Justin’s Pilot Reports (PIREP)

The weather folks got it right for a change. Sunday emerged as a beautifully clear day. There were no clouds to be seen when I woke up. I had planned to file IFR to Austin to do the ILS there and to stop and grab a courtesy car for a bite to eat. It was looking likely that this would be a solo flight.

To my surprise, however, my wife made a quick decision to join me. She recently underwent surgery to repair a complete tear of the ACL in her knee. This would be her first flight since December. At about the same time I glanced out the window to see cumulous clouds floating across the sky. The clear skies were filling with clouds!

This is an excerpt of IFR Visit to the Texas Capitol….
Read the full entry.

2005 thus far has been dark and rainy with many days of hard IMC including some incredibly foggy mornings. This hurts because I really love flying in the Winter. The enhanced airplane performance and the simple fact that the dog days of Summer are always just around the corner. A fact of life living so close to the equator…

Today it literally rained all day. On some of my outings I saw commercial airplanes shooting the ILS into San Antonio. Their vapor trails were quite impressive!

This is an excerpt of Rain, rain and more rain….
Read the full entry.

Austin, Texas. The State Capitol of Texas. Home of the Longhorns. Cross-country friendly flight destination from San Antonio of 57.5 nautical miles.

On Sunday, February 13th, my brother-in-law David LaRocque and nephew Tanner LaRocque joined me for a quick hop to Austin Bergstrom International Airport. David was interested in running by the local REI store as he is a Boy Scout leader (and I almost never need an excuse to go to REI!). Tanner was along for the ride and was earning his Young Eagle wings on this voyage.

My nephew the Young Eagle

This is an excerpt of Longhorns and Crosswinds….
Read the full entry.

For my birthday, on January 18th, my beloved wife delivered an item from my aviation geek’s wish list - the SureCheck Micro TPAS (Traffic Proximity Alarm System). This little wonder, not much larger than a credit card, detects other transponder equipped aircraft and displays a series of LED lights that provide range information. Red lights are bad. Red lights mean “other airplane close by, LOOK out!”

I took the Micro up on a maiden voyage with my dad. That flight taught me a harsh lesson - figure out a portable mounting solution cuz that little bugger won’t sit on the aircraft’s dashboard for two seconds before it migrates forward and back, left and right…and creates a distraction that negates any benefit the technology might provide.

This is an excerpt of I am now TPAS enabled….
Read the full entry.