Sunday, June 23rd 2:42 p.m.

As I sit here back in the barracks munching down my Papa John's Pizza and slugging back a Coca-Cola it occurs to me that it's probably a good thing that I am not yet retired. I need work... Not for the "usual" reason, though... I haven't yet learned to pace myself on my adventures... I NEED work to give me a place to recuperate between the weekends...

Shortly after sending off yesterday's entry I was off for North Island and the Navy Flying Club. I wanted to get there way early because I needed some extra time to do some more studying of the local procedures. It all started off easily enough... A call to FSS (my first... ain't no such animal in Guam) to file a flight plan and get a real honest-to-goodness weather briefing... In Guam I would get my weather briefing directly from the National Weather Service, but it was not considered an "official" briefing... I never really understood that... We also had to fill out an "ORM" form. ORM stands for Operational Risk Management. Basically we had to list things which we felt were risks during the operation we were about to undertake. We also had to "rate" each risk based upon severity and likelihood. Then list what we were going to do to reduce that risk, if possible, and the resultant rating. Then we have to get an "FCA" or Flight Clearing Authority to go over our flight plan with us and "Authorize" the flight... In this case the instructor himself was a designated FCA. Such is life in a Squadron... Hopefully the benefits of a reduced rental fee end up outweighing all the B.S. I gotta go through just to get in the air...

Pretty soon we were headed out to the plane... I had to warn the instructor on the way out that I am usually a bit "thorough" with my pre-flight inspection. I believe Al referred to it as "detail oriented"... The first thing I noticed when I open the door was with the exception of the Mag Compass and yoke, NOTHING is in the right place... The gauges and instruments are all over the place! The Tach is clear on the right side of the panel, the Altimeter is near the left door, the Heading Indicator is off to the right.... Nothing is where I expect it to be. That took a bit of getting used to... This plane is a specially modified Cessna 172. The biggest change from stock is the rear seats are gone. With the modifications comes a new moniker. It's now called a T-41. Pretty soon the pre-flight was finished and it was time to get going...

NAS North Island (NZY), formally known as Halsey Field, is located a mere two miles from the single runway at San Diego International - Lindbergh. It sits 2,800 feet under the Class B shelf as well. It's kind of a "pocket" of Class D inside the Class B. In order to transit to the north, we are required to enter the Class B. Our clearance to enter the Class B included the order "Cleared to enter Class B below 500' remaining offshore. Report Crystal Pier"... No problems, we'll hug the shoreline at 450', zig zagging around the boat traffic that we are not allowed to come closer than 500' to and proceed smartly up the coastline. The instructor with me made it even more difficult by insisting that we remain within gliding distance of the shore... Now call me stupid (many have) but *I* feel much more comfortable with the idea of a ditching a few hundred yards from shore and swimming in than trying to set the plane down on a crowded beach or planting it into the side of a hotel... Not only that, but every Joe and his cousin making the transition is doing the same thing... Even though we were in Class B, under RADAR surveillance the whole way, we were not getting too much in the way of traffic advisories. The best "warning" we got was overhearing the other pilots getting cleared into the airspace. This came into play in a big way at one point when we spotted a Bonanza headed straight at us about the time it started to "balloon"... I don't think he ever saw us and it's probably a good thing actually. Since we were so close to the shoreline to begin with there was NO room to the right to make the standard Right-Turn-To-Avoid turn so we peeled off to the left... The Bonanza just kept plunking along like nothing happened. A short while later the story was repeated in only a little less dramatic fashion with a plane towing a banner... Pretty soon we were clear of the Class B (it was still above us, but we were no longer in it) and we started looking for a break in the clouds big enough to climb for maneuvering. The clouds seemed to follow the coast almost perfectly. We couldn't fly inland to get around them because we were too low and we couldn't climb to get high enough because the clouds were there... So we proceeded up the coast and were nearly to Oceanside before they broke.

