Flight Log 2010-04-17

Very windy day, but I really needed to fly.  I wish I had been able to fly earlier in the week when the weather was so beautiful, but alas, it was not to be.  Not to say today was bad.  It was just chilly and really windy.  This was another of the proverbial $100 hamburger flights (and this time I really did eat a hamburger at KPHD).  I very nearly didn't go.  After the preflight, I was sitting in the cockpit listening to the ASOS and watching the wind sock.  They were reporting winds 320@20G32 and N785SP was really trying to move even with the engine off.  The wind died down a little and I decided to go ahead and go.  Winds at takeoff were 320@14G21, alt 30.02, temp 6°C, dew point -1°C, and clear.  I took off and departed the pattern to the northeast.  It was a little bumpy, so I decided to go up to 5500', but when I got there the cloud bases were at about 5600, so to have VFR cloud clearance I had to come back down some.  When I got the KPHD weather, they were reporting ceilings of 3800' (AGL, which would make it about 4700' MSL), so I decided it was time to descend to 3500'.  I called 10 miles out and another pilot was also inbound.  He saw me and said he was lower and would get in before me.  I didn't actually pick him up until he turned final to runway 32.  Anyway, I followed him in and parked over by the restaurant.  The burger was okay, but you can't beat the price.  Their Saturday special is $0.99 burgers and $0.99 fries, so that's what I had (and then a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert).  I walked over to the FBO, but there wasn't much happening there, so I got back in the plane and flew over to KTSO where I did a touch-and-go, then down to 6G5 for another touch-and-go.  My original plan had been to also fly down to I10, but looking at my watch, I decided I had done enough.  I added 3 new airports to the list.  So, back to KVTA.  Final total was 2.3 on the Hobbs.  The touch-and-go at 6G5 and the final landing at KVTA (runway 27 at both) were pretty serious crosswinds for me (340@14G25) since I hadn't practiced any in a while, but they went very well.

Yes, I'm still alive (still)

I'll post another entry in the next day or two, but I didn't want to let another day go by without pointing out these two posts by Bob Cornwall. Yesterday was the 65th anniversary of the execution of Dietrich Bonhoffer at Flossenburg concentration camp. I've always had a special place in my heart for Bonhoffer since I first picked up "Letters and Papers from Prison". The second post was about a resurgence in Christian terrorism (yes, the "fundamentalist" fringe of any religion is a danger). Bob covers it better than I, so go read them.