X-Country

Well, I did my first x-country time building flight today. I took off @ 15:15 EST (2015Z) from KJQF via GPS direct to KCRE. I arrived at 16:30 (2130Z). The flight went very well. There was very little turbulence while en rote, which made the flight very smooth. KCRE is a nice facility. It's class delta airspace, but it's about 2 NM from the Atlantic ocean coast. Very scenic, and while on final for runway 05, I passed directly over a smaller Broadway on the beach type setting -- with all the restaurants, stores, and scenic ventures. Very beautiful area. I landed, and stayed at the FBO for about 30 minutes, put in my fuel order, and back to KJQF I went. I got flight following the whole way home. Not too much traffic, but there was a couple other aircraft passing in the vicinity. I got to watch the sun set below the horizon, and I got look out and see the world at night from 4,500 ft. The view was beautiful with all the lights indicating major cities. The air was very smooth. Wx was reporting winds calm, vis 10 miles, sky conditions clear below 12,000. Not a bump on the way back. I did have a bit of a headwind en route back to KJQF, which slowed me down, but it wasn't anything too terrible. I ended up landing at KJQF at 18:30EST (2330Z), secured the aircraft on tie-down, and completed my paperwork. The flight went well, and I look forward to going again. Total flight time for today: 2.9 hours

I know that in my previous post, I mentioned that I might post some pics. I apologize, because I wasn't able to bring the camera. For some crazy reason, the camera is not taking pictures. It just comes out as a black screen...and yes, the lens cover is off.

Well, thank you for taking the time to read my post. Have a great day/night, and stay safe.

KJQF - KCRE

I've got the PA28-181 Archer blocked out for about 4 hours tomorrow. I'm going to be flying my first x-country for timebuilding from Concord, NC to N. Myrtle Beach. It's about 135 Nautical Miles, and depending on the winds, it should only take a little over an hour to reach my destination. So far, the wx looks promising, and it looks to be a good flight. As always, I'll give wx brief a call, get the weather, file my flight plan, and away I go. Should be a great time. I'm going to try and take some pics of the trip. I'm going alone this time, so it might be a bit difficult to to snap some good pics, but we'll see. I'll get to cruising altitude, trim the aircraft out, and then try to get some photos. I'll post the experience when I get back to Concord.

That's about it for now, I have to go into town, but as always, thanks for taking a moment to read whats new and old in my blog. Stay safe!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Wow, 2007 is now history, and here we are to welcome 2008. It seems as though time moves faster than usual. I honestly can not believe that 2007 is over. I bet you're wondering if I might have any new year resolutions? Well, I haven't exactly set any, but if I did, it would be to continue working hard to accomplish my goals. I've had resolutions before, but like many, fail the attempt by the 3rd week of January.

I do not know about you, but my New Years eve was spent at work. I remember it quite well...I was topping off the tip tanks on the Airnet Lear 35 with Jet-A and Prist while the ball was dropped in time square. Wasn't exactly the place I wanted to be at that moment. To make things more exciting, I'm scheduled to come in to work 1.5 hours earlier than my regular scheduled time on Mondays, so I was at work from 2030-0600. It was hard to leave the party early, and I even thought about calling-out, but work had to be done, and money had to be made. In the end, everything worked out well. I had Tuesday off, so we got to sort of pick-up where we left off, and I enjoyed what I missed out on. Overall, besides missing the Time Square special to watch the ball drop with my family, I enjoyed my New Years. I hope you did too!

Well, it's time to depart...destination bed. Take care of yourselves, and have a happy and prosperous 2008! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.