Flying out west in N1715D
Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:06 pm
You guys may (or may not) have noticed my absence in the last few weeks. I had made plans to go to Las Vegas on Southwest Airlines for a long weekend to watch my nephew fly his last two airshows as the Air Force West Coast A-10 Demonstration Pilot at the Aviation Nation 2009 Airshow. What transpired was not planned but turned out to be a great trip out west in the 170.
A week before the airshow, I called my buddy from Alaska just to shoot the breeze and found out he was going to Green River, Utah to hunt big horn sheep in the Book Cliffs that run from Green River to Grand Junction, Colorado. He had a permit for a ram. I told him if I had known about his trip, I would have gone with him. He said, "Well, come on out". I thought just a minute and said "Alright, why not!" That was at 2:30 in the afternoon. I cancelled my Southwest tickets and was heading west at 3:30 in 1715D.
That evening I flew to Brownfield, Texas and landed right at dark thirty. A very nice guy who lives in a house at the airport loaned me the courtesy car to go into town for dinner. That night I slept in my sleeping bag on the couch in the terminal building. Next morning was fog to the ground until 10:00am when it lifted to about 500' and unlimited vis. I departed for Santa Fe, the next fuel stop. It turned beautiful at the New Mexico border and stayed clear to Santa Fe and on to Moab, Utah. Flying over the Utah canyonlands again was refreshing. It was late afternoon and the sandstone landscape lit up like neon.
My buddy drove down from Green River and picked me up at CNY and we had a steak and went to bed early. Next morning we were hunting at daylight about 25 miles east of town. For the next three days we hunted sheep all over the Book Cliffs and saw many huge mule deer and about 150 big horn sheep. He never saw one big enough to kill. He's more selective than I am. It was time to head towards Las Vegas so I flew back thru the canyonlands, down across Lake Powell, and into Page, Arizona for the night. It was another beautiful flight across the desert with bumpy and strong headwinds. Next morning it was raining hard at Page of all places. I didn't think they got any rain there looking at the level of Lake Powell. When a break in the cells passed overhead, I departed for Las Vegas. I dodged rain and snow cells all the way across the north side of the Grand Canyon to Lake Mead. I had wanted to fly the VFR corridors across Grand Canyon but the weather was down below the rim in the canyon so going north was the only way thru. Even then, I had to deviate and backtrack a couple of times but it was never close. It took 2.5 hours to fly 200sm but I finally made it to Hoover Dam and Boulder City at 4:30 pm. Saturday and Sunday was spent on the flight line at Nellis with my nephew, his youngest brother who flies F-16s, and their wives. The weather was great, the flying was awesome, and it was a weekend to remember forever.
A week before the airshow, I called my buddy from Alaska just to shoot the breeze and found out he was going to Green River, Utah to hunt big horn sheep in the Book Cliffs that run from Green River to Grand Junction, Colorado. He had a permit for a ram. I told him if I had known about his trip, I would have gone with him. He said, "Well, come on out". I thought just a minute and said "Alright, why not!" That was at 2:30 in the afternoon. I cancelled my Southwest tickets and was heading west at 3:30 in 1715D.
That evening I flew to Brownfield, Texas and landed right at dark thirty. A very nice guy who lives in a house at the airport loaned me the courtesy car to go into town for dinner. That night I slept in my sleeping bag on the couch in the terminal building. Next morning was fog to the ground until 10:00am when it lifted to about 500' and unlimited vis. I departed for Santa Fe, the next fuel stop. It turned beautiful at the New Mexico border and stayed clear to Santa Fe and on to Moab, Utah. Flying over the Utah canyonlands again was refreshing. It was late afternoon and the sandstone landscape lit up like neon.
My buddy drove down from Green River and picked me up at CNY and we had a steak and went to bed early. Next morning we were hunting at daylight about 25 miles east of town. For the next three days we hunted sheep all over the Book Cliffs and saw many huge mule deer and about 150 big horn sheep. He never saw one big enough to kill. He's more selective than I am. It was time to head towards Las Vegas so I flew back thru the canyonlands, down across Lake Powell, and into Page, Arizona for the night. It was another beautiful flight across the desert with bumpy and strong headwinds. Next morning it was raining hard at Page of all places. I didn't think they got any rain there looking at the level of Lake Powell. When a break in the cells passed overhead, I departed for Las Vegas. I dodged rain and snow cells all the way across the north side of the Grand Canyon to Lake Mead. I had wanted to fly the VFR corridors across Grand Canyon but the weather was down below the rim in the canyon so going north was the only way thru. Even then, I had to deviate and backtrack a couple of times but it was never close. It took 2.5 hours to fly 200sm but I finally made it to Hoover Dam and Boulder City at 4:30 pm. Saturday and Sunday was spent on the flight line at Nellis with my nephew, his youngest brother who flies F-16s, and their wives. The weather was great, the flying was awesome, and it was a weekend to remember forever.