Merica to Mountains : 2025-12

Merica proudly sits in the morning sun at Leadville (KLXV).

I hadn't done a mountain course in quite a while but was fortunate enough to to one in mid-December ... and in a plane I hadn't taken into mountains. It was 55K and she's affectionately known as "Merica". I suggested that the student use her because she has a 180HP engine and she's pre-"production halt" or "10-year break" which means she's lighter. The weather was perfect, the student did an excellent job and Merica nailed it, too. I'm glad we did the course.

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Aerobatic Mountains : 2022-06

Two gentlemen flew all the way from Connecticut to do some mountain flying in their Aerobatic Bonanza. Their home airport is actually grass - Candlelight (11N). We did some academics the day before and were gambling on one day for flying. The weather cooperated wonderfully! They flew a lot together so made a perfect crew. It was a great day!

A hot day but surprisingly cool at Salida (KANK).

We swapped the pilot flying and picked up a couple of certificates at Leadville (KLXV).

A panoramic shot at Leadville.

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Epic Friday : 2021-11

I took a student in his Mooney to Leadville (KLXV) - which is always great. They get their certificate of navigating to the highest airport in North America. We had impeccable weather and arrived with no issues.

The Mooney against the indescribable background. 

I think this 'mission statement' / 'mission objective' of Leadville is great.

It sits above a prop bended by a ground impact.

After the mountain flight, the day only got better. I flew formation with one of the greatest guys in the world. He was lead since he had about 50 less horsepower. It worked great. I do not like how cameras push things further away then they are.

I was in Belle and he was in Betsy.  It was such a fantastic day.

Ryan (in Betsy) finding other places to explore.

Same picture with much more sky The flights I share with Ryan are truly beyond comparison. They are the flights that many pilots only dream of. And, probably the best part of that is that neither of us take it for granted. Flying is great!

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Mooney Move: 2021-05

I enjoy ferrying aircraft or picking them up with their new owner.  My latest adventure was getting a Mooney from Terrell TX (KTRL) to Colorado Springs CO (KCOS).  We flew commercial into DFW and the new owner's dad drove us to Terrell.  They aircraft was a 1961 M20B.  The earliest I'd flow was an M20E so I was excited to see what it was all about.

With any ferry flight (and/or purchase) there's always some admin and last-minute details.  On this particular day, the weather wasn't really cooperating so there was a bit more time for 'admin'.  I had to take this picture of the previous owner and the new owner's dad checking things out.

The only way to get out of Terrell was to file IFR and push north to better weather.  We didn't want to stay overnight as the weather was supposed to be worse.  It was good for me as I hadn't filed IFR for awhile, but not so great in an airplane you've never used.  It worked out and we saw some epic skies.

We made it.  Clear skies and perfect temperatures in Wiley Post OK (KWPA).  We used Atlantic as our FBO and they treated us very well.  The Mooney was solid and took us to OK with no problems.

Departing Wiley Post was a bit ironic.  The weather was the same as we'd left in Terrell and Terrell was VFR.  So again, we departed IFR to expected better weather.  We filed to Woodward (KWWR), entered great weather and found a cool FBO.  It's an old Army Airfield so they have the classic triangle layout but only use two sides of the triangle.  The FBO is show on the left above and the Mooney having the airport to itself is on the right.  This is why I love airports and flying.  You never know what you'll encounter.

This is the same picture as earlier, but I had to show that sky.  Amazing!

We then hopped to Liberal KS (KLBL), Lamar (KLAA) and finally to the Mooney's new home of Colorado Springs (KCOS).  We made a multiple stops so the new owner could get familiar with bringing the plane into traffic patterns while seeing different airport configurations and runway sizes.  To our amazement, we parked next to another Mooney in Lamar!  I'm going to guess an M20B has never set next to an M20C in Lamar's history.  At first we thought it was another M20B, but the back window is noticeable different.  Aside from that are essentially identical.  Like I said, you never know what you'll see at an airport/FBO. 

It was a great trip and the new owner was very happy with the training he received.  Winning!

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Why I Love Aviation 6 : 2021-02

Aside from the coolness of airplanes, one thing easy to love about aviation is the community. And the ways paths cross is always amazing to me. Someone finds out you can help them out (thanks to another friend) and then you have a new flying buddy. Yes, I know that's how life works, but it's always cool to have the common love of flying.  And there's the added benefit of possibly getting to fly something you've never flown before.

Just a few days ago, I meet someone who needed instrument training and they wanted to use their own airplane. That's always a great setup. This certain individual just so happened to have a very well-equipped straight-tail Beach Bonanza (A36). So, not only did I meet a new friend, I was able to go ripping around Colorado in a great airplane.

