Went Flying Today
 

The wife wanted a quite day at home after the Christmas party at the Yacht Club last night. But she was nice enough to let me slip out and go flying with a buddy in his new 1978 Beechcraft Sundowner. He got a really sweet deal on this one owner plane with only 2000 hours. It has a new paint job, all new interior with leather seating and carbon fiber instrument panel and new GPS.

We flew down to Rockhill, SC and picked up two new Light Speed head sets. One #25X and one #33X.

I flew back and we had a nice tail wind, getting around 145 MPH on the GPS.

Thanks Rick, glad to hear you are not selling the Fountain!

Dash panel

Final approach into Lake Norman airport.

We were running into a pretty good cross wind at this time. The wind is always blowing above the trees here. But as you can tell, the wind sock is dead under the trees.

Runway #14 is slightly uphill, so you have the cross wind to deal with, the tree to clear and then the uphill runway.

Rick, I am glad you have over 400 landings at this air strip.

Beautiful!!!!!! MY brother is a 737-300 Captain , we have flew many smaller jets in the Tulsa area,we would do alot of touch and go's flying the patch had a great time and looks like you had a great day. Thanks for sharing.Darin

Great Mark. Love the pics!
Flying and aviation are another one of my main interests. I miss flying...It's been an awfully long time. :)

Brings back memories. I used to travel around the country buying small planes and selling them to dealers. Now a physical problem(inner ear) keeps me from flying, but I still manage to turn one once in a while. That's one reason I got into boats. Boats and airplanes-a great combination.

Darin,

I got the props back Friday. Thanks, they look great. Will not be able to test for a while though. I will keep you posted.

With Charlotte being the hub for US Air, I know many pilots. One of our best friends is a captain with US Air and also owns a Baja 25 Outlaw named "Set Max Thrust".

It is a lot of fun. I personally don't know any other way to really get away from everything other than flying.

I rank flying the best get away, motorcycle riding the second and boats the third.

Take care Mark

Sorry to hear about the inner ear problem.

There seems to be a very good market for used planes. My buddy looked at several and by accident found this plane right in the hanger next to the school where he learned to fly.

He has already been asked by three different people if he would sell it.

Take care.

Chris,

That is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know a job is a job, but that is a good office to have!

Thanks for the links to the pictures.

Mark

That's fantastic, Chris!
I did not know you were a commercial pilot. You've got one hell of an office. :cool: Thanks for the pics. :)

Simply amazing machinery.
Thanks Chris. :)

Chris,
with the different type ratings, do you find it difficult to switch aircraft? Or are they pretty similar.

While going to school, I got the oppourtunity to log some time in some Flightsafety International 737 and Shorts sims and they were amazing. The "feel" of the two was totally different. (of course, they're worlds apart)

The real thing has to be fun to fly. :)

Chris,

I love those 767's. I have flown twice on them, as a passenger of course, and they are my favorite.

My buddy e-mailed some pictures of his plane right after he bought it. They are on my computer at work, I will try to get them posted tomorrow.

Take care
Mark

I remember the days of flying.

12 years ago, I took my future wife home to meet my parents the day after Christmas in a Tomahawk. It was really cold that day, stuffed the vents. There was ice on the runway but had lots of length.

Her Mom asked how we got back and fourth so quick, she though we were joking about "flying to my parents" (she's pertified of flying).

Did a lot of right seat flying in a Conquest 441. Kept my radio skills up until a few years back. No time to fly anymore.

Have it... I'm Gold on Continental and United. My longest flight ever was on a CO 777 from EWR to HKG, 16+ hours directly over the pole. I fly to asia about 4 times a year. Just the sound of turbines puts me to sleep now.

I guess those long trips are what pilots/attendants aspire to get. Get all your hours in a few flights. No young attendants in the cabin.

WOW!! Cool stuff guys:D :D

I have never done any flying myself, but I really enjoy commercial flights, as crazy as that sounds. I just like being around neat stuff, and these babies definitley qualify as "neat"!!!!!

great job Gotta, and really cool pics. Same for you Doc, cool pics, have any other good shots of Lake Norman????

Chris any idea on how much it cost to start the planes .And then the cost of 25,ooo gallons of jet fuel .ITS TRULY AMAZING! Its something I never asked my brother and just curious/Darin

Thanks for explaining that, Chris!
It's all so fascinating to me. The panel pics are great!

It must be a hell of an experiance climbing through FL340 @ 2000FPM @ mach 0.8 with all that power at your fingertips. ;)

Have you ever checked out http://www.airliners.net/
It's one of my favorite bookmarks. :)

Chris,

Here are some pictures of Rick's plane. It looks a lot like your dad's.

Another

#3

Lets try again here?

Awesome stuff.
A good friend of mine has a short-body MU2 with a -10 conversion that is a smokin' piece of machinery. How about 6000f/p/min ROC, and with one stashed 1800f/p/min @ 160kts. Level cruise @ around 315kts. Not a comfy ride, but sure is a performer, considering its a prop ride.
last week the wife and I were on a 757 to the caribbean and back, and it seems like a good ride even from the back. I can only imagine how it would be to be in the left seat.

Our Conquest II (441) had -10 conversions on the Garrets, New Hartzells, soundproofing, paint and interior. We ran it for 3 years. That was a smoking aircraft. Literally.

There's more to the story but I won't post to protect the innocent.