Abstract: One characteristic of flying VFR-only is that you get the opportunity to stay in places you never planned to visit.
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Thread : Balloon Fiesta and Canyon hopping
Started at 3rd-October-2009 01:13 PM by N97SM
Visit at http://forum.xopa.org/showthread.php?t=52
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Date : 3rd-October-2009 01:13 PM
Thread Title : Balloon Fiesta and Canyon hopping
Wednesday, I'll meet my wife in Las Vegas. We'll do some Canyon-hopping for 5 days.
Any suggestions from pilots who know the area?
I am aware of the special flight rules over Grand Canyon.
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Date : 4th-October-2009 03:26 AM
Thread Title : Day 1: N57 (new Garden, PA) to BMG (Bloomington, IN)
Drove to the airport in light rain. Visibility 2 miles in mist, slowly rising.
Wheels up at 11:00 am. 20 miles west unlimited visibility and still light wind for a while. This changed soon. 25 kts from 250. Bearing 278. Groundspeed in the low 80's. I stayed at 3000 ft. which brings me just over the ridges of the Appalachies. Strong thermals. Got a good workout for my arms to keep wings level. I have the old style of ailerons that get really stiff at 100+kts airspeed.
Fuel stop at I23 in Ohio. Had to wait until FBO mgr/line boy/flight instructor landed to buy fuel. Take-off at 04:00 pm.
Hit some rain S of Indianapolis. Landed in Bloomington. The town has a big ball game tonight. Got the last hotel room at a rip-off price. The FBO was very helpful and gave me a Caddi to get to the hotel.
Needed a 1 1/2 beers some food and a shower - in that order.
You can track my trip online at: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0PAqVyWTNdxj0ZRtHGlre6V1QnZRNutyJ
Data are real-time and stay online for about 1 week.
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Date : 6th-October-2009 01:38 AM
Thread Title : Day 2 and 3: Wild West
One characteristic of flying VFR-only is that you get the opportunity to stay in places you never planned to visit.
On Sunday I had two legs in mostly ideal weather. The plan was to get to (or as close as possible to) Albuquerque for the ballons. Leaving Bloomington, IN I had planned fuel stops in Clinton, MO and Meade, KS. A few mile before reaching Meade I found low overcast and poor visibility. I diverted to Dodge City, just because I was sure to find somebody at that airport. The weather forcast for the route ahead convinced me to stay.
Today (Monday) was IFR until 5pm. I had a great experience learning about the Wild West in that really cute town. Also enjoyed their beef immensely. I used up the relaxation time originally planned for ABQ and Santa Fe - I'll do that another time.
Forecast for tomorrow morning looks ok.
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Downloaded from XOPA Forums (http://forum.xopa.org) at 16th-February-2012 07:55 PM.
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