Friday May 19, 2006

From Needles to Western Sky

A beautiful morning to fly. Although Needles elevation is 983 feet, the air density at 5:30 was already 2,900 feet. Michael and I set out for Parker, AZ (P20). Due to fuel needs, Michael set down at Chemehuev Valley (49X) to refuel from fuel containers he'd strapped in the back seat. I circled and watched from a few thousand feet overhead.

Then we continued to Parker. My next destination was Western Sky (0AZ2), but it was beyond Michaels fuel range, and there were no interim airports... I set out alone. As with the previous flight, it was uneventful (a good thing when flying), except for the developing thermals. I'd tried to make it a rule that we'd always be back on the ground by 10am when flying in the West, but it was 10:45 when I landed at Western Sky. The landing, similar to yesterdays at Searchlight, was successful, but with plenty of pucker factor.

The owner of Western Sky showed us around the airpark he's developing. When it's fully sold out there will be 299 residents. I guess if you like to fly, combined with boiling hot weather in the middle of the desert, it would be a great location. Personally, I can't wait until we reach airports with grass. Regardless, Don was very cordial and a wonderful host, considering his guests literally dropped out of the sky.