Articles related to aviation
Valentine Nebraska was another one of those Oshkosh fuel stops I made. I stoped here on my return trip back in 2003. I can’t remember much about this airport because it wasn’t really my destination. This was just a quick stop for fuel before going on to Wyoming for my overnight stop.
I’ve stopped at Pierre, South Dakota (KPIR) several times on my trips to Oshkosh. This trip however, was the first time I ever stayed in the city of Pierre (pronounced “peer” by the locals.) The FBO (Capital City) called The Best Western Ramkota Inn to come and pick me up. Fifteen minutes later I was checking in. Everone I met was very friendly. The airport itself has great facilities. The town was very picturesque and interesting. I didn’t have time to explore it on this trip but I will definately take more time on the next trip.
Douglas Wyoming (KDGW) was my next stop after Jackpot, NV on my 2005 trip to Oshkosh. It has the distinction of being where my friend Rob tried to land his plane on a dragstrip (the old airport.) It also has the distinction of being the place where I hit a dustdevil in about the same place on TWO different trips! This is just a good old country airport. Enough said.
The Dutchman has been to Jackpot Nevada (06U) exactly three times. The first time on my way to Oshkosh in 2003 and again on my way back. Then again in 2005 on second trip to Oshkosh. This is a pretty neat stop. The airport is run by Cactus Pete’s Resort and Casino. The gas is inexpensive and is dispensed by the guys that manage the campground which is right next to the airport. The casino is right across the street as are the eats and the hotel. The guys at the campground have always been friendly and helpful. The airport has an interesting approach in that there is a rather large bluff right on the approach which requires a dogleg to get around.
I have a video of the approach which I will be adding later.
The Dutchman makes his flying home in Oakdale, California (O27). Oakdale calls itself the Cowboy Capital of the world. I doubt that it is but it does have one heck of a rodeo. Oakdale is where I learned to fly, bought my first airplane, built a hangar, and then built my first airplane. I call it my adopted hometown.
Found a really cool feature of my GPS. It saves your track and altitude. What’s cool about that? You can download that from the GPS to your computer. What’s cool about that? You can upload it to a site called http://gpsvisualizer.com which will turn it into a .KMZ file. What is that? A file that is loadable in Google Earth that will display the ground track and altitude of my flight! See? Cool!
I just love going out to the airport on Saturday mornings. Even when I can’t fly. This Saturday morning I woke up to our Tule fog. It’s infamous here in California’s huge Central Valley. It forms after we’ve had a good rain and the sun has had a chance to shine for a couple of days. The air is cold, the ground is warmed by the sun, and then we get fog as thick as molasses.
I drove out to the aiport through our valley’s rapidly dissapearing orchards. The golden leaves on the ground seem to glow with an inward light in the fog. If they were mine I would like to walk through those orchards breathing in the cold moist air bathed in a golden light.
Once out there I met up with the other members of my local EAA Chapter. The EAA is the Experimental Aircraft Association. An association of people who are interested in building aircraft. I became interested in EAA when I started building my own airplane. Our local chapter is full of mostly retired men. Older gents who have seen much of life. Many of them are Christian. Most are not building airplanes. They are just guys who want somewhere to go and something to do. Our local EAA chapter offers just that. When I arrived I had a plate of warm pancakes and rubbery eggs handed to me. We have a fellowship breakfast before our regular meeting. Most times the breakfast takes longer than the actual meeting.
I eat my breakfast and listen to all the chatter. We are in a cold, drafty hangar that the old guys who need a place to go and something to do built. It’s a good place to be. Warm and welcoming despite the cold foggy drafts from outside. Outside this hangar most have little in common. But in this place we are brothers who share a common love of Our Father’s sky. I spoke with some friends I haven’t seen for a couple of months. We share what’s been happening in our lives.
I share that I’ve been having hiddeous headaches. I get fatherly advice from 5 different men. I used to hate that. As I get older it makes me feel very good inside to have advice offered to me. It’s really the only acceptable way men have to show love for each other. When one of my fellow chapter members tells me how to get rid of headaches he’s really saying, “I care about you, I want you to live a long life, I want you to return to the sky with me.”
Thank you, brother.
We finish breakfast and have our meeting. There is some minor quibbling over meeting dates and times. Should they be changed? Should they not? Nothing of any importance. Most just want to feel like their opinions matter, that they matter. Yes, brother, you matter. You are needed and important. Tell me what you need to say.
The meeting is soon over with all issues resolved quickly. We then start working seeding an area in front of our hangar so we have a nice lawn next Spring. I help run pipe along the fence about 1/4 mile to a well so we can water our grass and plants. Somewhere to go and something to do.
I show a gentleman who is about to retire my airplane. He wants something to do after he retires. My plane is unpainted. Bits of primer here and there. Not painted in the two years I’ve finished it. I feel I must apologize for it’s appearance. He cuts me off telling me that the plane is beautiful. I see the look on his face. I see the look on his face. I know that look. The look of a dreamer, dreaming of the day when he can soar the heights in a machine he constructed. There is no deception in his voice. To him the plane truly is beautiful. I offer to give him a ride on the next sunny day we meet.
The work is long done. We all still stand around and talk airplanes. Some begin to drift away and head back home. I linger. The sun has finally broken out. I stand and smell the wind that has started to kick up. I can smell the acrid smoke from burn piles in the distance. I can hear the cattle at the ranch next door. I hear an airplane departing on his way to adventure. It doesn’t matter where. Every flight is an adventure.
I just love this airport. Even when I can’t fly.
Lord of Sea and Earth and Air,
Listen to the Pilot’s prayer-
Send him wind that’s steady and strong,
Grant that his engine sings the song
Of flawless tone, by which he knows
It shall not fail him where he goes;
Landing, gliding, in curve, half-roll–
Grant him, O Lord, a full control,
That he may learn in heights of Heaven
That rapture altitude has given,
That he shall know the joy they feel
Who ride Thy realms on Birds of Steel.
— Cecil Roberts
My son and I jumped in the plane this morning and flew to Los Banos with another friend. He and his wife flew in their plane. We walked across the street to eat at Country Waffles. Then we buzzed my wife and daughter and flew back home.
Later I took a kid and his dad for a ride in the plane today. They’re from our church. Really good people. It really makes my day to give rides to people who really love to fly. The dad has never been in anything smaller than a 6 seat Cessna, the kid has never been in any small plane (to my knowledge.) I need to put a mirror up so I can see their faces when I do high-G turns and pull-ups. My plane has tandem seating so I can’t really see the passenger’s face. Very relaxing morning.
Air Prayer 
