Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Minden to Shelter Cove, California

 Kathy and I took a mini-vacation to Shelter Cove, California via Phoenix motorglider.  We changed dates to coincide with a fog free arrival which worked perfectly.  It was a 2 hour flight to  Shelter Cove.


We stayed in a very nice hotel on the third floor, with super views of the ocean below with seals, 
sea lions, and even a whale offshore.  We stayed 3 nights.

After a day's delay to depart due to fog, we had another very nice day to fly home.  We flew back to Minden via Mt. Shasta shown here, and Lassen Peak.



Thursday, October 7, 2021

Minden NV to Salida, CO and Return

 Flight started out great, clear blue sky, very little smoke, smooth cruising.  Kathy and I were on our way to Salida to visit our friend Amy Zeiset for a few days.

Active weather and restricted areas forced us to detour south for a landing in Cedar City for a full tank in case we needed some detours.  We did.  At one point, Kathy asked if we were going to Canada.  We flew above most of the weather at 13,500' but nearing Grand Junction we couldn't go over the top anymore and had to skirt under the storms and weave between rain showers.  The photo below was taken beside the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, with dark clouds between us and Gunnison.
Kathy said please Jim please get us to Salida (but don't fly into a storm!).
So we made it, largely thanks to ADSB weather on the Dynon screen.  The next day I took Amy up for a flight.  We circled the gold mine hanggliding launch, followed the river canyon to Buena Vista, then part way into Independence Pass before turning back to Salida.
Looking up Independence pass.
White chalk cliffs of Mt. Princeton.
Alas it was time to head home.  It was interesting squeezing between the top of Monarch Pass and the low solid cloud deck on the west side of the mountains.
The clouds gradually gave way to isolated cumulus, and then blue skies.
Crossing the Colorado River.  Lots of unlandable terrain, glad to have the 30/1 glide ratio and plenty of altitude to get to airports along the way.
Golden Gate Range in Nevada with smoke layer ahead.  We landed in heavy smoke, sorry to be back home after such nice skies.  We look forward to the first cold fronts of the year to clear out the atmosphere.  About 650nm each way, as usual, the Phoenix ran like a top.




















Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Ft Collins, Colorado to Puerto Rico

4500nm trip, including 900nm across the water from Miami to Puerto Rico.

Todd bought Phoenix serial number 12, and we flew it to his home in San Juan together.

 https://skyvector.com/?ll=39.0516075272851,-103.62216492904426&chart=301&zoom=11&fpl=%20KFNL%20KPAH%20KAYS%20KVRB%20MBPV%20TJIG%20TJRV

MapShare (garmin.com)



We had nice weather across the US except for Florida, where we had to detour to Jacksonville to get on the east side of the overdevelopment and fly down the coast to Vero Beach.

We donned self-inflating life jackets with strobes for the over water portion of the trip.  No life raft, as the 30/1 glide of the Phoenix kept us within reach of land all the way.  We also carried two EPIRBs and a marine radio.
One of the islands in the Bahamas.
San Juan
Isla de Vieques
Isla de Culebra
The Phoenix drew a crowd wherever we went.
Flying around the nearby islands.  Puerto Rico has ADSB weather and traffic.
Thanks for the trip Todd, and thanks Denise for helping arrange the flight paperwork and taking care of us upon arrival in Puerto Rico.  You two are going to have fun with the Phoenix!