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Showing posts from May 20, 2007

100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

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We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...
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.