Summary and Images
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by Maurice Sheldon
This was my PPG maiden flight since I got my PPG fixed. And was it so nice to be back in the air! Weather was perfect, almost no wind, no clouds, 80's. We flew quite late, til 10:30am and I was surprised at how smooth the air was. Also, it was a really treat to fly with Scott in his PPC. He seemed to fly about 5 miles faster than me, so every now and then he needed to double back so I could catch up.
We did a bit of an XC until NE along the dry Queek Creek river bed. The landscape is spectacular. We saw all kinds of wildlife including some large hawks, two havalinas (I am REALLY glad my engine did not quit as I was 50' above them. I understand they can attack if they feel threatened.), a large cow with enormous horns and a young calf, and numerous quail.
I wanted to test the duration of my fuel so when we returned to the LZ after an hour in the air I hovered at about 800' agl waiting for my engine to die. At 1 hour 10 minutes it did. I ended my flight with a perfect touchdown.
Images
Scott reading for T.O...
The Canal.
Chasing a larger plane 18,854' above me.
Scott doing circles around and below me.
Having fun chasing my shadow. Notice it is in all these pictures...