Category: X-Country
308 & 309 Vance Brand Airport
Marek and I got there early and flew before everybody else showed. Both back tires were flat, probably from the tall weeds I’d been rolling in. A can of “Fix-A Flat and Marek’s air pump took care of that. We took off about the time Robert Kittilla and his student showed up. The winds were very light and steady. After about 30 minutes we landed and prepared for the cross country.
Hay Stack Mountain
X-Country & Luau

When I got back to the field I was still way up there
Lava Canyon
John Black surprised me by taking his girl friend for a mid afternoon tandem ride. After his speech at the Salton Sea I thought he would mellow out. Oh Well He is the pilot in command and a very talented one at that. Good Luck to you John.
#70 Cross Country
I’ll always remember this one because as I was coming back I saw lightning coming from Blue Sky. More on that later. I took off at 6:30 am with the wing coming from the South. After climbing 2000 ft AGL I headed south following Roxborough Rd. until I go into some turbulence that was being kicked off of Wildcat Mountain which is really only a little cone that sits along about 1 mile east of the hogbacks. So I turned east for a ways and then continued south until I was over Sedalia. This is really beautiful country. The homes are widely spaced and fabulous; the term estate better describes it. Some were Tucson others were French chateaus and there were a few plain old ranch houses. This was my farthest afield yet and when I got to Sedalia damn if the wind hadn’t turned 180˚, so, I was fighting a headwind all the way back. For a bit I was worried that I was going to have to “land out” until I dropped 900 feet and was better able to penetrate.
As I was approaching the LZ I was looking at blue sky ahead and all was well…then out of nowhere lightning struck in front of me. I didn’t loiter over the field like I had planned instead I checked the windsock and set it down on the first pass. While I was packing up the wing it started to rain with great big drops, not enough to get me wet, just a few minutes and then it was gone. I guess next time I’ll make it a point to check my six once in awhile.