Meet the Boyfriend

Meet the Boyfriend
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

I have received many requests to meet the boyfriend. I was hoping for a more recent picture, but that has not worked out as planned…I have failed to remember the camera, so I apologize for the delay. So for those of you that have not met him in person, or seen probably this picture, this is Dave. Dave and I began dating late last June, we met at FlightSafety almost exactly a year ago, so yes he is a pilot as well, in fact he was my Zlin instructor and now works for ASA based out of Atlanta…hence the majority of the reason I moved from Florida. Many of you have already been told about this amazing guy that I am dating because I constantly gush about him, but for those of you that haven’t, I am glad to introduce you. I really feel luck to be dating such an amazing man, even if he kicks my ass on the racquetball court, playing both lefty and righty. I love you Dave..

In the City

In the City
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

I’m beginning to get settled in Atlanta. The transition has not been an easy one but I am glad that I made the move. The complications of not having health insurance, not knowing the area, only knowing more than a handful of people, and suddenly working 40 to 60 hours a week is a little over whelming at times. But I am working for FlightSafety (I do have a job) and they chose the Lear 45 for me to be an intern on. I am currently completing my SIC (Second in Command) in the 45 and looking forward to being a FO for the clients. It’s been a great opportunity to spend time with my aunt and uncle, and my cousins Kendall, Kyle and Liz. Also, it’s nice to be near Dave. Imagine that…I moved for a guy. I really enjoy Atlanta, and I wouldn’t mind spending some time here…but in the aviation industry you never know what will happen. Always hoping for the best.

Good-bye Little Civic

My Honda
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

I love my Civic.

In 1991 Mom bought a brand new car.
This little car would go incredibly far.
It was a two-door hatchback, teal with gray interior.
Rachel and I thought Mom’s car was superior.

As a kid I sat in the backseat.
Because of Rachel and I, it was never neat.
Wrappers and clothes scattered the floor.
Chewing Gum was even stuck in the door.

Friends and family climbed in and out.
It wasn’t very big, so there was no need to shout.
No radio made us tell mom about our day.
It was a great car to get us where we wanted to play.

My sophomore year in college it went with me.
Mom and Dad had given me the key.
Traveling between the twin cities and Winona.
Singing “My Sharona”

I realized I did not belong on American Idol.
A stereo system was installed so that I wouldn’t need Midol.
Unfortunately other people like music too.
And robbers broke my window twice; I needed to get a clue.

It was nicknamed “The Little Green Monster”
It roared when it was revved but it was no rocket launcher.
First gear was really sticky
And reverse sounded icky

Then one day, I was driving down the road
And Bambi jumped out in front of me like a toad
I hit it going seventy miles an hour on the freeway
I was lucky it that deer didn’t take my life away

Fortunately my car survived the crash
I was forced to spend a lot of cash
Not long afterwards I drove it to the Florida sun
Without Minnesota’s cold weather that little car sure could run

It broke 200,000 miles while I complete my flying
Then moved all my belongings up to Atlanta without dying
Today, on my way home from work my car wanted to go to sleep
I am not going to lie, it made me weep.

Good-bye little Honda.
You helped me to’Wond’a…for 15 years, for 210,000 miles, all over the country.

I love my Civic.

CFII

Last Day at FSA
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

Almost a year later I am leaving Vero Beach, FL with my Instrument Rating, Commercial Single Engine and Multi Engine, CFI and CFII. Thanks to many instructors I am now moving on with a career in aviation. I was offered a job to flight instruct with FSA or to do an internship with FlightSafety International. I have decided to take the internship in Atlanta. I have made so many new friends, I really feel fortunate and now I am moving on where I have family and friends. I am looking forward to meeting new people and continuing on in aviation, but I will miss those who will not be in Atlanta as well. I truly have made some wonderful friends and I hope that we stay in touch, if not I know our career choice will force us to run into each other in some airport in the country, who knows maybe outside of the country as well. I will miss everyone in Vero. Enjoy the skies.

