Flying with Friends

So this morning, just as I was about to get in the shower, my friend Lindsay called.  I heard my phone, but I didn't get to it in time to answer.  I decided I would call her back later.  But then she called me right back...

Lindsay:  "Do you want to go flying in Peter's plane?"

Me:  "Sure!  What time?  I'm about to get in the shower.  I smell bad."

Lindsay:  "Don't worry I haven't showered today either.  We are leaving right now.  We will be there in 10 minutes!"

Me:  "Oh...ok!"

So maybe it wasn't exactly those words, but you get the idea...

About 10 minutes later, I got my smelly self in Peter's car and we drove to Elmendorf Air Force Base where his Cessna is stored.  It was the first time I had ever been on the military base here--or really any military base for that matter...(unless you count the times I went to the Air Force Academy for football games...or the time I went to Dugway, Utah to play high school basketball...)

The military base here is referred to as JBER (pronounced J-Bear) which stands for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (it's a joint Army and Air Force Base).

When we drove up to the AeroClub where Peter's plane is, there were four F-22's on the runway nearby.  It was awesome!  And loud!

F-22's

Peter's plane

Lindsay is hoping to be a pilot someday, so Peter was showing her the in's and out's of his plane.  He made her do the pre-flight check with him.

After the plane inspection stuff, we had to go in and get the weather report and file our flight plan.

We decided to go flying around Mt. Susitna (West of the Anchorage area...across the Cook Inlet).

After filing the flight plan, fueling the plane, and doing more pre-flight checking we were ready for take-off!  But first we had to wait for a C-130.

I sat in the back seat of the plane and took pictures with my phone and looked at my map and had a wonderful time!  Lindsay got to fly some.  She did a great job!  Here are some more pictures from our adventure:

Looking North toward Eagle River

Ship Creek...those little things down there are float planes...  

Peter and Lindsay 

Cook Inlet

Farmland near Point Mackenzie...I would have never guessed there was farmland there!

Susitna River 

Mt. Susitna from a distance

Susitna River again...you can really see why it's called a "braided river"

Mount Susitna up close 

Lindsay is enjoying the view!

We went up above the clouds.

Peter explaining how easy it is to find your way back with a fancy GPS..."you just have to follow that line"

The view of the ground during one of our spiral-y turns.  Wheeeeee!

Yay for flying!

View of downtown Anchorage on our landing approach.  (Or whatever it's called)

I'm so glad I got the opportunity to do such a fun last minute adventure!  The weather was perfect for flying today.  I wish Luke could've been there...he had to sit in work training all day while I got to go out and play.  Next time he will have to come too!