Vicki and I flew the club’s Lance to Barnes Muni (KBAF) yesterday so we could be at Stevie’s last Parents Weekend. Vicki’s sister Sherri is here, but she came on a more conventional flight. It was a great flight, in wonderfully clear and smooth air. There was mist below and to the south of us, but in front and to the north side it was “clear and a million”. We did see a strange phenomena at one point where it looked like a dark streak that that went across the ground and then crossed in front of us and up into the sky, all as one very straight line. I wasn’t sure if we were seeing the shadow of the solid sharp-edged layer of clouds behind us (the sun was close to it) or if somebody with a very smokey jet engine had taken off from the north of us and climbed across our flight path.
We flew because I don’t get to fly as much as I’d like, and also because Vicki wanted to go to the Accapella Jam, which Stevie was performing in. If we’d driven, there is no way in hell we’d get there in time. Vicki was later getting to the airport than we planned for so we ended up arriving a few minutes after sunset. According to this extremely cool web site (which will only show our flight for a few more days), we arrived at 6:22pm. And were met by a FBO person who did NOT know how to fill in the rental car agreement. But we got out of there and up to campus just a hair after 7pm, which was plenty of time.
They’ve dropped me off in the school library because they’re doing stuff that’s a lot of walking, more specifically that start-stop wandering like shopping, and that’s hell on my knees. And it will give me a chance to do some work and make up for leaving work hellaciously early.
I’m a little concerned with the weather for the flight home. Today is showing very low ceilings and rain, which I can handle (although I haven’t done an ILS to minimums in actual since last year’s trip here), but there’s also an AIRMET for some occassional icing from freezing level to way high. Freezing level today was just about 6,000 feet, which is the sort of altitude I usually fly, and it’s going to be a little bit colder tomorrow. I think I can manage it if I file for a lower altitude and keep an eye on the temperature probe, or if I can get tops reports that indicate the clouds end below the freezing level, which is frequently the case in this weather. But we may have to stop en-route or stay here another couple of days. Oh well, such is flying. Better to play it safe and be down here wishing I was up there than up there wishing I was down here.