I'm a Flight Instructor

Willis & I
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

As a kid I saw high school-ers graduating from high school and college students graduating from Universities. At the time I looked up to those students because I had the same goals, I wanted to complete high school and graduate from a university. And although I longed to achieve those degrees, as a kid you never think it will ever really happen, how could I ever be THAT old and have obtained THAT much knowledge? The further I get into my twenties, I realized that I have said the exact same thing for many other accomplishments in my life, in particular the pilot certificates that I have earned in the past five years and I said it again today when I earned my CFI (Certified Flight Instructor). As a student pilot, my hero had become my flight instructor, Brandon; I was in awe of him because he knew EVERYTHING. And, as I did as a high school and college student, I craved to obtain my flight instructor certificate. I learned along the way, as a flight instructor you don’t know everything; you know what you need to get started and have obtained a license to learn. Like everything in life, your knowledge and expertise expands with experience, immersion and continuing education. We all had to start somewhere regardless of what career path we have chosen. So I have graduated in a sense. I have to admit it felt like I was obtaining my masters degree.

I do want to say thank you to all my previous flight instructors: Brandon, Tim, Greg, Nick, Kevin & Jen. Now that I have gone through obtaining my CFI I have that much greater an appreciation for these educators and thank them for passing along their knowledge and expertise.

A special thanks to my CFI instructor, Willis, who turned me into his protégé for this certificate. He literally poured all the knowledge and skills he had into me, helping me perfect briefs on maneuvers and other aviation topics that I will someday teach to my student pilots. I know that he gave me everything he had and then some to accomplish my goal of becoming a CFI and although there were days I would have loved to throw him out of the plane he has become one of my closest friends. Thank you Willis.

Next on my agenda is that I am currently going through the interview process at Flight Safety to possibly work for them as a CFI or enroll in their Business Jet Direct program. I will be starting my CFII at the end of the month and hope to be flight instructing full time by the New Year.

I already have one flight student lined up…anyone else care to take a lesson?

Hurricane Wilma

I am happy to report that hurricane Wilma did not sweep me or any of the aircraft at Flight Safety out to the Atlantic Ocean as it passed through as a category 2/3 hurricane. I appreciate that many of you called, concerned that I would be in Florida as it passed through. Thankfully I was not.

The craziness began the Wednesday before when discussion of evacuating Flight Safety planes to Lakeland, FL and Dothan, Alabama. It was am immediate reaction, students began to buy tickets to go home, the grocery stores by Thursday evening had only a few bottles of water remaining on their shelves and everyone was preparing for the worst. I went to Orlando with Dave in hopes to dodge Wilma, which was unsuccessful, although I had a great time meeting his parents and a few of his aunts and uncles. I spent Saturday with Dave’s mom and two aunts, during which they enjoyed interrogating me and told me a few incriminating stories about him. Wilma was originally supposed to pass through Florida on Saturday and was now forecasted to pass through Monday morning after it’s previously caused damage to the Yucatan Peninsula. Dave had to return to Atlanta for work, so we flew out together. Wilma struck the following morning. I then flew to Dothan, AL to return home with my flight instructor, Willis and roommate, Melissa. When I showed up, to my surprise Flight Safety needed me to fly a Seminole back home. Melissa and I were thrilled because it would be just the two of us in a multi-engine on a cross-country flight, and the best part about it was that we didn’t have to pay for the 2.4 hours it took us to return…free multi time, a rare thing.

When we returned I understood what fall is in Florida, the amount of branches and trees that were down was amazing; already people had piled the fallen brush at the end of their driveways. No major damage was done thankfully. Our flightline had a few new skylights, and about 50% of the area was without power, but all in all, Wilma was nothing like the hurricanes Central Florida endured the previous year. Going to the grocery store has been an interesting experience all week. The Wednesday that followed Wilma, the shelves were bare with NOTHING in the dairy, meat, or frozen sections. And for the few days that followed, those shelves remained bare, as soon as food came in, its shelf life was so short that it was gone by that evening. But now one week after this natural disaster, things seem to be back to normal. Everyone has power again, the flight line is up and running and I can go to the grocery store and have no problem buying a pint of ice Ben and Jerry’s. As for my life, by the next time you hear from me, I should be a certified flight instructor.

