It’s been a tad bit windy
the last couple of weeks but I’m still managing to get plenty of flying, and
needless to say my students should have excellent crosswind landing techniques
by the time they’re finished up!
Although I’ve made several
trips to the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon I have been unable to schedule any
instructional trips over to Death Valley National Park since I have started
working here, so I decided to just go there on my own. It’s kind of painful paying for my own
flying, but the trip was worth it. Last
Sunday night I decided to fly one of our Cessna 172s over to the Death Valley,
approximately 90 miles west of here, and as I was getting ready to preflight,
two of the other pilots decided they wanted to fly over as well in a Cessna
172RG, so we made a formation flying experience out of it.
I was a little reluctant to
post pictures of this flight for fear they might incriminate me, but the entire
trip was conducted within the limits of the federal aviation regulations, so
here goes!
This is me departing out of the North Las Vegas airport. I took off first, being the slower,
fixed-gear aircraft. Pat and J.P. (the
pilots of the C-172RG) took off about a minute after I did and caught up to me
fairly easily as we headed off in a northwesterly direction to get around the
Spring Mountains just west of Las Vegas.
Here we are flying over the desert in close formation,
relying on the training I received a few years ago doing low-level survey
flights for the Navy through Civil Air Patrol.
I think the guys in the C172RG were flipping me off, but I’m not
entirely sure.
This is the Furnace Creek airport (L06), one of the
two airports in Death Valley and the lower of the two at 210 feet below sea
level. It is the lowest airport in the
country with a 3200-foot paved runway.
Temperatures here regularly exceed 120 degrees in the summer. Here is my landing approach to runway 33 – note
the altimeter.
We actually did touch and
goes at both Death Valley airports (L09 and L06) before heading south along the valley floor to enjoy the
scenery. Again, note the altimeter.
Later we had some fun
practicing chandelles and other various
maneuvers. This picture is one of my favorites.
After spending about 30
minutes in the valley we decided to head back to North Las Vegas as dusk approached.
Although a short trip, this
flight ranked up there in my top 5 flying experiences. Death Valley is very scenic and flying in
low formation over flat, unobstructed terrain is a great way to spend an
afternoon. Looking on the bright side,
it's certainly an experience I would not have gained had I not been furloughed
last fall.
