VAF Forums - USA: Minnesota

I had a nice Thanksgiving Eve flight over the Twin Cities last night. A big thanks to local builder Mike Behnke who let me borrow his Emag and Pmag for a trip to grandma's while mine are getting the SB performed.

I was pleasantly shocked to see 100LL had dipped down to $2.51 at the home airport, so I filled up and went out after dark to see how my re-aimed HID landing light would perform. It was a crisp 28 degF, clear,calm, and visability 1,000,000........

Here is a GoogleEarth/APRS depiction of the fun: (Image looking SOUTH)

The approach to RWY 14 at Downtown St. Paul is difficult to capture in words and a must see on a clear night, as you fly right by the state Capitol, the St. Paul Cathedral and nearly right over the tall bulidings in the business district. As I approached the runway, I was pleased with the redirected HID. No more excuses for missing the flare. :o

KSTP tower was great, they told me the airport was all mine and cleared me for left traffic and 2 T&G on 14 and a 3rd on 13. These all provided great views of the city. After pattern work at STP, I headed back home to Anoka for more T&G's on 36 and 27. It was rush hour there, and I was twice asked to do 270's for spacing due to slower traffic.

In the end, I landed long on 27 and taxied back to the barn. 0.5 on the hobbs, and only 6 bux in 100LL, Great fun! Tomorrow, we will hopefully get some air to air shots of Bernie Weiss' new -7A...