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.

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.

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!

High Altitude Cruise

 So, just how good is the Phoenix performance under power at high altitude?  Take a look at the Dynon photo with the comments added.  In short, it is almost impossible for any aircraft in this category to outperform the Phoenix!

Minden Wave Flight

Wave flight to over 17,000'msl with Dennis Yeomans

Eclipse

 We flew from Minden, NV (MEV) to John Day, OR (GCD) to watch the total eclipse.  Due to our last minute plans, the special glasses couldn't be obtained, nor could I find the right welder lenses.  Cecil came through with some extra pairs for us.

We first flew to Lakeview, OR (LKV) for a short break and to time our arrival over GCD so that we would not have to mix it up with the crowd in the air for very long.

 As totality neared, we kept close tabs on the other aircraft around us using the Dynon Skyview and the iPad with Stratus 2 ADSB weather and traffic.  We also relied on the old fashioned Mark 2 eyeballs.

 Totality was awesome!  We didn't need the glasses during the black out and oohhed and awed over the amazing sight.  It got really dark out in the 70 mile wide swath we were in the middle of.  But we could see sunlight on the ground 35 miles away on each side of us.  So it wasn't completely dark, more like evening twilight.

 We closed all of the vents because it was suddenly cold.  Then in an instant the sun peeked out again and brought with it immediate warmth and light.  Good ole Sun!

 When totality was over, the fleet headed back to where they came from.

Several of us returned to Lakeview for fuel and lunch.  Here we are flying next to the Abert Rim on the way to the airport.  We talked about what we had seen from our aerial vantage point.  Can't wait to do it again but I think it will be a long time and we will have to make a longer trip to see it.

Yosemite tour with Jorge

 El Capitan

 Waterfall

 Halfdome

 Almost 18,000'

 Sierras looking south

El Capitan