All the other cub pictures

Harley Cub

A mysterious new vehicle has joined the fleet. While it is only a temporary arrangement, we are now the proud custodians of the worlds only Harley Davidson customized super Cub. I recently received my tail wheel endorsement and I can't wait to fly this airplane. These pictures are for you Bill :)

Most recently I have begun my training in a tail wheel airplane called a Decathalon. It was made by an Italian named Bellanca whose claim to no-fame was that Charles Lindberg wanted to fly one of his airplanes across the ocean but Bellanca's partner wanted to be able to pick who would fly the airplane first. They turned down Lindberg's $15,000 check as well as a place in history. Oh well, his design lives on here at Moody and it truly is a great airplane. With a paint scheme like that, you can't help but feel a little patriotic when you fly it. :)

As part of my training in the 206, we did a cross country flight. I had such a good time at banks that I wanted to go back and have an aerial visit. If you are up to a pilot challenge, find the Southwest Airlines 737 in the above pictures, and the message in the grass on short final into felts field :)

After finishing Instrument, the next phase of training was in our high performance and complex airplanes. That means airplanes with more than 200 hp and variable pitch propellers/retractable gear respectively. You are probably content to just look at the pictures and know that the Cessna 206 carries 6 passengers and the Cessna 182RG carries 4. :)

Also, no summer is complete without a trip to Banks Lake. We had a great time camping with my cousins and my parents.

4th of July

No July is complete without a good ol neighborhood fireworks show. We had a big bar-b-que with our friends and enjoyed a beautiful July evening celebrating the nations birth. Here in Spokane, some people really go all out.

Easter

No visit with my family is without adventure. So as not to be outdone this Easter, my Dad, Leslie and I set out for a great one. The day started out as innocent as any other. My mom and sister packed up their things and headed off for Kentucky where Marena is attending nursing school. Leslie, Dad and I headed up north to take pictures of wildlife. It was a beautiful day and we had a few good pictures. We wanted to start heading home and in strict adherence to Hawk law of never returning the way you came, we took a GPS shortcut leading us over a mountain. Asphalt turned to gravel, gravel turned to ice, and ice turned to snow. When snow turned to stuck at a 45 degree angle in a ditch in the middle of no where the day before Easter we knew we had the ingredients of and adventure. When the sky became dark, afternoon turned into evening, clouds rolled in and the tow truck never made it, we knew we were definitely preheating the adventure oven. After lots of digging with no food and the addition of a flat tire, I made a fire in the snow and we decided to spend the night and hike out in the morning. The wolves or coyotes kept us company during the night, none of us wanted to look and see. We shivered all night and my dad made a valiant effort to keep warm with nothing but a thermarest for a blanket. In the morning we hiked close to 10 miles down the mountain carrying all of our camera gear until we met our unlikely rescuers. In this part of the woods, there are a number of buildings nestled into the woods where a special kind of military survival training is conducted. Several gentlemen from one such establishment were very surprised to see us hiking down the frozen road on Easter morning with summer clothes and lots of camera gear looking very tired and hungry. With little conversation they took us in and gave us a bite to eat and took my Dad back up the road to rescue the car. We owe a big thank you to the air force for their help in concluding what may have been an even longer adventure. Needless to say, I did not include any incriminating photos of our time in the woods. Perhaps we will go back and give it another go a little later in the summer. :)

April Visit

My family visited for my birthday in April and I had the privilege of taking my mom and sister for a short flight around the area. While they enjoyed the flight, I think I had the most fun because I could finally look outside and remember what the ground looks like from the air again.

Landing is always a fun experience in instrument flying. There is a great sense of apprehension when you takeoff and fly all over eastern Washington for several hours without looking out the window knowing that soon you will point the nose of the airplane towards the earth and descend. The whole time you have been watching little needles move in small glass circles. You have traveled hundreds of miles and you sure hope you have not missed anything. We work very closely with air traffic control and through the coordination of many people and those little needles you begin your descent to the ground fully expecting to settle that little airplane right on a runway that you have never seen before many miles from where you started. If you peek to soon your instructor is always there to cover up the view and make you descend even closer to the ground. Eventually they do let us look before we flare. Usually we get to see the ground about 20-30 seconds before we land. It is very exciting.

Instrument

April to June was an absolute blur. During that time I was working on my instrument rating. It is considered by most pilots as the most difficult rating to attain in ones flying career. All of the flying that we do is done only be looking at the instruments on our dash without looking outside for any reference. As grueling as it was, it has made me a much better pilot. It refines your airmanship, flight control and confidence as you gain a greater appreciation and knowledge of the resources that are available to you both in and outside the cockpit to help you complete your flight safely. Every once in a while we would sneak a peak when we escaped the clouds and the view was always impressive.

It has been a long time

It is amazing how life can go by so quickly. The past four months have been no exception. In a few posts I will try and recap some of the highlights and the inevitable lowlights that life also brings. Through it all God is faithfull and I can not even imagine going one day without Him.