So up up and away!! One nice thing about that plane is that it sure trimmed nicely. We made a circling ascent through a large hole in the clouds and a small hole between the airspaces. Once I had the elevator set for best climb rate and the plane rolled into a bank it took very little correction to keep it on path. I took advantage of the inherent "P-Factor" and set in a left turn so I wouldn't have to fight it with the rudder all the way up. It was quite a nice ride. Pretty soon we were at altitude and time to do a few "stalls and falls". Power Off Stall was nothing but predictable. Quite easy recovery in that craft. The Power On Stall was a bit more exciting, though. That thing really broke over hard to the left when it stalled. No worries, though. I was expecting something like that and stomped on the right rudder and continued with the recovery. After a couple more maneuvers he looks over at me and says "Take me to Ramona. (RNM)" Since I already had a pretty good idea of where we were I had a head start on the single VOR (in this case it stands for Very Old Radio) to triangulate our semi-precise position. Then I picked the radial from the VOR that passed over the airport we were looking for and flew to it... One good thing about having such a complicated airspace around here is that the borders of the various sections are labeled on the map in reference to VOR radials. Makes it a lot easier to figure out where you are if you don't have to trace a line from the VOR...

Next up was a lesson in just how difficult it can be to see an airport from the air. Visibility was being reported as 10 miles, but it was in a haze. The only was I was able to actually find the airport was by referencing it to other land marks around it that were more obvious. As we got closer we heard several other airplanes on the CTAF. Things were hoppin' at Ramona. Eventually we had shoe-horned our way into the pattern and I was looking down at the smallest runway I'd seen yet. It was 5000' long by 150' wide. That's a whole lot of runway for the plane we were in, but it really had me thrown off... As oppositional as it might seem, I kept flaring too soon... I wasn't making landings, as such, as I was making semi-controlled crashes... It didn't help that the wind was gusting from the left. I am used to cross wind landings, but not from the left... For some reason I kept coming in way too high and landing long. Eventually I finally got one that worked out pretty good and off we were to Gillespie Field (SEE) in El Cajon. In Spanish, El Cajon means "The Coffin". Kind of ominous considering the approach. Coming from the north we were given a right hand approach to Runway 27L. The approach comes around the base of a mountain and you cannot even see the airport until you are damn near ready to turn final. Not only that, but there was that damn banner pilot again... This time cutting across the final approach to the airport. After making several landings on that postage stamp sized runway in Ramona I was ready for a Super-Slab Space Shuttle runway landing... But NOOOO!!! 27L at Gillespie is even SMALLER! This one is 2737' long and 60' wide... Funny thing is, that was the best landing I made all day... Go figure. A single touch-n-go there and we were headed back to North Island. This time we flew IFR... I Follow the Roads... Staying just to the left of I-15 at 1500' kept us clear of the Class B airspace and brought us right in for a "Blue Crane Arrival"... No, the Blue Crane Arrival isn't some kind of mystical Far East arrival... It's merely an approach that takes us over a huge blue crane at the shipyards. After passing over the crane it was time to hit the deck again for the rest of the approach. Upon clearing us to land at NZY the tower advised us it would be best it we landed long as they had the arresting gear deployed on the runway. Since we hadn't bothered to attach an arresting hook to the plane before we left we figured it was pretty good advice. Nothing like running across four 3" steel cables eight inches off the deck at 60 mph in a Cessna to ruin your whole day... As I floated and fluttered over the arresting gear and finally touched rubber to tarmac I could finally breath again... The instructor complimented me on the landing but I had to disagree... As far as I am concerned, the landing is more than just the touchdown, it's the entire approach. Granted, the touchdown was smooth as silk, but the gyrations and coaxing I had to do to get it there were embarrassing. He countered with "Well, you knew what you had to do and you did it... That's what counts." By this point I had already proven on two different occasions that I wasn't afraid to make the "go-around" decision... On a couple approaches to Ramona I just didn't like the way things were going (one time we got blown way off center by a gust) and I aborted and went around... He was pleased at that... I've read many an incident/accident report where the pilot was absolutely committed to touching rubber to tarmac and ended up in a ball... I am committed to not let that happen to me...

