I went to Rapid Air. Even though the Vantine's don't own it anymore, I am a creature of habit.
They let me use the courtesy vehicle which is a new Ford Escape. The AC worked great.
The flight over was smooth. Leaving Aurora for Gipper Vortac, I was kept at 5,000 MSL for a long time. But I was flying and it was glorious!
I am legal IFR, but not as proficient as I would like to be. It was VMC the whole way, so I decided to file and fly IFR. It was good practice and I need the practice.
I am used to flying to GRR in the Cherokee 140. I was amazed at how fast the Seminole got me there. I guess time passes quickly when flying.
At my son's college (Aquinas), I enjoyed touring the campus. We went to Beltline Bar and gobbled up a shredded beef "wet" burrito. My wasteline did not need it, but it was delicious.
The return trip was also VMC. I decided to fly VFR and dive under the Chicago Class Bravo over Chicago Heights VOR. It was sunset and the sun made an awesome glow on the Western horizon as I flew southwest-bound over Benton Harbor.
It has been a long time since I had an ADF in an aircraft. I tuned in to 670 AM and listened to the White Sox beating the Yankees. Did they eventually win? I turned it off once I got close to Midway to avoid missing any traffic calls from Chicago Approach.
A couple Southwest Boeing 737s went whizzing by on their way to Midway. Chicago Approach did not seem unhappy to be working me. Maybe things are
that slow.
At Aurora, I practiced three full stop landings after dark so I have my night currency. The wind was calm. I landed runway 27. Then I departed runway 9. There were quite a few kildeer birds buzzing around the runways, but I don't think I nailed any.
After landing on runway 9, I taxied over and departed runway 33. Then I teardropped back and landed runway 9 for a shorter taxi to parking.
I was marshalled in under the giant canopy at Joliet Avionics.
Another 2.9 logged on my march toward 1,000 hours in the air.
ApacheBob
