Well, I got a note from the FAA this week asking for some additional paperwork for my medical, which I’m in the process of getting, so it’ll be a few more weeks before I get to fly solo. But, never fear, because I’m back flying out of Lebanon (our home airport). It’s been a strange summer, and I appreciate Pete working with me through the ups and downs to find a way to stay in a low wing trainer, and fly out of I68 if at all possible. We’re flying a Cherokee 180 of COOP Aviation now, which has moved to Warren County due to the imminent closure of the Blue Ash Airport, and although she’s not a cream puff like our old Warrior, she flies nice and it’s good to be back home, and to have a flight training operation at the airport.
So tonight Pete and I did a “real” cross country, this time to Columbus’ Bolton Field, KTZR. It was a smooth night, with a broken cloud layer just above our cruising altitude. We flew up at 3,500′ and back at 4,500′. There aren’t a lot of great radio navigation aids for getting to Bolton, though there is a VOR basically inline with TZR beyond Columbus, we couldn’t pick it up right away. I probably should’ve picked an outbound CVG VOR to use, but planned pilotage for the trip up. That worked out OK for awhile, with Ceasar’s Creek, Greene County Airport, and some other good landmarks, but by the time I was able to pickup the Appleton VOR I was a few miles north of my intended path. We also used the Yellow Bud and Springfield VORs for position fixes. Even though we had flight following, I have to say, I really, really like GPS.
After landing we got some chicken at PJ’s on the field before launching back to Lebanon. The flight was about 40 minutes each way, and we departed after the tower at Bolton had closed. This did, however, let us watch a nice sunset enroute, and had us landing back home just as it was really getting dark. A very nice flight, all and all.
Posted By: Brett FerrellSaturday August 11th, 2012 at 8:52 PM