Reach for the Sky!

Ok. Whoever coined the term $100 hamburger must have done it a long time ago.  With today’s fuel prices, a $100 hamburger trip would be a very short one!

Today’s trip was a long one. I was originally hoping to fly to Rockford, IL (KRFD), but after waiting out the fog at Minneapolis Flying Cloud (KFCM), and ready to go, there were still low ceilings at Rockford, so I decided to head the other direction where it was clear to partly cloudy.

So, I loaded up, and headed for Norfolk, NE (KOFK). As I didn’t leave Flying Cloud until 10:50am, I figured this would make a good lunch trip. Norfolk Regional Airport is known for it’s on-field, aviation themed restaurant, “Barnstormers”.

The flight from Minneapolis to Norfolk was about 2.8 hours, and was starting to flirt with the bladder limit (How far can you go without a pottie break!!!). I flew this leg at 8500ft. Once I arrived at Norfolk, I parked at the FBO ramp. While the line worker was servicing/fueling the plane, I took advantage of the courtesy car to head a few blocks down to the old terminal building where the Barnstormers restaurant is located.

It’s a pretty nice little restaurant & bar. I had the “Classic Cheeseburger” with bacon, and fries, along with a couple of cokes. It was a very tasty, and fairly large burger.  Now stuffed, I paid my tab, and headed back to the FBO to start checking weather and planning the flight back to Minneapolis.

There was a slow moving line of storms moving southeast through South Dakota, but I had plenty of time to get back before they would affect my route.  The flight back was a tick shorter at 2.7 hours, as I had a slight tailwind. I flew at 9500ft on this leg. Smooth and quiet up there. I think I had maybe 1 traffic advisory the entire flight.

So, total flight time was 5.5 hours, and I figure with the burger included, was probably around a $400 trip!  Another great thing about this trip……..I get to add another state to my “States I’ve Landed In Map”!

Today’s cross country flights took me to Glenwood Municpal Airport (KGHW) in Glenwood, MN, and then to Olivia Regional Airport (KOVL), in Olivia, MN. It was another very hot and humid day, so not exactly comfortable.  3.1 hours of total flight time today, and 2 more airport stamps in my Fly Minnesota Passport Book. 

Upon arrival at Olivia Regional Airport, I noticed that there was some storm damage, and downed trees from the severe storms that blew through a couple of days ago (July 1st, 2011). Here are some photos I took at Olivia Regional Airport, and another of Lake Waconia on the flight back to Flying Cloud.

Today was the first time my dad went flying with me since I’ve had my license. Today’s flights took us from Minneapolis Flying Cloud Airport (KFCM), to Chander Field Airport in Alexandria, MN (KAXN), then on to Redwood Falls Municipal Airport in Redwood Falls, MN (KRWF), and back to Flying Cloud.  Total flight time today was 3.4 hours, and 3 good landings! Interesting story about the final leg of the flight though. We were sitting in the A&D building at Redwood Falls, taking a break. I was on my iPad getting a weather briefing, and checking the weather radar. I noticed some severe storms in South Dakota heading our way, but they were still quite a ways out. After planning the final leg of the flight, and filing my flight plan, we hopped in the plane, and were on our way. Climb performance not optimal today… temps in the upper 90′s F, and high humidity.

Once airborne, I contacted Flight Service to activate my flight plan. The flight briefer advised that there was a new advisory regarding severe thunderstorm development. We were at least an hour ahead of the storms, so no problem. When we arrived back at Flying Cloud Airport and got to the hangar. I looked back to the west, and the sky was getting dark in the distance. I pulled out the iPad and checked the weather radar, and what did I see???   The airport we just came from, Redwood Falls, was under a Tornado Warning.  Fun stuff! I guess we got out of there just in time. Oh, and the temperature when we left the hangar to head home……103F. Ouch!

Here are some photo’s from today’s adventure!

Today I just went up for some local flying. Checked out Lake Minnetonka which was quite busy with boaters. Then flew around the northwest and west metro.  Nothing overly exciting or anything, but it was nice to get up in the air for awhile.

1.8 hours in the logbook today.  Hope to get up for some cross-country flights again soon.

Today, the weather was excellent!  Clear skies all around, though a bit windy.  I decided it would be a good day for a couple long haul cross-country flights, and I wanted to add a couple more states to my “landed in” map. Today’s destinations were KGWR (Gwinner Municipal Airport), in Gwinner, North Dakota. Total flight time on this leg was 2.2 hours, and the winds were howling at Gwinner. Once on the ground at Gwinner, we stopped for a break. Got out and stretched a bit, then I hopped on my new iPad and checked weather for the next leg, built a flight plan, and filed it right from the cockpit!  Very cool!  15 minutes later, we started up and we were on our way.

The next stop of the day was KABR (Aberdeen Regional Airport), in Aberdeen, South Dakota.  This was a shorter leg, with 1.1 hours of flight time. The winds a ABR were blowing at 16kts gusting to 21kts. And they were swirling around.  Made for an interesting landing. Once we were down, I called up Quest Aviation on the radio to let them know I was taxiing to their ramp for fuel. They were ready for me, and the line worker marshaled me in to a parking spot.

After a bit of rest in the lounge, watching a bit of the NASCAR race on the big screen, it was time to fire up the iPad2 once again, check the weather, and file the next flight plan back to Minneapolis. All fueled up, flight plan filed, pre-flight check, and we are on our way.

The flight back to Minneapolis was a bit bumpy. We were at 7500ft, with a little light turbulence, as the winds were still quite gusty. 2.7 hours later, we arrived at Minneapolis Flying Cloud Airport (KFCM) where the winds where howling at 20kts gusting to 25kts. Another wild and fun landing in heavy swirling crosswind.

What a long day!  6.0 hours of flight time, and sore from sitting so long. But it was quite an adventure. And as I mentioned earlier, 2 more states added to the “States I’ve Landed In” map.