Congratulations Mom

Surprising Mom
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

All my life, my mother has worked for Northwest Airlines. In fact she worked for Northwest for 33 years. She has lived all over the country from New York to Alaska working for Northwest as in many different positions from air freight, to the counter at the airport, to an international sales agent and city ticket agent. All through the good and the bad of the past 33 years mom worked for Northwest. But this past September, Mom decided to put in for retirement earlier than desired (although two years after she could have) and probably would have continued for many years.

With Mom working for Northwest I was not only allowed to travel all over the country but it influenced my career decisions building a strong desire to work in the travel industry. She had me on a flight when I was 6 months old and flying to see relatives by myself when I was seven. She always figured out my flights, made sure I got to or from where-ever I was going connecting through whatever airport that could possibly get me where I was going. Thank you mom, especially for getting me home today so I could play a part of your demise.

Tonight, in honor of Mom’s retirement, Dad threw her a wonderful surprise retirement party. Many new and old friends, coworkers, and family showed up. Dad did a wonderful job; in a short amount of time he gathered as many numbers out of mom’s cell phone when she wasn’t looking and doing all the planning and preparation sneakily behind her back even though he couldn’t get rid of her (after all she is retired now). Dad even took care of getting her out of the house by using my coming in town for a day as an excuse and that he had a private party at the restaurant so that when we returned from picking me up at the airport she wouldn’t suspect anything. He pulled it off, she had no clue, it was great, and he even made her favorite meal, crawfish etouffe.

Congratulations Mom, enjoy your retirement!

Multi Commercial Rated

Multi Commercial Rated
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

It’s final. I can now fly an airplane that has more than one engine. Dad still thinks that I should join the flying circus, he’s probably right about me fitting in just fine. But sorry, to disappoint you dad I am going to continue on with my training (and spend more money) to become a CFI. No, Dad, that does not stand for Clown Flying Instructor, it means I am going to be working towards my certified flight instructor certificate to teach others that are interested in aviation. In fact I already am. Ground school began this past Monday and will be another two and a half weeks and then I will start the flying portion which means I am going to be flying in the right seat instead of the left and I am going to teach an instructor who will be acting like a student. It should be a lot of fun.
But back to my multi-engine completion… I would like to thank my instructor Kevin Bennett for aiding in my completion of this check-ride, which was my first Part 141 ride. We had a lot of fun in the brief time we flew together. We flew to the Keys to have dinner with Nicole and Paul on a long cross-country and had some gorgeous late evening flights that allowed us to see a few beautiful sunsets as we climbed out of the plane on the ramp. But most of all I got to fly a multiengine airplane about half the time in single engine ops. Thanks Kevin for all the fun flying the Seminole and all the knowledge you passed on to me.

Day 7: The Super Cub Pilot

Gary Bishop & I
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

At the crack of dawn I found myself amazingly awake. I knew that today I would fly in a Super Cub. Bill and I had come back down to Anchorage and stayed with Ron and Mary Ann in Anchorage, two close friends of his that took good care of me. We drove up to Palmer to meet Gary Bishop.

Gary is a good friend of both Bill and his son Paul and they arranged this amazing opportunity for me. One of the pictures Bill gave me long ago, that I have never parted with was a picture of a runway that was quickly made so that Gary and his super cub could get Bill back to civilization. But this runway did not look like a runway at all…it looked like a swamp. This is a typical place for Gary to place his little cub. I quickly learned that Gary began his career in aviation in Oklahoma as a crop duster in a super cub and as a beginning pilot was given the opportunity to fly from New York to England to deliver a Cessna 172 with his flight instructor. He now lives on a beautiful little private airstrip outside of Palmer and runs a Part 135 operation.

