What a beautiful day in southern California! The sun was out, the sky had nothing but a few high stratus (with the hint of a storm to come from the northwest tonight), and visibilities upward of a hundred miles. It was a PERFECT day to go ?IFR? as a matter of fact. No, not THAT IFR?.I am talking about ?I Follow Rosie?, or more appropriately WE follow Rosie (Louise had to get her leg in the front seat of course). Rosie who? Well, Paul Rosales and his better half, Victoria, AKA ?Tuppergirl? of course. After a number of years flying in to our cabin at Big Bear Lake and trying to coordinate our schedule, we finally caught the two of them at home when we had the day free, and we didn?t want to waste the opportunity to see their airpark home and get in a little flying.
I?ll skip the home tour, except to say that it?s mighty impressive to have your own three-story, climate controlled control tower cab. I?m going to have to see if we can fit one of those into the plans for our next Airpark home. It must be tough living in the Antelope valley with good flying weather almost every day of the year, but I suppose that someone has got to do it. We zipped on down the hill from Big Bear, skirting around Roger?s and Rosamond ?not so dry? lakes to alight at their hangar at noon.
?Don?t eat before you get here? Rosie texted me before we left ?we?ll go and get lunch!? Knowing that SoCal has a large and varied number of airport venues in which to get a bite to eat, I was curious where he would lead us ? and we were extremely pleased with his choice.
I had seen Lake Isabella on a previous trip down the Sierras, and knew that the Kern Valley airport was nestled up to the northern shore, but had no idea just how spectacular the flying would be. Using the IFR method, all I had to do was stay in a loose gaggle position on Rosie?s wing, and listen to the travelogue on the air-to-air channel from lead.
?That?s an old rusty gold mine down there on the right.?
?The windmills keep growing, and now they are even moving out on to the valley floor.?
?Take a look down there ? that?s the Tehachapi Loop, and you rarely see a train negotiating it!?
?The trick to flying in the mountains is to not hit the dirt!?
?Two, go trail and take separation, we?re on a straight in to the right downwind for 17, and I can tell from the lake that the wind is calm.?
?Fly downwind through that saddle, bank hard right on to the base and let the bottom drop out to make the runway.?
To Be Continued....
I?ll skip the home tour, except to say that it?s mighty impressive to have your own three-story, climate controlled control tower cab. I?m going to have to see if we can fit one of those into the plans for our next Airpark home. It must be tough living in the Antelope valley with good flying weather almost every day of the year, but I suppose that someone has got to do it. We zipped on down the hill from Big Bear, skirting around Roger?s and Rosamond ?not so dry? lakes to alight at their hangar at noon.
?Don?t eat before you get here? Rosie texted me before we left ?we?ll go and get lunch!? Knowing that SoCal has a large and varied number of airport venues in which to get a bite to eat, I was curious where he would lead us ? and we were extremely pleased with his choice.
I had seen Lake Isabella on a previous trip down the Sierras, and knew that the Kern Valley airport was nestled up to the northern shore, but had no idea just how spectacular the flying would be. Using the IFR method, all I had to do was stay in a loose gaggle position on Rosie?s wing, and listen to the travelogue on the air-to-air channel from lead.
?That?s an old rusty gold mine down there on the right.?
?The windmills keep growing, and now they are even moving out on to the valley floor.?
?Take a look down there ? that?s the Tehachapi Loop, and you rarely see a train negotiating it!?
?The trick to flying in the mountains is to not hit the dirt!?
?Two, go trail and take separation, we?re on a straight in to the right downwind for 17, and I can tell from the lake that the wind is calm.?
?Fly downwind through that saddle, bank hard right on to the base and let the bottom drop out to make the runway.?
To Be Continued....
.
