along my route today for a total of 5 1/2 hours of flying.

6/22/07 Second Day Ferrying the Sky Arrow - I flew around the west side of Chicago's Class B airspace and north into Wisconsin where I landed at Lake Lawn Resort's airport in Delvan. I mainly wanted to look around at this resort that I had heard about. The airport was a dilapidated disappointment with tall weeds growing through the pavement, a locked building (no restrooms, water, or vending machines), no one around, and no fuel. I walked around the resort just to see what was there and whether it would be worth staying at someday. Then I got back in the plane and took off for a 15-minute flight up the highway to East Troy for fuel and rest. The wind was picking up and getting gusty so it was good to stop. They had a nice self-serve fuel system that included auto gas, which the Sky Arrow can use. I passed some time using their wireless internet. In the early evening I flew to Watertown where I had a nice steak dinner with Kent. Then I flew my final leg to Oshkosh as the sun was setting, and Kent flew along with me in the Cessna 182 and took some great pictures. It was great to finally land at Oshkosh and taxi into "7th Heaven," which is Wayne and Kathy Daniels' hangar and house right on the field. I got to meet the couple and see where we will be operating out of for the next month.

6/26/07 Getting Started Instructing for Able Flight - Today I met my student Rob for the first time and reunited with my other student Sean whom I had met before. Let the "fire hose" effect begin. Rob and Sean have both already passed their FAA sport pilot written tests, which is good, but we still need to do ground instruction. Plus each of them needs to accomplish a minimum of 20 flight hours in less than a month. We will all be working very hard. It is suddenly sinking in how much of a challenge this is going to be for me. I will be doing this program while still instructing my regular students as well. It is also almost an hour commute. But I am up to it! I flew with Sean today and will fly with both students every day possible.

6/29/07 The Mandatory Iola Experience - I told Rob and Sean that we pretty much have to go to Iola's Central County Airport for their weekly Friday lunch. We just can't have access to a sport plane and NOT go there! Today's weather was nice so we organized a trip to Iola. Sean and I flew there and back in the Sky Arrow. Rob flew with Wayne in the Sonex on the way there, and Wayne's friend Al's Zenith CH601 on the way back.

Rob, Sean, and me at the clubhouse hangar in Iola

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