Gary willingly took me up and showed me everything that a Piper Super Cub could do. We began with steep turns, using the bars as visual reference on the horizon, which was a 60-degree bank turn. He then showed me the advantages of vortex generators and how the cub, as long as it was coordinated would not have the abrupt stall characteristics that most airplanes have and it just oscillates. We then continued on and saw many moose and landed on a few gravel bars and a mountain. There is almost nowhere you can’t put a cub down as long as you are aware of what the wind is doing. As we took off from the mountain, it was sloped down hill and we had a tail wind all of a sudden we ran out of runway and dropped off a cliff about 30 feet and nosed the airplane over to gain airspeed and off we flew through the crevice of the mountains. There is so much more to this flight, but all I can say is anyone that has any interest in aviation should fly in a Super Cub some day.

Once on the ground, Gary told Bill and I a number of aviation stories over a cup of coffee. My favorite was when Gary had experienced 40 knot winds, stepped on the brakes and applied full power and just after the tail of the aircraft had lifted off the ground the cub without moving an inch lifted off the ground and flew.

Unfortunately, it had come time for Bill and I to part ways. He is remaining Alaska for a few more days and I must return to Florida to complete my multi-commercial and begin CFI ground. I already miss traveling with Bill and look forward to meeting up with him and Jojo in the Twin Cities some time soon. As for Alaska, I know that I will be back, hopefully to fly a beaver on floats in Kodiak.

Day 5: Mt. McKinley

Bill & I on Pika's Glacier
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

My infatuation with flying has been present since I was a little girl and has only grown stronger in the past four years. And now my infatuation with Alaska flying is so intense that I am already trying to concoct ways to move to Kodiak in a few years to fly a Beaver on floats. I have had a very supportive family along my journey of becoming a pilot, but there has been one very important person in my success as a pilot and that is Bill. When I was about fifteen, I had come home from New England and declared that I wanted to become a pilot when I grow up. Most people told me that I would change my mind a number of times before I decided upon a profession, not Bill. By the end of the evening that I had declared my professional fate, Bill had handed me a book about flying and since then has encouraged and mentored me. When I became a private pilot, Bill was my first passenger and since I began, when I would come home, I would sit across from him and his wonderful wife Jojo and recount my flying tales and update him on my progress. Always enthusiastic about my chosen profession he would share with me some of the bush stories he had heard or experienced and would give me photos of runways that were in reality swamps and books about the bush pilots of Alaska. Bill has not only been a mentor to me, but a dear friend and I look forward to completing my CFI so that he can be my first student and fulfill his dream to fly. Without Bill, this trip to Alaska would not have been possible, and I am tremendously grateful for all the work he has put forth to make sure my wings were spread many times in the Alaskan sky.

But today, on top of meeting Buck and Charlene, Bill and I went for a flight around Mt. McKinley. It was the most majestic flight I have ever experienced. We flew out of Talkeetna with Hudson Air Service in a Cessna 185. Talkeetna is known for being the departure point for climbers to Mt. McKinley’s base camp. Also, Don Sheldon, a famous Alaskan bush pilot, was based out of Talkeetna. We climbed north and eventually reached an altitude of 10,200 feet and began cruising around the many peaks of Mt. McKinley. Dodging clouds and mountains Bill and I saw the beauty of Mt. McKinley and all that surrounded it. It’s greatness makes one feel pretty insignificant. We nearly circled the top of Mt. McKinley, but a cloud prevented us from circumnavigating the entire peak. Instead, our pilot Jacques decided to fly directly toward the south face of the peak, I know it made me slightly nervous because we aimed right for the south face and all there was in front of us was a mass of rock and snow that filled the windscreen. Luckily he turned and we continued on to land on Pika Glacier. As we contacted the glacier traveling up hill, it was a bumpy ride until we came to a stop with the 185 turned down hill. We all climbed out of the 185 and viewed the beauty and massiveness of the mountains that encompassed us. After throwing a few snowballs and making a miniature snowman, I climbed back into the 185, only to return to Talkeetna that much more enthralled with becoming an Alaskan bush pilot.

Bill, I know that I will say this many times, but thank you for giving me my one way ticket to Alaska, I don’t think I will ever really make it home.

