That's me... Pilot in command!

Here I am with my friend Pete and my cousin Keith, 
on our way into Auburn, CA for breakfast

The Auburn runway is a little tricky, it is downhill and then flattens out.  Okay,
I admit I have never had a good landing there!

From Sacramento, it is only a 45 to 60 minute flight to San Francisco.  I think it is one of the most
spectacular views in the world.  Here are a few pictures from my many trips over San Fran.

Can you guess what that bridge is?

Yup, the Golden Gate!

This is looking back at the SF bay from over the Golden gate bridge.  
That is the Bay Bridge and treasure island in the center.

If you turn north from over the Golden Gate and fly up the coast, this is Point Reyes.
It is the a wonderful nature preserve.  It is not easy to get to by car, but if you ever 
get a chance, go!  There is a lighthouse out there on the end of that point, you can 
sit out there (at the right time of year) and watch the whales go by.

My cousins Martin and Keith.  We are on our way back from San Fran.

Another great flight from Sacramento is east (away from San Fran) over to Lake Tahoe.
My friend Craig went with me one nice clear winter day.  This is just clearing the pass
over from the central CA valley to the Tahoe basin.  

At 9,500 feet, you are at or below a few of the bigger peaks as you cross over the summit.

Looking at the Nevada side of South Shore Lake Tahoe.

Looking at the California side of South Shore Lake Tahoe.

A few years ago, my sister (Renee) and went flying on Christmas morning.  
It was very peaceful, as you can imagine, no one else was flying.

Me and my buddy Kim in the Arrow.  Kim is a great pilot, and a ton for fun.  
We have flown literally everywhere in LA.

Kim's in the Arrow when we went to Big Bear (east of LA) in 1994 for breakfast.  We left 
there overflew LAX and went to Catalina Island for lunch later that day (only in LA!). 

Another shot of Kim's first plane, the Arrow.  A fantastic bird, 
we did lots of flying in this machine!

But of course, bigger is better, this is the replacement for the Arrow, a Piper Seneca.  It had 
it all, but Kim recently sold it.  It was even written up in a Plane and Pilot magazine recently!

Me and my bud Jerry.  Also a fantastic pilot and great friend.  He lives in Michigan,
so thanks to him, I have seen a lot of that area by air!

Guess where we are?  Yup, that is Sears tower in the background, and the recently
closed Megis field in the foreground.  That was a way cool runway to land on!

On approach to Megis field.  Yes, if you are too low you will hit that tree,
ah, and too long, you are swimming.  Are really interesting place to land
when it is windy (Chicago - windy?  Ah, never!)



We just cleared the tree....!

This is Mackinac island at the north tip of lower Michigan.  Jerry and I flew there a 
few years ago, what a great flight!  The only powered vehicles allowed on the 
island are planes! 

That is the Grand Hotel.  It is featured in the movie "Somewhere in Time".

And Jerry wanted to fly an ultralight and talked me into to. What a ton of fun, but that is 
VERY weird flying something that you can just pickup and move!  
Preflight consists of checking your watch to mark the time you left the planet.  Yikes.

TAKEOFF!

Jerry and I took a "weekend warrior" introduction to the 737 class at the United 
flight training center in Denver CO in May of 2000.  It was a blast!  Here I am 
outside the 737 simulator.  My first landing was not all so good.  Ever seen 
anyone bounce a 737 on landing and end up in the grass?  Oops.  I think I 
recall the instructor saying something like "well, the passengers would 
have survived, but it would have been really expensive to fix the plane!  
Jerry did a great job, landed it with no problem. 

Me and Jerry flying the 737 simulator!

I know someone who has a Citation Jet 2 and (can you believe this?) 
he actually let me sit in the right seat for a trip we took!  That was
as cool as flying gets.  We went up the east coast at 41,000 feet.

Photo Credit - Richard J, 2004.  Thanks!