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Showing posts from May 20, 2007

Back on the farm in Summer

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I trailered a towable man lift (bucket lift) from Georgia to New York. The thing that made it eventful is that I had to drive my truck. My 2017 Chevy 3500 HD service truck (with only 31k miles) is not my Tesla. I have grown very accustomed to the Tesla self-driving, navigation and general hi-tech luxury. The truck, although I am very fond of my truck, is stressful and expensive to drive compared to the Tesla. Being on the farm alone has been an eye opener. I had forgotten how quiet and in-nature this place is. Very occasionaly a car or plane comes by and disrupts the void, but only occasionally. It has been very reflective. It is the first time I have been up here from Georgia without a specific date I must be back for... or so it seems. "All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone."-- Blaise Pasacal mid 1600s. I guess I am working on humanity's problems. It can take a lot out of you. I feel good about some of the pics I ha...
I had another productive flying lesson tonight. The weather was perfect. No wind, 10 miles + visibility and low winds aloft up to 6000 ft. That means that the pilot is the one creating the turbulence, if any. I had some excellent landings and some excellent takeoffs. I also had to abort one of my landings and I bounced quite a bit on another one (which freaked me out a bit). My instructor said when I turned final on my last landing, "That is a beautiful sight". It really is. When everything is lined up, the green of the runway, the trees, the sun thinking about going down. It really is quite a picture. To know that you are the one that is transitioning the aircraft to become a land vehicle, is satisfying. The camera is not practical at this stage, but hopefully, you get the idea. The plane goes in for its FAA required annual inspection in a couple of weeks. I will be helping with that. It is fun learning at Greene 4N7. The annual is done right there since we have a great me...

Looking back to the Antarctica experience, concentrating on flying lessons

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Another week begins. I had another great flying lesson Friday. I have another Tuesday. Landings are becoming a lot less intimidating, but I have a long way to go. There is so much to learn. We have been getting the red (1997 Chevy diesel) truck ready for sale and working on farm work. My tractor tire seems to finally be holding air after years of cursing and attempted repairs. I hope I just didn't jinx it. Bonnie and I went to the scrap yard and the dump Saturday. Then we were off to breakfast with the net proceeds. The barn is in a lot better shape now. Scrap prices sure are up. If I were headed back to Antarctica this year I would be in Wilderness Survial school this summer as well as Microwave Landing System (MLS) school. Both would have been fun. This is a picture of me in the 1956 Beaver seaplane out in Idaho.