Here she is.  I call her "Copper Top"

Copper Top has a Lycoming 550 making 300HP. Inside is quite special, too. Two G3Xs, a 650, two 175s, a G5 and an excellent autopilot. It's awesome to fly with great equipment - and awesome to meet other aviators!

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It happened - I now have an airplane

I finally purchased an aircraft - a 1979 Bellanca Citabria.  One trusted agent looked at it, one trusted agent flew it back, and I finally flew it on 31 January 20.  She flew exactly like I thought she would.  The mission of this airplane is to get people upset training, spin training, and tailwheel training.  I call her Belle (she was from Memphis).  Here she is:

We landed at my friend's place (he has his own field).  Beautiful.

My Citabria on the left, Ryan's Super D on the right.

Me stepping on my mains with Ryan..  I could have asked for no one else as my wingman.  He even had a suggestion for my first flight which worked out perfectly.  Ryan is an incredible aviator!

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Tail Wheel Complete : 2020-05

I waited way too long to get this accomplished, but it finally happened.  By "this" I mean being legal to fly a taildragger airplane, or conventional landing gear airplanes.  And to be legal you need an endorsement saying you've been trained and that you can fly a taildragger.

A friend of mine has a friend in Texas that gives endorsements.  Once the schedules lined up, we both went to Texas.  Specifically, to T31, Aero Country airfield.  That's a great name for a Texan airfield.  We planned to fly the next day so after arriving to Love Field, drove directly to a shooting range, shot trap, an AK-47 and multiple pistols.  I was able to hit more clays than I thought I would so that made me happy.  And it was the first time I shot a .38 Special.

The school that had the aircraft is Four Winds Aviation.  I didn't know at the time, but they're quite renowned for tailwheel instruction.  They haven't figured out how to remove the Texas humidity, but it is a great outfit.  This is one of their shots of their fleet.

My friend flew the closest airplane in the picture, N33OMS

I flew in this bird, N72DL.  A 1976 BELLANCA 8KCAB Super Decathlon, with metal wings (vs wood), and a fuel injected 180HP engine.

Just crawled out after three flights and 40 some landings.  You can fly some tight patterns in these birds which gives you a lot more practice.  And this was the guy I flew with...

Mr René Dugas.

That picture is right after our third hop - where René suggested I fly in the back because he knew I wanted to instruct.  He knew the value of seeing the different landings and takeoffs from the rear seat.  This guy was a ENT and facial plastics doctor and built two aircraft; a Velocity and a Turbine Legend - both of which were in his hangar!  He was quite an impressive man, never talked about money, and best of all, was an absolute pleasure to fly with.  We laughed about a lot of things.  I'm laughing in this picture.  It was an epic trip and an excellent experience.  If you need an endorsement, look up Four Winds Aviation!

These are his airplanes (beyond the Super D)...

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2018-06 : Multi Engine Piston

So I've flown multi engine airplanes but they've all been jets and 'limited to center thrust'.  That means they have no Vmc (or the minimal controllable airspeed with the critical engine inoperative).  Or said even another way, the loss of an engine doesn't really effect how it flies.  All that said, the point is I finally flew an aircraft that does have a Vmc, and is in the classic twin-engine piston group of airplanes.  Did it in 2064V.  Good, nice-flying, 39 year-old airplane.  I flew with Mark H, and it was a very nice flight/day.  I needed the checkout so I could fly a few weeks later in support of some Navy SH-60 Seahawk helicopters from Helicopter Maritime Strike Weapons School Atlantic or HELMARSTRIKEWEPSCOLANT (HSMWSL). The Navy just mashes words together although the S and M are switched...should be HMSWSL.

this is 140S (flown for the missions) but the same as 2064V.

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Recipes | 2017-12

A coworker gave me two recipes for awesome dishes; Wild Rice Dressing and Navy Bean Soup. He's a food connoisseur and his recipes are great, but he doesn't just give you the recipe...he gives you a sampler.  And shortly thereafter, you're hooked.  These are unique dishes - navy bean soup and wild rice - but his are fantastic.  I think he should re-name (with his name) the Wild Rice and sell it like hotcakes. This is also my first addition to "Recipes" which will be linked to the Resources page.

Wild Rice Dressing (l) and Navy Bean Soup (r) 

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CFI Finally | 2017-11

It took me way too long, but I finally took advantage of the MCI (Military Competency Instructor) program with the FAA. The FAA will qualify you as an instructor pilot if you show proof of being an instructor in the military. It's nice when the military is given credence for all their work. You take a written test with your proof of military instructor to a FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) and it's that simple. You pay for the written, but there is no cost with the FAA.  My entire process (with the FAA) took about 23 minutes. The time spent studying is up to you, but this is really a great program.

This is the temporary certificate you receive on the spot (it's been redacted).

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art instruction : face

Rules of thumb for face dimensions and proportions by Dan Gheno.

fin