We departed Fort Dodge, Iowa at 7:22 AM and headed for Oshkosh.  Most of the flight we were flying into the sun and there was smoke and mist so it was very difficult to see anything.  Had to use my side view and instruments to try to keep straight. Notice my wobbly line on the[…]

Today we flew from Rock Springs, Wyoming to Fort Dodge, Iowa for a total of 786 miles.  I burned through 54.6 gallons of gas.  Our journey brought us through Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa. The landscapes across these states are incredible.  Both the sky and the geology are dramatic.  We got over the rockies[…]

Today we flew from Bend, Oregon to Rock Springs, Wyoming (730 miles) on a very HOT day.  I burned through a total of 51.3 gallons of fuel.  The trip was an eye opener for me.  I truly realized how different General Aviation is from commercial aviation.  Commercial aviation is very structured and scheduled – for[…]

Well, it went way better than expected.  The plane had plenty of space to fit all the stuff I wanted to take and the weight and balance is well within limits.  Now I can add a few things I thought were “luxury” items if I had extra room.  And believe it or not, what I[…]

Packing your car for a trip is fairly straightforward.  You shove in as much as you can without crowding passengers or blocking your view.  But with a plane, it’s much more complicated.  The weight has to be spread out across the seats and baggage compartment so that it doesn’t become too front heavy or too[…]

It’s a 1965 Piper Cherokee 140!  Perfect plane for my wife and I.  I found the listing for this plane on the Trade-A-Plane website and it was in Ashland, OR.  After spending a lot of time searching for Cessna’s to no avail, my wife thought I should widen my search to include Piper Cherokee’s and[…]