Day 5: Buck

Buck, Bill and I
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

I dreaded this morning. I have thus far been spoiled rotten with the aviation experiences I have had and I have met some wonderful people. I have not looked forward to leaving Kodiak because realistically it will be at least a year before I can return. I told Bill as we flew back to Anchorage on a De Havilland Dash-8 that I was upset with him because when I return to Florida to fly, I am going to be bored out of my mind. I have never experienced flying like I had in Kodiak and I already crave more.

We arrived safely in Anchorage and stopped at the Hood Lake Aviation Museum before heading towards Talkeetna. Just south of Talkeetna lived a pilot named Buck. Now for those of you that have not seen the video Buck made about flying in Alaska, Bill gave me this video when I began flying and since then have failed to return it to him, but shown it to many other pilots. It is a wonderful video about flying in Alaska, but primarily landing in the bush on beaches, riverbeds and in the brush. Today, I finally met Buck and his wonderful wife Charlene. Yet again, with a very open ear I heard more lore of pilots in Alaska. One of the best stories I heard was when Buck had started flying in Alaska he had been warned never to fly directly over the White Lady, a mountain just outside Anchorage. Well not listening to his elders, he decided to directly over the Sleeping Lady (Susitna Mountain) and as they approached the peak neither he nor his passenger remembers what happened next because they both backed out and when Buck regained consciousness he found the airplane in a descending attitude up side down. Like I said, flying in Alaska is unlike flying anywhere else

Day 4: Halibut Fishing

Luscombe
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

The next morning I woke early, just as the sun had risen (yes the sun goes down in the summer in Alaska, well at least for a few hours). Chris and I said good-bye to Jeanne and pushed the Luscombe out into the bay and moments later returned to the air. As we flew back the weather was slightly above IMC, we saw sea lions and a whale. We skidded back into the bay shortly after seven and I found myself drinking a cup of coffee with Bill back at Paul and Angie’s recounting my adventures from the previous day and Bill informed me how the crew had done halibut fishing.

That afternoon, I joined Bill, his son Paul, Hyrum and Cole to the cannery to cash in on the halibut they had caught. It was quite the operation, and being such a huge state for fishing I was glad I had been exposed to this. They have bins of fish waiting to be headed and then gutted by a line of Asians and then tossed into a large wheel barrel, which are then weighted and eventually put into cans to be sold in grocery stores. In the end they had caught a little over two thousand pounds of halibut.
That evening Angie had a wonderful little get together, where she had made homemade pizza and I met more people that lived in Kodiak. Angie and Paul are such sweet people and I really enjoyed meeting them. At this get-together was another young pilot from the Chicago area, named Tyler, whom I spoke with for quite a while, asking him questions about how he is working on moving up to Kodiak to fly amoung other things. Paul told a thrilling story of a crash that he had been involved in 15 years prior in the mountains of Kodiak island, all three men survived without a scratch even though the airplane was a ball of metal in a ravien after hitting a float on the mountain side, spinning around and tearing off the wings. As this story ended, Cole had come to pick me up to take me to the music festival, where I met more pilots and people my age that we living on Kodiak.

Day 3: The Candy Pilot

Cessna 180
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

This morning when I awoke, Bill, Paul, Cole and Hyrum had already emptied the yard long before of the boats and fishing equipment that they had prepared for their halibut fishing trip. Other than myself, Angie was still at the house and we took the morning to go up to Abercrombie Fort to walk the dogs. It was beautiful and I got to know a little about Angie as well as learn more about Kodiak. I am already beginning to think about eventually moving up here.

Shortly after lunch, I met up with Chris again and we went up in his Cessna 180. This bright purple plane with Indians painted on the tail was what I would finally experience real flying in. We took off at the small municipal airport called Lily Lake. I wish you could see this runway. It sloped down into Lily Lake; a small narrow lake used by sea planes, and is no wider than a bike path. But we took off and flew to Larson Bay. It was an amazing flight. The entire time we flew at less than 300 feet above the mountain ridges and bays. It may not have been the smartest thing to do, but it was what I have always imagined flying to be. We flew over old fish canneries, Paul’s bear camp and Chris’s house, all of which can only be reached by a very long boat ride or by seaplane. We arrived in Larson Bay and about fifteen of the locals came up to the airstrip to see who flew in. After surveying some land for a hangar, we walked around the little town of Larson Bay and before I knew it we were back in the 180 fifty feet off the ground viewing bears and mountain goats, some which stood higher on the mountain than what we flew. I truly felt like I was flying and I didn’t want it to end when we arrived in Kodiak right as the fog moved in.

