Marc's Public Blog - Flying


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This is a collection of my blog entries and experiences with flying, and learning to fly. Something I had been wanting to do for quite a while.
You can find all the pictures I've taken here, and read below for my experience.
Specifically, I have a page for my Trips to Oshkosh, the mecca for pilots

Table of Content for flying:

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2011/07/29 Quick tour of Eaa/Oshkosh Airventure 2011
π 2011-07-29 01:01 in Flying, Nflying, Oshkosh
Due to a badly scheduled track day on thursday in the middle of Airventure, I ended up taking a hellish red eye from SFO to Chicago (arriving at 03:15 my time) and then a connection to nearby Appletown. I ended up arriving on friday morning at 09:30 and 10:30 at the door due to horrible traffic with very little sleep, and went around the grounds as quickly as I could to see as much as I could before sunday afternoon, when everything would be over.

Considering the tough trip and little time on hand, thanks to having been there before and knowing where things were and how to best optimize, I managed to see several interesting talks, see virtually every exhibit, and most of an air show (unfortunately it was stopped half way due to weather). I also had a lovely dinner with my friends at Seattle Avionics (food was kind of opportunistic since I had neither the time to get proper food, not that there is much proper food on the EAA grounds anyway. I had the worst cheeseburger in my life ever).

Anyway, let's get to the pictures:




new avionics
new avionics

nice to see a full size turbocharged engine
nice to see a full size turbocharged engine

there were lots of nice sims to try
there were lots of nice sims to try

Lots of planes to be seen as always:

the 787 was here for display and visits, line was way too long though
the 787 was here for display and visits, line was way too long though


burt's boomrang
burt's boomrang



harrier
harrier



rotocopters
rotocopters

you don't want to be probed by this guy :)
you don't want to be probed by this guy :)


huge engines, payload capacity, and fuel tanks
huge engines, payload capacity, and fuel tanks


Terrafugia was back with their V2 design:



It's a bit of an improvement over the areocar :)



Visiting the insides of the B29 Superfortress was cool too:





Someone also tried to sell me a pipistrel. Nice little plane to fly around, but eh I'm used to slightly faster planes with nice things like autopilots :)



Like every year lots of collectors bring their own fighter planes:










The other half of Oshkosh, is the aviation museum. Its displays are still good, but the best part is the talks that some world famous aviators give there:

new section on RC planes
new section on RC planes

voyager, the plane that flew around the world non stop
voyager, the plane that flew around the world non stop


kind of cramped inside
kind of cramped inside



talk on faster than sound airplanes we might have one day to replace the concorde
talk on faster than sound airplanes we might have one day to replace the concorde



Spaceship 1
Spaceship 1

But the best part is Dick Rutan telling the story of his flight around the world in Voyager built by his brother, Burt. It's a thrilling story:



Saturday evening, while waiting for the night show, Ford had a nice Blues Brothers Show:



they were actually quite good
they were actually quite good

And this leaves us with the pieces of airshow I caught:






weather turned bad quickly, rest of airshow was cancelled for that day
weather turned bad quickly, rest of airshow was cancelled for that day



And just to make things interesting, they started doing a night airshow the previous year:















And that was it. after 3 days of mostly bad food and running around to make it with the time I did have, it worked out pretty well in the end. At the Appletown airport, before leaving, I tried the heart attack food they do there, fried cheese curds, and fries smoltered with cheese and bacon :)


2011/07/04 Flight to Pine Mountain Lake (E45) and over Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
π 2011-07-04 01:01 in Flying, Nflying
As a way to spend a few days in the Sierras over July 4th, I looked into options and heard that would could fly into Pine Mountain Lake. After checking on airnav, I found the very well reviewed Cub Inn Bed and Breakfast, owned by two pilots.
The great thing for pilots is that the very nice owners will pick you up at the airport and lend you their jeep so that you can get around and get to see a little bit more than just Pine Mountain Lake itself (which is actually a nice place, but there is more to see in the Sierras than just that).

The flight to Pine Mountain Lake was uneventful:

Pine Mountain Lake Airport
Pine Mountain Lake Airport

Pine Mountain Lake
Pine Mountain Lake

and after overflying the airport, we pushed to Hetch Hetchy to get some air pictures before going back the next day on the ground:



flow was strong obviously
flow was strong obviously

some hikers got swept off that bridge a few days prior
some hikers got swept off that bridge a few days prior


nearby reservoir
nearby reservoir

It was a nice little flight, weather was perfect and it was good to see Hetch Hetchy waterfalls that we ended up never being allowed to hike to the next day.


More pages: November 2023 October 2023 April 2023 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 May 2021 November 2020 August 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 April 2017 January 2017 December 2016 August 2016 July 2016 May 2016 February 2016 January 2016 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 June 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 January 2012 November 2011 August 2011 July 2011 April 2011 March 2011 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 March 2010 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 March 2009 November 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 December 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 December 2004 September 2004 August 2004 May 2004 March 1999

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