Early morning calm

[Pilawt]

We're forecast to get some weather the next couple of days, courtesy of a dissipating Pacific hurricane. I took off early this morning to get some flying in and scrape the rust off the cylinder walls before the weather hits.

It was perfect -- clear, smooth and calm. About 50 miles southwest of Phoenix I caught up with this fellow truckin' along, pulling his trailered offroad vehicle at a good clip on Agua Caliente Road, a long dirt road that leads up to a popular offroading area. The air was so still on the surface that his dust cloud was still stationary over the road for at least ten miles back.

He must have been having a blast on that dirt road, but I couldn't help but think, "I'm having more fun than you are!"





Glad I got that mission done early. By early afternoon at the home drome there were gusty winds and one-mile visibility in blowing dust.

 

[Lachlan]

Very cool. I wonder how many cave systems there are under all that desert?

 

[Lachlan]

Most likely, none. That is most likely alluvial fill from erosion of mountains. Think coarse sand, gravel mixed with lesser quantities of clay and silt. That material contains large amounts of groundwater.

I thought there were some pretty awesome caves south of Phoenix.

 

[texasclouds]

Nice pics!

 

[Pilawt]

Thanks guys.

Here's a couple more from this flight. In the first, the dust trail from the pickup truck is still hovering over the road, highlighted by the low morning sun. Below in the second photo is Union Pacific's Phoenix branch line, this portion of which is used only for storage of surplus autorack cars.





Returning to Goodyear, there was no one else in the pattern. The controller sounded happy to have someone to talk to. He approved the requested short approach and long landing (my hangar is at the far end of the 8500-foot-long runway). The landing was a squeaker with the stall horn chirping, with barely any brake needed to make the high-speed turnoff and taxi to the ramp.

It was one of those flights that you wish you could keep in a bottle ...

 

[evapilotaz]

You didn’t take me along

 

[Twin_Flyer]

Thanks guys.

Here's a couple more from this flight. In the first, the dust trail from the pickup truck is still hovering over the road, highlighted by the low morning sun. Below in the second photo is Union Pacific's Phoenix branch line, this portion of which is used only for storage of surplus autorack cars.





Returning to Goodyear, there was no one else in the pattern. The controller sounded happy to have someone to talk to. He approved the requested short approach and long landing (my hangar is at the far end of the 8500-foot-long runway). The landing was a squeaker with the stall horn chirping, with barely any brake needed to make the high-speed turnoff and taxi to the ramp.

It was one of those flights that you wish you could keep in a bottle ...

Sometimes we have to be reminded why we do this flying thing...

 

[jcaveman]

Awesome pictures!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bill]

I must be a bit dyslexic...