Sunday, February 10, 2013

Dew Boys and the Culinary Art of Recreational Flying

Date Aircraft Route of Flight Time (hrs) Total (hrs)
10 Feb 2013 N21481 5G0 (LeRoy, NY) - DUJ (Dubois, PA) - 5G0 2.7 1119.9

Having been born in the fast-paced information age that is the 21st century, my daughter has "maintained" her own blog since infancy.  The following trip report is cross-posted from her blog, an account of a $100 hamburger run told from her point of view.  On this flight, she logged her 197th flight hour.

Guest Blogger: The Bear

Another typical Daddy-Daughter kind of day where we went for a "$100 hamburger".  This is a foreign concept to some, so I thought I would spend some time explaining it.

Pilots like to fly, right?

 

And pilots like to eat, right?
 

So...there you have it...the $100 hamburger.
 

Here's what I learned on this particular flight:


"...and eat first."

That's right, it's always best to have a bite to eat right before flying for food; sort of a "pre-meal".  Channel locks are optional.



When it's 10°F at the airport, it's best to sit inside the pre-heated airplane while your pilot does whatever it is he has to do out in the freaking cold.  Silly, silly pilot.


Ear protection is both healthy AND provides a means for you to hear your Nintendo DS.  Or air traffic control...whichever floats your boat...er...lifts your airfoil.


No race today!


Frosting is not just for cakes.


Flying can open up excuses to discuss ecology and the environment.  Watch out for seagulls!


This is our destination, Dubois Regional Airport in Pennsylvania.  Evidently, Pennsylvanians are not so much into French pronunciation.


Here we are at "The Flight Deck".  It was our first visit.  But, back to the lessons for the day...


Tic-tac-toe will only work for so long as a means to pass the time.  Just call me Joshua.


Sometimes, $100 hamburgers are actually pancakes...


...yummy, yummy, pancakes.  Excuse me whilst I dive-in.


I can't believe I ate that much!  I told Daddy that I felt like I had a big ball of something in my stomach.  Daddy hypothesized that the ball may have been made of pancakes.  Therein lay another lesson for the morning.


Fixed Base Operations are great places for spontaneous dance.


Ah, I get it now!  Roads go around the big hills.


One of life's simple pleasures is sitting in an airplane while your Daddy grunts and groans and slides around on the ice trying to push it back into the hangar.  The lesson in this: it's good to have friends.  Fortunately, one of Daddy's stopped by to help.


The final lesson of the day: airports are great places for driving lessons.  Mine are coming along wonderfully.


And with that, we drove off into the sunset (ok, it was the middle of the afternoon), another $100 hamburger mission in the can.  And, would you believe it, I was hungry again before we ever got home.

8 comments:

  1. Too cute. You do realize that your awesome Bear blog is going to compel me to do the same when we have little ones, right? As if I need to pile anything else on my already-too-full-and-we-don't-even-have-kids-yet plate! ;-)

    On an unrelated note, nice facial fur... oddly enough, that's another thing I've noticed various pilot friends doing this winter. Myself included. We're a strange bunch sometimes.

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    1. Hey, if Victoria's puppy gets his own blog, why not? :-)

      The Bear's blog has been very helpful in keeping our far-flung family members current with The Bear's activities and gives them an opportunity to see her grow up, even though they are far away. I imagine that the same scenario applies to you and Gina.

      Now that she is a strong reader, it's fun to sit down with The Bear after a post is written and have her read it. There's usually a lot of laughing and frequent exclamations of "oh, Daddy!", so I think I'm still doing a good job with it.

      We are a strange bunch, facial fur or not. :-)

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    2. Let's revisit that final comment about The Bear in, oh, seven or eight years... :)

      But I agree, it's a great idea. And something I definitely think we (or I, more likely) may copy in the future. Definitely an awesome way to keep friends/family in the loop! Not to mention I think it would be awesome for any kid (tack on another seven or eight years to the prior statement for them to truly appreciate it) to read when they get older.

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    3. Hi Chris,

      I love your photography.

      Also, I saw your list of favorite books. Have you read. "Daring Young Men" By Richard Reeves? It is about the pilots who flew in the Berlin Airlift. It's a fantastic book.

      I came across your website by doing a google search for "islands st. lawrence." I am looking for a photograph for a presentation I am giving on how to communicate complex information. My idea is that information is like islands in a stream and we create meaning by building bridges to each island. I was wondering if I could use your photograph for the presentation?

      Let me know. I really admire your work.

      Sincerely,

      Colin Maiorano
      cmaiorano@strategyworx.com

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  2. I continue to enjoy reading your posts - and it is amazing to watch your daughter grow up as a "flyer". I wish my daughter would fly with me more regularly.

    Dave

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    1. Thanks, Dave! I hope that, someday, she treasures those adventures as much as I do!

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  3. Hi Chris - I see that you've been to my old stomping grounds recently. KDUJ was built on my great-grandparents' farm that the government commandeered, and until recently there was a tree there that my father fell out of and broke his arm.

    How goes instrument training?

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    1. The government commandeered it? Yikes. I feel so...dirty now. As though I've supported bad behavior via my patronage.

      Instrument training is more or less stalled. By the time my airplane was returned to service last fall, I was traveling for work, then the holidays kicked, and - as you are well aware - the weather has been dreadful for light aircraft flying in the clouds. I passed the written a couple of weeks ago and will start up with training again as soon as my wife's schedule frees up enough so that I don't have to babysit at the same time. Thanks for asking. I expect I'll get there this spring.

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