Passion for Flight

Hesler-Noble Field in Laurel, MS When flying without a co-pilot, we usually throttle back our 601HDS, N314LB, to 4,400 rpm. This produces about 40 hp and requires 3 gal/hr of fuel. A light load on the 80 hp engine indeed. Speed is close to 90 kts.  In automotive terms, speed is more than 100 mph, and we get 33 mpg. Once en route, the autopilot takes over.  ADS-B supplies radar weather and details about airports. The Garmin Pilot displays the map with the icon of the plane. Endurance is more than 6 hours. Urgency of fluid output is no longer a problem, thanks to a simple solution: a bottle.    With the problems of old times—piloting, weather, navigation, endurance, and fluid pressure—solved, we just sit back and enjoy the views for hours on end.   Compared with driving = work, we have flying = vacation. Now and then such a trip takes us back in time:  When airports were bustling with activity, service was provided beyond the call of duty, and the vis...

Denny Creek Trail at Brown's Pass It is in late August. My wife Ute and I stand on one of the many 12,000+ ft peaks of the Continental Divide in Colorado. Looking almost straight down, we see the Cottonwood Pass 300 ft below, where we just started a day hike along the Continental Divide Trail. The sound of an airplane makes us look up. A dot west of us quickly turns into a single-engine low-wing plane approaching the Cottonwood Pass. In fact, it will fly very near to us since it is just a bit higher than us. To line up with the road crossing the pass, the plane banks 30 deg to the left. We see fuselage, wings, tail feathers; it sure looks like an RV8. As the plane completes the turn and flies level again, right over the pass and no more than 600 ft away from us, we see the pilot in the cockpit. We raise our arms and wave wildly. The pilot waves back just as enthusiastically, clearly pleased by our greeting. And then, the pilot does a barrel roll, just for us. How nice! Wing...

Double Arch of Arches National Park New Weather The briefer says, "Cheyenne is IFR. In fact, the entire route to your destination is IFR. That is not supposed to improve today. Let me look at the forecast. Oh, likely this will get worse. Low IFR is predicted tomorrow for Cheyenne, with possible snow in the mountains along your route from Cheyenne on. Even the day after does not look good." This is bad news. The day before, friend Manfried and I flew from Dallas to Goodland, KS, stayed at a motel, and are now ready for the trip from Goodland to Vernal, UT, where we want to hike in Dinosaur National Monument. The planned route includes a refueling stop in Cheyenne, WY, then follows Interstate 80 West up to Elk Mountain. At that point, it leaves the road and goes southwest directly to Vernal. I tell the briefer, "I don't understand this. Last night a cold front came through here, and the high behind it was to produce VFR for the entire route from Goodland...