Another picture perfect day flying float planes off Lake Superior in Duluth, MN. I wish I was closer so I could do it more often. I flew twice on Wednesday and the morning was the best ever. Some shots from the cockpit.
This is before the first take off of the day on a seriously calm lake. This is what is referred to as glassy water. Very difficult to land on it simply because it is hard to gauge where the water actually is in relation to the plane without waves. It is deceptive because it is so calm and so clear.
Me and my instructor, Tom Sullivan. I lucked on to flying with him, he's kind of a rock star in the world of flying and float flying. He's been a great instructor and I like him a lot as a friend.
First pass over the landing spot on the lake making sure I know where the sand bars, boats, islands and rocks are. Glassy water and check out the changing fall colors, simply beautiful!
I practiced cross wind landings around this point taking off and landing on one float. It was a lot of fun and I got pretty good at it. Check out the house in the background.
Here's the close up. Pretty nice place, this might need to go on my vision board. What an awesome place to get away too. With the economy in the toilet these homes are pretty inexpensive, so who knows, I guess you can never say never...
On to the next lake and landing spot, as you can see the lakes are just one right after the next. So beautiful and this is one of my favorite shots from the day. Yes I am flying and have one hand on the stick!
This guy or gal has the right idea! Check out the plane at the end of the dock.
The shadow is me flying in the Cub, very serene.
The bald eagle sitting in this tree didn't seem to bothered by us making several passes for pictures. We saw a handful of bald eagles and for me it was pretty exciting. From what Tom said, they are the only bird that holds their ground and does not get out of the way of the plane so you have to be watching, guess someone told them they are protected!
Another shadow shot of the Cub as we prepare to head back to Lake Superior. What an awesome flight! I could have stayed up much longer, but the rest of the learning has to get done in the time I have.
Heading back across the farms to finish up before lunch. I feel so grateful for the opportunities I have to travel and experience so many great places. Both times I have been in Duluth it has been spectacular as far as the weather. After lunch we headed back to the plane to finish getting me ready for my check ride which is scheduled for 7:00 am the next morning. After a great morning, I SUCK in the afternoon. The only thing that went right was my emergency landings. I was getting tired I guess, it takes a lot of strength, especially in the right arm to continually take off and land the Cub. By the end of the day I have probably done 35 or so take offs and landings. On the last one, I just could not physically hold the stick back, so Tom took over and we just did some fun flying. He showed me some maneuvers he does as practice and I must say that practice makes perfect.
Next post I'll put up some pictures from the late day fun flight in the Beaver. But to wrap this post up, in the middle of the night the rain started, the wind was howling and it was pretty evident that I would not be doing my check ride on this trip. Part of me was grateful for that because I was so tired from all the flying the day before. It also creates the necessity to go back to Duluth at least one more time to finish up and hang out with the guys up there, which I enjoyed immensely.
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