After taxiing back and refueling the plane it was time to finish the paper work. Upshot of the ride was another 2.1 hours in my log book, a successful checkride, and a lot of new things learned. One thing I gotta tell ya'll is I really LOVE the hourly rate. A two hour flight in Guam, without instructor fee, would have cost me about $210... Here a two hour flight costs me $98...

Now that the flight was over it was time to turn north. It took me nearly two hours longer than I had thought it would but I had things to do and people to see in Wrightwood.

After a fairly uneventful (I like it that way on the road) two hours I found myself bouncing up a rutted old dirt road. Unfortunately I forgot to write down the directions I needed before I left Sandy Eggo and all I could remember was "I-15 North, 138 West, 2 miles up Highway 2". As I made my way down Highway 2, carefully watching my odometer roll up on two miles, I saw a sign for "Desert Front Road". That sounded VERY familiar and it was a dirt road so I took the plunge and on I went. After a while the road started getting worse and worse... I saw a bike coming down the other way so I stopped and waited for him to reach me, As he pulled along side I could see it was another K-Bike so I asked him if I was headed the right direction. Sure enough, "They've got a band playing right now. It's about another mile up the road." It's a good thing I stopped and talked to him because there was no indication I had reached the right spot except the loud Rock-A-Billy band playing... Riding up the final steep gravel covered driveway I was finally there. I arrived a bit too late to partake in the main feast, but I was able to scrape a healthy (?) helping of meat chunks from the bottom of the short-rib bucket. That along with a large scoop of macaroni salad and a couple cold beers made for a real nice topper to a fantastic day. As I was circling, looking for a good place to sit down and relax while listening to the tunes I ran into Jan and Di... A couple I had met at the Kings Canyon Gathering in 2000... Come to find out in the course of conversation that they live in San Diego! I had no idea they lived down here... Gonna have to get together for a ride or two while I am here.

Eventually the long day and cold beer started to catch up with me and my eyelids were getting heavy. By this time I had already found a secluded spot on the hillside to pitch the tent. I hoped that there weren't too many rocks hidden under the thick layer of fine dirt where I put the tent. The nearly full moon and clear skies made it unnecessary to use the flashlight to find my way back to the tent. I crawled in and set out the sleeping bag. Quite soon I was drifting off to sleep with the strains of Country-Rock off in the distance lulling me to sleep.

Sometime during the night I woke up to the sound of a hundred or so dogs yipping and barking and generally carrying on as dogs will do during a full moon. There was probably a coyote or two singing harmony in there somewhere.

At exactly 0600 I awoke again. By now the sky was bright but a quick listen told me there wasn't too many folks up yet so I rolled back over for another hour. At 0700 I heard a few people out and about so I rolled out and made my way down to the "main camp" (Fuzzy and Johnnie's house). There I found a pot of coffee brewing and breakfast soon to be ready. Let me tell you, Fuzzy and Jonnie can throw a pretty good shin-dig... I think Jonnie told me this was the fifth year they've done this. She makes one hell of a hostess. After drinking my share of coffee and digging into breakfast it was time to visit some more. I've never been much of a socialite and pretty soon the itch to be on the road needed to be scratched. After a round of good-bye's and see-ya-later's it was time to leave.

An even more uneventful two hour ride later and I was back at the barracks. About the only thing of note on the way back was when a CHP Moto-Officer screamed past me. I was already doing 80 mph at the time and he blew past me like I was standing still. A little while later I saw what he was probably headed for... On the northbound lane there was a bunch of Firemen and CHP officers looking over the edge of the roadway. Looks like somebody went over the side. That's a real bad place to go over, it's about 200-300' nearly straight down and, for some silly reason, there's no guard rail along there...

On to next chapter

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