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Danos

Danos

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
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668
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New York City
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i And I Survive
Heading to Devil's Monument and Mt. Rushmore in the morning on a little time building mission. If you're bored or interested you can track me N7581Y
 
Danos said:
Heading to Devil's Monument and Mt. Rushmore in the morning on a little time building mission. If you're bored or interested you can track me N7581Y
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Don't forget to visit Custer and Deadwood!
 
I got back in last night and I'm speechless. Things couldnt have gone better. Other than the gear down light burning out, the plane performend flawlessly. The first day was 3 legs somewhere around 11 hours of flight time logged. On the way back we made it in 2 legs thanks to a strong tail wind. Logged a totoal of 22.3 hours, saw every type of cloud formation possible and learned how to deal with them. Even got some icing.

The first day was to Rapid City with stops in Lansing, MI and Mankato, MN for fuel. That day was a real test to see if t here was a cure for my disease and I realized there was none. After 11 hours of flying and a monster headache, I still wanted more. We passed through three fronts on the first leg and had only minor diversions for t-storms the rest of the way and arrived in Rapid City around 1 am after the longest sunset I've ever seen.

The next day we went sight seeing at Rushmore and Crazy Horse, then waited for nightfall to head for Hulett WY. We circled the monuments we visited that day, saw them all lit up, and filed in the air. The people in Hulett were exceedingly friendly! When we couldn't find a rental car the hotel receptionst called the mayor at 10 pm and he came down, gave us the keys to his car that was on the field and let us use it for the entire day free of charge! The would NEVER happen in NYC!! We picked up the car, checked in , and racked out for the night.

In the morning I went for a run. The town is in a valley so I souldnt see Devil's Tower from there. I ran up a hill for about 2 miles to the top in the direction I thought it was in and did'nt see anything once I got up there so I turned around to go back and there it was! MAGIC!! can't put into words what it was like. Guess you had to be there:D . We went to the monument that day and did some hiking. The trip from here on in was the turning point. Back to reality. Left Hulett for Rapid City and Rapid City for Chicago. The ride was clear and smooth. Got to see the badlands this time since we crossed it at night on the way out.
Woke up the next day and saddled up again for the ride back to NY. Another ineteresting day. The first half was smooth, but the second half was around more showers in IMC. We picked up some ice in the tops of the clouds and got cleared for lower. Got cleared for a visual into CDW and we were back home.
I learned volumes and got to see some of the most
beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. The pictures won't do it justice because you can't experience the smell and the sound but I'll post them anyway. It definitely hit me in the pocket, but a price can't be put on the adventure
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N7581Y
 

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Looks like a great Trip. Those clouds are scary,.. wierd to see how they are shaped and just imagine the convection around them.

Nice photos...
 
Rob Schaffer said:
Looks like a great Trip. Those clouds are scary,.. wierd to see how they are shaped and just imagine the convection around them.

Nice photos...
Click to expand...


We actually had to go through one of them. Not an anvil, but the turbulence was about as severe as I wanted to see it. It was like falling down the stairs. All I could do was hold it level and try to read the instruments. Wild ride. :hairraise:
 
We were going through holes and gaps and pretty much got trapped. ATC wasn't painting much so we slowed down and went in. It wasn't and entire system like the one in the picture, more of a narrow buildup we punched through.
 
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Danos said:
ATC wasn't painting much so we slowed down and went in.
Click to expand...
One of the things I learned from trial and error when first flying with radar is that it won't paint anything until the buildups have rain in them. While they are still in the building stage nothing will appear on the radar but it can still be very turbulent. I'm talking about onboard radar here but the principle is the same.

Glad you had a great trip! The west is definitely different than the east, no?
 
That was one of the things I learned I this trip too. Where to draw the line as to what I could go through comfortably. I have a solid understanding of that now. I'm glad we didnt have passengers so I could actually experience it without ruining their day.

The West is VERY different! The people actually say hi! Caught me off guard a few times.
 
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