3/7/07 Cross-Country with Fresh Snow Below - Winter threw somewhat of a surprise at me last night. It snowed like crazy as I drove down to teach ground school. I ended up ending class early because of the snow and bad road conditions. After leaving, I could hardly drive straight or see where I was going on the slippery roads. So I "diverted" to the airport instead of making the long commute home. I woke up at the Vander Weilen's house to a crystal clear sky and powdery fresh snow. My student Keith and I flew a cross-country to Reedsburg and back. It was neat to see clean, untracked snow below instead of the half-melted stuff. This snow reflected the sun as if it were speckled with glitter. There was no way my camera could have captured that.

3/10/07 Table for 13, Please - Some other Brennand-based pilots and friends and I flew to Manitowoc this fine Saturday morning for breakfast at Parker's PlaneView. That meant I had to get up extra early today but it was worth it. We flew over there in a widely scattered and mismatched flock: a passenger and I in the 172, three in the Archer, two in a Cessna 170, four in the R44 helicopter, and two in the R22 helicopter. I got some air-to-air pictures taken of me on the way there. We shared stories and laughs over breakfast and took a group photo. Then we briefed each other for a formation flight we'd do on the way back. It was a fun challenge and the pictures turned out great.

Dale takes a picture of the rest of us

formation flying pictures (click for full-size versions)

3/17/07 To Salt Lake City - I flew from Milwaukee directly to Salt Lake City via the airlines for a mini vacation and a conference. I thought the view was beautiful on approach over the mountains.

view of the Wasatch Range from my seat aboard a CRJ700

3/19/07 Flying the Diamond Twin Star in the Utah Valley - My two coworkers and I had a beautiful flight today in one of Utah Valley State College's Diamond DA 42 Twin Stars today. We flew from Provo, Utah. Patty and I rode in the back at first while Greg and the instructor Josh flew. They flew around, then did steep turns and a simulated emergency descent. I closed my eyes while we plummeted from 10,000 feet down to 6,500 in a matter of seconds! Then we landed and switched seats. I flew from the left seat for 45 minutes. What a cool airplane! It handled wonderfully -- I found it very easy to fly. It is a very quiet and efficient airplane with a nice interior, Garmin G1000 glass panel avionics, and control sticks instead of yokes. I did a couple of landings.

This flight was interesting for us "flatlanders," because we are used to flying from elevations of only 700-900 feet above sea level. Provo's elevation is 4,497 feet! It seemed to take forever to get off the ground. However, the Twin Star had nice performance even at that elevation. I didn't pay too much attention to the plane, though -- the scenery around us was totally amazing and I couldn't stop staring.

I look back from the left seat while the instructor flies a traffic pattern for runway 13

The Diamond Twin Star we flew

click to go to the scenery pictures

3/20/07 I Pull Off a Travel Miracle - Today went like this: My coworkers and I drove from Orem, UT to Salt Lake City International Airport as the sun was rising. They dropped me off and went to return the rental car since their flight didn't depart until after mine. I checked in, went through a long security line, and went to my gate for my Delta flight to Cincinnati. Due to the recent snowstorm in the northeast, my flight was way overbooked and people were complaining all around me. I was unaffected and got my chosen window seat on the Boeing 757. The flight lasted about three hours and arrived about 15 minutes late. Waiting in the terminal at Cincinnati, all I kept hearing was how a whole bunch of Delta Connection flights were delayed. Somehow my flight to Milwaukee was not. At least not by more than a few minutes. We got to Milwaukee at something like 3:40. I needed to teach ground school at 6:00. I had an emergency backup plan of a substitute teacher. I zoomed through the terminal and to the parking ramp, and I remembered where my car was parked. Getting to it was the hard part, and that took two attempts since I missed a sign. On the way out of the parking ramp, the guy in front of me had major problems at the automated machine where you pay for parking. OK, so I sat there in the slow lane and he finally got through. A little while later I was on the interstate crossing my fingers that there wouldn't be a traffic jam since it was now 4:00. Amazingly, I made it all the way to the north side of Milwaukee without stopping, after only a couple slowdowns. I kept checking my watch... Yep, I thought I could make it. I called my substitute to tell him he could stay home. I even had enough time to make two stops: one because I was starving and needed food, and another for a cappuccino. I made it to my classroom at 5:55 (whoo hoo!) and taught a three-hour lesson on weather data. Then I drove home. I was glad I made it to ground school. Statute miles covered today: 1,960. Time spent in moving vehicles: 7 1/4 hours. Time zones encountered: three. Having everything work out even though the odds were against me: priceless. (By the way, for an example of a not-so-lucky travel day, see my January 2004 story.)

3/29/07 Instrument Currency and Piper Arrow Practice - I worked with another instructor in Green Bay today to reset my instrment currency. I did three approaches with the simulator and then went out to fly the Arrow. I did a holding pattern and then flew three approaches, each one followed by a landing. The wind was strong so it made for good practice. I wanted this experience in preparation for the trip I hoped to take the next day. If the trip didn't happen as planned, at least I would be instrument current for another six months.

3/30/07 Ames Adventure - I flew Piper Arrow N3327M from Green Bay to Morey (C29, near Madison) today solo with good timing for a VFR trip. A line of rain was approaching as I flew down. I got into the rain but arrived around noon, well before the heavier, pouring rain. Later in the evening, Kent put the finishing touches on our IFR flight plan to Ames, Iowa (AMW, 33 nm north of Des Moines). The weather was giving us headaches. We doubted there would be any glider flying the next day, but we wanted to go anyway for the flying experience and hanging out with some friends. We launched at about 10:30 p.m. for a mostly cloud-shrouded flight under faint moonlight. Kent flew most of the time but I also got some time at the controls. A little over an hour and a half later, we neared Ames, where the weather had deteriorated worse than expected. We shot an approach but didn't see the airport. We then diverted to Des Moines where the weather was better. However, just as we were arriving, the ceiling was rapidly lowering as a band of rain moved in. As we shot the approach I could only hope we'd break out and not have to fly all the way back to Madison -- because that would be a little on the frustrating side this late at night after all this effort. It was pretty exciting to see the approach lights at Des Moines. We landed at around 12:30 a.m., taxied to the ramp, and sat in the plane admiring the 60-degree temperature (15 degrees warmer than where we left from). I held the door open just widely enough to let air in and keep the rain out. Tony, the event's organizer, drove to pick us up. I logged 3.7 hours total today including one hour solo and 2.3 actual instrument. I hit 800 hours total flight time in my logbook tonight.

3/31/07 Strangers Become Friends - The whole reason Kent and I were in Ames this weekend was for the "PoA Glide-A-Thon," an event arranged by a couple members of the Pilots of America message board. I joined the board in November of 2006 and have since become pretty addicted to it. This weekend we were supposed to be able to take introductory glider lessons, but the weather turned sour. Severe thunderstorms, nearby tornado warnings, and then 40-knot winds grounded us today. Still, 10 of us hung out together for a fun day of hangar flying. We went to a coffee shop for lunch, watched a cool movie about glider flying, and went out to dinner.

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