Moments after Chris and I got out of the plane I had an invitation to fly with him that evening in his Luscombe to Musch Bay to stay the night at his girl friends’ house. Excited to fly in his Lucombe on floats, it only took a minute for me to decide that I was going. So a few hours later, a cooler full of ice cream and a bag full of candy we flew to Musch Bay.

As I had mentioned, the fog had moved in, and although it had broken by the time we took off Lily Lake Municipal airport, the clouds still hung low among the mountains which forced us to weave around them and fly even lower to the island of Kodiak. On the way to Musch Bay we landed in a mountain lake and made a candy drop at a house that had five children among the mountains of Kodiak. We flew over the house to get the family’s attention and circled back around. With my arm fully extended out the window, there were five children on the deck and beach jumping up and down with excitement when we made the drop. Once again circling back around, we saw that the children had recovered the bag of candy and we flew on our way to Musch Bay.

Upon arriving at Musch Bay we were greeted by Jeanne, Chris’s girlfriend, and she promptly took us out to her beautiful organic garden to pick strawberries to have with the ice cream we had brought out. Her gardens were unlike anything I had ever seen, they were HUGE with everything you could imagine in them. Her house was beautiful too, a homestead that was built in 1921. So the three of us sat up talking until late in the evening about more flying stories as well as their life on the island of Kodiak. Among these stories I learned that Chris was no stranger to dropping things out of his airplane, in fact he had become known as the “Candy Pilot”. Chris had been making drops to people all over the island for years. He not only had dropped candy, but gold earrings, toilet paper, and on Christmas he would string lights on his plane and drop Christmas presents to the children on the island. These stories, among many others touched my heart and although I have always have had a love for aviation, they have made my passion even greater than it has ever been. Since I have arrived in Kodiak I crave to stay here.

Day 2: Kodiak

Steerman
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

Words cannot describe the day I have had. When I woke up this morning I never would have imagined what I was about to experience or the airplanes I would fly in. I took the people mover (Anchorage’s Bus) to the airport and got on a De Havilland Dash-8 to Kodiak. It was a beautiful flight along the Alaskan Mountain Range and arrived at State Airport in Kodiak. When I arrived I was in awe of the beauty that this little island holds and the huge mountain known as Barometer that sits at the end of the primary arrival runway. Bill and Angie met me at the airport and immediately took me to a seaplane base to see a few Beavers. Before I knew it I was in one of those Beavers with Josh flying to Katmai. It was an amazing flight. We had cargo on board and when we got to our destination we unloaded and took on passengers to go back to Kodiak.

Upon arriving back in Kodiak, Bill was waiting to sweep me away to State Airport again for a ride in a Steerman. Chris, a long time Kodiak pilot owns three aircraft: a Steerman, a Cessna 180 and a Luscombe on floats. He has thousands of hours flying in Alaska and has knowledge of weather and mountain flying that I hope someday to gain. Bill, Chris and I pulled up to his wooden hanger on State Airport and inside was a beautiful yellow Steerman. Bill and I felt like little kids on Christmas morning, it was so exciting. We pulled the Steerman out of the hanger and Chris pre-flighted and after doing a little work on one of the starters (that he pulled out of the airplane), Chris and I climbed in. Aviators cap, goggles and all we took off in the beautiful 1942 Steerman. We flew right over Pyramid Mountain and over the town of Kodiak; we even did a few loops. It was amazing to be in an open cockpit bi-plane. Like all good things the flight came to an end and Bill was up next. I watched them take off and head towards Barometer Mountain. Chris and Bill circled the mountain a few times at the top and came back in to State Airport. We all pushed the Steerman back into its wooden hanger and called it a night for our wings.

