KINF-KSHV-KSAF

Robyn and I flew from Inverness FL to Santa Fe NM stopping for gas in Shreveport LA. Beautiful day for flying. About 8 hours in the air and 1,700 miles in distance. We left Inverness FL at 6:33am EST and arrived in Santa Fe NM just before 2pm MST.

We averaged 220 mph and 17.7 miles per gallon.

Landing at Shreveport was very interesting because on short final (about 2 miles from the airport) we overflew Barksdale AFB at about 1,000 feet above all the B-52 bombers sitting on the ramps.

The weather into Shreveport as overcast clouds 1,200 feet to about 3,000 feet. We did the ILS 14 breaking out of the clouds at about 1,200 feet above ground right above the B-52 bombers. If I wasn’t so busy trying to land I could of had some great pictures of the Air Force flight line.

Flight from Shreveport LA to Santa Fe NM was very nice. Overflew Iowa Park TX along the way and saw the Bradford’s old house.

This was a long day of flying and the rest of the flying days will be much shorter.

Summer Vacation 2021

Early last year (before COVID) Robyn and I started planning our 2021 Summer of Travel adventure which will begin mid next month. We have access to a small private plane and will be fly clockwise around the United States. We flew counter-clockwise several years ago and had a great adventure.

We’ll be meeting up with various friends and family along the route. The dates on the map are approximate because adverse weather may affect our travel days here and there. The McMinnville, Newport and Mackinac Island dates are pretty solid. If you are close to any of the cities on the days we’ll be there, and want to meet up, let us know.

When we get ready to fly I’ll post the flightaware.com link for people that want to following our travels. The hours on the map are approximate flight hours to get from one city to another. Our first travel day to Santa Fe NM is the longest (6.5 hours of flying) requiring a stop for gas in Little Rock AR.

Beautiful day flying. Went to Little Rock for a business meeting.

I still can’t get over how fast this plane is.

Pictured below off the right wing tip is Georgetown airport (KGTU). You are looking west at runway 29. Lake Georgetown in the background on the left.

They let me park with the big boys at Little Rock International (KLIT).

Air was pretty darn clear leaving KLIT. About 70 degrees with just a hint of a breeze.

This plane climbs like mad compared to my DiamondStar. 1,000 feet per minute all the way up to 16,000 feet. Above 12.5k I need to wear the cannula for supplemental oxygen.

Beautiful day 200 knots at 9000 feet.

Stayed down low to avoid headwinds at higher altitude. Travel time just under 2 hours from Georgetown TX to Little Rock AR.

On the way back the next day the winds had changed direction and to avoid a 30 knot headwind I hopped up to 16,000 feet. Above 12,500 feet oxygen is required by the FAA hence the cannula.

Question on Facebook: “Wow!!! Why so high???”

Faster, smoother, no other traffic.

It was 20 minutes faster getting home at 16k feet. Two hours travel time vs 2 hours and 20 minutes at a lower altitude.

At 8k feet and below there was rough turbulence. At 9k feet there was a 30 knot headwind which kept getting less and less the higher you fly. At 16k feet the headwind was down to 4 knots. And, roughly, for every 1k feet above 10k the plane flys 2 knots faster because of less dense air.

At almost 250 mph this plane is fast. I start my decent about 100 miles out. As I descend over Waco I realise I’m less than 15 minutes from landing at Georgetown.

Since I almost always fly IFR you can usually view my flights on flightaware.com.

N581GL on Flightaware.com