AX-O
Well Known Member
NOTE: If you thought the last trip report was long, then this will be a novel. I convinced my wife to write something from her perspective for all the wives out there that are not familiar with flying.
After purchasing the RV and flying it home, all I wanted to do was to go fly again. However, the weather was not cooperating in SoCal. And I was not making any progress on my self-imposed requirements (listed below).
-I would not fly with passengers until I got some time in the pattern and felt confident with my landings and the handling qualities in those phases.
-I would take my wife on a local flight prior to our departure to TX so she could get used to flying in the new plane and she had some idea of what to expect (canopy, seatbelts, etc.)
The weather finally cooperated and I was able to fly a 1.1 before going to work one day. Unfortunately as much as did not want to, I changed our departure date by one day in order to get my wife a local flight. We decided to go to Mojave and grab lunch. While there, we sat down to eat with a coworker and Dick Rutan.
With both of the self-imposed limitations completed, we decided to leave the next day. We went home and started packing. I told my wife she had a limit of 15 lbs of baggage. She was asking me about high heel shoes and curling irons and this and that. My standard answer was “is that essential for the trip?” After a very thoughtful packing job, we managed to pack a week’s worth of clothes for her and I in one bag. The total weight was 15lbs.
We departed around 0730. Our first leg took us from Inyokern, CA (IYK) to the DAG VOR and then to St John’s industrial park (SJN). Signs from the recent bad weather were still present in our local area. The air was fairly smooth but very cold. The scenery was amazing and somewhere along the route my wife commented that it was the coolest thing she has ever done in her life. That was a few minutes before we were VFR on top for about half hour (she did not like that).
After purchasing the RV and flying it home, all I wanted to do was to go fly again. However, the weather was not cooperating in SoCal. And I was not making any progress on my self-imposed requirements (listed below).
-I would not fly with passengers until I got some time in the pattern and felt confident with my landings and the handling qualities in those phases.
-I would take my wife on a local flight prior to our departure to TX so she could get used to flying in the new plane and she had some idea of what to expect (canopy, seatbelts, etc.)
The weather finally cooperated and I was able to fly a 1.1 before going to work one day. Unfortunately as much as did not want to, I changed our departure date by one day in order to get my wife a local flight. We decided to go to Mojave and grab lunch. While there, we sat down to eat with a coworker and Dick Rutan.
With both of the self-imposed limitations completed, we decided to leave the next day. We went home and started packing. I told my wife she had a limit of 15 lbs of baggage. She was asking me about high heel shoes and curling irons and this and that. My standard answer was “is that essential for the trip?” After a very thoughtful packing job, we managed to pack a week’s worth of clothes for her and I in one bag. The total weight was 15lbs.
We departed around 0730. Our first leg took us from Inyokern, CA (IYK) to the DAG VOR and then to St John’s industrial park (SJN). Signs from the recent bad weather were still present in our local area. The air was fairly smooth but very cold. The scenery was amazing and somewhere along the route my wife commented that it was the coolest thing she has ever done in her life. That was a few minutes before we were VFR on top for about half hour (she did not like that).
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