Winds were forecast to be calm(ish) on Friday morning so I decided to try to get in a little flying before work.  I didn’t have much gas and I didn’t have much time but there was just enough of both for me to get in 4 circuits around the runway.  I was a little dubious about the visibility but again there was enough to fly safely.

I was up at 5am without the alarm.  I took that as a sign that I should go ahead and hitch up the trailer and head out to New Jerusalem.  I headed west out of town on a dark country road.  Then pulled into Friday commuter traffic on a dark country highway.  They are all driving to the San Francisco Bay Area.  I’m only driving to New Jerusalem.  No hurry.  They can all cut each other off and drive like lunatics.  I take my time.  Turned right onto another country road.  A short time later I turn on the the dirt farm road that leads to the gates of New Jerusalem.  No literally.  There is a fence around the New Jerusalem airport.  Luckily the good folks at the City of Tracy shared the combination to the lock so we can get in and enjoy this little gem of an airport.

I parked, put up the wind sock, unloaded the P3 and started the engine so it could warm up.  It was really chilly this morning.  It felt and looked more like winter than August.  I got into my ski pants while the engine warmed up.  I could just make out the sun as it started to rise.  The haze was really thing this morning.  A combination of smoke and fog.

After warming up the engine and doing a run-up I taxied the P3 about halfway down the taxiway and setup for takeoff.  There was  a light wind blowing but it was straight down the taxiway.  I started the take off roll, waited for the parachute to settle down, and then applied full throttle and gently started climbing skyward.

I flew about 4 circuits and the landed to pack up and head to work.  The rest of the story is pretty boring so I’ll just leave with a short video of a portion of today’s flight.