Paiken's paralyzing plunge...

Down safely in Vegas. The crosswind takeoff at KGCN was a little hairy; I nearly trimmed the tops off a few trees, but once we were over the top of them the flight settled in. No problems for the rest of the flight. Little Miss Intern (as I've been calling her) has booked us rooms at Mandalay Bay for the night. Time to call a cab.
Distance 144.8 nm
Time 50:41
Fuel used 80 lbs.
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Well, I made it to O68. Quite an adventure. 15 kt crosswind on takeoff turned into 38-40 kt headwind once I reached the peaks outside of Mono Lake. I made a wrong turn somewhere and nearly ate the side of a mountain. Topped out at 11,696 ft, just barely clearing the ridge in front of me. Time above the soft ceiling was about 45 seconds, although it seemed much longer. Alexa was yelling in my ears to watch out for the :censored: mountain. I asked her to please shut the :censored: up and let me fly the plane. Once we cleared the ridge it was smooth sailing through Yosemite.
Distance 51.8 nm
Time 22:25
Fuel used 36 lbs.
Years taken off my life...7
Max altitude 11696 ft
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Down safely at San Carlos. It was a nice, easy flight with no complaints from the intern. I'll be heading over to the Top of the Mark once I button up the plane. Won't be telling too many tales though, I'm bringing the intern with me. If you see a slightly greying guy with a twenty-something strawberry blonde stop over and we'll buy you a drink.
Distance 105.3 nm
Time 38:10
Fuel used 61 lbs.
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It was fun. Hope I'll have time to participate in another event. Working for the Post Office makes the RTWR all but impossible for me, but having this event take place over a span of weeks makes it do-able for me. It was also interesting making up stories (not lies, more like creative fiction) to go with the flights.
 
paiken said:
It was fun. Hope I'll have time to participate in another event.
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Yeah we hope so too... for all the "new and old" alike.


paiken said:
Working for the Post Office makes the RTWR all but impossible for me
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Interesting you should mention this... we (RTWR's) have sort of this creed we fly by -- something I think you could appreciate...

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these racers from the swift completion of their appointed routes.

Works for me. :icon_lol:
 
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