Heading Home to Meet My Maker

[Mikey]

Louise has talked about this trip for a couple of years and we are finally on our way. Louise has a sister with a coastal home in Oregon and she figured that my builder, Mike Seager, and I would like a reunion. So, she, Paul, Bear, and I launched from Polly Ranch a little before sunrise yesterday morning. Good thing we left early as a big storm tore through the region later in the day, dropping lots of rain and causing flooding.

Departing Houston

It was an uneventful flight to Hereford, TX, where I took on fuel and Paul and Louise rushed off to inspect the FBO. They say it was a nice place. Flying towards the West, it wasn't surprising that we fought modest headwinds. Once we reach Las Vegas, NM, Paul and Louise perked up and I could feel their excitement rise along with the terrain. Finally, the real West began. Just north of Santa Fe, a plume of smoke rose out of the forest with no evidence of someone attending it. Louise called Center to let them know and we continued on. It was a spectacular flight as we crossed the Rockies and then landed at Cortez, Colorado, to once again feed me. (You know us 19-year-old eat a lot!)

Aspens turning color in the southern Rocky Mountains


Rio Grande River Gorge near Taos


Mesa Verde National Park

Once we left Cortez, we continued across the Colorado Plateau viewing the beauty of Zion and Capitol Reef National Parks and the Escalante. Hard to beat this scenery. We continued on to just south of Salt Lake City, where we entered the Basin and Range Provice

Now, those are cool lava fields!

[Mikey]

Entering the Basin and Range just south of the Great Salt Lake

The flight went well and I landed at Battle Mountain, NV, (KBAM) in some pretty gusty winds that challenged Paul probably a bit more than he wanted on a long flight!

Left Base to KBAM

Leaving KBAM, the weather seems to turn more ominous and Louise kept poking an exhausted Paul in the ribs, asking for him to help with some weather decision-making. (Paul had worked a graveyard shift just before the trip and, combined with some high altitude flying, he was pretty much checked out at this point.

About 45 minutes out, Louise turned me around and landed at Winnemucca, NV, (KWMC) where the very kind FBO people set them up with a courtesy car and information on local hotels. They tucked me in for the night under the glorious western sky and we all had a very good night's sleep, ready to try again in the morning.

[rv6rick]

Hello Mikey,

Thanks for sharing your trip with us....and the pics! I always enjoy hearing from you!

I'm sure your 'maker' will be glad to see you .

Have a safe and fun trip!

[n5lp]

Originally Posted by Mikey

Mikey, I know you are an airplane and not a person, but you seem unusually sentient for an aluminum creature. I hope your mechanical mind can somewhat grasp the wonder of the Western US that you are flying over.

I have often said that geologists should be required to be pilots. I don't think they award degrees to machines, but I hope you were at least conveying people that can appreciate what was below.

[CNEJR]

beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing.

[Randy]

Yep, really cool write up and and photos, I thank you for sharing them!

[frankh]

i must admit to wave of uh oh thoughts when I read that headline..I thought it was another 'airplane for sale due to medical reasons' post!

Frank

[bhassel]

The smoke you saw just to the east of Santa Fe was a controlled burn by the forest service. Hopefully it will go well. I can remember maybe 10 years ago,when I was living over in Dallas (my wife's folks have lived here all their lives) the forest service had a controlled burn on a windy day up around Los Alamos. You can still see the scars of the run away fire around Los Alamos (many lost their homes) and over to Bandelaria National Monument.

They ususally let folks know when one is going to be started.

BTW, for a look at the landscape a little further south (west of Albq) try this link http://www.jeffsflightlog.com. It's one of my favorites

Bob

[Geico266]

Great pictures! I love seeing fault lines, lava fields, canyons, and mountains. We live on a pretty amazing planet.

[Mikey]

Thank you for all the kind comments. I guess I should acknowledge my photographers, Louise and Paul. I'm too busy flying to take the photos and I rely on Louise to interprete the geology.

Well, yesterday was an adventure and I had a lot of fun, but we ultimately ended up back in Winnemucca. I started the morning with a little frost so Paul and Louise removed my cover and let me dry (or, in this climate, more properly sublimate) off a bit. They "worked the weather" inside the FBO. Finally, they agreed that it was time to go and off we launched. The weather looked okay at our destination and I had enough fuel to make it there and back so the plan was to go until we couldn't and return if we had to do so. That's exactly what happened. We tried above the clouds and got within 35 minutes of our destination (and 10 minutes from clear reporting airports), over my home state of Oregon, but the undercast layer had risen to above 18,000 msl. We tentatively poked into some hole but saw both times that the risk down low was too great. So, here I sit once again on the KWMC ramp.

Defrosting my wings on the Winnemucca ramp


This was the view ahead as we climbed out of KWMC


This was the last photo they took on our flight towards Oregon as Paul and Louise were too busy "working the weather" for me during the flight.


Scooting back to KWMC - Nice sand dunes to the NW of town

Paul and Louise hung around the airport awhile, watching the METARS. Louise reported a great "ladies room" and Paul enjoyed the couch.

KWMC “ladies” room, painted by a local named "Teddy"




Paul "working the weather"

I enjoyed the company of the other planes on the ramp while Paul and Louise went off with a local RV-8A builder/driver, Mark Andrews, for an enjoyable evening in town. They returned this morning reporting a good meal and good company. Thanks, Mark, for taking care of them. They were a little down in spirits when they left me yesterday and came back recharged this morning. Me? I'm just happy to be flying so much. Maybe today's the day I get to once more land in Oregon.