I'M BACK!!!

Well, its been a long long time since I have last posted. Here are some pictures to make up for the time away. Hope you enjoy!

(Columbus, Ohio)

(B -17 in Lima County Ohio)

(Station Air in all her glory)

(Middle of nowhere Ohio)

(Cruising in the 310)

(Minneapolis!)

(Sea planes galore)

(Flying in the flight levels)

(Rosewell, NM)

(Rosewell, NM)

(Carlsbad, NM)

(Carlsbad, NM)

(Middle of nowhere New Mexico)

(Durango, CO)

(Albuquerque, NM)

(Albuquerque, NM)

(PC-12)

(C - 310 at Bode Aero)

(New Mexico!!)

(Mountain flying)

(KABQ)

(Hold short, caution wake turbulence)

(Durango, CO)

My Favorite Place to fly Cont..

Well, the wait is finally over. I am finally going to reveal one of my favorite places to fly to. I don't know how you were able to contain your excitement while waiting. In my mind I feel like i'm generating Apple level excitement. But, in all reality it is probably just my mom reading this. Hi mom!

Alright, enough waiting. The video I posted in the last post as a clue was taken on our trip to Galveston, TX! What an awesome place. Our approach into Galveston was awesome. Just look at the pictures below and you will understand why.

We chose to do a the visual approach instead of the GPS. Mainly because the GPS approach took us 12 miles over the Gulf of Mexico and everyone knows that is a terrible idea in a single engine plane. You don't do that unless you have to. Plus we got this great view on our approach.

During our stay at Galveston we had a lot of down time due to a high overcast (pictured below.)  I know it doesn't look like much. But, those clouds were right where we would be flying and like I said before clouds + camera = bad pictures. Bad pictures = unhappy clients. Unhappy clients = fired pilot. So bad situation all around.

And yes, we got to play putt putt. Putt Putt is what us southerners call miniature golf. I channeled my inner Tiger Woods. Not current Tiger though, I'd say young Tiger when he was a beast

Alex (the photographer) and myself both agreed that we would never fly this. whoever would is crazy. Absolutely crazy.

Now, I would fly this bad boy. The picture below is a Grumman Gulfstream 1 (G-159), this plane was awesome, it was love at first sight. If the owner of this plane is reading this. Hire me!

While in Galveston, we ate at a local restaurant that had the best Philly Cheesesteak I have ever had. I have eaten Philly Cheesesteaks all over the country including Philly, and this was hands down the best one! Philly you are on notice step your game up!!

Think my favorite places are boring? Let me know where your favorite places to fly to are!

p.s flying commercial doesn't count! General Aviation only!

Favorite place I've flown to

I've been asked this question many times. What is your favorite place that you have ever flown to? I have never had a great answer to this question because I haven't flown to that great of places. But, now I have two. The first one is Carthage, NC. Carthage is a very, very, very small town. You might be wondering why it is one of my favorites? Well, Carthage just happens to be home to the Pik n Pig. What is the Pik n Pig you might ask? It is only the greatest fly-in BBQ restaurant in the world!! Don't believe me? Well, why don't you fly in and find out for yourself? Oh, and bring cash unless you like to wash dishes.

The Pik n Pig lets you do two of my favorite things.. 1. Eat BBQ and 2. Watch airplanes. The patio below is my favorite place to take in the experience. If you happen to get bored of eating and watching/slightly judging other pilots, then you can borrow some golf clubs and enjoy their driving range. Really random I know, but just go with it. 

As you can tell the food is delicious. Try the tea, it is the best tea in the south, and that means a lot. Us southerners live and die by our tea. Oh, and those of you reading this that don't already know when I say tea I mean Sweet tea. The only kind of tea there is.

Now on to the second one.. which is... Oh, darn guess you'll have to wait until next time I post. Boom! #cliffhanger

Don't get too mad at me I'll leave you with a short video of my flight there.

Grounded

Today I am grounded. No, not by my parents. I am 25 years old they are not grounding me anymore. I am grounded from God's beautiful blue sky. Days like today are not fun. I am trying to build hours as fast as possible, and these clouds are not being very cooperative. So, on days where I am grounded I look for inspiration. The kind of inspiration I have today comes in pictures. My dad flies for the "new" American. Every now and then he will send me some pictures of his daily adventures and todays pictures were just what the doctor ordered! I can't wait to fly for the airlines..

Perks to the Job!!

One of the many benefits of my job is that we get to eat at some pretty cool places.

(Blues City Cafe located in Memphis)

(Beale Street)

Augusta, GA did not disappoint. We decided to eat at Finch and Fifth, which was a great choice. Their menu was small, but everything was good. I ordered Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and greens it was delicious! If you are ever in Augusta go check them out.

After dinner we usually head back to the hotel to prepare for the next day. Preparation includes calling up certain airspaces to coordinate our shooting for the next day. Some busy airports like Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago, NY don't like us in their airspace unless they know exactly what we are doing, and how long we are going to be there for. This process can take a while and be quite daunting. But, thankfully Augusta's airspace is not very busy and they were more then willing to work with us while we mapped Columbia County.

We departed Augusta, GA at 9:45 am. It took us a 4.5 hours to map the entire county! Talk about a long flight. But, I got to see Augusta National for the first time! Too bad it was from 10,500 ft in the air.

If anyone reading this has a free ticket let me know! I can fly us down there!!

Augusta, GA

Today I got to fly the Cessna 310 from Charlotte, NC (KEQY) to Augusta, GA (KDNL).

It was a flight mainly in IFR which is aviation jargon for bad weather, aka clouds. Clouds are normally not an issue especially down in the south. But, due to the freezing temperatures flying through the clouds could be bad news. Clouds (water vapor) + freezing temperatures = Ice. Ice + Cessna 310 = Plane that won't fly. We were able to pick our way through the clouds today, which led us to see some pretty cool photos. 

My job gives me to the ability to see some pretty cool things. Looking forward to what I will be able to see tomorrow!