No Post In Almost 2 Years?!?/Angel Flights

Looks like I am not a very prolific poster. What's happened for me in the flying world during this time?

I've gained over 100 hours more experience in my Cirrus SR 22. That's not bad considering that I leased it to a friend for 6 months last year while his aircraft was repaired after an unusual accident. Got my bird back in November and have been taking every opportunity to fly when not having to fulfill work obligations.

I have made 2 Angel Flights so far this year. My first was in January, flying the second leg of a trip for a woman from Dawsonville, GA who was in Tampa for specialized treatments. I picked up the patient and her daughter in Thomasville, GA and we had a very nice flight to Gainesville, GA, where her husband was there to take her home. Apparently, if you draw a more or less straight line from Thomasville to Gainesville, you will pass through Cordele, Macon, and Bethlehem. Our flight took us right over my hometown (where my parents still live), the place I attended undergrad, medical school, and got married (hello to the in-laws, who still live there), and almost directly over my sister's house. So I gave an aerial tour of the state with personal history during our 1 hour and 15 minute flight.

My second flight was last weekend, when I picked up Will and his mother in Charlotte to fly them to Cincinnati for a checkup with his specialist. He is a 12 year-old who was quite a pro at these flights in small planes. He stopped counting his trips after reaching 60 flights. We did fly directly over Wilkesboro, but both Will and his mom were soon asleep in the back. We departed mid-morning on a Saturday into some of the strongest headwinds I've encountered while flying. At one point, we had 70 knots blowing in to us and my ground speed was just under 110 knots. I felt like I was flying the old 172 again. After beginning our descent in to Cincinnati, we saw some incredible flooding of the Ohio river with many buildings surrounded by muddy water. We also encounter some significant low level turbulence that made for an interesting approach. However, we were fortunate to be landing on a crosswind runway that had us directly in to the wind on final approach.

After dropping off Will and his mom, I refueled and had lunch at the Sky Galley restaurant. Nice fish and chips to recharge and then back in the air to get back home. Now, with a 60 knot tailwind and climbing to 13,000 feet, I nearly doubled my groundspeed to 208 knots, and made it back to Wilkesboro in just over an hour.  Coming across the Blue Ridge Mountains and beginning my descent, ATC advised me to be on the lookout for reported mountain wave activity. I tightened the seatbelt, preparing for the last bit of turbulence for the day, and at about 8500 feet, hit the first wave. Being sure that I had the power reduced to maintain normal operating speed, I endured several minutes of downdrafts and updrafts making my way over the mountains, getting the field in sight at Wilkesboro, and touching down uneventfully.

My next Angel Flight is scheduled for Friday, when I will take someone from Virginia to South Carolina. Tune in next time to hear all about it. I will try to be better at keeping this updated.