Justin’s Pilot Reports (PIREP)

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….
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There is something very special about flying in a 1946 Aeronca Champ.

The fabric covered airplane is the essence of simplicity. Cruising at 80 miles per hour ensures that the view out the window won’t rush by in a blur. It’s the aviation equivalent of stopping to “smell the roses.”

Today I joined my friend Brad Marcum for a quick flight in his Champ to the New Braunfels Municipal Airport (KBAZ). Brad was my Instrument flight instructor and it is always a pleasure flying with him.

This is an excerpt of A CHAMPION of the Sky….
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The beginning of a flight-filled weekend began today with a solo flight in the local area. My steed for today’s adventure was Skyhawk N321WF, a nice 2000 Cessna 172R Skyhawk rented from Wright Flyers Aviation. What began as a day filled with a thick overcast almost - in minutes - became CAVU (an acronym for Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited - aka CLEAR skies!)

The TAF for San Antonio had been calling for scattered clouds at 2,500 feet which was going to be perfect for a nice, afternoon IFR flight.

This is an excerpt of A hazy solo flight.
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The weather the past few weeks has been incredible. As a result, I’ve had quite a few VFR flights to take advantage of the situation. I noticed I had almost filled a page on my logbook with VFR flights and decided it was time to do some instrument approaches.

The local profile I use is KSAT-T89-KSSF-KSAT - this gets me three instrument approaches with about an hour’s flight time. In Castroville I do the NDB approach, at Stinson the VOR approach and I return to San Antonio Intl by flying down the glideslope of the ILS.

This is an excerpt of Local IFR flight.
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The sky was so blue. The clouds absent. The westerly breeze beckoned. It was time to fly!

Shannon joined me for a flight to Kerrville, Texas. We’ve visited Kerrville several times, usually to hike at what was once called Kerrville Schreiner State Park but this would be our first visit by air.

After preflighting Skyhawk 810SA, we were cleared for takeoff on Runway 30 Right. The first 300-500 feet of the runway seemed quite bumpy but with just the two of us we were off the ground in no time. Another Cessna was taking off on the parallel runway and it was cool to see him climbing alongside us.

This is an excerpt of Very VFR flight to Kerrville, Texas.
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