Bill and I returned to Paul (Bill’s son) and Angie’s house to help them bait hooks in preparation for the big halibut fishing trip Bill, Paul, Cole and Hyrum would be going on tomorrow. Although this was a very fishy, and at first very disgusting job, I had fun putting octopi, haring, salmon and other bait on hooks to help get the job done.

What an amazing day. I have fallen in love with Kodiak. Of all my travels this just may be the most beautiful. But I suppose that I am biased because of my love affair with aviation. I cannot imagine what tomorrow may bring, regardless my trip to Alaska has already been worth it a hundred times over, even if I don’t get to fly again.

Day 1: Arriving in Anchorage

Beaver
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

This morning I woke up and headed to the Minneapolis airport, courtesy of aunt Shelly’s airport taxi service (she has been wonderful about taking me to and from MSP). My attempt to catch the first plane failed miserably and I caught the 11:25. Fortunately, as luck will have it, I met another pilot while waiting named Matt who is a sophomore at UND. His father is a B-747 captain for Northwest Airlines and is based out of Anchorage. We both were flying stand-by and although we weren’t sitting next to each other we visited one another and played hangman and the dot game while talking about aviation making the six-hour flight fly by.

Once I arrived in Anchorage, Brad, Matt’s dad offered to take me to the Anchorage Guest House where I was staying and extended a dinner invitation for dinner at F Street, which is well known by pilots in the Anchorage area. At F Street the three of us had Halibut and talked shop. After dinner, Matt and I found a driving range at the base of a mountain and enjoyed the beautiful weather and sunlight. But for now it is time to get some rest and catch a flight to Kodiak to meet up with Bill tomorrow.

Key West

Florida Thunderstorm
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

Promptly after forth of July weekend I began working on my multi-engine commercial add-on. While I was in Europe, Jen, my instrument/single-engine commercial instructor, was hired by Sun Aviation in Vero Beach flying a Beech jet. And although I was thrilled she got a great job, I was bummed that she would no longer be my instructor. Thankfully, I got Kevin, another awesome instructor. So in the past few weeks Kevin and I have been knocking out lessons in a Piper Seminole. The humorous thing about flying the multi is that most of my flight time in the Seminole is done single engine. But last night I had one of the most amazing flights. I decided to put my two cross-country lessons together to fly down to Key West. Nicole and Paul came along for the ride, always have to make it a party. As we flew south we could see massive thunderstorms. The picture attached is just one of the many thunderheads we flew by. I wish we could have captured the lightening that was in these storms. But it was an amazing flight. Once we arrived all four of us climbed into a taxi and had dinner at the Conch Republic, a good seafood restaurant on a wharf. Unfortunately we had decided we didn’t have time to change out of our uniforms and while at dinner were pegged as cruise ship workers. We just smiled and nodded. Dinner was all we had time for in Key West and we then returned home. The light show over Florida was beautiful that evening, the storms were so large and massive and at night they seemed that much bigger and scarier. Without the sun it was difficult to judge how close we were to them. Shortly after mid-night we made it home safely from yet again another adventure. Next on the list: flying the skies of Alaska and landing in all kinds of crazy places.

St. Augustine

Downtown St Augustine
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

It has been very quiet around Vero Beach this weekend. Everyone emptied out for the holiday weekend flying to Atlanta or Key West. Paul and I found ourselves alone on flight safety’s campus. I stuck around Vero because I need a bit of a break from traveling. I am craving to sleep in the same bed for seven straight nights. But despite the initial urge to sit still for a few days Paul and I decided we needed so go somewhere for at least one day. So we figured since everyone else was renting an aircraft to go somewhere, we decided we deserved to as well. Besides we could justify the flight. It was a needed flight because Paul has his CFI check ride this coming week in the Arrow and I had not flown since before I had left for Europe. And with two extra seats in the back, we invited Nicole and Jay to come along too (Which if you haven’t checked out their blog, you should, it is on my links list). Our destination was St. Augustine.

