So, Ive had some encouragement to update this blog thing of mine. Figured I would keep the uniformed and the internet with whats going in my life... So, to start out, I recently had the one in a life time opportunity to fly with a world renowned pilot, Mike Mangold, in his personal L-29 fighter jet. We departed out of my current homes airport, Apple Valley, and flew southeast towards our destination of Palm Springs. In route, I took the controls for the climb, and when we got closer to KTRM, Mike gave me a demonstration of an ailerons roll. Then, it was MY TURN! Thats right, the controls were handed to me to pitch the plane up, roll it to the left 360 degrees and then level the bird out.... only problem, this was my first time going upside down in a plane, let alone aerobatics. soooo first time around wasn't anything impressive. Second time? A little better! :-) From there, Mike took the controls and showed me the ropes! Another aileron roll, and from there it was dives, hammer heads, snap rolls, the whole nine yards! We pulled up to 7 g's which is kinda hard to stay conscious through. Imagine feeling 7 times what you normally weigh (190X7 for me) and then having the blood rush from your head! You tend to get tunnel vision while starting to gray out. Yours truly; stayed awake throughout the maneuvers (and didnt ralf), while Mike was up front chatting away like it was a walk in the park. Show off. A high speed low (LOW) circle, and thats a wrap! Amazing. Check out the video of some of the highlights. Sorry no aerobatics though.
Once again, I have more to talk about with flying. My birthday was the 12th of march and I wanted to celebrate it up in northern California with family and friends! yippee! So, I grabbed a Piper Archer from the local FBO (Fixed Base Operator) and flew up right after work. After rolling in around 10 at night, the parental units and my friend Annie were up for a little night scenic tour over sacramento. Calling my sister and telling her that we were going to be airborn in a few minutes, she came outside with the kids and they flagged us down with there flashlights. It was pretty funny to see from the air. After cruising around for a bit, it was time to land and hit the sack. Next day, taking a few friends throughout the afternoon up to the wild blue. Its great to see peoples reactions to going flying for the first time in a single engine four person aircraft. Richard, Leslie and I got an afternoon in of rock climbing near Placerville, Ca. and it been many of years sense our last visit to the gorge. Few good climbs and my arms were callin it good. This amazing weekend was ended by Laurie (my sister) taking me to see Linkin Park. They are one of my all time favorite bands, so it was great to see them play a live performance. After the show, a quick 3 hour flight from MHR (Mather field) to APV (apple valley).
