Faces of Oshkosh

Flight to Oshkosh

I left Melbourne at 10am, heading for Oshkosh and Airventue 2011. A light tailwind pushed me along the coast.

Saint Augustine, FL

Jacksonville, FL

First stop for fuel was Indianapolis, just under 6 hours and 750nm later. Average speed was 127kts, and fuel burned was 24 gallons of 93 Octane, unleaded fuel from my No Ethanol gas station in Melbourne. Filled up with 100LL, and headed for Oshkosh. But a line of bad weather stopped me short of Chicago so I landed in Kankakee, IL. Paul took good care of me, driving me to and from the airport to a nearby motel. The next morning brought more bad weather, so the flight was delayed until mid-day. A T-6 Texan, 172RG, and DC-3 also waited for a window to Oshkosh, so the little airport terminal had plenty of hangar flying going on.

Finally the rain moved off, and I took the scenic route along Lake Michigan past Chicago. Arrived at the Brennand Airport just north of Oshkosh after 9 hours total time over 1100nm.

Wave Flight to 24,000'

After a morning of windy landing practice in the Phoenix with Dave, the winds came on very strong, gusting to 30 on the ground. Wave conditions were supposed to be pretty good with 50kt winds at high altitude, but a little too southerly for excellent wave conditions. With limited wave experience, I sought the help of the fine folks at Soaring NV. Laurie Hardin hooked me up with instructor Jeffrey Hazlegrove in a Duo Discus, and Gabe Bourbeau towed us up. Gabe had to hunt around, finally taking us near Carson City before we hooked into good conditions due to the extreme south winds blowing. It was easy with Jeffrey's fine instructions to climb past the rotor clouds into smooth wave and we were quickly approaching 18 grand. The established wave window was back over Minden so we had to bail out of the wave and head for Minden. Laurie opened the window for us, and up we went.

Heading south from Carson City towards rotor clouds over Minden. The weak looking wave cloud is visible up above.

Cannulas were used up to 18 grand, then masks were used above that.

Hunting around the rotor clouds to reconnect with the wave over Minden.

We finally connected with weak wave ( 4-8kts) which took us to 24 grand, but petered out to less than a knot as we got to 24.

View of Lake Tahoe and Heavenly Valley ski area from 24,000'. What a fabulous learning experiece for me under the excellent guidance from Jeffrey. I highly recommend Soaring NV. They have high performance gliders, a nice facility and you won't find friendlier folks anywhere!

Training Dave in Minden NV

After the delivery flight from Florida, Dave started training in his new plane. First of all, he was happy that this was a motorglider which easily fit in his 40 foot hangar without the extended wingtips on. Plus, at a little over 700lbs, it is easy to roll in and out of the hangar.


One interesting way to get in some landing practice is by circling Lake Tahoe and landing at Carson City, Reno-Stead, Truckee, Lake Tahoe, and then back to Minden. Here we are passing by Emerald Lake.

Practice shot by holding the camera outside the window. I had the camera strap around my wrist.

Passing by Heavenly Valley ski area on the way back to Minden. This whole area is out of this world beautiful. Thanks for taking me on this little tour Dave, and making me wonder why we live in Florida instead of here!

Florida to Nevada

Steve Chase and I left Melbourne, FL to deliver a Phoenix to Dave in Minden. Our first day took us to Wilbarger airport in Texas, after 9 hours, covering 1057nm.
Day 2 brought strong winds against the nose, and turbulent unstable air with strong lift. After fighting the air for a few hours, we gave up and toured Monument Valley down low. A strong thermal presented itself, so we shut down the engine, climbed to 16 grand, and began a run towards Lake Powell.

A beautiful cloud street ran all the way to Page, AZ, so we dolphin flew under the street, only needing 3 thermals between Monument Valley and Page, even though the wind was 20-25kts on the nose.

Looking back the way we had come, the beauty of Lake Powell late in the day was awesome. Day 2 only saw 696nm after a 7.8hr flight.

Day 3 took us into Minden after 430nm in 3.8 hrs.

Total distance for the trip was 2183nm, in 19.6 hours for an average speed of 111kts. Not too shabby on an east to west flight.

Last Leg: Panama City to Melbourne

Huge cells popped up all around us, going to over 40,000'. But our courseline stayed pretty clear. It was a beautiful flight in smooth air at 9,500'

Orlando let us fly right over the airport on the way home, which was a good thing because no other route was open to us.

Not counting demo flights, the total mileage was 3526nm. Total time, 32.6 hours. Average speed 108kts. Not too shabby for a round trip flight to Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas from homebase, Melbourne, Florida.

Mom and Dad in Panama City

We spent 2 nights and one full day in Panama City with my folks. They live on the St. Andrews Bay with easy boat access into the Gulf. Mom and I shared some family time on the swing.

Dad took Bruce and I out on his Pearson 36. Sailing conditions were perfect.

Cranking along on a beam reach in the Pearson.

Dad's collection of boats.