Bill’s Baptism
Posted by brad | Filed under Uncategorized
Mountain Flying
Posted by brad | Filed under Aerial Photography
My reward for spending nearly the whole weekend at work, recovering from power failures and three crashed servers? Flying through the snow capped mountains of east San Diego County. A just reward!
Landing at Imperial County
Posted by brad | Filed under Flying
Short cockpit video clip of me landing N2546U, a Piper Cherokee Warrior II, at Imperial County airport. This was the second stop on my second solo cross-country flight.
Tags: airplane, cockpit video, flight training, Flying, general aviation, imperial county airport, KIPL, landing, piper cherokee warrior, solo
Second Cross-Country (Thermal)
Posted by brad | Filed under Flying
Salton Sea
I flew my second solo cross-country flight today. This time the flight plan called for landings at two airports before returning home to Gillespie Field.
The first leg was East to Jacqueline-Cochran Regional airport (KTHM) in Thermal, California. Thermal is located approximately forty mile South of Palm Springs on the North shore of the Salton Sea. Aptly named, the temperature at Thermal on this day topped 104 degrees.
After topping off the fuel tanks I took off from Thermal to the South with a straight line flight over the entire length of the Salton Sea down to Imperial County airport (KIPL), a roughly thirty-five minute flight. Plenty of time to snap several pictures to record the event for all time.
Landing at Imperial, I again topped off the tanks then took off to the West. Flying just a few miles North of the U.S. – Mexico border it was imperative that I not stray off course and fly outside U.S. airspace. I experienced some moderate turbulence as I flew over the mountains heading West to Gillespie Field (KSEE) in El Cajon. Turbulence can be expected as you fly near mountainous terrain due to up and down drafts. At one point I was bouncing around so much I could not keep my hand on the radio controls long enough to dial in frequency changes.
The aerial photograph of the Salton Sea in the Southern California desert was shot with my HTC EVO on my second solo cross-country flight. Picture taken from an altitude of 5,500 feet.
More pictures at my facebook album.
Tags: aerial photography, Flying, HTC EVO, KIPL, KSEE, KTHM, salton sea
First Solo Cross-Country (Hemet)
Posted by brad | Filed under Flying
Lake Jennings Reservoir
Flew my first solo cross-country flight today! I took off from Gillespie Field (KSEE) around 10:00 AM. While climbing to 6,500 feet, I flew North North-East over San Vicente Reservoir then turned just about due North to fly the roughly fifty miles to Hemet-Ryan airport (KHMT) in Hemet, California. A very short, 35 minute, uneventful flight. Not too much time to spend enjoying the scenery since it was such a short flight and I spent a lot of time referencing the chart to confirm position, update the flight log and communicate with air traffic control. The flight back was more enjoyable as I didn’t need to reference the chart and could spend more time taking pictures.
This aerial photograph of Lake Jennings Reservoir in Lakeside, California was taken with my new HTC EVO phone while on my first solo cross-country flight. Altitude was 3,000 feet.
More pictures at my facebook album.
Tags: aerial photography, Flying, HTC EVO, KHMT, KSEE, Lake Jennings Reservoir
First Solo Flight
Posted by brad | Filed under Flying
First Solo
Today I flew my first solo flight! My first entry in the logbook as pilot-in-command! It was a great flight on a beautiful day, in smooth air with three beautiful landings. I flew N2546U, a Piper Cherokee Warrior II (PA-28-161) from Golden State Flying Club out of Gillespie Field (KSEE) in El Cajon, California. Family and friends were on-hand to witness the milestone event in my life. Afterward, my flight instructor cut my shirttail (inset) and hung it in the flight school, a aviation tradition.
More pictures available at my facebook album.
Tags: california, el cajon, flight training, Flying, gillespie field, golden state flying club, KSEE, piper cherokee warrior, solo