St. Augustine is a cute, Spanish influenced town and it happens to be the oldest city in the United States. In order for both Paul and I to log the time I went under the hood and he was my safety pilot, but the weather was beautiful on the way up and Paul, Nicole and Jay got a good view of NASA’s space shuttle on Cape Canaveral and Florida’s eastern coast. After playing around in St. Augustine for most of the day, it was time to return home. The weather was a bit of a different story. We flew through thunderstorm after thunderstorm, it was the first time I had ever been in hard IMC (Instrument Metrological Conditions). It was raining hard and at one point we were in a cloud for a solid twelve minutes. I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous, but it was a blast. As we approached Melbourne the weather cleared up and the four of us returned home safely. I’m sure there will be another adventure around the corner.

Trans Atlantic Train

While I was in Paris there were huge billboards in the Metro advertising a train that traveled from Paris to New York in 8 hours. I have to admit this baffled me, how in the world could there be a train that goes under the Atlantic Ocean? Is it remotely possible? Well I was curious, and I did some research online and this is what I found:

http://www.atlantictunnel.com/

Now I would suggest you all go check out this site. I was in shock. A trans Atlantic train, it all seems like such a hoax. The history behind the tunnel is amazing. How could we not have heard of this? How many of our tax dollars have gone into this? And look at the prices of a round trip ticket! They are cheaper than ANY airline. Naturally, as a pilot, I could not disagree more with the crazy idea of taking a train under the water for 3,261 miles, not to mention it would not be good for the airline industry. But would people actually take this train and would it be profitable? The Chunnel is even in the process of going bankrupt. Would anyone consider taking this mode of transportation? It will be available in 2009.

Another website to look at: http://www.transatlantys.com/

London

London
Originally uploaded by sasnook.

My backpacking adventure has come to an end. I arrived in London and I spent the afternoon meeting more Aussie’s. Of course I did an open bus tour on a double-decker bus and saw Big Ben, Westminster Abby, Buckingham Palace and many other places. That afternoon I was taught how cricket was played and saw the greatest upset in cricket history, Bangladesh (the worst team) beat Australia (the best). That night I went to a very proper English party. We showed up comfortably in jeans and t-shirts, everyone else was dressed to the nines, needless to say the Brits were wondering where the Aussies and the American came from. The next day I went to the Imperial War Museum. It is a free museum and I would recommend it highly to anyone traveling to London. It not only has great exhibits on the expected subjects on World War I and II, but you can walk through what the trenches would have been like, or the blitz, just to name a few. But I couldn’t spend the entire afternoon inside because it was 75 degrees and sunny outside, so I went back to the Aussi's where there was a group of people in the backyard watching Australia lose to England in cricket and then a group of us went to Clapham Common to play footie and drink more. I am sure I could have seem more in London, but I am done with traveling now, I am in the mind set that I am going home. I am on my way to Orlando and then I am going back to Minnesota and Wisconsin to see my family. I wish that I could stay a few more months traveling in Europe, but I am looking forward to seeing friends and family in the Midwest, and I miss friends and flying in Florida. I will forever love to travel, and this was just the beginning but there’s no place like home.

Reus to London

Once again I am disappointed in Ryan Air. My flight did not leave from Barcelona like I had expected but from a city called Reus. Reus is nowhere near Barcelona. I took an hour and a half train ride to Reus and then a 17 Euro taxi to the airport only to find out that I couldn’t sleep in the airport because it closed at eleven. Once again, no trains or buses arrived in Reus to make my flight; so I assumed it would be a repeat of Glasgow. My attempt to depart early from Reus was a failure. I tried to take that evening’s flight to London instead of the next day, and although it was wide open and I had a ticket for the next flight it was going to cost me 300 Euro (about $550). So I took another 17 Euro taxi ride to town, stayed in a sketchy hotel for 14 Euro and in the morning took another 17 Euro taxi back to the airport. I guess for those of you that are traveling to Europe and plan to take Ryan Air, don’t fly before eleven in the morning, transportation will be easier.